One of the most underrated parts about Kirby Smart's run at Georgia is all of his assistants who have gone on to do great things as head coaches of their own programs. Guys like Dan Lanning at Oregon and Fran Brown at Syracuse immediately jump out as the success stories from former Smart's former assistants, but for every good story there are also some bad ones.
Unfortunately Dell McGee is one of the not so good stories as ESPN's Adam Rittenberg said he is on the hot seat entering his third season at Georgia State.
“McGee arrived with deep recruiting roots in the state and a previous stop with the program from 2014 to 2015,” Adam Rittenberg said via espn.com. “Minimal progress might be enough to secure a fourth season, but he has to start winning in the Sun Belt, where he's just 1-15 at the helm.”
Dell McGee's time at Georgia State is in danger entering the 2026 season
McGee was a long time assistant coach under Smart. He coached the Bulldogs' running back room from 2016 through 2023 and was labeled as one of the best positional coaches in all of college football. At the conclusion of the 2023 season he was hired as the next head coach at Georgia State, and that is where his career entered a downward spiral.
After coaching in Georgia for so long there was hope he could find some success with Georgia State, but that has not happened. In fact, his tenure has been miserable as he has gone 4-20 in his career which includes a 1-11 record last year.
This fall will be his third season at the helm, and if things don't improve it could be his last. And while his story at Georgia State doesn't impact Georgia at all, it would still be nice to see him find some success this year and keep his job.
The good news is that McGee probably doesn't have to win many games this fall to keep his job. Unfortunately even a .500 record seems a bit out of reach, but that might be what he has to do to keep his job.