Transcript
Speaker: All right, welcome everybody into warm weather fans. This is Zeke Palermo in Brian stones putting the kids to bed won't be joining us this evening. But joining me today though is Brady Weiler.
Speaker: And we're here to talk about some Georgia State football Georgia Brady covers Georgia State for he's got his own show. He's got his own site or writes for a site Brady. Tell us about yourself.
Speaker: um You're tied to the school and what it is you do man. Yeah, I'm grad at Georgia State back in, I don't even want to say 2016, ancient history at this point. um Started the Thursday night podcast with some friends who were also alums. And once we had started that, it was like, hey, Georgia State's going to cover you, give you credentials to cover the games if you want to do that. And so I kind of Leapt at that point and did that as well. Ended up in 2022 joining Panther Talk, the 247 affiliate, writing, doing the writing stuff on that side ah for PT and keeping the podcast going. It's on YouTube.
Speaker: It's on Spotify, where you get your podcast. it should pop up. You look for the Thursday night podcast with an E. But Yeah, since 2019, just kind of been rocking and rolling with this. And it's taken me both like in the podcast world and also in in real life world, just a lot of interesting places. And even if ah the vibes aren't necessarily the greatest around Georgia State football as we approach the 2026 Yeah, ah Brady, you and I met at the 2021 Camellia Bowl. we have Christmas Day.
Speaker: yeah if you're going to cover a a Christmas Day bowl game, you're like an honorary sicko. like you You don't know other explanation needed. If you're there for that type of thing, it's like, if you're not going to see me at that, you don't deserve me my best type of deal.
Speaker: That was a a fun game. Georgia State beat Ball State 51-20. Little did we know at the time that was going to be kind of the high for quite a while.
Speaker: um talk Let's talk about last year. Georgia State, second year under Dell McGee. Didn't look too hot. I was fairly unimpressed offensively, defensively. i think like that's not really a secret. You look at the record.
Speaker: Yeah, it's not a ton to be super proud about. What what was your take on the situation? um kind of looking back on 2025. Yeah, I mean, there was a certain amount of leeway given in 2024 his first season because it's all played out at this point. But, you know, he takes over the middle of spring. Sean Elliott leaves for a tight end coach job at South Carolina. And so there was a bit of a mulligan attached, even on top of every first year coach gets some amount of a mulligan. But even within there, you had they beat Vanderbilt at home. It was a really big deal.
Speaker: Obviously put Ted Hurst on the map and he has stayed on the map. And then that was an NFL third round pick. But flash forward to 2025 and speaking of places I've gone and seen I was in Nashville when they did the return trip to Nashville to play Vanderbilt to the second side of at home at home.
Speaker: And it was like, I can't believe my eyes territory with that game. You know, they get 70 dropped on them to a team they had beaten the year before have a kick blocked an extra point blocked and a punt blocked all in the same game.
Speaker: Chunk plays given up all over the place on defense and just it was mesmerizing in just like the worst way possible of like, what has this been reduced to? And so it was almost like a perfect two way picture into like the excitement that there was in year one. And then year two comes around and it's not gotten better. It's not only that it's gotten a lot worse and against, know, kind of erased your landmark moment of year one with the way that that second game went. And then it didn't get better when Sunbelt play started. They obviously finished one 11th,
Speaker: four and 20 through the first two seasons. And so it's, it is what it says on the tin. It hasn't been a good football product the last two years. And so there's not any spin you can put on that. It just collectively has not come together. know, there was a lot made in certainly even on my own podcast and on Pants Talk made about kind of the plateau that had happened with Sean Elliott. They were not doing much better than making bowl games winning record.
Speaker: um They were unable to get over that next hump. But this is far below what that kind of standard was set at. And so you're heading into year three, kind of needing to see at least be back to that level really quickly, or else there might not be a year four for Del McGee and his staff. Yeah.
Speaker: I mean, I think Georgia State was in... kind of this weird realm where they'd hit the ceiling with sean elliott they were never going to be more than like seven or eight game eight wins with the bowl um and i i definitely was starting to get antsy as a fan uh i i was ready to explore other options uh i remember being excited about del mcgee obviously coming from georgia that's like a sexy hire he's touted as this big recruiting guy who's got all these ties across the state he's uh
Speaker: had his time at Georgia Southern where he only coached the one game, but as a coach there, Brian seemed to really positive on him. um It's not really panned out. So as we kind of come into season three, my personal take is like,
Speaker: we need to see some sort of market improvement in a very drastic way or else I think the tenure ends maybe even before year three. Is that kind of what you're hearing, what you're feeling?
Speaker: Yeah, that's my gut as well. is i you cannot You can't even really have a season where you like get out to two and six start, maybe even exactly the way that 2015 happened when they made their first bowl game. They're two and six. Trent Miles is on the super hot seat. They rattled off four straight wins that season.
Speaker: get to a bowl game for the first time ever. And it saved his job. And obviously it didn't last much longer than the last, the next season. And he is fired in November of the 2016 season, but I'd see something similar where, except I don't know that he's going to get the opportunity. If the team is ever at a point where they're two and six, one and six, I don't know that there's going to be a 12 game season for Del McGee as the head coach. And if there is, and if it isn't a winning season at the end of it, I think that still would probably be where his tenure ends. And so yeah,
Speaker: while it's really hard to look at a team that's gone for in 20, the last few years and be like, this is their, this is how they're going to make a bowl game and have a winning record. That's where they have to get to. So it's kind of like coaches are getting paid the bigger bucks than everyone else to figure out how it's going to happen. But yeah,
Speaker: That is where it does have to get to because if you're in year three and say they improve this year, they're obviously not a one win team anymore, but they're four and eight, they're five and seven, still have a couple of blowout losses in there against the teams that are near the top of the conference.
Speaker: It's looking at it like this is progress because last year was so bad, but how, how much is this and how much has this bought you as far as a job security? And How much are we going to expect things to change? And I think what's not helping the situation for Dell is Jonas Hayes just got a fourth year for men's basketball win. I think a lot of people would have made the call if it was their choice to move on from him him after year three just hadn't gone well, gave him more of a backing of an IL. There was a lot of it like, hey, we're going to give you what you need to succeed around the basketball program after Jonas's third season.
Speaker: And it didn't look any different in year four. He is fired at the end of the season, and now there's a new coach there. And so it's almost like you've seen it play out where if you give a guy a lot of leeway, giving him a year four when maybe the results haven't earned it, it immediately it didn't work out the last time. So I almost feel like that is also playing against him as far as if he wants to get a year four as a head coach. It really is going to behoove him to win more ballgames than he loses. And it's up to him to see how of how that happens. But like I say, that is the task at hand.
Speaker: ah Something else that i when he first came to Atlanta, I really liked about Dale McGee is he talked a lot about and hyped up a lot about being on campus and trying to generate some sort of fan interest, especially on campus among the alumni.
Speaker: Georgia State is a hate huge school with a huge alumni base in one of the biggest markets in the world. and obviously they're contending with Georgia Tech right there. They're contending with, you know, ah I mean, you saw at Georgia State. Everyone ships up to Athens, whether you go there or not for those UGA games. Or just, you know, the city of Atlanta. like yeah Yeah, I mean, it's completely unrelated to sports. There's just lots you can do on a Saturday in a major metropolitan city.
Speaker: Yeah. um Have you noticed any sort of vibe shift around the fan base? Like are people like it's hard to be more interested. Dale made point, something I liked about him or what I was seeing, hearing from you guys is he was making an effort to be available to to drum up interest where I don't know, a lot was said about Sean Elliott, the idea that he never fully moved down to Atlanta.
Speaker: um I was ready to buy into that. But like, are all those efforts for not if they're not winning games? Yeah, I mean, I think there's a certain level. It's with anyone. you know, if a team is going one in 11, teams one in 10, see how full their stadium is at a lot of places. Some of that is when the results are going bad, that is going to be a governor on your success of getting fans out to the stadium. to say nothing of Georgia State's existing problems that still they have are getting to work through as far as having consistent fan support that is there. And like you say, Dell certainly made a lot of efforts. It's still going to be the case. I'm sure we're going to see more things this coming season that they've worked through on the offseason. Like they were going try and do this to get get people to come out, get the students to come out and stay. And so I can't fault them as far as,
Speaker: there's been a different kind of energy brought as far as especially compared to maybe the latter years under sean elliott that there's a recognition of like it is our job to bring these people out and these are the things we're gonna try and they might not all work, but we're going to try it.
Speaker: I think the football success is still a thing that's a problem there. And I just I don't know what the answer is. If I did, I'd probably make a lot more money have solving it for Georgia State. um But ah yeah, it's it obviously is kind of the first thing a lot of people in their mind they go to, especially around the Sun Belt when Georgia State comes up. And The best thing I can say is there are certainly people very invested trying to make it happen and have been basically since the program's inception. And it hasn't grown like everyone wanted it to. And I think the thing that could change that is they have a nine and three season, if they win the Sun Belt, if they rack up another like a Tennessee win like they got in 2019 and then capitalize on that moment, that could be the next thing they need. But the issue has been other than beating Vanderbilt in a season where they otherwise only won three games,
Speaker: there hasn't been a moment like that since the Tennessee game that really captivated and caught a lot of people's attention. And in that case, and in the case of Tennessee, they weren't able to turn that into like a special season that people hung on to until the very end.
Speaker: The Tennessee win got them a lot of goodwill. You know, it got a lot of Twitter likes, a lot of attention back then in August, September, 2019. But even by the end of the year, the attention around the program wasn't what it was in that kind of period of time. Whereas,
Speaker: yeah I think people still know James Madison's name and that they made the college football playoff. And there's a lot of nationwide attention to them now, if people didn't know about them before, that George state hasn't had anything like that happen and something that they've been able to build off of as a result of that. And so does that happen? 2026 pretty hard bet. Cause these things take a lot of time, but that's kind of where my head is at is like, it's not just about, yes, you need to win games. It's like, you need that kind of,
Speaker: starting point where it jumps off of them and they haven't really been able to have that they haven't even as they've made a lot of bowl games they haven't had that run that has really made people turn their heads and really think about georgia state football in a different way yeah and as we look uh at the schedule no like super sexy brand names on the schedule this year the non-conference slate is north carolina a.t kennesaw state ucf Northern Illinois. I'd like the Kennesaw State thing to stick around. i I hope that that becomes like a yearly lock rivalry game, um if not just due to proximity.
Speaker: Yeah, and obviously there's more connection to that game this year now that it's on the schedule because Dan Ellington wide receivers coach at Kennesaw, former Georgia State quarterback. So there's the even extra dimension for, i guess, more so Georgia State fans than Kennesaw fans because they all know Dan. But it's a fun... I think it's it was only a matter of time once Kennesaw made the FBS jump that this was going to be on the schedule. And I would be very surprised if this is just, you know, it's just currently the home and home schedule for now, whether it's a yearly thing, whether it's like just pretty regularly. I expect that as long as they're in different leagues, this will be a very appetizing non-conference game for both of them, because like, look, it's a road game for Georgia State this year.
Speaker: I don't know their game day is going to be much different than a home game day when they're making that trip, because it's like when they play Georgia Tech 2024, it's like you might not even have to change the hotel. You stay up before the game and bus over like it's right here. I mean, traffic with 75 sometimes be a bit, you know, it's Atlanta.
Speaker: So yeah maybe it's a little longer than you're hoping for to get to the game. But the point of it is that it's right there and Certainly that would be, id I'd point to that one if we're looking at the non-conferences like Kennesaw won Conference USA last year. They won 10 games. And I'm not saying, like, they're going to be favored to lose that game for sure, especially with what we know about this team at this point, which is very little. But if they've got that win on the road at Kennesaw, who just won Conference USA very early in the season, that could be something they could build on. If they're able to stack some results together, that would make people pay attention because,
Speaker: Kennesaw and Georgia State, I wouldn't say like there's a huge like rivalry factor, but I know there's a lot of people who went to high school together who were at those separate schools. And the Georgia State-Georgia Southern rivalry brings out a lot of attention from the student body from both schools every year. And so I think it would be the same thing where a fan who maybe hasn't gone to a football game yet would certainly notice if they beat Kennesaw.
Speaker: and want to brag to their friends about it who are at Kennesaw. And like that's the start of getting that kind of buy-in and more regular attendance. But it's not... Last year, they played ole Miss, Memphis, and Vanderbilt and the non-con. I mentioned the Vandy game earlier.
Speaker: The Memphis game was kind of close, but it was a home game as well, and it ultimately was still a loss. The Ole Miss game, they got 63 dropped on them. by It turns out, not even the better quarterback in that building because Austin Simmons was replaced by a Trinidad Chambliss not that long after. and ended up taking them deep into the college football playoff.
Speaker: There's an opportunity here that wasn't there last year where I think two and two would be a safe benchmark of like beat your FCS team, beat NIU at home, and if you split the other two, you're at least two and two heading into league play.
Speaker: Mm-hmm. If you're anything worse than that, starts to get a little bit skittish. And then if you drop your opener at home against ODU and you're heading into the bye week and two and three or one and four, it's not going to feel like that different from last year. Certainly if it's one and four, you know, God forbid, oh and five. And so I think the first month of the season, as we're still learning about this team, does offer an opportunity. And it's kind of like we'll be able to gauge are they between and NCA and T and NIU? Are they between n NIU and Kennesaw? Are they between Kennesaw and UCF? are they
Speaker: giving UCF a game. yeah Last year, Jack State took UCF to the wire, and that ended up being pretty telling because that was a team that went to the Conference League title game. So it's not a... Last month, there were two games, at least, maybe three, that you were writing off ahead of time that, like, we don't expect them to win this game, but what are they going to look like? And maybe we learn something. Here, it's really, like, four different gauges. And so once those four games have been played, it'll be interesting to see where Georgia State slots in.
Speaker: ah Jumping over, i guess let's start talking about the offense because that just going down the roster, that's what comes up first. And let's talk quarterback, Cameron Brown.
Speaker: I really liked what we saw of him last year, although it was intermittent injury stuff, fighting with Valera for position. um i really liked it. I'm very excited, and I think he could be – I'm not saying he will be, but he could be like an upper half Sunbelt quarterback this season.
Speaker: um What's your take on him? Is there anyone else fighting that for that first starting quarterback job? I think it's the Cam Brown show. um And this is the best quarterback position they have been in since Dell has been here. Obviously, year one was bit weird. They bring in Christian Veyer. He starts – Zach Gibson starts some – Last year, they just didn't ever settle on a QB, which I think was the greatest fault. It wasn't even just they were playing TJ Finley more. They were playing Cameron Brown more. I just think that it was a two headed monster that didn't coalesce at all. And you're talking about their charity off series is how do you put a game plan together that makes Cam Smith at his best and TJ Finley at his best? I would argue you can't really there's two different quarterbacks.
Speaker: And so once Cam started playing more and more extended, you know, whole of games basically by the middle of the season by the South Alabama, the Georgia Southern games, you really saw he could shine. And I would agree with you that I think he might not have the ceiling of like top G five quarterback or top first team some belt. But I think if he has a good season, he could be in the third team, second team, all conference quarterback mix. The talent is there. He's a mobile guy. And for a lot of talk of like maybe TJ's Finley was going to be the safe pair of hands as it were came on with three, one pick, and I can count on my hands, maybe a couple of risky throws even through. So he was making some really nice deep throws. He was moving with his legs and creating on his own and not really, there weren't that many throws that had you holding your head in your hands. Like where's he put in that ball? Like he was pretty careful with everything.
Speaker: And I think that is part of why you didn't see a real effort to bring in quarterback over him. I think they trusted him, they liked him, and they didn't want to scare him into the portal. Aiden Pereira is the backup they brought in for Merrimack. And I'd say it's probably like those two would be the ones I'd expect to see ever on a field um in a lot of situations. But Aiden Pereira is a guy...
Speaker: he's a similar type of player as cam brown so i think that we're going to see the majority of the reps go to cam brown you know injury forbidden um maybe prayer sees the action but if he does it's going to be an offense that's kind of geared the exact same way and i think that's starting off on the right foot whereas last year was kind of they didn't really know what they wanted their identity to be and that kind of showed in the inconsistency the lack of scoring and Frankly, I think it didn't help TJ Finley's reps and his consistency either. You know, his numbers weren't as good as Cam's, but I'm sure it didn't help him bouncing in and out either.
Speaker: Yeah. Cameron Brown, in my book, has a higher floor on a week-to-week basis, but maybe a lower ceiling than Darren Granger did. Is that a fair assessment?
Speaker: Yeah, maybe. i'll i think that it'll be interesting to see, especially with an offseason, knowing you're building around this guy what they do with the offense. Obviously, Hugh Jackson is sticking around as the offensive coordinator, and um I'm curious to see, like I say, what it looks like now that they've all stuck together for as much as we talk about across the sport like oh this guy's gone everyone we're starting over new coordinators in you have to give some credence to the idea that the head coach the offensive coordinator and the QB all sticking together will have some positive effect on the cohesion of the offense and so I know everyone's got their jokes about Hugh Jackson and the Cleveland Browns but I am at least giving the benefit of the doubt very slightly just to see
Speaker: Guy who's been around offensive football for the last 30 years, what they come up with knowing that they're building around this guy and him feeling comfortable in that and all that goes along with that. Sure.
Speaker: We then have to talk to obviously the elephant in the room and we've maybe spent too much time not talking about it. Ted Hirsch, where goes that 1,000 yards? Brian and I talked about when we were talking about Georgia Southern, um although I think this episode is going to come out before that one, replacing a lot of yards in the aggregate, you know moneyballing it. You can't count on getting another 900-yard guy.
Speaker: But between Hirsch, Javon Robinson also out, that's 1,600 yards you have to replace. Where like where are those going to go? yeah um first i would agree that you're not they added some big bodied guys from lower levels that i think i'm interested to see what they look like or like rodshaw dorsey um i you're not going to get another ted hearster if you are you're going to find it and then you're going to hit that ted hearst button or whatever his name's button is as soon as you find it but i don't think they're going to go into the season looking for 1 000 yard receiver but i think there's some guys coming back grant hollywood's
Speaker: tight end who also in the spring game he was lining up a receiver versatile guy maybe further along on the pass catching side than the tight end blocking side so it might be a case of finding a place to just get him on the field because he was open down the field making plays as a true freshman last year so you add in that freshman to sophomore bump I think there's a lot to like there a Kyle Washington's a guy who came in with Del McGee's first signing class at receiver he was working in the slot in the spring game he got a touchdown in the spring game as well DJ Avery, Ahmaud Soire, Dante Fulton, these are all guys that were three star high school commits that came in in the first class. They brought in some other guys as well, um both from the lower ranks and also through high school in that class and in other classes that
Speaker: This could be the year, and I think for Dell and everyone's sake, they want it to be the year that a lot of these younger guys they've been bringing through start to emerge. And I think receiver is definitely a place, and if you want a rope running back in there as well to kind of tie it all together. They've also added some young, talented freshmen along the way running back as well, and so...
Speaker: i think it's a bit of wait and see who emerges and the the camp fight that's going to come in august and into the start of the season but i think this is where you're hoping to start to see these guys that you brought along emerge and look you just have the best infomercial for what your program can do in ted hearse going in the third round of the nfl draft you know all of these guys are receiver want to go to the league they want to put up numbers um And now you've seen a guy that he went through this program and he did that exactly. So not only on the recruiting side, bringing receivers, but the guys who are already in the building who saw Ted do what he did.
Speaker: I have to imagine that that had a positive effect as far as kind of reinvigorating, like, yes, we can make it happen here. if We do what we want to do. They're going to set us up to succeed. And maybe not in the third round, but...
Speaker: that is no longer like a hypothetical like that has happened for georgia georgia state receiver has gone and georgia player has gone in the first hundred picks now so the the work that damien craig receivers coach there has done and everyone on the recruiting side i think that now it turns into developing and keeping those guys getting them on the field and getting them taking more reps taking some of that yardage away and so maybe you're looking at couple of guys in the high triple digits in receiving yards. Maybe you're not looking at a guy going to scratch a thousand, but maybe a deeper room.
Speaker: And it Cam Brown, again, it all kind of goes together. Right. Knows all these guys and they've been going through the offseason and that also has to help. But it's got to be better. And I think ah funnily enough, it's got to be better starting with the run because I think it's gotten too one dimensional.
Speaker: Some of it came from Cameron Brown having some success on the ground. But other than that, there were games where there's double digits, really inferior rushing numbers. And so I think that's what actually is going to unlock the offense even more than anything that they can do as far as replacing Ted Hurst.
Speaker: Sure. Talk about the running backs room. The only name that I have a ton of info on is Lanier McCray from Shorter, just because I covered him when he was at Shorter. I liked what I saw, but I mean, D2 football, he's a small guy too.
Speaker: um that That's a big jump for him. What what does that room look like? Yeah, i I've been on another one of these leading up to the season that I think also is not out yet. So I understand the idea waiting for content that's been out yet. um I am not going to put much handicap on like what the running back reps are going to be like, because it's very clear at this point that Dell just likes a committee. And sometimes guys emerge. But if you had asked me last year among you know Branson Robinson, Rashad Amos,
Speaker: ah guys who already in the program who is going to merge. I might not have said Jordan Simmons very early and he ends up being the guy by the middle of last year that started to be kind of the bell cow.
Speaker: um Xavier Butler is a freshman that I know is touted. You mentioned Lanier McCrary. Keith Adams, the guy from Clemson, they brought in running back from Northern Illinois.
Speaker: There's a lot of bodies in there. DJ Murray is back, who's a nice, showed some ability, especially as a pass catcher out of the backfield. It's a lot of options and it's going to be, I think, a lot of situational use. ah But, you know they found that Jordan Simmons was the best option for them at the South Alabama game on the mid-October, I think it would behoove them to find the guy they really want to lean on earlier than that this year.
Speaker: um So I think it's going to be a committee again until proven otherwise. ah But I'm waiting to see like the rest of everyone else exactly who emerges from that as maybe the 1A guy.
Speaker: Mm-hmm. Yeah, guys in front of them. that This used to be kind of a trademark of Georgia State football with Sean Elliott was having five guys up front that can just kind of pave the road.
Speaker: um You get guys like Destin Coates, Tucker, Greg. um It felt like for four or five years straight, there was always a top of the conference running back here. And a lot, ah not to diminish those guys' skill, but it was because that front surface was just so impenetrable at times.
Speaker: um how do you How do you feel about that offensive line group? Yeah, I don't think it's any of those anyone would take it as an insult because, I mean, if you like ask a question of a running back in a press conference, the first thing they'll say is, like, thanks to the guys up front for blocking for me. So think everyone understands the relationship there, and it starts with the guys up front and getting a consistent push in the trenches.
Speaker: ah They have certainly gone about it this year in a different way than basically the rest of the roster. Because we'll get to with the defense as well were talking about with the skill positions. They brought in a lot of guys from lower levels in basically everywhere on the roster except the offensive line. Where they add Connor Jones from Michigan, Gage Stantlin from Oklahoma State.
Speaker: Down the line, the power conference guys that they were able to bring in. Jordan Brown, who has been in Georgia Tech and Arizona. um Marcus Maskell, who is at Florida. i kind of think that tells the tale as far as they wanted to keep bringing in a big batch of big bodies.
Speaker: The one place they weren't willing to give up on the idea of the power conference and the size mattering was the offensive line. And I think they're still trying to find that prototype, that five that's going to stick together and be able to make starts together. But that's where it's going to be an end for this offense is they pass blocking wasn't that bad, but there was never consistently either last few seasons getting a lot of push. And there was a lot of rotation going on. They weren't settling on a five. There were some injuries as well that was affecting it. But like this year,
Speaker: It'd be like I talked about the first month of season telling us something. If the same starting five, if health is to factor in here, but as well as just like talent and continuity, if the same starting five on the offensive line starts through the whole non-conference, there's very little rotation other than maybe a series here or there, or guy loses his helmet.
Speaker: I'd feel a lot better about this offense. Whereas if we're still mixing and matching and they still haven't found the right group at ah the O-line heading into conference play, that's where I think it'd be alarm bells going off of like, they haven't solved this problem yet again. And this might come back to bite the offense for a third straight season.
Speaker: Sure. It is the official stance of this podcast and has been for several years that on the offensive line starts matter. um And that's what this group just doesn't have. So I think generally a little pessimistic, but we we've seen schools. I mean, Georgia state's not the only one that does rely on that one pedigree, you know, guy who got recruited as a three star low four star to a power five and just didn't get the chance or it didn't work out or whatever.
Speaker: um I think of the offensive groups, I think, I mean, as you said, and as probably anyone in the sport will say, it all hinges on those guys and whether or not we can get a cohesive group moving. You talked about the defense. This is a largely rebuilt group.
Speaker: where Where do you want to start front, back, middle? Yeah, well, we can start with the guys calling the plays. And I say guys, plural, but there's co-defensive coordinators now replacing Travis Pearson, who himself was the second defensive coordinator that Del McGee hired last spring. Deron Wilson ends up getting hired by an SEC school to a position coach job, so it doesn't end up sticking. So it started with a... There's a second choice hire coming in. You're already kind of backpedaling on like, all right, this maybe isn't going to be that the exact defense they wanted to run.
Speaker: The issue last year was... They were doing a lot of exotic listing stuff early in the year, but they were just getting killed by blown assignments doing all that. And so they they stopped doing that as much. And at that point, I just think that the defense started being pretty solvable. They weren't getting a pass rush and there wasn't anyone making any of those impact plays to kind of flip the game on the defense. And so, you know, the team other team running the ball effectively, getting into the down distances that are manageable and just kind of working down the field that way.
Speaker: that's the thing they got to figure out as far as you know john hanline and cam clark ki clark will be the one calling the defense come in as co-dcs they've previously worked together at western illinois hanline was the dc at youngstown state the last few years cam clark i believe was on uh like an analyst like an off-field role with dell mcgee and auburn the one year that dell was at auburn before going to georgia southern so there's the connection there uh and they brought in a lot of this is a across the board lower level know juco d2 guys on the defense that they're going about it differently to where dell even said in kind of his spring availability his yeah spring availability like before the basketball hires were made he did the press conference like we took too many guys from power conferences that
Speaker: felt you know they were hurt when they weren't getting reps they were um trying to get the quote up here for the purposes of not just paraphrasing but last year a lot of guys were entitled not appreciative of being here at georgia state we are very intentional trying to find guys that were hungry wired the right way um so i'm curious to see you especially on the defense how that plays out it just kind of changing the mentality and it's a team that was so last in tackles for losses is a defense in 2024. They were second to last in 2025.
Speaker: The thing it's going to start with is stopping the run and getting some big chunk TFLs in the run game along the defensive line, sacking the quarterback more because If you look across the the secondary, there's ton of guys off of the secondary that are on good programs. You know, I can list off the names, but you know like Bernard Kazi, the starting cornerback, he's at Wake now.
Speaker: Jalen Jones transfers. He's at UVA. Uh, Deuce or Deuce Fillmore is at Illinois. Shams John is at West Virginia.
Speaker: Talent wasn't the issue with the, especially the secondary last year. it was just the, the impact players were missing. There was no tone setting, and not enough tone setting going along in the trenches. And so kind of mirroring the offense, they've got to get answers along the front and being more disruptive on that side to kind of help the whole defense out as a whole.
Speaker: stop the run get into better situations as a defense and forcing more takeaways you know it was a joke that i started there was like a a tito's sponsored turnover thing that it was running in the center park stadium and it went like two months without there being any turnovers and it was like the fans are starved for this vodka they're not getting because there's no turnover happening Um, and that was the distance free boneless wings from like, yeah, exactly. it's just like, they're sitting there just like, well, hopefully not sitting for two months, like needing alcohol. That's that's a separate conversation.
Speaker: Um, but they weren't a very disruptive defense. And when teams can just march on you, it's no surprise that you end up giving near enough to 40 points a game.
Speaker: So it, Del McGee is going to someone he has coached on the same staff with before, bringing in two coordinators who have coached together before, know each other. So I think that those are the benefit.
Speaker: that That's the paint the picture you can paint of how this goes better is there's a more key cohesive plan. And if we're talking about at least getting to a winning season, the bar isn't like cutting your points per game in half. It's like being around 30.
Speaker: Yeah, you know having a positive turnover margin where you're forcing a lot of turnovers and not having as many yourself. So I think they could get there. Time will tell. And obviously not playing two SEC teams is going to help in that margin as well.
Speaker: But it's just about getting to a level of middle of the pack at the very least that that is when the offense has had its own problem scoring. It just did recipe for disaster when the defense has been giving up as many points as it has.
Speaker: Yeah, I was looking at the numbers earlier today and last year, this is referring only to in-conference play, not out of conference. Only five Sunbelt teams were averaging less than 30 points a allowed.
Speaker: um So it's not like you need a Herculean defense to compete in this conference. You just have to make it manageable. And it was like... There were some times, and again, it's not obviously inflated by the Vandy game, the mississippi Ole Miss game.
Speaker: But like at times, I think the greatest enigma it still I still can't wrap my head around is the James Madison game, where where Georgia State held James Madison to 14 points, and then the next week got walked over in consecutive weeks. I think it was like 41 and 41 to App State and Georgia Southern.
Speaker: um that that is still like i still that was the weirdest stretch of three weeks of the season maybe who returning you talk it's a lot of new guys a lot of guys that dell is high on in terms of like fit culture fit atmosphere fit who returning uh are you high on Yeah, well, I think the big one was Jabril Rhodes Nelson along the defensive line was a guy they brought up from, think, Millerville last year. Everyone's come in from different places. i believe that's the ah the school he was at. you'd found
Speaker: ah I think there was an expectation. He entered the portal, and Jeremy Hawkins, who was the D-line coach, goes to Syracuse. And not necessarily that he was going to follow him all the way to Syracuse, but there was an expectation that when a guy goes in the portal and his decision coach leaves, you're probably not getting him back. And I think it was a big deal that he decides to come back to Georgia State. Deuce Walker, the same thing, brother of Jalen Walker, the Atlanta Falcons. So it's a great story to go along with. This is a guy that's been in the program now two years. He's been a cornerback and a safety at different points. So especially as I think it's going to be more of like a 4-2-5 with a nickel and dime packages more regularly for the the defense. Having a guy that's played both cornerback and safety might fit into that role.
Speaker: being able to slide into that spot. But couple of guys there that are kind of like we're out, but now we're back in, especially this day and age. I feel like that's always kind of a boon for a program to be able to sell that, you know, the buy into that guy is having after seeing what was out there, even after winning four games in two years. Like, obviously, that's not its own selling point.
Speaker: But I do think the the big emphasis is what they brought in. And I'm still waiting you know to see exactly who emerges where. But guys that then impressed me in the spring game, Toby Bolton, who was a Tennessee Tech transfer at cornerback, Darius Johnson Jr., who was a Gardner-Webb. They each had picks in the spring game and just looked at the ball hawk part that you were looking for from that part of the defense. And then you talked earlier, and not incorrectly, that some of the offensive line guys they brought in hadn't played a lot at their previous spots. They just were at renowned programs.
Speaker: Trey Mittman and Deuce Lee, Trey Mittman was at NCA and T and Deuce Lee was at Monmouth. They're both experienced, experienced seniors that they brought in at safety. And so those guys have walked the walk as it were, whether it was at the FCS level. So you're seeing how it levels up to the next spot at FCS, but you have some experience just, they were doing it in other uniforms before. And so you're hoping that those guys can probably come in and set the tone and set the standard in the secondary right away with the new scheme and,
Speaker: A lot of these guys went through spring ball together, and so I don't know exactly where the install will have finished at the end of spring and where they're picking back up as far as the full install of the defensive scheme heading into fall camp. But you're at least some of the way there, even though you're replacing a lot, because you've got to make those spring practice count with the way that the portal is nowadays and the fact that you might be bringing in most of your rotation in January every year now.
Speaker: let's Do you have any other points on the defense? ah It is such a mixed grab bag. It's hard to kind of talk. Yeah. No, I mean, it's it's sounds that are gonna fill it's kind of the same answer across the board. So it's like i I'm waiting to see. And it's like this is just going to have to come together.
Speaker: It's not. yeah It's like I see the plan more, especially talking about you bringing in a guy that they're familiar with from Dell's side and that the coaches know each other and that they have a cohesive – They've done a lot like there's 26 high school signees for the current recruiting class right now. And the portal class was set together in a way that makes a lot of sense when you see how they put it together that I think wasn't the case either the last two years. And so it's just about at this point, if they can get it all to come together on the field in terms of results, because I think they finally they've got the rhythm down. They know what they're looking for and they know how to handle the portal as it comes.
Speaker: They just needed to come together in the sense of all the way to being a winning product for to really pan out. But I certainly I see the vision, especially on the defensive side with the guys they brought in. And now it's going to be about who emerges and if they can establish a pass rush and if they can establish a run stopping force that has kind of gotten away from them both of the last two seasons. Sure.
Speaker: ah Let's take a quick look at the schedule. We already talked about the non-conference slate. Georgia State opens their season September 4th on a Friday, hosting North Carolina A&T. They then go on the road at Kennesaw at UCF and then host Northern Illinois. That will make up their non-conference slate.
Speaker: They start conference play October 3rd, hosting Old Dominion. They take a bye October 10th. play at JMU, at Arkansas State. Halloween, they host carolina Coastal Carolina. excuse me November 7th, it's at App State, then host Georgia Southern, at Marshall, and then you end the season November 28th hosting Louisiana.
Speaker: We talked about kind of that non-conference slate being a really good providing the opportunity to be a really good gauge where in between these four teams do you land.
Speaker: um That week four moment, like that that could be kind of a ah hinging point ah before you open conference play. um I definitely think the buy, you know you all, any coach on the hot seat is wary of that buy because that is the perfect time to cut ties.
Speaker: um Are there any other critical points in the season that you think like, hey, we need to be at this benchmark or we need to win this game? This is this is like a really important part of the season. Well, I would rope in the ODU game, like i mentioned earlier, that is leading into the buy of like your first conference game. I think three and two and one and oh and league play heading into your buy is going to feel so much different than any other feeling they've had at the last two seasons other than the Vandy win in 2024. But beyond that, you've kind of got it back to back that like App State is the biggest bugaboo for Georgia State football. They haven't beat them.
Speaker: Some of the games have been close and agonizingly so. Some of them have been completely different leagues and just not even on the same field. They go to Boone again this year. It's actually where they, the last two times they've been to Boone or two of the last three times they've been to Boone have been their best chances of beating up. And so it's not, it's a tough place to win, but they have played them well there before.
Speaker: Sometimes better than they've, a lot of times better than they played them in Atlanta. Yeah. Um, that's on November 7th. And then the rivalry, Georgia Southern, they were six and three up in the head to head changing a lot of, you know, cause frankly, causing a lot of angst. I think I'm sure to Southern fans that were like, we can't be three and six against this team. They've won three straight now.
Speaker: and They've certainly gotten mojo in the rivalry and that one's at home. Um, That kind of two-week stretch, I think that the home schedule in general, like with what we know now, which is to say very little about these teams, ODU's replacing a lot. You play them at home.
Speaker: Coastal Carolina's got a new coach. I think there's a lot of reasons to be optimistic about what Ryan Beard does there, but you don't know what they are yet. um Louisiana, good team in the West, end of the year, really hard to gauge.
Speaker: And then you add in the rivalry factor with Georgia Southern, it's kind of like the old cliche of throwing the record breaks out. I think that the path is there to a winning record at home. And it's really like if you don't have the winning record at home, you're not going to get the winning season overall. or You're not going to make a bowl game. And so...
Speaker: If you're at the spot where got to work out the records in my head, where that would be your, your eight games in or your, yeah, your eight games in heading into the app state game.
Speaker: give you four and four there and you can get wins that you haven't gotten before against app state and Georgia Southern, you know, end that losing streak, find a way to six and four at that point, that would feel like you're 16 four, but the way those games have gone in recent years for Georgia state. And so like,
Speaker: It's not going to be easy. it's certainly ah eluded them against App State for most their entirety of their history. And it's eluded them in recent years against Georgia Southern. But there is in there the opportunity of like, if you can make it if it's coming together by that point the season, that could be a point where the record flips and the vibes especially flip because of who those games are against.
Speaker: A lot of work, a lot of time before there to even know if that's a possibility. ah But that's where we're with everything these days. like you At this point, you're just looking at possible trends that are there. And there's nothing from the past couple years you can really hang your hat on. and it's like, well, this is going to be working well for this team because that hasn't been there. So you're kind of just looking at it as like, hypothetically, if they're getting this point the season, what are their opportunities in front of them? And funnily enough, it's not a rivalry, but a A boogeyman and then a rivalry back to back there in November.
Speaker: Speaking of possibilities, that App State and Georgia Southern stretch, those could be back to back games, maybe a little early for Dowell Loggins, but definitely for Clay Helton um if they underperform again.
Speaker: And again, it you know who knows what happens with Georgia State, but if both State and Southern underperform, that could be two interim coaches squaring off. Or just a drop an anxiety bowl, whether they're still there or not. Just like suddenly everyone really needs that one.
Speaker: Yeah, ah I like that one. I like what you said earlier about like seeing a vision. there There were definitely points last season where it's like, even if this all comes together,
Speaker: what is the ceiling here when it all comes together, there is a winning season somewhere in here. Um, is that the most likely outcome? You know, we're not going to know until like probably mid October even.
Speaker: Um, but there is some cohesive plan starting to form here. Um, And I worry about getting caught into giving that credit because when you start to look at the plan and the vision is how you get caught with like a Clay Helton, for example, for five or six too many years.
Speaker: Butch Jones at Arkansas State where it's like we've fallen in love with the plan, the vision, the idea too much. um what what is your ceiling again it' it's all we're throwing you know crap at the wall and hoping something sticks but it's like what what is your ceiling if it all really meshed how many wins could you like what is the upper bound on something you would say is realistic I'm always sketchy about ceiling questions because it's like literally which games are you writing off like straight up UCF probably because, you know, it is rare that the by game goes against the team who's hosting UCF. There's a difference in the, you know across the roster. So you're going to be pretty heavy underdog, even though UCF is not the best of the best as that goes. James Madison, you're really until proven otherwise.
Speaker: yeah They've earned that with questions there about what they look like under Billy Napier, but they've earned the benefit of the doubt and have beaten Georgia State every time since they've joined the league. So going up to Harrisonburg there doesn't feel all that fruitful. But I don't i don't mean this to say I think the ceiling is 10-2, but...
Speaker: This isn't the hard schedule they've had in seasons past where they're going to get just punched in the face repeatedly in September and be limping their way through conference play. like There's winnable games early that they can get a rhythm, which they've failed to be able to do the first two seasons, but if they're able to capitalize on anything they're able to do in the early season this year,
Speaker: I mean, every conference slate, every Sun Belt slate is a gauntlet, especially in the sense that there's really not that many low points. Even the teams that are pretty – Georgia State has been one of those last couple of years. But even when there's a drop-off, it's not a team that can't beat you on their best day. And so I think Georgia State's hoping to be that team that sneaks up on team on not their best day until they can prove that they're able to hang with the top of the conference. But there are certainly six or seven wins on the schedule if things go right.
Speaker: The floor we don't need talk about because we've seen it like sure this team could win one game again. They haven't lost an FCS game since 2017 so I'm still going to not expect them to lose that opener against NC a and T but if we're after week one and they lose that game then the floor is even lower than we thought it was before.
Speaker: um but It's everyone always talks about just how a gauntlet the Sunbelt is every year and it is but it's just like reality is that's the truth for everyone. So it's yeah where do you catch everyone with they are at the peaks valleys of league season and where's your floor at and if they're able to at least elevate the floor on both offensive defense because they need help on both sides establishing kind of a consistency there hasn't been their last two seasons.
Speaker: If they're able to raise that and catch teams, that's how you get from being 3-9 or one and eleven to approaching bowl eligibility or better. It's not about being head or shoulders better than everyone else. It's just about meeting them at their level and making those five or six plays on the day.
Speaker: That's just where they haven't been the last two years. And so that's where they have to get to and under Del McGee in year three. Otherwise, hot seat talk abound. Yeah, I think you're right. I mean, really interesting points there about like, you're not trying to be James Madison, right? you're No one can be.
Speaker: To aspire for that is probably a fool's errand. Do you have any other points? High level, was there a guy that you wanted to talk about that we didn't get the chance to? or Well, just the the other thing that will be a tell for me, I mentioned the woes that were special teams against the Vanderbilt game. It wasn't isolated to that. It's something that from his opening press conference, Del McGee has spoken a lot about of like wanting you to make it a positive emphasis. And that hasn't been there. I think that ultimately starts. They changed coordinators this year, but it's a guy who they hired from internally, Zach Conowal. So it's not like a completely different vision change.
Speaker: The coaching staff and it starts with Del McGee and how he ah assesses and doles out practice time for special teams has to make that a better emphasis because what they've done so far has not been enough to make it a positive and it's still been in very big points and negative and some very bad outcomes and just not a lot of consistency in the kicking game last year that it's the third phase that never gets talked about until it's going really well or very badly. But Georgia State has never in its history really been able to establish all that much positive momentum in special teams. And that's insane that as we talk right now before Ted Hurst has played a snap in the NFL, their best ever pro
Speaker: is a kicker, Will Lutz. yeah But you can't point to like when he was there at any point the program where special teams has been this huge positive. And that's something that heve he talked about in his pre his opening press or his head coach back in 2024. We have yet to see come to fruition.
Speaker: That will be the other thing I'm watching of like how clean does those units look in the non-conference? And are they avoiding some of the mess-ups that were costing them points directly or indirectly in the last couple of years? Yeah.
Speaker: Well, that's how you know Brady knows ball. He's getting into the the special teams nitty-gritty for us. Yeah, you got to stop this ill just keep going on special teams. Keep rolling. Well, look, Brady, I really appreciate your time. This this was very enlightening. um we brian Brian and I have both been saying it's so tough to to really get like the insider perspective on a lot i mean all of these schools. um And so having guys like you at Thursday night, Panther Talk, is such a huge asset too to us, to everyone who's trying to follow the conference.
Speaker: Drop your plugs again. Tell folks where to find you. Plug whatever you please. And then we'll get out of here, man. Yeah, we're on hiatus, actually. It's bad time to be plugging the podcast. we We took summer vacation on the Thursday night podcast. We'll be back in due course. I mean, along with I'm doing this podcast. So obviously, i maybe should take the hint that I should start soon. But on Panther Talk, this is 247 affiliate. If you look, you're going to say Panther Talk on...
Speaker: um Google probably pop up. um I've got links on my Twitter, which I didn't put on thing, but it's at Brady M. Weiler.
Speaker: We'll get that fire in pretty soon as far as the Twittering, the articling, the podcasting, getting back into the flow because it's almost July. Like media days aren't going to be that far away. Like the season is really almost upon us. And so we all got to get in the game again, myself included. What will help with that is CFP 27 is not that far away from releasing the next game. So I'm sure when that arrives, it'll be like a a clarion call for me. Like it's time to get ready.
Speaker: I was looking through all the Sunbelt rosters. No one's super pointing out from a CFB rating perspective. But ah are you are you like a Georgia State guy when that game comes out? Are you doing something else with that?
Speaker: No, it's always been weird for me, like just doing the Georgia State. mean, first it was in the the last iteration back in 2014. It was the Georgia Dome. It was also like the weird wrong configuration. It was like all the way filled up, like all the way to the top. It's like Falcons don't even do that. Like, why is it just the default for Georgia State? They don't even use the top two levels for that.
Speaker: um And the uniforms were way out of date. And it's like I'm a uniform guy. So it was always weird for me using just like the most outdated bland uniforms that they used to have back in like 2012 2013 times uh no i usually bounce around i'll do the thing where you start as a coordinator work your way up um looking forward to it as always they plug that it's going to be improved and fixing the things that didn't work last year and so i'm sure they've done it again it'll be a perfect game again this time but just they're making it again yeah it was a tough decade without it God bless it. Well, thank you so much, Brady, for coming on. ah If you don't know where to find us, we are at Warm Weather Fans everywhere on social. I'm Zeke Palermo at Zeke Palermo, Z-E-K-E-P-A-L-E-R-M-O.
Speaker: This has been another episode of Warm Weather Fans. This has been Brady Weiler. And we've been previewing Georgia State Panther football for 2026. Thank you all so much for watching.
