This is the second feature of a series leading into fall camp focusing on the Panther football coaching staff. Coming Wednesday: Jeff Jagodzinski.

The historic 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center followed by the invasion of Iraq were incredibly memorable to all of America. To GSU assistant coach Harold Etheridge, his memories were even more vivid.

As an assistant football coach at the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., Etheridge saw the impact on the future of the young men he was coaching and the swirl of events just an hour's drive south. In his four years at Army (2000-04), Etheridge was a participant in the historic Army-Navy games during those years of overseas conflict. He met Secretary of State Colin Powell and President George W. Bush, along with other commanders and generals.

“When you meet dignitaries like that, they 'coin' you and give you a keepsake, so I have a unique coin collection from those days,” Etheridge said. “But, working with those young men who were so different than other college students, I was always impressed with them. Their priorities, focus and maturity were amazing, and I still keep up with the military careers of some of those fine men and football players.”

Like many football coaches, Etheridge and his family have lived a nomadic lifestyle that has made Georgia State his eighth college home. With two high school coaching stops, that appears to be 11 cities and eight states.

“I credit my wife for her organizational skills to get the family moved and the flexibility of my two children for changing schools and making new friends all their lives,” Etheridge said.

If one wants to hang with Etheridge away from coaching, there will be a need to have a bathing suit and hiking boots.

“As a kid, my family would enjoy a trip to Lake Powell on the Arizona/Utah border and I'd do a lot of water skiing and swimming,” he said. “Now, when we go to the lake near my wife's home in Kentucky, it's more inner tubing and on the pontoon and I'll pull the kids in the boat. But, yeah, I could get up on the water on skis if I needed to. I love being outdoors, taking long walks and exploring trails. And, I like to grill. Food tastes so good when cooked on a grill.”

Etheridge appreciates Georgia State's first coach, Bill Curry, as he started his college coaching career as a graduate assistant for Curry at Kentucky. That's where the Etheridge quartet was formed when he was coaching at Kentucky in 1989-90 and met his wife-to-be, Jeanne, through her cousin on the UK football team. The full family came in a package deal, with twins Clayton and Eliza, who are now high school rising juniors.

Etheridge may be the first person that most people in the southeast have ever met from Gallup, N.M. His mom worked at an Army post, Fort Wingate, in the town of 20,000 almost to the Arizona border in northern New Mexico. Gallup sits on historic Route 66 and is near Red Rock State Park and its cliffs have been seen in western movie shoots.

Young Etheridge was a skinny kid who liked sports and played baseball for most of his youth. By eighth grade, he put on the football pads and played linebacker and defensive end. He continued to improve and grow and became good enough at football that Division II Western New Mexico in Silver City recruited him. It was there he was moved to the offensive line for the Mustangs and his lifetime of offensive football was under way.

He began in the coaching profession at his alma mater in 1983 and then he moved east to Ballard High School in Louisville, Ky. He went to get his master's and served as a graduate assistant at Kentucky in 1989.

His college coaching career has since zigzagged from the northwest, southwest, northeast and now southeast. The stops along the way have included Illinois State, Army, North Texas, Northern Illinois, Washington State, Indiana State and now Georgia State.

Etheridge will take on any debater who wants to question the most important spot on a football team and explain the success of an offensive line is paramount to any team's winning a championship. Etheridge has room to back it up considering his career accomplishments:

• In the Sun Belt at North Texas, his offensive line blocked for the leading rusher in the FCS for two consecutive seasons, while the Mean Green won the conference title and went to the New Orleans Bowl.
• At Illinois State, the Redbirds earned an FCS playoff berth, then won the conference and advanced to the semifinals of the FCS playoffs the next year. The offense rewrote most of the school's offensive records as he tutored four All-Americans.
• At Army, the Cadets won the Army-Navy game in 2001 with President Bush in attendance and the eyes of the nation watching the military. Army rushed for 222 yards in that win.
• At Indiana State, his line paved the way for 31 points per game in 2010 and a winning season in the Sycamores' impressive turnaround.
• In 2011, their running back earned All-America honors and led the FCS in rushing and was second in the voting for the Walter Payton Award as the top player in FCS.
• He has published a book, “Coaching the Front Liners” about offensive linemen.

Etheridge came to Georgia State with head coach Trent Miles this year and took on the role as assistant head coach, as well as the offensive line mentor. While one of his loves is grilling food in his relaxing time, Etheridge will be grilling the GSU football team in the hot August dog days to get ready for the first season as an FBS team in the Sun Belt.