Quinshad Davis, Allen Smith Named Assistant Footballl Coaches

ATLANTA -- Georgia State head coach Shawn Elliott announced the hiring of former Houston Texans assistant coach Allen Smith as defensive line coach and former USF quality control analyst Quinshad Davis as wide receivers coach.

"We're excited to add two outstanding coaches to our staff," Elliott said. "These two men have tremendous character and coaching ability, and we look forward to what they will bring to our program."

The Panthers continue spring practice this week, with the annual Spring Game set for Friday, April 1 at 6 p.m. at Center Parc Stadium. Admission is free.

ALLEN SMITH, DEFENSIVE LINE

Allen Smith joins the Georgia State staff as defensive line coach after one season in the National Football League as assistant defensive line coach for the Houston Texans.

Before his NFL stint spent three years as defensive line coach at Wofford, helping the Terriers to back-to-back berths in the NCAA FCS playoffs in 2018 and 2019.

In both seasons, Smith helped coach the top defense in the Southern Conference. In 2018, the Terriers led the conference in rushing defense, total defense and scoring defense, ranking No. 12 or higher in FCS in all three categories.

The following year, Wofford again led the league in total defense as well as sacks, while ranking second in rushing and scoring defense.

Smith developed and coached All-America and All-Southern Conference nose tackle Miles Brown, who signed a free agent contract with the Arizona Cardinals and appeared in nine games in 2019 and then spent time on the Tennessee Titans practice squad in 2020.

Smith served one season as the defensive line coach at VMI (2017) and one season at Duke as a defensive operations assistant (2016). In 2015, as a defensive graduate assistant at Appalachian State, he worked with Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year Ronald Blair, who was a fifth-round draft pick by the San Francisco 49ers in 2016.

He began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Calhoun County High School in 2014.

As a player, Smith was a standout defensive lineman at Wofford who helped the Terriers to four straight NCAA FCS playoff berths, including SoCon titles in 2010 and 2012. He served as team captain as a senior.

Smith earned his bachelor's degree in business economics from Wofford in 2012.

QUINSHAD DAVIS, WIDE RECEIVERS

Quinshad Davis is the Panthers' new wide receivers coach, coming to Georgia State after two years as a quality control analyst at USF.

While at USF, he worked with the wide receivers in 2020 and then with running backs and tight ends in 2021.

Davis was a standout receiver at North Carolina, where he earned All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors and finished his career as the Tar Heels' all-time leader in receptions (205) and touchdown catches (25).

He went on to professional football, spending time with the Detroit Lions in 2016 before playing one season in the Canadian Football League with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Davis began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at UNC, working with the wide receivers for two seasons (2018-19) before moving to USF.

The native of Gaffney, S.C., earned his bachelor's degree in exercise science and sports science from North Carolina in 2016.

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