ATLANTA -- Georgia State head football coach Dell McGee, named as the Panthers' head coach last week, is quickly assembling a talented staff, led by veteran coordinators Jim Chaney on offense and Kevin Sherrer on defense.
 
Together, Chaney and Sherrer bring nearly 70 years of coaching experience at the collegiate, professional and high school levels. Both previously worked with McGee at Georgia, specifically during the 2017 season for the Bulldogs' run to the CFP National Championship game.
 
Entering his 39th season of coaching, Chaney is a long-time and highly-respected offensive coordinator, including stints at Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Pitt, Purdue and Cal State Fullerton.
 
Sherrer brings 28 years of coaching, including extensive experience coaching linebackers in the Southeastern Conference and the National Football League. He joins the GSU program from Georgia Tech, where he was elevated to defensive coordinator during the 2023 season.
 
"I feel very fortunate to be able to bring in two coordinators with such a wealth experience and knowledge," McGee said. "Of course, I'm very familiar with both of them, and I know that they understand what it takes to build a team that will compete for championships."
 
JIM CHANEY, OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR
 
Jim Chaney, a long-time offensive coordinator at several major programs with 39 years of coaching experience at the collegiate and professional levels, joins the Georgia State staff as the offensive coordinator for head coach Dell McGee.
 
Chaney's distinguished career features stints as the offensive coordinator at Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Pitt, Purdue and Cal State Fullerton.
 
Chaney and McGee first worked together at Georgia from 2016-18, highlighted by the Bulldogs' berth in the 2017 CFP National Championship game.
 
In addition to coordinating the Georgia offense, Chaney coached quarterbacks in 2016 and 2017 and the tight ends in 2018, while McGee tutored the running backs. Together they produced some of the most prolific offenses in Bulldogs' history. Georgia led the SEC in rushing in 2017 (258.4) and 2018 (238.79) and had four different players eclipse 1,000 yards rushing over that two-year span. Georgia set school records in rushing yards (3,876) and rushing touchdowns (42) in 2017.
 
Georgia won the SEC and advanced to the national championship game in 2017 with a true freshman at quarterback in Jake Fromm, who was selected in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills. The Bulldogs went to a second consecutive SEC Championship game in 2018 and appeared in the Sugar Bowl, while ranking second in the SEC in scoring (37.9 ppg) and averaging 464.4 yards per game.
 
Chaney worked two stints as offensive coordinator at Tennessee from 2009-12 and again from 2019-21. While serving as the Volunteers interim head coach in 2012, he led UT to a season-ending win over Kentucky.
 
In between, he was the offensive coordinator at Arkansas (2013-14) and Pittsburgh (2015) before going to Georgia in 2016. Chaney also worked as an offensive analyst with the New Orleans Saints (2021) and at Texas A&M (2023) and as assistant to the head coach at Georgia Tech (2022).
 
Chaney broke into coaching at Cal State Fullerton in 1985 and served in many areas from 1985-92, including offensive coordinator. In 1989, quarterback Dan Speltz led the NCAA in completion percentage (69.3) with Chaney as the offensive coordinator.
 
He moved to Wyoming in 1993, where he began a long association with head coach Joe Tiller, going with Tiller to Purdue as offensive coordinator in 1997.
 
During his nine seasons (1997-2005) as the Purdue offensive coordinator, Chaney's offenses ranked in the top 10 in the nation in total offense six times and led the Big Ten in passing five times. He tutored two-time Heisman Trophy finalist and future NFL star Drew Brees, who led the NCAA in total offense in 2000 and received the Maxwell Award as the Boilermakers won the Big Ten and earned a berth in the Rose Bowl for the first time in 33 years. Purdue quarterbacks Billy Dicken and Kyle Orton also led the Big Ten in passing under Chaney.
 
Following Purdue, Chaney spent three seasons (2006-08) in the NFL, coaching offensive line and tight ends for the St. Louis Rams.
 
A native of Holden, Missouri, Chaney earned his bachelor's degree in physical education from Central Missouri State University in 1985 after a career at noseguard. He earned all-conference honors as a senior.
 
 
 
KEVIN SHERRER, DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR/LINEBACKERS
 
Kevin Sherrer, a veteran coach with experience at the professional, collegiate and high school levels, is the defensive coordinator/linebackers coach on head coach Dell McGee's first Georgia State staff.
 
Sherrer previously worked with McGee on the Georgia staff for two seasons, including the Bulldogs' 2017 season that ended with a berth in the CFP National Championship game.
 
He comes to GSU after one season at Georgia Tech, where he served as linebackers coach/co-defensive coordinator before being elevated to defensive coordinator on Oct. 1, 2023.
 
Sherrer has excelled at every level of football, winning two national titles as a member of the staff at the University of Alabama as well as three high school state championships as an assistant coach in state of Alabama before coaching two seasons in the NFL as an assistant coach for the New York Giants. He served as the Giants' inside linebackers coach in 2020, then linebackers coach in '21.
 
Prior to his two seasons in the NFL, Sherrer spent the previous five seasons coaching linebackers in the Southeastern Conference, first at Georgia (2014-17), then at Tennessee (2018-19). In his five seasons in the SEC, he coached seven linebackers that went on to be selected in the NFL Draft, including first-round picks Leonard Floyd (Georgia – 2016) and Roquan Smith (Georgia – 2018).
 
At Tennessee, he was the defensive coordinator in 2017, when the Vols jumped from 74 spots in the national statistical rankings in run defense. He served as UT's special teams coordinator in 2018.
 
In four seasons at Georgia, he coached two All-Americans (Leonard Floyd and Roquan Smith), five all-SEC honorees and the 2017 Butkus Award winner in Smith. He helped coach one of the nation's top defenses in 2017, when UGA ranked among the top 12 nationally in all four major defensive statistical categories – pass defense (second), scoring defense (t-third), total defense (fourth) and rushing defense (12th) – en route to the SEC championship and a berth in the national title game.
 
Before moving to the SEC, Sherrer spent one season as defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach at South Alabama (2013), which ranked in the top three in the Sun Belt Conference in scoring (second), total (second), passing (second) and rushing (third) defense and was among the top 20 nationally in sacks (third) and tackles for loss (17th).
 
Sherrer's first full-time position at the collegiate level came at his alma mater, Alabama, as director of player development from 2010-12. In his final two seasons at Alabama, the Crimson Tide won back-to-back national championships.
 
Prior to making the jump to the collegiate level, Sherrer established himself as one of the preeminent high school assistant coaches in the state of Alabama, with stints as a defensive assistant at Tuscaloosa County High School (1996-97), defensive backs coach at Spain Park High School (2001-04) and, most notably, a defensive assistant (2005-06) and defensive coordinator (2007-09) at state power Hoover High School. He won three Alabama 6A state championships during his time in the high school ranks – 1997 (Tuscaloosa County), 2005 (Hoover) and 2009 (Hoover).
 
Sherrer's first coaching experience at the collegiate level came as a graduate assistant at Alabama from 1998-2000, which included an SEC championship in 1999.
 
As a player, Sherrer was a three-year letterwinner at tight end for Alabama from 1993-95, when he helped lead the Crimson Tide to 29 victories and two SEC West Division titles. He earned a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1996 and a master's degree in higher education administration in 2000 from Alabama.
 
The Oneonta, Ala., native was inducted into the Blount County Sports Hall of Fame in 2023.
 
He and his wife, Carrie, have twin sons, Kaleb and Kyle.