Dell McGee led the Georgia Southern Eagles to victory as the interim head coach for the GoDaddy Bowl against Bowling Green. McGee, who was elevated to assistant head coach earlier this season, is in his second season with Georgia Southern.Â
McGee, tasked with tutoring the Eagle running backs, helped the Georgia Southern offense finish the season as the nation’s top rushing team in 2014 as the Eagles won the Sun Belt Championship. Going 8-0 in league play, Georgia Southern rushed for 384.0 yards per game behind 124.5 from Matt Breida. This season, Georgia Southern is once again leading the nation in rushing yards per game as four backs have topped the 600-yard mark, including Breida who was named a first-team all-conference selection for the second season in a row.
He joined the Eagles in the spring of 2014 after serving one season at his alma mater Auburn where he worked as an analyst in 2013 when the Tigers reached the final BCS Championship Game.
The Columbus, Ga., native led Columbus-Carver as its head coach from 2005-12, and guided his undefeated team to the 2007 Class AAA state championship. McGee posted an 88-19 overall record with a 21-6 mark in the playoffs, which included six region championships. He took over a Tiger program in 2005 that had not had a winning season in the nine years previous and had never posted a double-digit win campaign in its 47-year history.
McGee developed Carver-Columbus into a perennial powerhouse as the Tigers rattled off seven-straight seasons with 10 or more wins, including a perfect 15-0 season en route to the Georgia state title. In four of McGee’s last five years at helm of the program, Carver advanced to the state semifinals.
Over the course of his coaching career, McGee has mentored hundreds of young men, more than 100 of whom who have continued their football careers in college. Countless others have been impacted by his character, resolve and enthusiasm for helping students succeed.
McGee has had a number of players advance to the professional ranks, including All-American Jarvis Jones, and UAB offensive lineman Chris Hubbard, both with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Another former Tiger, DeQuan Menzie, was a 2011 draft pick of the Kansas City Chiefs. Isaiah Crowell was a 2014 Free Agent signee for the Cleveland Browns, while Gabe Wright was drafted in the fourth round of the 2015 draft. Corey Crawford signed a rookie free-agent deal with Washington in 2015.
In 2011, McGee was selected to coach in the third annual Under Armour High School All-America Game in St. Petersburg, Fla.
McGee was a two-year starter and four-year letterwinner at Auburn from 1992-95, helping preserve the Tigers’ undefeated 1993 season with a critical interception against Alabama.
He was selected in the fifth round of the 1996 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals and remained with the organization through 1998. McGee played overseas in NFL Europe in 1999 and then concluded that season with the Detroit Lions.
Additional stops in the Arena Football League and with the XFL closed out his professional career. McGee had two interceptions in the XFL and ranks on the league’s career interceptions top-10 list.
After he finished playing professionally, McGee began coaching at the high school level as an assistant coach in 2001. Recruited by Coach Pat Dye to play at Auburn, McGee lettered in football and track at Kendrick High School in Columbus, Ga.
McGee and his wife Linda have a son, Austin, and reside in Statesboro.
