The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Shawn Elliott

Followed Trent Miles. Shawn Elliott held Georgia State at Regional Program IV for 8 seasons.

Peak, then fade

42–49

2015–2024 · 2 stints

Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Reached Power Program in his 1st career season — faster than 57% of the 395 FBS coaches who have ever reached Power Program (rank #1 of 395 by seasons-to-arrival).

Georgia State, 8 seasons

+3.1

Regional Program IV → Regional Program IV.

Style position and drift

Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.

Pass rate — share of offensive plays that were pass attemptsfirst covered seasonmost recent covered seasonfull season-to-season range (3+ covered seasons)

How much that is, against every other stint

Season-to-season pass-rate range for all 258 FBS coaching stints with at least three covered seasons, 2014–2025.

Typical stint7.010.2 median13.9middle half of all stints

Georgia State21.6pt#7 of 258 · more than most

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

2–3 against his rivals. Winless in 4 tries against Shawn Clark.

Rivalry record

2–3

40.0% · 1 rival

One-score games

11–10

52.4% · margin ≤8

vs. Blue Blood or better

0–1

0.0%

Rivalry ledger

Georgia Southern2–340%

The toughest matchup

vs. Shawn Clark0–4

4 meetings, 2020–2023

’20 L · blew a 7-pt lead’21 L’22 L · blew a 14-pt lead’23 L

0% win rate across a real, 4-meeting series — short of the bar this site uses before badging a series “Nemesis.” Shown here as the toughest matchup on record, not an algorithmic crown.

Performance by opponent class

Blue Blood

0–1 0.0%

Power Program

1–2 33.3%

National Program

2–11 15.4%

Regional Program

32–21 60.4%

Coaching career

2017–2024

Georgia Statecaretaker

Regional Program IV → Regional Program IV

Shawn Elliott held Georgia State at Regional Program IV for 8 seasons.

1st-best Georgia State tenure of 4 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Performs about as expected for his recruiting talent, on both sides of the ball.

Offense vs. talent

+3.8 pts

#93 of 208 · a typical amount

Defense vs. talent

-6.6 pts

#132 of 208 · a typical amount

Recruiting talent is team-wide (no offense/defense split exists in the source data) -- both sides are scored against the same talent input, only the outcome is side-specific.

Followed Trent Miles (2013–2016).

Season	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Record & result
Record	7–5	2–10	7–6	6–4	8–5	4–8	7–6	3–9
Postseason	W bowl	—	CFP loss	W bowl	W bowl	—	W bowl	—
Recruiting rank	#105	#95	#98	#110	#101	#99	#115	#120
Style — pass rate
Pass rate	48.5	43.2	39.2	41.0	34.7	33.9	41.7	55.5
Coordinators
OC	Travis Trickett	Travis Trickett	Brad Glenn	Brad Glenn	Brad Glenn	Trent McKnight	Trent McKnight	Jim Chaney
DC	Nate Fuqua	Nate Fuqua	Nate Fuqua	Nate Fuqua	Nate Fuqua	Nate Fuqua	Chad Staggs	Kevin Sherrer
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense	25	53	50	41	59	54	53	35
Defense	43	3	7	59	70	68	26	17
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only)
1st-down pass%	45.5	35.1	31.3	31.3	31.0	31.6	42.2	50.5
Red-zone pass%	37.2	31.2	31.6	31.4	31.7	15.7	27.0	53.3
4th-down go%opp. territory	21.6	41.4	41.9	24.2	24.2	48.6	36.4	34.1

Roster construction · portal era

A typical amount of portal roster-building.

Portal arrivals

2.9★ avg rating

Portal departures

left via the portal

Net portal flow

-19

#81 of 187 FBS stints

Who they bring in

Brings in smaller-than-position-typical players than most.

A typical class-year mix of incoming transfers.

Avg. size (raw)

6′1″, 236 lbs

across 44 of 57 arrivals — unadjusted for position mix

Size vs. position-typical

-2.8 lbs

#245 of 255 · less than most

Avg. class year

#97 of 255 · a typical amount

Top states: GA (14), FL (5), MD (4), SC (3), LA (2)

Who won the portal our read

Talent added

53.7

position-weighted

Talent lost

54.8

position-weighted

Net

-1.1

arrivals minus departures

Best addition: Christian Veilleux (QB) from Pittsburgh

Biggest loss: Keilon Brown (QB) to the portal

Position-value-weighted (QB/CB weighted highest, depth-decayed within each position) — the same scoring engine as the Portal Heat feed, not a separate grade.

Does the system survive a coordinator change?

OC: Travis Trickett → Brad Glenn · 2019the system held

2-season window either side.

1st-down pass rate: 40.3% → 31.3% (-9.0 pts)

Confound, shown not hidden: only 72% of offensive production returned the year the coordinator changed — the roster turned over at the same time, not just the play-caller.

OC: Brad Glenn → Trent McKnight · 2022the system held

2-season window either side.

1st-down pass rate: 31.1% → 36.9% (+5.8 pts)

Confound, shown not hidden: only 84% of offensive production returned the year the coordinator changed — the roster turned over at the same time, not just the play-caller.

DC: Nate Fuqua → Chad Staggs · 2023

1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.

Roster size, by position

Skill positions · usage-weighted (real participation)

Quarterback

216 lbs

6′4″ avg · #279 of 767 · a typical amount

Running back

201 lbs

5′10″ avg · #598 of 791 · less than most

Wide receiver

190 lbs

6′0″ avg · #531 of 791 · a typical amount

Tight end

246 lbs

6′3″ avg · #322 of 731 · a typical amount

Trench & secondary · recruited roster, not confirmed starters

Interior line

291 lbs

6′3″ avg · #764 of 779 · less than most

D-line

278 lbs

6′1″ avg · #512 of 753 · a typical amount

Linebacker

226 lbs

6′1″ avg · #507 of 772 · a typical amount

Cornerback

187 lbs

6′0″ avg · #553 of 771 · a typical amount

Safety

188 lbs

5′11″ avg · #327 of 346 · less than most

Offensive-line size is one undifferentiated bucket — the source data almost never distinguishes tackle from guard from center, so we can't split them out.

Where the roster comes from, by position

Buys Quarterback via the portal

75%

#5 of 206 stints

Grows K from high school

75%

#49 of 56 stints

Grows Tight end from high school

100%

#164 of 188 stints

Postseason detail2017: Beat Western Kentucky 27–17 Autonation Cure Bowl2019: Lost to Wyoming 17–38 CFP2020: Beat Western Kentucky 39–21 LendingTree Bowl2021: Beat Ball State 51–20 TaxAct Camellia Bowl2023: Beat Utah State 45–22 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl

2 NFL Draft picks: Robert Davis (2017), Travis Glover (2024)

41–44

2015–2015

South Carolinacaretaker

Power Program II → Power Program III

Shawn Elliott slid South Carolina from Power Program II to Power Program III in 1 season.

2nd-best South Carolina tenure of 19 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Performs about as expected for his recruiting talent on offense and underperforms his recruiting talent on defense.

Offense vs. talent

-9.5 pts

#149 of 208 · a typical amount

Defense vs. talent

-45.6 pts

#209 of 208 · less than most

Recruiting talent is team-wide (no offense/defense split exists in the source data) -- both sides are scored against the same talent input, only the outcome is side-specific.

Succeeded by Will Muschamp (2016–2020).

Where the roster comes from, by position

Grows Tackle from high school

100%

#198 of 223 stints

7 NFL Draft picks: A.J. Cann (2015), Mike Davis (2015), Corey Robinson (2015), Rory Anderson (2015), Pharoh Cooper (2016), Brandon Shell (2016), Jerell Adams (2016)

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