Shawn Elliott

Shawn Elliott is in the third year of his second stint with Carolina Football. He was named the Gamecocks’ run game coordinator and tight ends coach, on Feb. 16, 2024. The Camden, S.C., native has been part of 24 winning campaigns and 22 postseason appearances in 29 seasons as a college coach.

Elliott’s tight ends combined to catch 36 passes for 361 yards in 2025. Brady Hunt, who had just two receptions in 2024, led the way with 21 catches for 168 yards. Elliott added the offensive line coaching duties midway through the campaign and that unit showed significant improvement down the stretch.

Elliott’s first year back in Columbia proved to be successful. Led by Raheim “Rocket” Sanders, Carolina averaged 184.4 yards per game on the ground, its most since 2013 and nearly 100 yards per game more than 2023. Sanders earned second-team All-SEC honors and was recognized as College Football’s Comeback Player of the Year. His 881 yards rushing were the most for a Gamecock since 2020. The tight end room was led by Joshua Simon, who paced the team with 40 receptions, 519 yards and seven touchdowns, the first tight end in school history to lead the team in all three categories.

Elliott served for seven seasons (2017-23) as the head coach at Georgia State where he posted a 41-44 record and led the Panthers to four bowl wins in five appearances. Elliott built the GSU program by establishing one of the nation’s most productive rushing attacks. Over his last five seasons, the Panthers averaged 214 yards rushing per game.

Elliott posted GSU’s first winning season as an FBS program in 2017. He logged three-straight bowl berths from 2019-21, culminating with a school-record eight wins in 2021. He pulled a stunning upset in 2019 with a win at Tennessee for the program’s first Power 5 win, earning him Dodd Trophy National Coach of the Week honors, and engineered the school’s first win over a ranked opponent with a win at No. 21 Coastal Carolina in 2021.

Elliott produced 71 All-Sun Belt Conference players, one All-American and one Freshman All-American at GSU. Eleven of his players signed NFL free agent contracts, including five who played in the league. In addition, GSU had eight Academic All-District selections and one Academic All-American during his tenure.

Elliott worked seven seasons (2010-16) at South Carolina under Steve Spurrier and Will Muschamp, highlighted by three consecutive 11-win seasons from 2011-13. In addition to coaching the offensive line, he was the running game coordinator in 2010 and 2011, was elevated to co-offensive coordinator in 2012, and then served as the interim head coach following Spurrier’s retirement midway through the 2015 season.

Elliott originally joined the Carolina staff in 2010 and helped the Gamecocks reach five-straight bowl games while coaching some of the most prolific and balanced offenses in school history. The Gamecocks turned in the program’s best offensive season in 2013, averaging 34.1 points while rolling up a school-record 452.3 yards per game.

South Carolina’s 2014 unit scored nearly 33 points per game while averaging over 440 yards of offense as All-American offensive guard A.J. Cann paved the way. In 2010, Elliott’s first season in Columbia, his offensive line blocked for record-setting running back Marcus Lattimore, the National Freshman of the Year.

In addition to Cann, Elliott developed future NFL linemen Corey Robinson, Ronald Patrick, Brandon Shell, T.J. Johnson and Rokevious Watkins.

Prior to South Carolina, Elliott coached his entire career at his alma mater, Appalachian State.  In 13 seasons, he was an integral part of App State’s three-consecutive NCAA titles from 2005-07 and the Mountaineers’ historic upset at Michigan in 2007. He worked two seasons as a defensive assistant (1997-98) and then two seasons as the tight ends coach (1999-00) before taking over the offensive line in 2001.

In nine seasons as the Mountaineers’ O-line coach, Elliott’s players earned All-America distinction 12 times, including four different linemen who received first-team accolades. He also coached All-American and future NFL tight end Daniel Wilcox in 2000. In 2003, offensive lineman Wayne Smith was the first pick in the CFL Draft. From 2005-07, Elliott coached three-consecutive Southern Conference Jacobs Blocking Trophy recipients.

Elliott helped lead the Mountaineers to 10 NCAA playoff berths in 13 seasons with two trips to the national semifinals and three appearances in the quarterfinals in addition to the three championships.

He was one of three App State coaches to earn the NCAA’s Award of Valor for their efforts in rescuing two individuals from an automobile accident in 2000.

Elliott was the first player in Mountaineer annals to appear in the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs in four seasons. A four-year letterwinner, he helped the Mountaineers to two Southern Conference titles and a combined record of 36-16. He served as a co-captain of the 1995 squad that finished 12-1 while earning all-SoCon distinction at defensive end.

Born June 26, 1973, Elliott earned his bachelor’s degree from Appalachian State in 1996. He is married to the former Summer Scruggs, also an App State grad and a standout tennis player for the Mountaineers. The couple has two children, Maddyn and Max.