5 Georgia State head coach candidates after Shawn Elliott's move to South Carolina ft. Jeff Monken

The Georgia State Panthers need a new head coach after Shawn Elliott resigned on Thursday.

Elliott has been the Panthers head coach since 2017. But he resigned to return to the University of South Carolina as the tight ends coach and run game coordinator,

With Elliott resigning, Georgia State athletic director Charlie Cobb says they are excited to hire a new head coach.

"I am confident that we will hire an outstanding football coach who will take Georgia State football to even greater heights. We plan to move quickly, and we have retained Parker Executive Search to assist in the process. We’re excited about the future.”

Following Elliott's surprising resignation, here are five potential replacements for him.

5 head coach candidates for Georgia State

#1, Jeff Monken

Jeff Monken is the head coach of Army, but he has been rumored to take a job at a bigger school and Georgia State should be interested in him.

Monken has been at Army since 2014 and has a record of 70-55 with the school. He has done well with the program despite it being hard to recruit people to the army academies rather than regular colleges.

If Monken can go to another school, it should allow him to recruit better and likely help the Panthers succeed even more.

#2, Jason Candle

Jason Candle is the head coach of Toledo

Jason Candle has been the head coach of Toledo since 2016 and has been linked to many Power Five job openings. So it shouldn't be surprising to see him be mentioned for Georgia State's job.

Candle has led Toledo to a 65-35 record, including winning the MAC Championship in 2022 and returning to the championship game in 2023.

#3, Dan Mullen

If Dan Mullen wants to be a head coach in college football again, the Georgia State opening could make sense.

Mullen coached at Mississippi State from 2009 until 2017 and with Florida from 2018 until 2020. Since then, he has been working for ESPN as a college football analyst but was linked to the Syracuse job. So, it shows he is interested in returning to the sideline.

#4, Trent McKnight

If Georgia State is going to look in-house to replace Shawn Elliott, offensive coordinator Trent McKnight is a logical person to promote.

McKnight is in his seventh season at Georgia State and was elevated to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2022. In his first year as the OC, the Panthers ranked No. 1 in the Sun Belt Conference in rushing offense and No. 14 in FBS.

Georgia State was also just one of 18 schools in the nation to average at least 200 yards of both rushing and passing.

#5, Chad Staggs

Chad Staggs is the Georgia State Panthers' defensive coordinator and would be the other in-house option.

Staggs has been with the Panthers since 2023 and before that, he was the defensive coordinator at Coastal Carolina.

With Staggs, Chanticleers' defense ranked No. 19 in FBS in scoring defense, No. 31 in total defense, No. 16 in pass efficiency defense and No. 9 in turnover margin.