Georgia State to add John McDonell as senior offensive analyst
Former Tulane offensive line coach John McDonell will be a new senior offensive analyst for Georgia State coach Trent Miles, according to a source.
McDonell spent the past four seasons in his role at Tulane but was not retained by new head coach Willie Fritz, who was hired in December to replace the fired Curtis Johnson. McDonell came to the Green Wave in 2012 after coaching the offensive line at Idaho in ’11, Memphis in ’10 and Bowling Green in ’09.
He served as tight ends coach at Purdue from 2006–08, also coaching the Boilermakers’ offensive tackles in ’06 and ’07. McDonell also had two stints at Stanford, coaching centers and guards in ’01 and offensive tackles and tight ends in ’05. In between, he served as Notre Dame’s offensive line coach from ’02–04.
The Spokane, Wash., native worked at Washington State from 1989–2000, spending the first five years coaching the offensive line and tight ends before becoming offensive coordinator and offensive line coach for his final seven years with the Cougars. He helped Washington State win the Pac-10 championship in 1997 when his offense ranked second in the country at 502 yards per game.
McDonell arrived in Pullman with head coach Mike Price, whom he followed from Weber State. McDonell coached the Wildcats’ offensive line under Price from 1984–88 and helped them lead the nation in total offense in ’85.
He was head coach at Scobey (Mont.) High from 1982–83 after getting his start in coaching as the offensive line coach at his alma mater, Carroll College, in ’81. McDonell was an NAIA All-America honoree at Carroll College his senior season.
He now joins up with Miles, who led Georgia State to its first bowl game in program history last season, when the Panthers earned a bid to the Cure Bowl. Miles took over the program in 2013, just its fourth year of competition and first year in the FBS. Georgia State has steadily improved during his tenure, going from 0–12 in ’13 to 1–11 in ’14 to 6–7 in ’15.
