NEW ORLEANS — The Sun Belt Conference welcomes five new head coaches heading into the 2024 season.
Dell McGee, Georgia State
Dell McGee was named Georgia State’s fourth head football coach on Feb. 23, 2024. McGee was most recently the run game coordinator and running backs coach at Georgia, where he was part of a pair of College Football Playoff national championship teams during his eight-year tenure from 2016-23.
A first-time collegiate head coach, McGee brings 22 years of coaching experience to the Panther program. McGee spent 11 years in the high school ranks, including eight years at the helm of George Washington Carver High School (2005-12) in Columbus, Ga., highlighted by the 2007 Georgia AAA state title. McGee then made the jump to the college level, serving as an analyst at his alma mater Auburn (2013) and as the running backs coach at Sun Belt member Georgia Southern (2014-15). He led the Eagles to victory in the GoDaddy Bowl in Dec. 2015, while serving as the interim head coach.
McGee was a two-year starter and four-year letterwinner as a defensive back at Auburn from 1992-95. He was selected in the fifth round of the 1996 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals and spent time with the Cardinals and Detroit Lions over three NFL seasons. He also played in NFL Europe, the XFL and the Arena Football League during his seven-year professional career.
Bob Chesney, James Madison
Bob Chesney was named James Madison’s ninth head football coach on Dec. 7, 2023. Chesney takes over the Dukes program after constructing a five-time Patriot League champion team over a six-year run at Holy Cross.
Chesney boasts a 111-46 (.707) career record in 14 seasons as a head coach at NCAA Division III Salve Regina (2010-12), NCAA Division II Assumption (2013-17) and NCAA FCS Holy Cross (2018-23). He also had assistant coaching stops at Norwich (2000-01), Delaware Valley (2002), King’s (2003-04) and Johns Hopkins (2005-09). At Holy Cross, he recorded back-to-back seasons with victories over an FBS foe, defeating UConn, 38-28, in 2021 and Buffalo, 37-31, in 2022. Chesney was a three-time Patriot League Coach of the Year at Holy Cross (2019, 2021 & 2022) and a two-time Northeast-10 Coach of the Year at Assumption (2015 & 2017).
Chesney was a four-year letterwinner as a defensive back at NCAA Division III Dickinson from 1996-99, where he was a Second Team All-Centennial Conference selection in 1997 and 1998.
Bryant Vincent, ULM
Bryant Vincent was named ULM’s 17th head football coach on Dec. 5, 2023. Vincent was most recently the offensive coordinator at New Mexico during the 2023 season.
Following the retirement of Bill Clark, Vincent served as the interim head coach at UAB in 2022, leading the Blazers to a 7-6 season and a victory in the 2022 HomeTown Lenders Bahamas Bowl. Vincent was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach during two stints at UAB (2014 & 2018-21) and also held assistant coaching roles in two stints at Sun Belt member South Alabama (2011-13 & 2015-17). He spent 13 years in the high school ranks, including five years at the helm of Greenville High School (2006) and Spanish Fort High School (2007-10) in Alabama—highlighted by the 2010 Alabama 5A state title.
Vincent got his start in coaching as a student assistant at NCAA Division II West Alabama (1996-97).
Major Applewhite, South Alabama
Major Applewhite was named South Alabama’s fourth head football coach on Jan. 18, 2024. Applewhite spent the past three seasons as the Jaguars offensive coordinator, helping propel the team to a 10-win season in 2022 and the program’s first bowl championship in 2023.
Applewhite went 15-11 (.577) was the head coach at Houston from 2017-18, after serving as the program’s offensive coordinator (2015-16). Between stops at Houston and South Alabama, Applewhite spent two seasons as an analyst on Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama, including being a part of the Crimson Tide’s perfect 13-0 season and College Football Playoff national championship in 2020. He also had assistant coaching stops at Texas (2003-04 & 2008-10) and Syracuse (2005) and offensive coordinator terms at Rice (2006), Alabama (2007) and Texas (2011-13).
Applewhite was a four-year letterwinner as a quarterback at Texas from 1998-2001, posting a 22-8 record as a starter. He helped the Longhorns to four-straight bowl games and earned Big 12 Freshman of the Year honors in 1998 and Co-Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year accolades in 1999.
Gerad Parker, Troy
Gerad Parker was named Troy’s head football coach on Dec. 18, 2023. Parker was most recently the offensive coordinator and tight ends coach at Notre Dame in 2023, after serving as the program’s tight ends coach in 2022.
Parker joined the Notre Dame staff following two seasons with former Troy head coach Neal Brown at West Virginia as the offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach (2020-21). He also held assistant coaching roles at UT Martin (2008-10), Marshall (2011-12), Purdue (2013-16), Duke (2017-18) and Penn State (2019). Parker was the interim head coach at Purdue for the final six weeks of the 2016 season. He got his start in coaching at Raceland High School (2005-06) in Raceland, Ky., before spending the 2007 campaign as a graduate assistant at his alma mater Kentucky.
Parker was a four-year letterwinner as a wide receiver at Kentucky from 2000-04, earning SEC Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll honors (2002-03) and CoSIDA Academic All-District IV Second Team recognition (2004). He was a college teammate of former Troy head coach Jon Sumrall.
The newcomers join a group of head coaches that includes Shawn Clark at App State, Butch Jones at Arkansas State, Tim Beck at Coastal Carolina, Clay Helton at Georgia Southern, Michael Desormeaux at Louisiana, Charles Huff at Marshall, Ricky Rahne at Old Dominion, Will Hall at Southern Miss and GJ Kinne at Texas State.