Georgia State Panthers football

The Georgia State Panthers football team is the college football program for Georgia State University in Atlanta. The Panthers football team was founded in 2010 and currently compete at the NCAA Division I FBS level. The football competes in the Sun Belt Conference, although it is still in transition into the FBS through the 2013 season (and therefore will not be eligible to compete in the post season until 2014).

2006-07
In November 2006, a study commissioned by Georgia State was completed and submitted back to the school. It found Georgia State to be in a good position to begin a competitive football team, and based its remarks on the location and resources of the university. It estimated that total annual expenses by 2012 would be $3.1 million.

On April 15, 2007, former Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Reeves was hired by Georgia State as a consultant.

On November 1, 2007, the university began discussing the possibility of adding football. It found that total costs would cost between $6.2 million and $33.8 million depending on several different factors, including whether a stadium would be built or a preexisting stadium would be used.

2008-09
On April 17, 2008, Georgia State launched its football program. On June 12, 2008, former Georgia Tech, Alabama, and Kentucky head coach Bill Curry was named as the Georgia State head coach, working on a 5-year contract. This was followed by the hiring of John Bond as offensive coordinator, John Thompson as defensive coordinator, and George Pugh as assistant head coach, as well as Chris Ward and Anthony Midget.

On November 20, 2008, groundbreaking for a downtown practice facility at 188 Martin Luther King Drive was held. The facility would be built to include a 100-yard artificial turf field and a 50-yard natural turf field. The existing buildings would be converted into facilities and offices for the football team.

On January 4, 2009, Mark Hogan, son of former Georgia Tech player Mark Hogan Sr. enrolled to play as wide receiver on scholarship, making him the first football player to receive a scholarship from Georgia State. The following month, the program would sign its first recruiting class of 27 players, including the three-star running back Parris Lee.

On February 25, 2009, Georgia State would name Cheryl Levick as athletic director, leaving Maryland where she would serve as the school's executive senior athletic director. By June 11, the CAA would announce that they would admit the program with them officially playing in the CAA during the 2012 season.

The Panthers wouldn't play football until the 2010 season, and so the 2009 season would be spent practicing at an NFL facility in downtown Atlanta. 71 players would report on August 14.

2010-11
Georgia State's second recruiting class was signed on February 3, 2010. The team would go on to hold spring practice beginning on March 23, and would begin working out at the new practice facility by March 27.

On September 2, Georgia State played its first football game and home opener against the Shorter Hawks, winning the game 41-7. The first touchdown was recorded by Parris Lee. A crowd of 30,237 was present at the Georgia Dome including then Georgia governor Sonny Perdue, former mayor Andrew Young, amongst other dignitaries. Later during the last game of the season on November 18, Georgia State would play FBS defending national champion and number 10 ranked Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, losing 63-7. The single touchdown was earned during a kick return by Albert Wilson.

During its second year of play, the Panthers would record a 3-8 record. The season would be marked by a constant shuffle of quarterbacks after the 2009 starter Drew Little was suspended for the first four games and the second string quarterback Kelton Hill was arrested prior to the season opener, leaving the punter, Bo Schlecter as first string quarterback.

2012
The 2012 season marked the last with Bill Curry as head coach as he had stated that he would retire after the end of the season. Throughout the season, the Panthers were plagued with inconsistencies on both the offense and defense, made worse by injuries on either side and inexperienced quarterbacks. Curry would end his final season (and only year in the CAA) with a 1-10 record. The Panthers were not eligible for a post season birth (through neither the conference's automatic bid nor an at large bid) due to their reclassifying status as the team prepared to move up to FBS football in the Sun Belt Conference. This reclassifying status did allow for the Panthers to use more scholarships than the allowed 63 scholarships at the FCS level.

Move to FBS
Georgia State officially announced that it would join the Sun Belt Conference on April 9, 2012, during a press conference at the Georgia Dome. The school is scheduled to begin full membership on July 1, 2013. Georgia State was a founding member of the Sun Belt Conference in 1976. The Sun Belt participates in Division I FBS, as opposed to FCS. The Panthers will be eligible for postseason play during the 2014 season.

Hire of Trent Miles
After Coach Bill Curry announced his retirement in August, the administration hired Parker Executive Search to help find potential candidates. On November 30, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the university had hired Trent Miles, head coach of Indiana State University.

Year-by-year results

 * Statistics correct as of the end of the 2012-13 college football season

Bill Curry
Georgia State's first head coach Bill Curry was the initial architect for the program. His tenure ended with a record of 10-23. Initially hired by the former athletics director Mary McElroy, after her termination by previous Georgia State president Carl Patton, Curry was named interim athletic director while the school searched for a new AD. During his tenure as head coach, Curry saw the program grow from an idea into a fully fledged division 1 - FCS team. He also was present for the beginning of the transition from the football championship subdivision (FCS) to the football bowl subdivision (FBS) as the school changed athletics conferences from the Colonial Athletic Association to the Sun Belt Conference. While Georgia State built the foundations for its football program with him at its helm, including new practice facilities and offices, Curry's teams experienced little success on the field. After a 6-5 record in its first season, the Panthers followed with a 3-8 record in its second season, and finally closing with a 1-10 record in his final year. However, the university honored its founding head coach by naming the locker rooms at the new football practice facility after Curry.

Trent Miles
On November 30, 2012, former Indiana State head coach Trent Miles was announced as the new Georgia State head coach.

Stadium
The Georgia State Panthers play home games in the state owned Georgia Dome, located just north of the Georgia State main campus in Downtown Atlanta. It is the largest cable-supported domed stadium in the world and has a football capacity of 71,228. The regular capacity for GSU football games is 28,155 (the capacity of the lower bowl), however the middle and upper bowls will be filled as overflow when necessary as has occurred twice  since the programs inception. The dome hosted the gymnastic and basketball events during the 1996 Olympic Games. The dome is outfitted with FieldTurf.