Georgia Southern hires Western Kentucky assistant Bryan Ellis as offensive coordinator

Georgia Southern's new head football coach Clay Helton has his offensive coordinator, who has a background in passing the ball and in Georgia.

Bryan Ellis, who worked at Western Kentucky the previous three seasons and helped guide a record-breaking Hilltopper offense in 2021, has been named the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Helton announced Monday.

Helton, hired Nov. 2, said in a statement that he was very excited to bring in Ellis, a native of Byron in Peach County.

"Having worked with Bryan at USC, I had the opportunity to witness first-hand his ability to recruit and develop quarterbacks at an elite level," said Helton, formerly head coach at Southern Cal from 2015 to 2021. "His leadership as a coordinator at Western Kentucky has taken the Hilltoppers to three straight bowl games and this year a conference championship game.

Staff changes: Kevin Whitley to stay at Georgia Southern under Clay Helton after serving as interim head coach

"This year’s offense ranks second in the nation in both scoring offense and total offense as well as holding the title as the top passing offense in the nation. As a Georgia native, he has extremely strong recruiting ties within our state. We look forward to his innovative style taking our offense to new heights.”

Ellis said he's been a fan of Georgia Southern his entire life.

"It’s an honor to be a part of a program with such a winning tradition and I look forward to doing my part in getting this place back to where it belongs,” Ellis said in a statement.

Georgia Southern won six national championships with two national runner-up finishes at the FCS (then Division I-AA) level from 1985 to 2000, primarily running some version of an option offense. While the Eagles' offense has incorporated less option in the playbook in recent years, there is still a strong identity with Georgia Southern as a running team.

Prior to his new role at Georgia Southern, Ellis returned to WKU for his second stint with the Hilltoppers and served as the co-offensive coordinator and inside receivers coach for a Hilltopper team that put up record numbers in 2021 en route to a Conference USA championship game appearance. The head coach is Tyson Helton, Clay's brother.

WKU (8-5) lost 49-41 to UTSA on Saturday night in San Antonio for the conference title, but did accept an invitation to play Appalachian State on Dec. 18 in the RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl.

Heading into its bowl game, WKU ranks second in FBS with 43.1 points per game, averaging 5.2 offensive touchdowns per game. In 2021, WKU leads the nation with 436.5 passing yards per game — 43.9 yards above the next-best passing attack (Virginia, 392.6) — and has had 85 passing plays of 20-plus yards with 22 of those going for touchdowns.

Read More: As season concludes, Georgia Southern's identity on offense could change with new leadership

Under Ellis’s tutelage, 11 different Hilltoppers had a touchdown reception and 14 different players caught at least four passes. Ellis was offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach during the 2020 and 2019 seasons.

In 2018, Ellis was the quarterbacks coach at Southern Cal under Helton, where he was tasked with developing the successor to Sam Darnold, the No. 3 overall draft pick in the 2017 NFL draft. During the 2018 season, Ellis navigated the development of true freshman JT Daniels — just the second true freshman to start a season opener for the Trojans in program history. Not only was Daniels a true freshman, he also reclassified and joined the program a year early.

Daniels posted the top passing yardage performance by a Trojan in his playing debut with 282 yards on 21-of-35 passing. Under Ellis’ direction, Daniels became the first USC true freshman to throw for 300-plus yards since Matt Barkley in 2009. Daniels later was injured and then transferred to the University of Georgia.

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Prior to his bump to a full-time role with the Trojans, Ellis assisted Helton in the quarterbacks’ room where the duo worked together with Darnold during the 2017 campaign. That season, Darnold set school record marks for passing yards (4,143, the first 4,000-yard passer in school history) and total offense (4,225 yards, the first Trojan over 4,000 yards) as well as most 200-yard (13) and 300-yard (eight) passing games.

Ellis previously coached wide receivers (2016) and running backs (2015) during his first tour of duty with the Hilltoppers. Ellis came to WKU as an offensive quality control assistant in 2014 where he assisted in developing the quarterbacks.

Ellis had an outstanding prep career at Peach County High and was tabbed the Atlanta Journal-Constitution AAA State Offensive Player of the Year. He passed for more than 3,600 and threw 31 touchdowns as a senior, leading his Trojans’ squad to a 14-1 record and Class AAA State Championship.

Ellis played a quarterback from 2007-11 at UAB, where in 2010 he made nine starts and totaled 2,940 passing yards and 25 touchdowns in 11 games. After his playing career was done, Ellis transitioned to a graduate assistant coaching role working with the UAB quarterbacks for 2012 and '13.

Ellis is married to the former Janie Cox, and the couple has a daughter, Zoey, and a son, Cade.

Kevin Whitley adds

to his coaching title

Later Monday, Georgia Southern announced a new job title for Kevin Whitley, who has been the Eagles' cornerback coach for three seasons and served as interim head coach for the final eight games of the 2021 season.

A former Georgia Southern All-American and professional player, Whitley is the assistant head coach and cornerbacks coach for Helton. As announced previously, Whitley was the only on-field assistant coach retained by Helton from the 2021 staff.

"There are important qualities we look for when hiring individuals to our coaching staff," Helton said in a statement. "They must have high character, the ability to develop our players both on and off the field, show care and concern for our student-athletes, hold them accountable to our standards and recruit at the highest level.

"Having the chance to watch the final three weeks of the season, I saw Kevin Whitley display each of these characteristics while leading our football team. With this in mind, we are proud to name coach Whitley our assistant head coach and cornerbacks coach for the upcoming season.

"Being a Georgia native, a former Georgia Southern player, and having tremendous success as a coach both at the high school and college level in the state of Georgia, no one has better recruiting ties to our state. Coach Whitley is the example of what a Georgia Southern Eagle should be."

Whitley was a highly success head coach at the high school level in the state before returning to Statesboro in 2019 for his first college coaching job.

"My family and I are excited about the opportunity that coach Helton has given us," said Whitley, who with his wife, Star, has a daughter, Camryn, and a son, Avery. "Being a part of Eagle Nation is an unbelievable experience and we look forward to future success."

GS adds Ryan Smith,

formerly at Auburn

Ryan Smith was hired Friday as the program's general manager, giving the Eagles a key behind-the-scenes staffer who concentrates on recruiting. Smith comes to Statesboro after a season is Auburn's director of player personnel.

"Ryan has worked at the highest level of college football and understands exactly what it takes to put together championship football teams," Helton said in a statement. "He has acquired elite knowledge of our recruiting area in the time he has spent in both the SEC and ACC conferences. The future of recruiting is very bright under his leadership."

Before his time at Auburn, Smith had stints working under head coach Mack Brown at North Carolina in the Atlantic Coast Conference and then-head coach Gus Malzahn at Auburn in the SEC. He was an offensive recruiting analyst with the Tar Heels for two seasons and spent the 2018 season as a personnel and operations assistant at Auburn.

"I am blessed and humbled for the opportunity to work for a man like coach Helton at such a tradition-rich place as Georgia Southern," Smith said in a statement.

During his time at UNC, Smith assisted in the recruiting needs of the Tar Heels' offensive coaching staff, helping manage film, evaluations and information on prospects. He also helped with on-campus visits and arranged recruiting travel plans for UNC's offensive assistants.

A 2015 graduate of Baylor, Smith began his career in 2017 at Angelo State, a Division II program, as an offensive quality control coach while also assisting with the program's quarterbacks. He then joined Malzahn's staff at Auburn the following season.

Nathan Dominitz is the Sports Content Editor of the Savannah Morning News and savannahnow.com. Email him at ndominitz@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @NathanDominitz

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Georgia Southern football hires Bryan Ellis as offensive coordinator