BREAKING: Georgia expected to hire Stacy Searels as offensive line coach

A week after the job came open, Georgia’s assistant coaching search for its next offensive line coach has seemingly come to a close. Barring any last second changes, DawgsHQ is expecting North Carolina assistant Stacy Searels to be announced as the man to fill the position left open by Matt Luke, becoming the fourth new assistant to join the defending national champions this offseason.

Searels has been in coaching for quite some time. A native of Trion, Ga., Searels played at Auburn in the mid-to-late 1980s before a brief career in professional football. Then, he returned to Auburn as a graduate assistant to get started in coaching in 1992, helping the Tigers to an 11-0 season in 1993. Sereals then got his first full-time job as an assistant at Appalachian State where the Mountaineers made five Division I-AA playoff appearances and won a pair of Southern Conference championships.

Searels made the jump to the FBS level in 2001 at Cincinnati as the Bearcats played in two bowl games and won the school’s first conference title since in nearly four decades, taking home the 2002 Conference USA crown. Then in 2003, Searels joined Nick Saban’s staff at LSU where in his first season as the offensive line coach, the Tigers won the National Championship. Searels and Georgia coach Kirby Smart crossed paths briefly during the 2004 season as Smart was the defensive backs coach before continuing on with Saban to the NFL and Alabama. Meanwhile, Searels was retained by Les Miles and further helped LSU’s offensive line. In 2006, the Tigers finished first in the SEC in total offense and scoring, second in rushing offense and third in both passing offense and sacks allowed. Searels coached two first-team All-Americans during his time in Baton Rouge (Stephen Peterman and Rimington Award winner Ben Wilkerson) as well as second-team All-American Andrew Whitworth. All in all, five of Searel’s LSU linemen would go on to earn NFL roster spots including Whitworth, a second round selection by the Cincinnati Bengals.

After his time at LSU was over, Searels came to Athens and coached offensive line for Georgia from 2007 to 2010, earning the title of running game coordinator in 2010. With current Georgia offensive analyst Mike Bobo as the offensive coordinator and Searels leading the offensive line, the Bulldogs ranked in the top 25 for fewest sacks allowed three times. Clint Boling earned a spot on the Freshman All-American team in 2007 and First-Team All-SEC honors in 2008 and 2009 under Searels while the Bulldogs offensive line paved the way for rushers like Doak Walker Award finalist and All-SEC running back Knowshon Moreno. Georgia won the Sugar Bowl over Hawaii in 2007 and finished ranked in the top-four in the country. Among his best individuals during his time at UGA was Clint Boling who was a three-time First-Team All-SEC selection as well as a Freshman All-American in 2007. As a senior, Bowling was named an All-American by Pro Football Weekly.

Since last being in Athens, Searels has coached at Texas (2011-13), Virginia Tech (2014-15) and Miami (2016-18) while presently being at North Carolina since 2019. The Tar Heels led the ACC in rushing yards this past season, their second consecutive season atop the ACC. Searel’s offensive line served as the foundation for one of the country’s most explosive offenses in 2020, averaging 537.2 yards per game including 235.8 yards per game on the ground. The rushing attack led the country in runs of 10+ yards (109) and 20+ yards (35) that season.

Overall, Searels has helped produce 25 NFL offensive linemen including 11 that heard their name called in the NFL Draft. He takes over an offensive line room in Athens that returns three starters (Sedrick Van Pran, Warren Ericson and Warren McClendon) while having plenty of young, talented players ready to compete for spots as well.

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