L.S.U.'s Stacy Searels Joins Georgia Staff as Offensive Line Coach

The celebration on the Bayou that followed L.S.U.'s torching of the perennially overrated Fighting Irish in the Sugar Bowl had scarcely concluded ere Mark Richt sprang into action to fill the void on his staff left by Neil Callaway's departure and Mike Bobo's promotion to offensive coordinator.

Eschewing Paul Westerdawg's suggestions, Coach Richt looked to the Pelican State for his new offensive line coach . . . and, fortunately, he opted not to hire Chris Scelfo.

Peach State native Stacy Searels, after spending the last four years as the offensive line coach in Baton Rouge, has accepted the same position at Georgia. During Coach Searels's tenure at Louisiana State, the Tigers had a trio of all-Americans on the offensive line and finished first in the conference in total offense and in scoring offense in 2006.

Stacy Searels. (Photograph from Louisiana State University.)

Coach Searels is a 1990 graduate of Auburn University, which makes him a classmate of Georgia's defensive line coach, Rodney Garner. Coach Searels, who was a graduate assistant at his alma mater in 1992 and 1993, received the N.C.A.A. Award of Valor for saving the lives of two members of the Appalachian State support staff by rescuing them from a burning van following a head-on collision.

On behalf of everyone here at Dawg Sports, I welcome Coach Searels to Bulldog Nation and I look forward to the many contributions he is sure to make to Georgia's success in the future.

Go 'Dawgs!