Georgia Southern extends contract of Clay Helton

Helton will remain as the leader of the Eagles through the 2029 season.

GS Athletics

Georgia Southern Director of Athletics Chris Davis announced a five-year extension to the contract of head football coach Clay Helton on Wednesday. Helton's contract extension will run through the 2029 season.

"We are pleased that we are able to announce the signing of Clay Helton to a five-year contract extension as the head coach of the Georgia Southern football program," Davis said. "Coach Helton is a proven head coach who has continued to build this program each year, and he gives us consistency in leadership that continues to move us onward and upward. He understands the passion of Eagle Nation and is driving this program toward those championship expectations. My goal was to continue building on the momentum of his first three seasons—in recruiting, student-athlete experience, fan attendance and winning—and signing Coach Helton to a contract extension allows us to do just that. He's an incredible ambassador of this university and I look forward to watching him continue as the leader of our football team."

"I'm very thankful to Dr. Kyle Marrero and Chris Davis for their trust in our staff as we continue to lead the Georgia Southern football program," Helton said. "This is a special place and it is an honor to be a part of the Statesboro community and the tradition of excellence that is Georgia Southern Football. I'm excited to continue to guide our program to our championship aspirations and look forward to being in Statesboro for a long time."

Helton, 52, led USC to a Rose Bowl title in 2016 and was named the 11th full-time head coach in the Georgia Southern modern football era on Nov. 2, 2021. Now entering his fourth season in Statesboro, Helton has led the Eagles to three bowl games in as many years with notable victories over Nebraska, App State, James Madison and Marshall during his brief tenure. Off the field, the Eagles have posted record team grade point averages and the staff has recruited at levels never seen before at Southern.

Additionally, in Helton's three years at the helm, the Eagles:

have a winning record in rivalry games against App State and Georgia State
secured only the second Power 4 victory in program history with the win over Nebraska
had only the third win over an FBS Top 25 team with the victory over JMU
set a single-game attendance record against Coastal Carolina in 2023
set a regular-season home attendance record in 2024
had 13 players earn all-conference honors in 2024 from various outlets
have created a high-powered and record-setting offense while also developing a Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year and All-American in linebacker Marques Watson-Trent
won six Sun Belt games in 2024, which is tied for the second most in program history and is the highest total since 2018
signed more Top 100 players in Georgia than any other Group of 5 school in the 2025 signing class (rankings by 247Sports).
have set the highest team GPA and the highest APR rating in program history over the last three seasons.

An elite talent developer, Helton has seen over 15 of his former players drafted in the first four rounds of the NFL Draft, including Sam Darnold (the No. 3 overall pick in 2018), Drake London (the #8 overall pick in 2022), and Amon-Ra St. Brown, who has been named first-team All-Pro each of the past two years.