Lexington’s Stepp to join Shawn Elliott’s staff at Georgia State

Josh Stepp is leaving the high school football coaching ranks to coach college football.

Stepp resigned as Lexington football coach and accepted the running backs/tight ends coaching job at Georgia State, which is coached by former USC coach and Camden native Shawn Elliott.

Stepp informed his team of the decision Tuesday evening and was emotional about his time with the Wildcats.

“It was the hardest thing I ever had to do,” Stepp said. “Lexington is home for me. Love this school, administration, community and kids. It will always have a special place in my heart and what we did in four-year stand is pretty impressive. But I will be forever indebted to (Lexington) principal Melissa Rawl for taking a chance on me.”

Stepp was a 2001 Shrine Bowl quarterback at Pelion and went on to Newberry College and set several school records before getting into coaching. He was an assistant at Pelion, Blythewood and Spring Valley before becoming head coach at Dreher in 2010.

After a successful run at Dreher, Stepp went 36-17 at Lexington and led it to the Class 4A, Division II championship game in 2015 before losing to Northwestern. This season, Lexington went 6-6 before losing to White Knoll in the second round of the playoffs.

Stepp never hid his intentions of wanting to coach college football. His twin brother, Justin, is an assistant at SMU under former Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris.

Stepp said he was contacted by Elliott shortly after he got the GSU job earlier this month to gauge his interest. In addition to coaching running backs, he’ll be recruiting in state of South Carolina but was unsure his territory yet.

Stepp’s first day on the job will be Jan. 2.

“Coaching college football has been my ultimate goal and it is a great opportunity to work for a great coach who is beginning his time there,” Stepp said. “I can’t wait to get started.”

This story was originally published December 20, 2016 at 6:53 PM with the headline "Lexington’s Stepp to join Shawn Elliott’s staff at Georgia State."