Georgia Southern Eagles football
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| Georgia Southern Football | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| First season | 1924 | ||
| Staff | |||
| Athletic director | Sam Baker | ||
| Head coach | Chris Hatcher | ||
| 1st year, 7–4 | |||
| Stadium | |||
| Home stadium | Paulson Stadium | ||
| Stadium capacity | 18,000 | ||
| Stadium surface | Bermuda grass | ||
| Location | Statesboro, Georgia | ||
| League/Conference | |||
| Conference | Southern Conference | ||
| Team records | |||
| All-time record | 306–166–9 (0.636) | ||
| Postseason bowl record | 29–3–0 | ||
| Awards | |||
| National titles | 6 | ||
| Conference titles | 8 | ||
| All-Americans | 65 | ||
| Pageantry | |||
| Colors | Blue and White | ||
| Fight song | Georgia Southern Fight Song | ||
| Mascot | Gus | ||
| Marching band | Southern Pride | ||
| Rivals | Furman University Appalachian State University |
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| Website | GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com | ||
The Georgia Southern Eagles represent Georgia Southern University in football as part of the Southern Conference under head coach Chris Hatcher. The Eagles have won an unprecedented six FCS (I-AA) national championships and eight Southern Conference championships and have produced two Walter Payton Award winners. The Eagles first continuously fielded a football team in 1924; however, play was suspended for World War II and revived in 1981.
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[edit] History
[edit] Early years: 1924-1941
As First District A&M, the school began organizing football teams as early as 1909. [1] However, the college first continuously fielded a team in 1924. In 1929, B.L. "Crook" Smith, a sports standout from Mercer University, was hired as football coach and athletic director and would lead the football team for thirteen seasons. Football was suspended in 1941 at the outset of World War II and would not return for 41 years.
[edit] Erk Russell era: 1981-1989
In 1978, president Dale Lick decided that football should be revived at Georgia Southern College. Despite a faculty senate vote against renewing the sport, President Lick worked to generate support for the endeavor. In 1982, the school hired Erk Russell, the popular and charismatic defensive coordinator at the University of Georgia, to coach the new football team. On the hire, humorist Lewis Grizzard said, "When they landed Erk Russell, they got themselves a franchise."[2] The Eagles fielded a club team in 1982 and 1983 and began official NCAA Division I-AA play in 1984. The next year, the Eagles would win their first Division I-AA national championship in Tacoma, Washington, defeating current Southern Conference rival Furman University, in only the team's fourth year in existence, second as a varsity team. The Eagles would return to Tacoma the next year and win the championship vs. Arkansas State. In 1989, the Eagles became the first college team to go 15-0 in twentieth century, winning the national championship on their home field vs. Stephen F. Austin. Soon after the game, Russell retired.
[edit] Post Russell era: 1990-1996
Tim Stowers was hired to replace coach Russell. In his first year, he won the national championship vs. Nevada. However, Stowers was never able to live up the expectations set by Russell and was fired in 1995. He was replaced by interim coach Frank Ellwood for one year. The 1996 season was the first losing season in the modern era as the Eagles fell to 4-7.
[edit] Paul Johnson era: 1997-2001
The next coach for the Eagles was Paul Johnson. Johnson found instant success taking the Eagles to the playoffs in his first season. He along with football legend Adrian Peterson reached the 1998 national championship. However, the Eagles lost the game to UMASS in terrible weather. The Eagles rebounded under Johnson and won back to back national championships in 1999 and 2000. In 2001 Johnson left to become the head coach of Navy.
[edit] Recent history: 2001-present
Johnson was replaced by Mike Sewak who was fired in 2005. Brian VanGorder a former defensive coordinator at the University of Georgia was hired to replace Sewak. In the first of many controversial moves, VanGorder scrapped Georgia Southern's famed triple option offense and did away with certain traditions such as the team arrival on yellow school buses. VanGorder led the team to a 3-8 record, the worst in the modern era of Georgia Southern football. After this one year, VanGorder left to take a position with the Atlanta Falcons. The current head coach Chris Hatcher was formerly the head coach at Valdosta State University. He was named the new head coach on January 19, 2007. Hatcher lead the Eagles back to a winning record with a 7-4 finish barely missing the playoffs.
[edit] Coaches
The current coach is Chris Hatcher
| Coach (Alma Mater) | Seasons | Years | Games | W | L | T | Pct. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E.G. Cromartie (Mercer) | 3 | 1924-26 | 13 | 7 | 5 | 1 | .583 |
| H.A. Woodie | 2 | 1927-1928 | 18 | 11 | 6 | 1 | .647 |
| B.L. Smith | 13 | 1929-1941 | 117 | 44 | 66 | 7 | .415 |
| Erk Russell (Auburn) | 8 | 1982-1989 | 106 | 83 | 22 | 1 | .790 |
| Tim Stowers | 6 | 1990-1995 | 74 | 51 | 23 | 0 | .689 |
| Frank Ellwood | 1 | 1996 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 0 | .364 |
| Paul Johnson (WCU) | 5 | 1997-01 | 72 | 62 | 10 | 0 | .861 |
| Mike Sewak (Virginia) | 4 | 2002-05 | 49 | 35 | 14 | 0 | .633 |
| Brian Van Gorder (Wayne State) | 1 | 2006 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 0 | .273 |
| Chris Hatcher (Valdosta) | 1 | 2007-present | 11 | 7 | 4 | 0 | .636 |
[edit] Stadium
Georgia Southern home football games are played at Allen E. Paulson Stadium. Paulson Stadium was dedicated on September 29, 1984, and has a seating capacity of 15,000, although the hills leave room for about 5,000 additional grass sitting spectators. The record attendance was in the 1989 I-AA playoffs as Georgia Southern hosted Stephen F. Austin University. The attendance reached 25,725.
[edit] Awards
The Georgia Southern Eagles play an eleven-game conference schedule. The Eagles have won six NCAA I-AA National Championships.
[edit] National Championships
- 1985 - Coach Erk Russell and the Eagles won their first national championship vs. Furman University in the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington. Quarterback Tracy Ham threw for 419 yards and rushed for another 90 to overcome a 28-6 deficit.
- 1986 - The Eagles returned to Tacoma to defeat the Arkansas State Indians. Tracy Ham earned 486 rushing and passing yards and three touchdowns to become the first team to win two I-AA national championships.
- 1989 - In Erk Russell's final game, the Eagles defeated Stephen F. Austin in Statesboro, Georgia in front of 25,725 fans to complete a perfect 15-0 season. Quarterback Raymond Gross engineered 17 fourth quarter points, including a game-winning field goal with 1:41 remaining in the game.
- 1990 - Tim Stowers won the Eagle's fourth national championship vs. Nevada in the first season without Coach Russell.
- 1999 - Paul Johnson won his first national championship in Chattanooga, Tennessee vs. Youngstown State in Jim Tressell's last game as a Penguin. Adrian Peterson ran for a championship game record 247 yards on 25 carries and scored three touchdowns.
- 2000 - The Eagles defeated the Montana Grizzlies to win their sixth and most recent national championship.
[edit] National runners-up
- 1988 - The Eagles lost to Furman University in Pocatello, Idaho.
- 1998 - In Paul Johnson's first national championship game, the Eagles lost to UMASS.
[edit] Walter Payton Award
Georgia Southern is one of five schools to have multiple Walter Payton Award winners honoring the top offensive player in the Football Championships Subdivision. Running Back Adrian Peterson won the award in 1999 and quarterback Jayson Foster won it in 2007.
[edit] Eddie Robbinson Award
Two Georgia Southern coaches have won the Eddie Robinson Award winners honoring the top coach in Division I-FCS. Erk Russell won it in 1989 and Paul Johnson in 1998.
[edit] Traditions
[edit] Nickname
The athletic teams of Georgia Southern University are referred to as the Eagles. However, the school has gone by a number of different nicknames. From as early as 1907 the athletic teams of the then First District A&M school were referred to as the 'Culture to reflect the agricultural background of the school. [3] From 1924 to 1941, the nickname was the Blue Tide. After World War II, athletic teams were referred to as the Professors reflecting the school's status as a teachers college. However, in 1959 when the school was renamed Georgia Southern College. A student vote was held to determine the new mascot; among the 104 entries, voters chose Eagles over Colonels by a narrow margin. [4]
[edit] Beautiful Eagle Creek
When Georgia Southern resurrected football in 1981, it lacked tradition. A drainage ditch that the team had to cross several times a day during football practice came to be called Beautiful Eagle Creek by Coach Erk Russell. When the Eagles traveled to Northern Iowa during the 1985 playoffs, Coach Russell brought along a jug of this Eagle Creek water to sprinkle on the field. The Eagles were victorious and went on to win many national championships with the help of that magic water.
[edit] The Hugo Bowl
In 1989 ESPN was to broadcast a Thursday Night Football game between the Georgia Southern Eagles and the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders. However, Hurricane Hugo, a category 4 storm, was headed straight towards the coast of Georgia. Hugo ranked as the eleventh most intense hurricane at time of landfall to strike the U.S. this century, with the highest ever recorded storm surge on the East Coast. Nevertheless, the decision was made to continue with the game. For safety purposes, an open line was kept between the press box at Paulson Stadium and the National Hurricane Center in Florida. The Eagles went on to defeat MTSU by a score of 26-0 in a classic that will forever be known in Eagle History as the Hugo Bowl.
[edit] Plain uniforms
When the program was revived in 1982, the school did not have a large budget and coach Erk Russell ordered solid blue helmets and asked the plays to put a white strip of tape down the middle. The uniforms consisted of plain white plants and blue jerseys without names. [5] With the subsequent success of the Eagles, the basic simple design of the uniforms has remained the same.
[edit] FBS (I-A) vs. FCS (I-AA) debate
In November 2007, President Bruce Grube approved the University Athletics Committee's recommendation to hire an outside firm to explore the possibility of moving Georgia Southern from the Football Championship Subdivision(I-AA) to the Football Bowl Subdivision. [6]This comes after years of debate within the Georgia Southern community. The study has been publicly supported by numerous faculty and the head coach Chris Hatcher and head basketball coach Jeff Price. Furthermore, former football greats and Walter Payton Award winners Adrian Peterson and Jayson Foster have expressed a desire for the move. [7]
On April 18, 2008, Georgia State University in Atlanta announced plans to field a FCS football team, beginning play in 2010. This move has many calling for Georgia Southern to advance to I-A for fears of losing many potential recruits to the other GSU.
[edit] Media
Radio flagship: WPMX 102.9 FM in Statesboro ("Eagle 102.9")
Broadcasters: Chris Blair (play-by-play), Terry Harvin (analyst) and Ryan Chambers (sideline reporter).
Past broadcasters: Nate Hirsh and Frank Inman
Public Address: Todd Deal (announcer) and Luke Parks (spotter)
[edit] Notable football alumni
- Adrian N. Peterson Running Back Chicago Bears
- Tracy Ham College Football Hall of Famer, 1995 CFL Most Outstanding Player
- Rob Bironas NFL kicker and Pro-Bowler, holds record most field goals in a game (8).
- Fred Stokes Former NFL Player, Super Bowl Champion
- Kiwaukee Thomas NFL player
- Earthwind Moreland NFL Player
[edit] References
- ^ Delma Eugene Presley, The Southern Century. Statesboro: Georgia Southern University, 2006. 47.
- ^ Delma Eugene Presley, The Southern Century. Statesboro: Georgia Southern University, 2006. 227
- ^ Delma Eugene Presley, The Southern Century. Statesboro: Georgia Southern University, 2006. 40.
- ^ Georgia Southern Football Media Guide, 2004. 188
- ^ Delma Eugene Presley, The Southern Century. Statesboro: Georgia Southern University, 2006. 230.
- ^ Georgia Southern Announces Plans for FBS Feasibility Study - Georgia Southern University Eagles Athletics
- ^ GSU Faculty felt timing was right for FBS study (Archives)
