Lunsford works to rebuild weak Eagles
Georgia Southern was among the most dominant programs at the Football Championship Subdivision and had high hopes for a smooth transition to the Football Bowl Subdivision level.
However, the Eagles never clicked under coach Tyson Summers, who strayed from their traditional triple-option attack, and he was fired midway through the 2017 season.
As a result, rebuilding Georgia Southern is ranked No. 115 in Orlando Sentinel college insider Matt Murschel’s preseason 2018 college football rankings.
Murschel ranked all 129 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in the country. The Sentinel staff takes a closer look at a new team daily, counting backward from No. 129 to our projected No. 1 team.
8 Georgia
Southern
Chad Lunsford (2-4, entering second season; 2-4 overall)
2-10, 2-6 in Sun Belt, tied for 10th
Georgia Southern had high hopes it could get back on track under Summers’ direction, but he was fired after the team got off to an 0-6 start. The last straw was a 55-20 loss to UMass, a team that has long struggled at the FBS level.
After Lunsford led the team to a 2-4 record, he was promoted to head coach. Boynton, RB L.A. Ramsby, LB Chris DeLaRosa, DT Darrius Sapp
RB Wesley Fields, WR Malik Henry, OG Caleb Kelly, WR Mark Michaud, OG Ryan Northrup, C Curtis Rainey, QB Shai Werts, OT Drew Wilson, CB Monquavion Brinson, DE Deshon Cooper, S Sean Freeman, NT Logan Hunt, DE Raymond Johnson III, S Joshua Moon, S RJ Murray, LB Tomarcio Reese, CB Kindle Vildor The tripleoption is back at Georgia Southern and could once again be the key to the program’s success. The team returns the majority of starters on both sides of the ball and retained Lunsford, giving him an early start on turning around the program.
The Eagles lost some quality team leaders in offensive lineman Tommy Boynton and defensive lineman Darrius Sapp.
While the offense will naturally get the most attention, the defense couldn’t stop anyone last season and needs to make the most strides during the offseason.
Georgia Southern has a rich tradition and can shine if the Eagles get back to a tripleoption attack comparable to what Navy has run successfully for years. However, it may take time to reverse the damage done during the previous coaching era.