The Georgia Southern Eagles college football team competes as part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I FBS, representing Georgia Southern University in the Sun Belt Conference. Georgia Southern has played their home games at Paulson Stadium in Statesboro, Georgia since 1984. [1]
The inaugural season of Georgia Southern, then known as Georgia Normal School and subsequently South Georgia Teachers College and Georgia Teachers College, football was in 1924. However, the program was shut down in 1942 because of World War II and was not revived until 1981. The Eagles are 368-177-9 all time and have claimed a record six Div. I FCS national championships. The program has also produced two Walter Payton Award winners. [2]
Georgia Southern was a member of the FCS conference SoCon between 1992 and 2013. In 2014 the program, after years of speculation, became an official member of college football's FBS level. The Eagles now compete as a member of the Sun Belt Conference. [2]
National Champions† | Conference Champions * | FCS Playoff Berth‡ | Bowl Game Berth ^ |
Season | Head coach | Season results | Playoff or Bowl result< | Final ranking | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conference finish | Division finish | Wins | Losses | Ties [3] | NCAA/TSN Poll [4] | Coaches Poll [5] | |||||
Georgia Normal/South Georgia Teachers/Georgia Teachers Blue Tide | |||||||||||
1924 | E. G. Cromartie | Independent | — | — | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | |
1925 | — | — | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | |||
1926 | — | — | 5 | 3 | 1 | — | — | — | |||
1927 | Hugh A. Woodle | — | — | 6 | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | ||
1928 | — | — | 5 | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | |||
1929 | Crook Smith | — | — | 3 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | ||
1930 | — | — | 3 | 4 | 1 | — | — | — | |||
1931 | — | — | 3 | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | |||
1932 | — | — | 7 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | |||
1933 | — | — | 5 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | |||
1934 | — | — | 4 | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | |||
1935 | — | — | 3 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | |||
1936 | — | — | 2 | 9 | 0 | — | — | — | |||
1937 | — | — | 2 | 9 | 0 | — | — | — | |||
1938 | — | — | 3 | 5 | 1 | — | — | — | |||
1939 | — | — | 5 | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | |||
1940 | — | — | 3 | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | |||
1941 | — | — | 2 | 8 | 0 | — | — | — | |||
Georgia Teachers College/Georgia Southern College did not field a football team for the 1942–81 seasons | |||||||||||
Georgia Southern Eagles | |||||||||||
1982 | Erk Russell | Independent | — | — | 7 | 3 | 1 | — | — | — | |
1983 | — | — | 6 | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | |||
1984 | — | — | 8 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | |||
1985 †* | — | — | 13 | 2 | 0 | Won FCS National Championship Game against Furman Paladins, 44–42 ^ | — | — | |||
1986 †* | — | — | 13 | 2 | 0 | Won FCS National Championship Game against Arkansas State Indians, 48–21 ^ | — | — | |||
1987 | — | — | 9 | 4 | 0 | Lost in FCS Quarterfinals against Appalachian State Mountaineers, 19–0 ^ | — | — | |||
1988 | — | — | 12 | 3 | 0 | Lost FCS National Championship Game against Furman Paladins, 17–12 ^ | — | — | |||
1989 †* | — | — | 15 | 0 | 0 | Won FCS National Championship Game against Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks, 37–34 ^ | — | — | |||
1990 †* | Tim Stowers | — | — | 12 | 3 | 0 | Won FCS National Championship Game against Nevada Wolfpack, 36–13 | — | — | ||
1991 | — | — | 7 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | |||
1992 | Southern Conference | — | — | 7 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | ||
1993 | 1st * | — | 10 | 3 | 0 | Lost in FCS Quarterfinals against Youngstown State Penguins, 34–14 | — | — | |||
1994 | 3rd | — | 6 | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | |||
1995 | 3rd | — | 9 | 4 | 0 | Lost in FCS Quarterfinals against Montana Grizzlies, 45–0 | — | — | |||
1996 | Frank Ellwood | 6th | — | 4 | 7 | — | — | — | — | ||
1997 | Paul Johnson | 1st * | — | 10 | 3 | — | Lost in FCS Quarterfinals against Delaware Blue Hens, 16–7 | — | — | ||
1998 | 1st * | — | 14 | 1 | — | Lost FCS National Championship Game against UMass Minutemen, 55–43 | — | — | |||
1999 †* | 1st * | — | 13 | 2 | — | Won FCS National Championship Game against Youngstown State Penguins, 59–24 | — | — | |||
2000 †* | 1st * | — | 13 | 2 | — | Won FCS National Championship Game against Montana Grizzlies, 27–25 | — | — | |||
2001 | 1st * | — | 12 | 2 | — | Lost in FCS Semifinals against Furman Paladins, 24–17 | — | — | |||
2002 | Mike Sewak | 1st * | — | 11 | 3 | — | Lost in FCS Semifinals against Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, 31–28 | — | — | ||
2003 | 3rd | — | 7 | 4 | — | — | — | — | |||
2004 | 1st * | — | 9 | 3 | — | Lost in FCS 1st Round against New Hampshire Wildcats, 27–23 | — | — | |||
2005 | 2nd | — | 8 | 4 | — | Lost in FCS 1st Round against Texas State Bobcats, 50–35 | — | — | |||
2006 | Brian VanGorder | 5th | — | 3 | 8 | — | — | — | — | ||
2007 | Chris Hatcher | 3rd | — | 7 | 4 | — | — | — | — | ||
2008 | 4th | — | 6 | 5 | — | — | — | — | |||
2009 | 4th | — | 5 | 6 | — | — | — | — | |||
2010 | Jeff Monken | 3rd | — | 10 | 5 | — | Lost in FCS Semifinals against Delaware Blue Hens, 27–10 | — | — | ||
2011 | 1st * | — | 11 | 3 | — | Lost in FCS Semifinals against North Dakota State Bison, 35–7 ^ | — | — | |||
2012 | 1st * | — | 10 | 4 | — | Lost in FCS Semifinals against North Dakota State Bison, 23–20 ^ | — | — | |||
2013 | 4th | — | 7 | 4 | — | Ineligible | — | — | |||
2014 | Willie Fritz | Sun Belt Conference | 1st * | — | 9 | 3 | — | Ineligible | — | — | |
2015 | 3rd ^ | — | 9 | 4 | — | Won GoDaddy Bowl against Bowling Green Falcons, 58–27 | — | — | |||
2016 | Tyson Summers (fired Oct. 22, 2017) Chad Lunsford (Interim, 2–4) | 6th | — | 5 | 7 | — | — | — | — | ||
2017 | 10th | — | 2 | 10 | — | — | — | — | |||
2018 | Chad Lunsford (fired Sep. 26, 2021) Kevin Whitley (Interim, 2–6) | — | 3rd, East | 10 | 3 | — | Won Camellia Bowl against Eastern Michigan Eagles, 23–21 | — | — | ||
2019 | — | 2nd, East | 7 | 6 | — | Lost Cure Bowl against Liberty Flames, 16–23 | — | — | |||
2020 | — | 4th, East | 8 | 5 | — | Won New Orleans Bowl against Louisiana Tech, 38-3 | — | — | |||
2021 | — | 5th, East | 3 | 9 | — | — | — | — | |||
2022 | Clay Helton | — | 4th, East | 6 | 7 | — | Lost Camellia Bowl against Buffalo, 21–23 | — | — | — | — |
2023 | Clay Helton | — | T5th, East | 6 | 7 | — | Lost Myrtle Beach Bowl against Ohio, 41-21 | — | — | ||
Total | 369 | 238 | 9 | (regular season games) | |||||||
0 | 0 | 0 | (conference championship games; 0 appearances) | ||||||||
45 | 13 | — | (playoff games; 58 appearances) | ||||||||
3 | 3 | — | (bowl games; 6 appearances) | ||||||||
422 | 260 | 9 | (all games) |
The Georgia Southern Eagles are the athletic team(s) of Georgia Southern University (GS). The Eagles compete in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and are members of the NCAA Division I Sun Belt Conference. Prior to joining the Sun Belt Conference in 2014, the Eagles were members of the Trans America Athletic Conference and the Southern Conference (SoCon). During their time at the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS/I-AA) level, the Eagles have won six national championships.
Allen E. Paulson Stadium is a 25,000-seat on-campus football stadium in Statesboro, Georgia. It is home to the Georgia Southern Eagles football team and the focal point of Erk Russell Athletic Park.
The Georgia Southern Eagles football program represents Georgia Southern University in football as part of the Sun Belt Conference. The current head coach is Clay Helton. The Eagles have won six FCS (I-AA) national championships and have produced two Walter Payton Award winners. Georgia Southern first continuously fielded a football team in 1924, but play was suspended for World War II and did not return until 1981. The Eagles competed as an FCS independent from 1984 to 1992 and as a member of the Southern Conference from 1993 to 2013, winning 10 SoCon championships. In 2014, Georgia Southern moved to the FBS level and joined the Sun Belt Conference, winning the conference championship outright in its first year. Georgia Southern's main Sun Belt rivals are Appalachian State and Georgia State.
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The 2014 Georgia Southern Eagles football team represented Georgia Southern University in the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by first-year head coach Willie Fritz and played their home games at Paulson Stadium. They were first year members of the Sun Belt Conference. In their second year of the FCS to FBS transition, the Eagles were eligible for the conference championship; however, they were not bowl-eligible.
The 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 2017. The regular season began on August 26, 2017, and ended on December 9, 2017.
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The 2021 Georgia Southern Eagles football team represented Georgia Southern University during the 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Eagles played their home games at Paulson Stadium in Statesboro, Georgia, and competed in the East Division of the Sun Belt Conference. They were led by third-year head coach Chad Lunsford until he was dismissed mid-season following his third consecutive loss within the first four games of the season. Cornerbacks coach Kevin Whitley was tapped to serve as interim coach until a new head coach was hired by the university. Whitley was in his third year as cornerbacks coach and previously played for Georgia Southern as a four year starter from 1988 to 1991, helping to win two national titles for the Eagles. On November 2, 2021, Clay Helton, former head coach of the USC Trojans, was hired to become the next head coach for Georgia Southern, starting in the 2022 season.
The 2022 Georgia Southern Eagles football team represented Georgia Southern University during the 2022 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Eagles played their home games at Paulson Stadium in Statesboro, Georgia, and competed in the East Division of the Sun Belt Conference. The team was coached by Clay Helton, former head coach of the USC Trojans. Helton was hired on November 2, 2021, and this was his first season in Statesboro.