This has already been an embarrassing season for Georgia Southern football, but it just got worse in a big way.
Folks, it’s time for Georgia Southern to fire Tyson Summers
After another embarrassing loss, it’s clear it’s time to try something different
Photo by Todd Bennett/Getty Images
Facing UMass, a fellow winless opponent, the Eagles gave up over 440 yards and 48 points ... in just the first half. It was 48-17 at the break. As of publication, the score is 55-20 after a failed Eagles drive in the fourth quarter.
The loss will send Georgia Southern to 0-6, meaning a bowl bid is almost certainly off the table this season.
It’s only head coach Tyson Summers’ second season in Statesboro, but things have fallen so far, so quickly, that the Eagles would be well-served to just cut ties now.
Georgia Southern fans are not used to this kind of losing
Remember, this might be a Sun Belt program, but it’s a Sun Belt program with a tradition of winning. The Eagles were a I-AA/FCS powerhouse, winning six national titles before making the jump to FBS in 2014.
The transition to FBS began early, when former head coach Jeff Monken upset Florida before leaving to take the Army job. Willie Fritz took over, and Southern cruised through the Sun Belt. But Fritz departed for Tulane after just two seasons, when friction over resources and salary increased between he and AD Tom Kleinlein.
Summers inherited a program with expectations, one that should have been competing in the upper half of the Sun Belt. Instead, it went 5-7 last season, and now things have gotten even worse.
Southern has long been a program high on traditions and low on resources.
In fact, most of its famous traditions were born out of having zero money for things like uniforms and bus transportation. That philosophy has bled into the modern era and now sits at odds with its FBS future. It’s nearly impossible to win at a level Southern fans and boosters expect without raising more money and creating more revenue.
Much like Troy and the directional Louisianas, Southern’s geography has made it easy to land talent.
“Fritz was able to work Monken’s talent into a great offense for a short amount of time. What’s happened since is a decline in that traditional, hard edge, Paul Johnson style that won them national titles in I-AA,” a former Georgia Southern coordinator told SB Nation. “The more they move away from the triple option and towards other shotgun concepts, the more they’ll lose the advantage they had.”
Multiple sources, including some connected to Georgia Southern, have suggested the Eagles move back towards the “traditional” under center triple option Johnson and Monken found success with.
“Georgia Southern is an easy job to figure out,” one head coach told SB Nation. “Every time they try to change what makes them Georgia Southern, they pay for it.”
And it’s not just the fact that Southern is losing. It’s how they’re losing.
Heading into the game against UMass, Southern was ranked 127 out of 130 teams in S&P+, ahead of just ECU, UTEP and Rice. They haven’t cracked 30 points in any game this season and gave up 35-plus to every FBS opponent, while also dropping a game to FCS New Hampshire.
The Eagles’ offense is particularly inept, ranking 129th in offensive S&P+, and the success of the Georgia Power Company, the school’s option attack, has been a source of particular pride to the fanbase. It’s bad enough to lose, but to lose, badly, while also not establishing any sort of effective ground game, is a particular insult.
Plus, it’s not like making a change now mortgages the future.
Georgia Southern only has 10 current commits in the 2018 class according to 247 Sports, with only two at three stars or more, good for sixth in the conference. That leaves it behind rival Georgia State and well behind the class of the conference, Arkansas State and Appalachian State. Summers also reportedly has a buyout under a million dollars, although with assistants, it could tick a little above that. As far as buyouts go, that’s not bad at all, although Georgia Southern doesn’t have major conference resources.
It’s usually not a good idea to fire a coach before his second season is over. But if you’ve made a mistake, it’s better to correct that mistake, rather than wait. There hasn’t been anything shown this season to give Georgia Southern fans a reason to think things are going to get better in the near future. The school ought to just cut the cord now, admit it made a mistake, and try again.
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