Sporting notes compiled while counting the days until Antonio Henton’s Georgia Southern debut:
- Recently hired Georgia State coach Bill Curry said he’d give anything to have the late Erk Russell around so he could pick the icon’s brain for tips on starting a successful football program.
- “I followed any and everything Erk Russell did,” said Curry, who was coaching at his alma mater Georgia Tech in the early 1980s while Russell built a dynasty from the ground up at Georgia Southern. “I loved that guy.”
- Currently, Curry said his biggest challenge is directing the program’s focus. Top priorities are recruiting, fundraising and establishing a practice facility.
- The Panthers begin competition in 2010, will play home games in the Georgia Dome and be a member of the FCS’s Colonial Athletic Association.
- It’ll be interesting to see how Georgia State’s program affects Georgia Southern’s recruiting in metro-Atlanta where Georgia State has 100,000 living alumni. With an enrollment exceeding 27,000, Georgia State is the second-largest university in Georgia.
- As soon as it’s legal, Curry plans to get into every high school in the state. He’ll sign his first recruiting class in February 2009, and the group will enroll and practice during a redshirt season that fall.
- Curry’s charisma, rich football background, strong Georgia ties and contagious enthusiasm are reminiscent of Russell’s.
- Georgia State will fund up to 30 scholarships in 2009-10 and double the number the following season. It plans to offer the FCS maximum of 63 in 2011-12.
Bulldog chatter
- When talking with Georgia Bulldog football players, you definitely get the sense that anything less than a national championship will be a disappointment this season. But as you’d imagine, the guys downplayed their sizable advantage over Georgia Southern in the rapidly approaching season opener.
- “Teams used to winning are very difficult to beat,” coach Mark Richt said earlier this week via telephone from Omaha, Neb., where he was cheering for the baseball Bulldogs in the College World Series. “We know we’ve got a great challenge. We are excited to play Georgia Southern, and Chris Hatcher is a heck of a coach. He’s already done some great things.”
- Said Bulldog tight end Tripp Chandler: “(The Eagles) are going to come in and fight us very hard. They’re an in-state rival, so they are going to be excited to come up to Athens to play us. But we are just as excited to have them come play us.”
- Said UGA linebacker Dannell Ellerbe: “(Georgia Southern is) a hard-nosed football team, and you’ve got to respect them. We know every week an upset can happen, but we really don’t pay too much attention to that.”
This and that
- Former Georgia Southern slugger Chris Shehan’s professional career is off to a hot start. The outfielder is batting .342 with 13 hits in 10 games with the Danville Braves of the Appalachian League. Shehan’s also hit two bombs and driven in eight runs.
- John Mohring is on the active roster for the wild-card round of the Arena Football League playoffs. The former GSU linebacker is playing for the Orlando Predators, who face the Cleveland Gladiators Monday night at 7 on ESPN2. His team is three wins away from advancing to the ArenaBowl XXII, slated for July 27 in New Orleans.
- SportSouth will televise eight Southern Conference football games this season, the league announced this week. GSU will be on the network twice: Oct. 18 versus Appalachian State in Paulson Stadium and Nov. 15 at Furman.
- Coming off their third straight national title, the Mountaineers have sold 10,000 football season tickets, an increase of 62 percent, according to the Associated Press.
- Kickoff for Georgia Southern’s Aug. 30 season opener at Georgia will be at 12:30 p.m. See you in Athens.
Alex Pellegrino can be reached at (912) 489-9413.
- Recently hired Georgia State coach Bill Curry said he’d give anything to have the late Erk Russell around so he could pick the icon’s brain for tips on starting a successful football program.
- “I followed any and everything Erk Russell did,” said Curry, who was coaching at his alma mater Georgia Tech in the early 1980s while Russell built a dynasty from the ground up at Georgia Southern. “I loved that guy.”
- Currently, Curry said his biggest challenge is directing the program’s focus. Top priorities are recruiting, fundraising and establishing a practice facility.
- The Panthers begin competition in 2010, will play home games in the Georgia Dome and be a member of the FCS’s Colonial Athletic Association.
- It’ll be interesting to see how Georgia State’s program affects Georgia Southern’s recruiting in metro-Atlanta where Georgia State has 100,000 living alumni. With an enrollment exceeding 27,000, Georgia State is the second-largest university in Georgia.
- As soon as it’s legal, Curry plans to get into every high school in the state. He’ll sign his first recruiting class in February 2009, and the group will enroll and practice during a redshirt season that fall.
- Curry’s charisma, rich football background, strong Georgia ties and contagious enthusiasm are reminiscent of Russell’s.
- Georgia State will fund up to 30 scholarships in 2009-10 and double the number the following season. It plans to offer the FCS maximum of 63 in 2011-12.
Bulldog chatter
- When talking with Georgia Bulldog football players, you definitely get the sense that anything less than a national championship will be a disappointment this season. But as you’d imagine, the guys downplayed their sizable advantage over Georgia Southern in the rapidly approaching season opener.
- “Teams used to winning are very difficult to beat,” coach Mark Richt said earlier this week via telephone from Omaha, Neb., where he was cheering for the baseball Bulldogs in the College World Series. “We know we’ve got a great challenge. We are excited to play Georgia Southern, and Chris Hatcher is a heck of a coach. He’s already done some great things.”
- Said Bulldog tight end Tripp Chandler: “(The Eagles) are going to come in and fight us very hard. They’re an in-state rival, so they are going to be excited to come up to Athens to play us. But we are just as excited to have them come play us.”
- Said UGA linebacker Dannell Ellerbe: “(Georgia Southern is) a hard-nosed football team, and you’ve got to respect them. We know every week an upset can happen, but we really don’t pay too much attention to that.”
This and that
- Former Georgia Southern slugger Chris Shehan’s professional career is off to a hot start. The outfielder is batting .342 with 13 hits in 10 games with the Danville Braves of the Appalachian League. Shehan’s also hit two bombs and driven in eight runs.
- John Mohring is on the active roster for the wild-card round of the Arena Football League playoffs. The former GSU linebacker is playing for the Orlando Predators, who face the Cleveland Gladiators Monday night at 7 on ESPN2. His team is three wins away from advancing to the ArenaBowl XXII, slated for July 27 in New Orleans.
- SportSouth will televise eight Southern Conference football games this season, the league announced this week. GSU will be on the network twice: Oct. 18 versus Appalachian State in Paulson Stadium and Nov. 15 at Furman.
- Coming off their third straight national title, the Mountaineers have sold 10,000 football season tickets, an increase of 62 percent, according to the Associated Press.
- Kickoff for Georgia Southern’s Aug. 30 season opener at Georgia will be at 12:30 p.m. See you in Athens.
Alex Pellegrino can be reached at (912) 489-9413.
