Years from now, Brendan Harrington will no doubt be the subject of a bar bet: who is the only player to be the captain of both a Georgia Southern and Appalachian State football team.
Harrington is a 6-foot-0, 235-pound linebacker who transferred to Georgia Southern from Appalachian State. The Monroe, N.C., native posted 163 total tackles in six seasons for the Mountaineers, a career plagued with injuries that cut his 2022 and 2023 seasons short. He was a team captain his last two years at App.
After bouncing back for a career high 65 tackles last year, Harrington headed down the road to Statesboro to experience the other side of the Sun Belt Conference’s biggest rivalry.
The Eagles and Mountaineers are, of course, bitter rivals so to have a player serve in a leadership role at both schools is admittedly unusual. But it speaks volumes about Harrington’s character and ability that teammates would gravitate toward him.
Harrington has taken on the leadership role and that of elder spokesman at Georgia Southern as easily and naturally as a duck takes to water. Watching and listening to him during an interview it’s easy to see how he commands the respect of those around him.
The new Eagle will be drawing upon all of those qualities this week as the Eagles (0-2), coming off a disappointing two-game road trip to California in which they lost to Fresno State and Southern Cal, play their home opener at 7 p.m. Saturday at Paulson Stadium against Jacksonville State (1-1).
Playing at Paulson on the “right” side is an experience Harrington can’t wait to taste. He last played at Paulson last November when the Eagles beat App State, 29-20, in a game which kept the Mountaineers from becoming bowl eligible.
“It’s going to be special,” Harrington said of taking the field at Paulson. “When I was playing on the other side, I knew how special this stadium is, how powerful it is being on the other side, being right in front of the student section.
“It’s hard playing on that sideline,” Harrington said. “It’s tough. It’s night games down here in Statesboro. It’s a tough environment to play in and that’s how it should be.
“It should be respected and known that when you come to play in Paulson we expect to win. When we go out there, we represent something bigger than us: all the players who have played here before us, all the coaches and everybody that laid the foundation of this program.”
While everyone in the program admits the losses to Southern Cal and Fresno State were disappointing, they also believe the trip West was not the total disaster it appeared to be.
“You’ve got a good football team that is in an adverse situation,” Harrington said. “That’s good. Adversity is a blessing. It makes you stronger and it’s going to make this team stronger.
“We feel it’s going to make us a stronger team not only for these next two home games but for our conference,” said Harrington who was a member of three SBC championship teams at App. “We’re super honed in. We’re one tackle away, one play away, one technique away, one assignment away. We know that and we’re working day in and day out to get that done.”
As to transitioning from being a Mountaineer to becoming a die-hard Eagle Harrington said it could not have gone better.
“It’s gone well, it’s been great,” Harrington said. “All of my teammates have welcomed me with open arms. That has allowed me to be myself and has ultimately led me to be able to be in a position to be a captain again. The greatest accolade I’ve ever received in my life is being the captain of a football team and a leader of men.”
