Fall camp has officially arrived in the Sun Belt. As of this writing we are 25 days away from Appalachian State and Coastal Carolina opening their respective non-conference slates.
We’ve got a few significant updates to share, a couple of which happened within a day of the last newsletter posting. Convenient.
Bobby Bowden passes away
Texas State decides on an AD
Georgia Southern loses top quarterback for two games
Bobby Bowden passes
A bit of very sad news on Sunday morning. Legendary head coach Bobby Bowden has passed away at 91. Bowden compiled 377 wins as a head coach for three programs, including 304 wins and two national titles at Florida State.
He’s the father of current Louisiana-Monroe head coach Tommy Bowden who took a leave of absence on Friday to be with Bobby. Rich Rodriguez has assumed duties as interim head coach of the Warhawks as the Bowden family mourns and celebrates the life of one of the greatest coaches in college football history.
Texas State makes interim AD their man
Texas State officially announced Don Coryell as its new Athletic Director on Thursday, replacing his interim tag with a full-time position. Coryell has worked within Texas State’s athletic department for the past 17 years.
President Denise Trauth said Coryell was the right hire thanks to strongly positive feedback from former athletes. She also attributed the rapidly changing landscape of college athletics to speeding up their hiring process and choosing someone from within. According to Trauth, nobody else was even considered.
The university is finally moving on from a tumultuous era under the leadership of Dr. Larry Teis that was marked by unrest from fans of the school’s athletics teams.
Georgia Southern has a new quarterback problem
The Eagles announced last week that quarterback Justin Tomlin will be ineligible for at least the first two games of the upcoming season. Tomlin was the clear frontrunner to start the season-opener against Gardner-Webb, especially after Georgia Tech transfer James Graham switched to wide receiver.
If Chad Lunsford chooses to keep Graham at wide receiver, the Eagles will be running out a QB with little to no college ball experience. The top options from my vantage point are true freshman Cam Ransom and redshirt freshman Sam Kenerson.
Ransom was a top-50 dual threat QB coming out of high school and has great size at 6’3, 215 lbs. Kenerson has an athlete’s build at 5’9, 175 lbs and did record a 12-yard rush last season against Georgia State.
The QB battle in Statesboro went from largely developmental to highly critical with Tomlin set to miss the week two tilt against Florida Atlantic.
Thanks again for checking in on the newsletter. We’ve reached our first milestone here: 100+ subscribers. I can’t thank you all enough for consistently reading up on Sun Belt football.
Remember, the Sun Belt Pages magazine officially drops on Aug. 19. Be ready!