July 28, 2010 Alex Brown

d.alex.brown@gmail.com

    If Georgia Southern football were to finish in the top third of the SoCon this season, it will come as a surprise to the pollsters.
    The preseason coaches’ and media polls both have the Eagles ranked seventh with only The Citadel and Western Carolina beneath them in each. Appalachian State is the overwhelming favorite to repeat as conference champs with Elon and Furman rounding out the top three in both polls.
    Furthermore, the coaches’ preseason all-conference team was released and only two Eagles made the cut. Sophomore defensive lineman Brent Russell was a first team all-conference selection and Junior cornerback Laron Scott was named to the second team. Georgia Southern sure isn’t getting much respect. But then again, preseason polls aren’t worth the paper they are printed on.
    On one hand, it is almost embarrassing that Chattanooga and Samford are being picked ahead of Georgia Southern. But on the other hand, this flying under the radar thing might be fun. Nobody expects much from Southern this year, so proving the naysayers wrong will be enjoyable for the Eagle Nation if Georgia Southern should have a strong season.
    Looking back to 1997 and Paul Johnson’s first year, nobody expected Southern to win the conference title. Of course, Georgia Southern was coming off the only losing season in its history, had a first-year head coach and had seemingly been a program in decline since the departure of Erk Russell in 1989 — so maybe there was good reason for low expectations.
    But feel free to stop me if that whole “coming off a losing season, rookie head coach, program in decline for about eight years since an outrageously successful coach turned the program over to someone else” story sounds familiar.
    That 1997 season started a run of six consecutive years of advancing into at least the second round of the playoffs. The Eagles made the national semifinals for five straight years from 1998-2002 and advanced to the title game in the first three of those semifinal appearances.
    To be fair, there aren’t many Paul Johnsons out there. And another meteoric rise like the one Southern enjoyed in the late 1990s is not probable.
    But Jeff Monken has spent the last 13 years as an assistant with PJ and knows the vaunted triple option offense as well as anyone. Monken has worked tirelessly for his entire career preparing for the opportunity to be a head coach. And all signs seem to show that he’s ready.
    Monken has surrounded himself with a solid coaching staff. There are four or five assistants who could be coordinators at many other schools, so the experience and knowledge these coaches bring will only help this program.
    Additionally, several of the current coaches are from the Georgia Southern family, having played or coached here in the past. So these guys know firsthand what it means to be an Eagle — and how to win as an Eagle.
    So maybe being picked toward the bottom of the league will be used as motivation to prove everyone wrong. Maybe these coaches and players will take this lack of respect in the polls as an insult and make it their mission to make a fool out of anyone who doubted them.
    Maybe this sleeping giant will awaken and get back where it belongs at the top of this conference and at the forefront of the national championship conversation every year.
    So go ahead, Southern Conference. Go ahead and doubt Georgia Southern. You just better be ready for a battle when you line up against the boys in blue and white.

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