Dear Eagle Nation,
I am living proof that dreams do come true. Being back in Statesboro and the head football coach at Georgia Southern University is a dream come true for myself and my family. As I have said many times, besides the day I married my wife and the days my children were born, being named the head coach at Georgia Southern is right up there as one of the most exciting moments in my life. I am truly grateful for the opportunity to rejoin this football program, Georgia Southern University and the Statesboro community.
I understand as well as anybody the enormous responsibility that comes with this opportunity. There are numerous traditions associated with Georgia Southern football since Erk Russell restarted the program some 35 years ago, not the least of which is excelling on the field each and every time we put on the Blue and White. Throughout our rich history at the FCS level and our first two years on the FBS stage, we have had a culture of winning. We have one of the proudest football programs in the country.
My job is to continue that tradition of success and build on it. What does that mean to me? It means maintaining our winning culture and our culture of belief that when we line up on game day, we expect to win no matter who is on the other side of the football. Consistently competing for conference championships, bowl invitations and bowl victories are certainly part of that, but I have been tied to Eagle Nation long enough to understand that we all dream bigger than that. That is just one of the reasons Georgia Southern football is where it is today. Our program aims to play in New Year's Day Six bowls and to reach the College Football Playoff. Those are our dreams, and we will pursue them relentlessly.
Dreams do not come true without a strategy, and these are some of my plans and expectations for our program.
- We will win football games, we will graduate our student-athletes and we will impact their lives in a positive manner so that they can be better husbands, better fathers and better in their careers as they go forward in life.
- We want to build a culture with people in our program who can help impact kids' lives by the opportunities that we give them and by the examples that we set for them day in and day out.
- We want to be big, we want to be physical, we want to be relentless, and we want to be the most competitive people you have ever seen in your life. We will demand a student-athlete who competes in the classroom.
- We want to build a football player who understands what work ethic means, what discipline means and who understands the pride of this university and the traditions that it holds.
- Offensively, we're going to be a gun-option team and a quarterback run team with the ability of the backs and the triple option and all the things that we've done in the past with different motions and tempos. We will certainly continue to add to and develop our passing game and give our quarterbacks an opportunity to make plays with their arms as well as their feet. We have to be able to throw the ball and be effective and efficient when we do.
- Defensively, we will be disciplined, minimize our mistakes and do all the little things right. We will play with toughness, and we will be 11 dudes running to the ball angry.
- We will serve the university as best we can, and I will represent your institution and your program every step of the way.
I have hit the ground running and put together a coaching staff that will help us build toward our goals. National Signing Day is just over three weeks away, and we are beating down doors to finalize our first recruiting class. We are being diligent and detailed with the kids we bring in from a character standpoint, from an academic standpoint and from a football player standpoint.
Another tradition associated with our program is the tremendous amount of support Eagle Nation provides us. I have met many of you already and look forward to the upcoming opportunities I will have to share with you my dreams for our program. Our goals are attainable, but we must have the support of Eagle Nation to get there. When the Eagles win, Eagle Nation and all of the Statesboro community wins. I ask for your continued support as Georgia Southern continues its journey on college football's biggest stage.
Sincerely,
Tyson SummersHead Coach, Football
Georgia Southern University
