Interview with Coach Willie Fritz after Eagles' final 2014 spring practice -- (All-Access subscription required)

STATESBORO, Ga. – Just before the rain moved into Statesboro, a few blasts of wind swept across the practice fields adjacent to "Beautiful Eagle Creek," as the Eagle Football team finished up its final practice of spring 2014. The hour-long workout early Friday morning finished before the deluge was expected later in the day. Originally scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, rain caused the change in the practice schedule.

The shorts and shirts session with temperatures in the upper 40s will be a distant memory come late July and August. While the Eagles won't be on the practice fields for the remainder of the semester, Georgia Southern Football, the spread option and Eagle student-athletes will still be a topic for discussion. For the student-athletes, exit interviews, classwork and finals will fill their remaining weeks. For the coaches, spring recruiting begins as soon as the exit interviews are complete.

"Our coaches will have exit interviews with all their position group players, talk to them about things they are doing well, things they need to improve upon, academically, off the field, on the field, (getting) bigger, faster, stronger, quicker, gain weight, lose weight, whatever the case may be," said Coach Willie Fritz. "Then I'll exit interview every single player as well, it takes me about a week to do that. We think that's important to make sure everyone knows exactly where they stand in our program."

Starting with what he values as most important – effort – Coach Fritz and his coaching staff have evaluated the Eagles, reviewing and grading both scrimmages and almost every single practice. In addition to on-the-field observation of his team, Fritz records his notes on a hand-held digital recorder and watches film after each session.

"We have a pretty good working depth chart in terms of first team, second team, maybe guys we feel confident who are going to travel," Fritz said. "I have a much better idea of who is going to play in the kicking game for us, what their strengths, what their weaknesses are and we're going to put that together over the next few weeks as well. What I am encouraged by is the level of competition. We are going to have a lot of spots that will come into play and see who is going to earn that spot when we get into preseason camp."

COACH FRITZ GREETS STATEWIDE GROUP: Coach Willie Fritz addressed a group of project managers from across the state as part of a joint presentation by the Development Authority of Bulloch County and Screven County Development Authority. During the two-day event, both entities showcased local assets and resources to attract business and industry to the area. Coach Fritz spoke to the group last week after they toured Statesboro and spoke to the advantages the community and Georgia Southern University offers as he himself was "recruited" as the head coach earlier this year.
FREQUENT DRIVER MILES: After exit interviews are complete, while Coach Fritz is on the road with the Coaches' Caravan, the Eagle assistant coaches will be hitting the highway for spring recruiting.

"Our Coaches will be out on the road recruiting and we have made it a goal to hit every high school in the state of Georgia," Fritz said. "That's priority number one. We're also going to be canvassing the surrounding states."

COACHES CARAVAN: Coach Willie Fritz will begin the 10-event Coaches' Caravan tour in Emmanuel County on Tuesday, April 22^nd, Effingham County on Thursday, April 24^th and at Savannah's Coastal Georgia Center on Friday, April 25^th. For more information on purchasing tickets for the first week's events or for a list of the entire schedule, visit http://ringsanddiplomas.com/120

SEVEN FOOTBALL CAMP DATES SET FOR 2014: Seven "Eagle Invasion" Football camp dates are set for June and July with the first session in Atlanta on June 9^th, followed by events in Stockbridge and Warner Robins June 10^th, Valdosta and Kingsland on June 11^th and Augusta June 12^th. The Eagle coaching staff will hold an on-campus single-day camp on July 18^th. Each camp is $40 per camper and the fee includes a camp T-shirt, instruction and evaluation. Georgia Southern Football camps are open to any and all entrants, limited only by number, age, grade level and/or gender. For more information, registration and required documents, please visit georgiasouthernfootballcamps.com.

Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA.

Season tickets for the Eagles' first campaign in FBS are available by calling 1-800-GSU-WINS.