Players Mentioned
Eagles Represent Georgia Southern at Sun Belt Media Day
7/25/2016 1:11:00 PM | Football
Summers, Breida, Gallon take center stage in New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS - With the start of preseason camp a week away, Georgia Southern head football coach Tyson Summers, along with seniors Matt Breida and Ironhead Gallon represented the Eagles at the 2016 Sun Belt Media Day, held in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Monday.
The three went through the car wash of media interviews and photo shoots throughout the morning and into the afternoon before heading back to Statesboro to enjoy what's left of summer break. The team will re-convene on Sunday night for a team meeting and check-in before beginning practice Monday morning (Aug. 1) at Beautiful Eagle Creek.
For Summers, he did several radio interviews, an ESPN3 studio shot, the Sun Belt Digital Network, an ESPN photo shoot and talked several local television stations. The topics remained consistent with what's he's been asked since he was hired in December, including what kind of offense the Eagles will run, what are his philosophies and about the two players who came with him.
Gallon and Breida did many of the same interviews, but also got to put on their jerseys for an ESPN photo shoot and had some fun in the social media suite. They also spent plenty of time in the student-athlete lounge, enjoying the fine cuisine and a few games of pool against others players - in which they won.
After arriving late Saturday night, the three took part in a youth clinic at Joe Brown Park in east New Orleans on Sunday morning. After venturing to Café du Monde for their first beignets, the players and Summers participated in the Sun Belt social held at Fulton Alley, enjoying more food and a fierce game of bowling.
Select Quotes From Media Day
Head Coach Tyson Summers
Opening Statement: I can't speak enough about the Sun Belt Conference and New Orleans as I am thankful to be here and it is a great experience for our players Matt Breida and Ironhead Gallon. I also am excited about my opportunity to be the head football coach at Georgia Southern. I can't say enough about my excitement and what it means to be here and how proud and honored I am for the opportunity to lead this football team and be around the young people in our program. We have a great administration at Georgia Southern in President (Dr. Jaimie) Hebert and Tom Kleinlein, our director of athletics. We are looking forward to several different things as the season moves on and we are excited to get things going.
What is going to be the primary offensive formation this season?: We will continue to be a gun, triple option team, there is no question about that. We are certainly in a position where we have people that can do that and have been successful with it. Both quarterbacks and our running backs we feel very good about those positions and we look to build more talent as the year goes on and see who will jump up and be the next guy for us.
What is your coaching background?: My background has been on defense and special teams. I also have a background in recruiting the state of Georgia as well as parts of North Florida and South Carolina. We want to be in a position where we are at a place where tradition matters, where running the ball matters, where we have a fantastic fan base. We are not going to do something just for the sake of going in a different direction or putting a spin on something, but we want to continue to build off of what our tradition is and build off of the momentum of our run game.
Matt Breida (Sr., RB)
What's the transition like for you with a new head coach coming in?: It is actually not too much different for me - this will be the third head coach I have had since I've been at Georgia Southern. I'm kind of used to it and I feel like the team is handling things really well. Coach Summers is a great head coach and he definitely knows what he is doing and he is getting this team to buy in.
What has it been like getting used to a new offensive scheme?: It has been great adapting to the new scheme; I don't want to give out too much information since we are trying to keep things secret and have team guessing. But, I will say will are definitely still running the football and the run game will be a huge part of our offense.
Ironhead Gallon (Sr., LB)
What did you learn from Antwione Williams who was just drafted in the fifth round by the Lions?: You know I learned a lot from Antwione, I learned that no matter what, you have to go hard. Day in and day out he was dedicated to the game and he put in work, and that's something that I really admired and he knew his stuff, and that's something that I really try to emphasize these past couple of years, just to learn the game a lot more, and day in and day out just put in the work."
What's your secret to blocking kicks since you have four in your career?: Well, it's just practice. You know, just putting in enough time and then reaping the benefits. We had different schemes for different teams because you have some teams that have different walls and things like that, so it's a weekly basis type deal.
After you are done at Georgia Southern, what are you looking to do; what's your inspiration?: I want to continue my football career; it's something that I've always wanted to accomplish. It's a childhood dream. But if that doesn't work, I plan on going into law enforcement, to help change the communities.
The three went through the car wash of media interviews and photo shoots throughout the morning and into the afternoon before heading back to Statesboro to enjoy what's left of summer break. The team will re-convene on Sunday night for a team meeting and check-in before beginning practice Monday morning (Aug. 1) at Beautiful Eagle Creek.
For Summers, he did several radio interviews, an ESPN3 studio shot, the Sun Belt Digital Network, an ESPN photo shoot and talked several local television stations. The topics remained consistent with what's he's been asked since he was hired in December, including what kind of offense the Eagles will run, what are his philosophies and about the two players who came with him.
Gallon and Breida did many of the same interviews, but also got to put on their jerseys for an ESPN photo shoot and had some fun in the social media suite. They also spent plenty of time in the student-athlete lounge, enjoying the fine cuisine and a few games of pool against others players - in which they won.
After arriving late Saturday night, the three took part in a youth clinic at Joe Brown Park in east New Orleans on Sunday morning. After venturing to Café du Monde for their first beignets, the players and Summers participated in the Sun Belt social held at Fulton Alley, enjoying more food and a fierce game of bowling.
Select Quotes From Media Day
Head Coach Tyson Summers
Opening Statement: I can't speak enough about the Sun Belt Conference and New Orleans as I am thankful to be here and it is a great experience for our players Matt Breida and Ironhead Gallon. I also am excited about my opportunity to be the head football coach at Georgia Southern. I can't say enough about my excitement and what it means to be here and how proud and honored I am for the opportunity to lead this football team and be around the young people in our program. We have a great administration at Georgia Southern in President (Dr. Jaimie) Hebert and Tom Kleinlein, our director of athletics. We are looking forward to several different things as the season moves on and we are excited to get things going.
What is going to be the primary offensive formation this season?: We will continue to be a gun, triple option team, there is no question about that. We are certainly in a position where we have people that can do that and have been successful with it. Both quarterbacks and our running backs we feel very good about those positions and we look to build more talent as the year goes on and see who will jump up and be the next guy for us.
What is your coaching background?: My background has been on defense and special teams. I also have a background in recruiting the state of Georgia as well as parts of North Florida and South Carolina. We want to be in a position where we are at a place where tradition matters, where running the ball matters, where we have a fantastic fan base. We are not going to do something just for the sake of going in a different direction or putting a spin on something, but we want to continue to build off of what our tradition is and build off of the momentum of our run game.
Matt Breida (Sr., RB)
What's the transition like for you with a new head coach coming in?: It is actually not too much different for me - this will be the third head coach I have had since I've been at Georgia Southern. I'm kind of used to it and I feel like the team is handling things really well. Coach Summers is a great head coach and he definitely knows what he is doing and he is getting this team to buy in.
What has it been like getting used to a new offensive scheme?: It has been great adapting to the new scheme; I don't want to give out too much information since we are trying to keep things secret and have team guessing. But, I will say will are definitely still running the football and the run game will be a huge part of our offense.
Ironhead Gallon (Sr., LB)
What did you learn from Antwione Williams who was just drafted in the fifth round by the Lions?: You know I learned a lot from Antwione, I learned that no matter what, you have to go hard. Day in and day out he was dedicated to the game and he put in work, and that's something that I really admired and he knew his stuff, and that's something that I really try to emphasize these past couple of years, just to learn the game a lot more, and day in and day out just put in the work."
What's your secret to blocking kicks since you have four in your career?: Well, it's just practice. You know, just putting in enough time and then reaping the benefits. We had different schemes for different teams because you have some teams that have different walls and things like that, so it's a weekly basis type deal.
After you are done at Georgia Southern, what are you looking to do; what's your inspiration?: I want to continue my football career; it's something that I've always wanted to accomplish. It's a childhood dream. But if that doesn't work, I plan on going into law enforcement, to help change the communities.
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