STATESBORO - Georgia Southern head football coach
Chad Lunsford announced Saturday that
Doug Ruse will be the Eagles' offensive coordinator in 2021 after finishing the 2020 campaign as the interim play-caller.
"I'm excited to announce
Doug Ruse as our offensive coordinator," Lunsford said. "Doug was given a hard task during the season to take over as offensive coordinator and help us finish out the season and I think he did an awesome job in a short amount of time. His efforts culminated in a decisive R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl victory a few days ago. Doug understands Georgia Southern and understands what the offense here needs to look like. I am looking forward to seeing him install his offense this offseason and get us to the level of winning Sun Belt Championships consistently. Doug, his wife Sandy, and their family are a great fit for our program and our university. I'm happy for them to continue to be a part of us in this role and here's to a whole lot of GATA in 2021!"
Ruse called the final three games of the season, including the 38-3 win over Louisiana Tech in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. In the final three games, the Eagles averaged 271.7 rushing yards per game, 385.3 yards of offense per game and 28.0 points per game.
"I'm very excited, as well as very grateful, for the opportunity to once again serve as offensive coordinator at Georgia Southern," Ruse said. "I appreciate Coach Lunsford's trust in me to direct this offense and I am thrilled about the direction and potential we can see moving forward. I look forward to getting back to work as we build off the momentum gained in these last three games. Hail Southern!"
Ruse was the offensive coordinator at Georgia Southern in 2014 and 2015. In those two seasons, Ruse's offense averaged 37.7 points per game and led the FBS in rushing both seasons. In his debut season with the Eagles, Georgia Southern won the Sun Belt title with an 8-0 record and the Eagles won their first bowl game in 2015, the GoDaddy Bowl.
Georgia Southern is expected to return 16 players on offense who started at least one game in 2020.
