Jared Benko (left) introduces Brian Burg (right).
Brian Burg Formally Introduced as Georgia Southern Men's Basketball Coach
4/3/2020 5:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Burg held an online press conference on campus today.
STATESBORO – Brian Burg was formally introduced as Georgia Southern's men's basketball coach in an online press conference today.
Burg was introduced by new Director of Athletics Jared Benko, but to accommodate COVID-19 regulations, the duo had to take questions from media via a conference call. The event, which had eight attendees because of social-distancing restrictions and lasted about 30 minutes, was streamed live on the Eagle Athletics Facebook Page.
After Benko introduced Burg, the first-year coach thanked the selection committee.
"I've worked my whole life for this opportunity," he said. "I will not let you down. We will have fun, we will win and we will do it the right way."
Burg talked about his vision for the culture of the program. He said the Eagles will have a blue-collar mentality and be an unselfish team.
"Simply stated – we're going to outwork our opponents," he said. "We will have an unselfish culture. This is the backbone of our program. We want every guy in the locker room playing for the guys next to them."
Burg talked about the interview process, which did not include an in-person meeting with Benko or the selection committee.
"It's a little bit surreal," said Burg. "Once we connected, I saw Jared Benko's vision. I saw his energy through the phone. It's a little bit unique through all the video chats, but I'm here in Statesboro and ready to get rolling."
He also talked about how different it will be to get to know his current roster as well as recruit to it with social distancing restrictions in place because of COVID-19.
"It's important to build relationships, and relationships take time," said Burg. "It's a very unique situation, and I am working day and night communicating with these guys trying to build the strongest relationship possible. It's a very unique time from a recruiting standpoint. We have to improvise and build relationships on the phone, through Facetime and through Zoom. We are going to recruit high-level talent, and I can assure you that when we fill our roster, we are going to have a group of guys who are bought in to our vision."
Burg was named Georgia Southern's head coach Sunday and spent the majority of the week driving from Lubbock, Texas, where he spent the last four seasons at Texas Tech, to Statesboro to get started.
During his time with the Texas Tech program, the Red Raiders went 94-44 with two deep runs in the NCAA Tournament, including an appearance in the 2019 national title game. Burg served as an assistant coach the past two seasons after serving as the program's Chief of Staff in 2016-17 and 2017-18, where he was involved in all facets of the program.
Burg, who is described as one of the nation's top recruiters by his peers, brings nearly a decade of experience as an assistant coach at the Division I level with stops at Campbell, North Carolina Central and at fellow Sun Belt school Little Rock under Beard in 2015-16.
Over the past seven seasons, he has worked for programs that have compiled a 176-60 record, highlighted by four NCAA Tournament trips and an NIT appearance. The teams also have posted an 88-36 conference mark, including Texas Tech's first Big 12 regular-season title as well as two MEAC and one Sun Belt regular-season championship.
Georgia Southern tied for fourth in the Sun Belt standings last season and has finished in the top-5 in each of its six seasons in the league. GS tallied 20-plus wins for the third straight season, a feat not accomplished since 1986-89, and the Eagles advanced to their conference tournament semifinal round for the third consecutive season, the first time that has happened in program history.
Burg was introduced by new Director of Athletics Jared Benko, but to accommodate COVID-19 regulations, the duo had to take questions from media via a conference call. The event, which had eight attendees because of social-distancing restrictions and lasted about 30 minutes, was streamed live on the Eagle Athletics Facebook Page.
After Benko introduced Burg, the first-year coach thanked the selection committee.
"I've worked my whole life for this opportunity," he said. "I will not let you down. We will have fun, we will win and we will do it the right way."
Burg talked about his vision for the culture of the program. He said the Eagles will have a blue-collar mentality and be an unselfish team.
"Simply stated – we're going to outwork our opponents," he said. "We will have an unselfish culture. This is the backbone of our program. We want every guy in the locker room playing for the guys next to them."
Burg talked about the interview process, which did not include an in-person meeting with Benko or the selection committee.
"It's a little bit surreal," said Burg. "Once we connected, I saw Jared Benko's vision. I saw his energy through the phone. It's a little bit unique through all the video chats, but I'm here in Statesboro and ready to get rolling."
He also talked about how different it will be to get to know his current roster as well as recruit to it with social distancing restrictions in place because of COVID-19.
"It's important to build relationships, and relationships take time," said Burg. "It's a very unique situation, and I am working day and night communicating with these guys trying to build the strongest relationship possible. It's a very unique time from a recruiting standpoint. We have to improvise and build relationships on the phone, through Facetime and through Zoom. We are going to recruit high-level talent, and I can assure you that when we fill our roster, we are going to have a group of guys who are bought in to our vision."
Burg was named Georgia Southern's head coach Sunday and spent the majority of the week driving from Lubbock, Texas, where he spent the last four seasons at Texas Tech, to Statesboro to get started.
During his time with the Texas Tech program, the Red Raiders went 94-44 with two deep runs in the NCAA Tournament, including an appearance in the 2019 national title game. Burg served as an assistant coach the past two seasons after serving as the program's Chief of Staff in 2016-17 and 2017-18, where he was involved in all facets of the program.
Burg, who is described as one of the nation's top recruiters by his peers, brings nearly a decade of experience as an assistant coach at the Division I level with stops at Campbell, North Carolina Central and at fellow Sun Belt school Little Rock under Beard in 2015-16.
Over the past seven seasons, he has worked for programs that have compiled a 176-60 record, highlighted by four NCAA Tournament trips and an NIT appearance. The teams also have posted an 88-36 conference mark, including Texas Tech's first Big 12 regular-season title as well as two MEAC and one Sun Belt regular-season championship.
Georgia Southern tied for fourth in the Sun Belt standings last season and has finished in the top-5 in each of its six seasons in the league. GS tallied 20-plus wins for the third straight season, a feat not accomplished since 1986-89, and the Eagles advanced to their conference tournament semifinal round for the third consecutive season, the first time that has happened in program history.
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