Football Is in the Air; Annual Pig Skin Preview Is Held
A sure sign that football is in the air was the 10th annual Peach State Pigskin Preview (PSPP) which took place last week at the Ga. Sports Hall of Fame in Macon, where the head coach from all 15 of the state’s college football programs attended, along with the state’s newest addition, Mercer University.
The PSPP is a media event where interviews with all head coaches, and some players, can be done in one day. It’s where you get the “scoop” on what to expect this fall from each team, and what not to expect in some cases. It’s also a barbecue with all the trimmings where there’s camaraderie and you can watch some big linemen pop barbecue sandwiches into their mouths like marshmallows.
The first coach we caught up with was Head Football Coach Phil Jones of Shorter College in Rome, who just recruited Monticello Hurricane running back Sadarius Rooks out of Jasper County High School. Coach Jones said, “He’s a great kid, a great athlete, and we feel happy and fortunate to have him.” Coach Jones added that on his last trip to Monticello he attended the First Baptist Church.
Coach Jones said, “Even though we did lose our quarterback, we have high hopes with the players coming back and some good recruits.”
Coach Jones also revealed that the school, which plays in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), has filed a partition to move to Division II of the National College Athletic Association (NCAA), and within two years could end up in the Gulf South Conference to compete against Valdosta State and West Georgia.
The Hawks begin their season on September 10 versus Webber International in Lake Wales, Fla.
University of Georgia Head Football Coach Mark Richt was excited about his freshman class. He said, “We just finished our summer camps and we’re looking forward to practice with our freshman class in August when we’ll see what kind of shape they’re in, and who is dependable enough to play, although we have no doubts about their talent base.
“We’ll be looking for a quarterback, one who can throw, who has touch and has good fundamentals. We want a quarterback who does not hold the ball too long, who makes good decisions and can handle the pressure. And, if he has great athleticism, that’ll be icing on the cake. We’re not expecting the freshmen to win games for us, but we do expect some of them to play.
“Last year was not anywhere close to what we expected and certainly was well below the standard of what Georgia football is all about. I’m not happy with what we went through, but we’ll be better for it in 2011. You can’t sit there and wallow in it, and in my opinion, we’re very close.”
We’ll see how much better the Dawgs are on September 3 when they take on Boise State at the Georgia Dome.
Georgia Tech Head Football Coach Paul Johnson gave us an outlook on the Jacket’s upcoming season, when he said, “We’re not happy with the way we finished the season last year, but I’ve been encouraged with our efforts this year. The good thing about football is that you start over each year.
“The success we had in the past got away from us and we lost some good players. We only have 12 seniors so we will be a young team, but we have some young players who can step up and be leaders, something I have been encouraged by. We lost our quarterback to injury at Virginia Tech last year and never were the same. Tevin Washington will be our quarterback going into the fall.”
The Jackets should get off to a good start since their first two games includes Western Carolina on September 1 and Middle Tennessee State on September 10.
Georgia Southern, which advanced to the third round of the FCS (formerly Div. 1AA), looks to be a contender in the Southern Conference title this year, coming off a 10-5 season after advancing to the third round in the NCAA Playoff last year.
Head Football Coach Jeff Monken said, “We’re excited about this season because we have a lot of returning starters and a nucleus of players that will at least put us in the hunt. We don’t have the fastest or the most talented team, but we do have a hardworking team.”
The Eagles begin the fall season in Birmingham versus Samford on September 3, and on November the 19, the Eagles return to Alabama, except this time it’s in Tuscaloosa, where they will have their first ever meeting with the Crimson Tide of Alabama.
Georgia State begins its second season under legendary Head Football Coach Bill Curry. Coach Curry said, “Last season was one of the most educational in my career, but it was fun and stimulating. We showed great improvement, but we never showed consistency. I think that was because we were fatigued. The good part was seeing them come together as a team. We expect to be more consistent this year and we expect it to be right away. We have had some painful departures, but that goes with the process.
“Almost everyone on our team has been told they weren’t good enough to play somewhere else, yet we’ve had a successful time developing these players. I’m excited about going to training camp and we’re enjoying the process.”
The Panthers, whose home field is the Georgia dome, will play the first game of their second season there on September 2 versus Clark Atlanta.
Mercer University, just down the road from Monticello, is kick starting its football program which was discontinued in 1942. Their new Head Football Coach Bobby Lamb, newly arrived from Furman University, said in jest, “We’ve got the best record in all of football because we haven’t lost a game since 1942!”
The school will begin play in the Pioneer League at the Division 1AA level, however, will not offer athletic scholarships. Some of the teams they will be scheduling are Davidson, Stetson, Campbell and Jacksonville.
Coach Lamb said, “We will hire two more coaches in July, and then begin to blitz the high schools. We intend to sign a class in 2012 and a class in 2013, after which we will begin our first season with freshmen and sophomores. We have to build our facilities backward. Starting in August we’ll build a field house, than a practice field and then a stadium.”
The remainder of the state’s college football programs begin their seasons as follows:
Savannah State versus Albany State in the “Music City Classic” at Henderson Stadium in Macon on September 3.
Valdosta State versus Wingate in Valdosta on September 3.
Morehouse versus Miles College at Legion Field in Birmingham on September 4.
Clarke Atlanta versus Georgia State in the Georgia Dome on September 2.
LaGrange College versus Birmingham Southern at home on September 3. Head Coach is Todd Mooney.
Georgia Military College versus Navarro Jr. College in Milledgeville on September 3.
West Georgia Wolves versus Tusculum in Greeneville, Tennessee on September 3. Daryl Dickey is Head Coach at West Georgia.