Football in Statesboro, GA is a major part of the culture. Saturdays are dedicated to football in Paulson Stadium and nothing else, and with football season in full swing, it’s a good idea to know to have a successful game day. 

Tailgating

The amount of preparation can differ depending on what kind of game day you want to have. If you are big on tailgating, spots in Paulson Stadiums’ parking lot are available for purchase. Other spots around campus, such as the Performing Arts Center (PAC) and the Recreational Activity Center (RAC) are also popular tailgating spots. People who tailgate often arrive as early as the day before a game and early Saturday morning to get everything set up. If you aren’t planning on tailgating, it’s as easy as showing up for pregame and finding your seats. 

Where to sit

Seating in Paulson Stadium can be tricky. If you are a student, the student section can be an amazing experience to go through. Located on the visitor side, the student section holds its own traditions that can be really fun once you learn them. The home side is a great spot to sit if you want to be closer to the football team, and it is also the side the Southern Pride Marching Band performs their pregame and most of their halftime performances. 

What to wear

It’s no secret that it’s customary to wear either blue, gold or white on GS game days. Some great places to get all your GS gear are the University Bookstore, Southern Exchange Co. and Cheeky Bliss. It’s probably a good idea to wear something you don’t mind getting things spilled on because some people can get a little rowdy in the stands. Also, plan on wearing comfortable shoes as you will be doing a lot of standing and cheering on the Eagles to victory. 

Afterparty 

The partying doesn’t stop after the game ends. For some, it’s just getting started. Especially after an Eagle win, the night comes alive. Popular places to celebrate are the Gnat’s Landing, Del Sur, Blue Room and Shenanigans. If the bar scene is more your style, these places often have the football game playing on the T.V. if you don’t plan on making to Paulson. 

Having a good college game day can make or break the days memories, so use these helpful hints to make the memories good ones. 

This year’s Halloween will certainly be a special one for those following Georgia Southern football. Thursday’s game against Appalachian State is notorious in the Sun Belt Conference, and this game will not go unnoticed. The two schools are not shy about each others hatred, or I should say a “feeling deeper than hate.” But why do two schools from two different states have such an intense rivalry? 

The Beginning

To try and understand why this rivalry is so deeply seeded in the schools fabric, it’s easiest to take it back to the beginning. 

It’s 1987 at the I-AA Quarterfinals, and GS is the two-time defending I-AA National Champions. App. State had just won the Southern Conference. GS Head Coach Erk Russell had never lost a playoff game in his whole career, until that icy day. The field for that game was so icy that it is often dubbed the “Ice Bowl.” The final score was 19-0, favoring App State. This game is often credited to be the beginning of the modern rival.  

The Streak 

Fast forward to 2000. It was GS’s turn for a winning streak. From 2000-2002, GS won against App State for four games. This winning streak by the Eagles included a nail-biter of a game in 2001, when the Eagles led 14-0, fell behind to 15-14 and then came out on top with 27-18. To this day, there have been no four-year players for either team who has experienced a four year clean streak again. 

#UnrankAppState

The game in 2018 against GS and App State will forever be legendary. App State was 5-1 with a loss to Penn State. GS had a new head coach: Chad Lunsford, who is helping the GS Eagles turn around. 

With App State becoming an official FBS ranked team at No. 20., the underdog win coming from GS was more than just beating a rival. App State was the first ranked school GS had ever beat. App State went on to win the Sun Belt conference that season, but knowing GS stole their first ever ranking made Eagles fans happier. 

This year on Thursday, GS will travel to Boone, North Carolina to battle against App State on their home turf. 

This leaves us with one question: will App State take revenge for last seasons beat down, or will GS hold true to their promise of beating them in their own home? 

Georgia Southern University softball outfielder, junior finance major Mekhia Freeman, No. 6,  is always looking forward to game days. Freeman’s main focus throughout game days is to keep her energy at an all time high. By keeping her game days busy, Freeman stays alert and focus, making her ready for the game.

“Game day, to me, is honestly the best day,” Freeman said. “It’s where all our hard work pays off and where we are actually able to have fun, ‘cause we know we put so many hours in the week.”

Freeman wakes up earlier than usual on game days, and the first thing on her mind is music to get her ready to start the morning. Throughout the day, Freeman likes to dress down and be more comfortable, but all while having her GS Softball gear on. She also makes sure to eat a good breakfast by fueling up with a strawberry sprinkle doughnut. A small game day ritual Freeman started was going to Sonic and getting the blue Nerds slush.

She spends her day going to class and hanging out with her teammates, and if she does have some spare time, Freeman trains by taking extra swings, watching other softball games or binge-watching the Netflix show “Good Girls.” Staying busy is very important for Freeman, meaning there is no afternoon nap.

“If I take a nap on game day, I’ll wake up tired. I like to stay up and just be alert and see everything,” Freeman said.

Listening to music really helps her get through the day and keep a upbeat vibe while remaining focused for the game. Music is a major key for Freeman on game days. On the way to class and as soon as class ends, she puts on her AirPods and loves to switch between hip-hop and country. Freeman gets a lot of her energy from listening to music.

“I usually listen to Lil Baby, he really gets me going,” Freeman said.

While the whole team warms up before the game, Freeman said, “We listen to music on our small speaker. We usually go to Pandora and go to 2000s hip-hop and just shuffle it.”

Georgia Southern University’s women’s basketball power forward, Hailey Dias-Allen, No. 32, is well into a great defensive season, leading the team’s defensive rebounds with 112 this season. I got a chance to talk to Dias-Allen to dive into her daily routine on game days.

Dias-Allen, a junior and early childhood education major, kicks off her game day by fueling up with a blueberry bagel and playing some music while she gets ready before heading out and going to class. After three hours of academics, Dias-Allen then goes to “shoot around” with the team for about an hour. This is then followed up with the pregame meal.

“After pregame meal, I go home and get my pregame nap. Everybody needs a nap,” Dias-Allen said.

Dias-Allen is not too picky of what she eats on game day, as most times lunch is provided for the team, but her her favorite game day snack is fruit. She said she always makes sure to snack on fruit like honeydew melon and pineapple.

Throughout the day, Dias-Allen hangs out with her friend Alexis Brown No. 4, Guard for the women’s basketball team.

Dias-Allen dresses more comfortably on game days, wearing a pair of her nicest shoes: Balenciaga Runners.

Dias-Allen listens to her game day playlist throughout the day. The playlist is mostly rap, including rappers like Kodak Black, Drake, Gunna and Key Glock. Her favorite on the playlist is “I like Clowns” by Key Glock. She also listens to the playlist while she warms up doing her game day routine.

Dias-Allen heads onto the court about an hour and forty five minutes before the rest of the team. She shoots a total of 100 mid-range shots and 50 five-spot-three pointers.

Game day practices for the women’s basketball team is going through the motions, with it mostly being about getting loose and making sure the players’ “shot” is ready for the game. They also practice their new inbound plays to prepare for the other team.

Dias-Allen said, “When they [fans] come, they make us more hyped up, so come out and show some love.”

Dodgeball Club is a co-ed, national collegiate team at Georgia Southern University. Every year, they participate in tournaments, and travel to nationals.

The club was created by Zachary Rivera, and it became an official club sport around the end of 2015.

Rivera said he wanted to create a new club sport, and he liked playing dodgeball. He said creating it took a lot of time and effort at first.

”It gave me a new sense of importance in life,” Rivera said, reflecting on how the team affected him. The team was his friend group and became a part of his family.

Micah Fansler is the public relations chair coordinator for the team. He said the dodgeball games are intense.

“It’s super fun, it’s really competitive, and it’s more than what you think,” Fansler said.

At practices, the team focuses on techniques like catching, dodging and throwing and the scrimmages with each other with some time at the beginning and end for stretching, said Fansler.

“There’s a ton to it,” Fansler said. “When you watch the movie Dodgeball, or just think about dodgeball in general, it’s just like throwing balls back and forth, but there’s a ton of techniques to it, and it’s really difficult.”

At the beginning, there’s an opening rush where players try to reach the balls before the others, Fansler said. There’s a lot of throwing back and forth throwing between the teams, and players try to dodge balls and block for teammates, trying to keep them and yourself “alive,” Fansler said.

“We like to encourage intense practices because games are intense but also because it’s a great workout, keeps everybody fit,” Fansler said.

No experience is needed to join the team.

“Last semester was my first semester, and I was terrible, and I’m still not the best thrower and I’m not the best catcher but it takes a while to get it,” Fansler said.

Fansler said they all joke about how someone’s not paying attention when they should be, and that person gets smacked with the ball or someone else will be ask why someone can’t catch, and they throw the ball at whoever said it, making them miss the ball.

“Tons of weird, funny stuff happens at practice all the time,” Fansler said.

The team travels around two to three times a semester, said Fansler. Last year the team went to UNG and Ohio and hosted UNG at Southern. This year, the team is planning on going to UNG, and nationals in Tennessee.

At Nationals, there are around 10 to 15 teams, said Fansler, and it can last around 1-2 days.

Dodgeball club has the cheapest club sports dues, said Fansler. It costs $65 for new members and $10 for returning members.

“It pays for your travel, your stay, your jersey and then with these sponsors coming in hopefully we can get the team some shorts and book bags that they don’t have to pay for at all which is provided by the sponsors,” Fansler said.

Fransler said, “You meet tons and tons of new people and they’re super cool and they are adaptive to you and you are adaptive to them, so you hang out outside of just practice and it’s so better than just going to class, going to your apartment or dorm and then doing homework.”

Dodgeball Club practices on Tuesday and Thursday between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. in the Auxiliary Gym. For more information, contact 912-658-3257 or either of these emails: [email protected] or [email protected]

I spoke to five Georgia Southern alumni who graduated in late ‘50s to find out what life at the college was like back then.

Helen Jackie Yates hasn’t missed a Georgia Southern home basketball game since 1986. She is a proud alumni, and she graduated in 1957 with a major in physical education. Yates serves as the secretary for the Men’s Basketball Roundball Club (ERBAA). When she attended Georgia Teachers College, she went by Jacquelyn Mikell

“I’m not sorry I didn’t go to the University of Georgia…I think my school can hold its own,” Yates said.

Dave Esmonde, nicknamed “Yank” by his team, was a dedicated baseball player. He was on the team all four years during his time at the college and was a part of the first baseball team at Georgia Teachers College that played in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men’s baseball tournament. He majored in math and graduated in 1958.

“The humor and the imagination that the people had at Georgia Teachers College at that time was unbelievable … We could entertain each other … I think we just had a lot of good, wholesome fun,” Esmonde said.

Larry Hyde wrote for The George-Anne “almost from the day [he] was on campus.” He wrote a column called “Hyde and Seek” and held positions as a news editor and sports editor for The George-Anne. He was also the editor for The Reflector, a yearbook at the time, in ‘58. He is a navy veteran and was stationed at Pearl Harbor two years before coming to Georgia Teachers College.  He graduated in 1958 with a major in health and physical education.

The people Hyde met changed his life. He treasures the friendships he made and still has some today.

Jane Jackson Highsmith was a part of the last class to graduate from Georgia Teachers College. She majored in elementary education and graduated in 1959. Jackson Highsmith was The George-Anne’s features editor for four years, and she was secretary of the student council.

Jane Jackson Highsmith was a part of the last class to graduate from Georgia Teachers College. She majored in elementary education and graduated in 1959. Jackson Highsmith was The George-Anne’s features editor for four years, and she was secretary of the student council.

Jackson Highsmith was very homesick when she first got to Georgia Teachers College. “It taught me to endure the tough times and then I figured out kind of who I was during that time. I met my husband down there. I made the best friends I’ve ever had,” Jackson Highsmith said.

Aubrey Highsmith said he always had a saw and hammer in his hand ever since he was big enough to hold one, which is how he knew Georgia Teachers College’s industrial arts degree was for him. He was vice president of the student council and graduated in 1958.

“A large number have always appreciated the school…I think in our friendship circle, everybody had a great appreciation for the education we got there during that time,” Highsmith said.

Jane Jackson Highsmith and Aubrey Highsmith met at Georgia Teachers College and have been married for 59 years. They both serve on the Jackie & Averitt graduate school foundation board.

Traditions:

The Lantern Walk:

This tradition has lasted until this day. The lantern walk is where soon-to-be graduates walk around campus and say their goodbyes.

Yates recalled that everyone would wear their caps and gowns. They also had designated speakers, and they would say a farewell speech to buildings. Business major business buildings

Rat Day:

Rat Day was something all freshmen had to participate in,unless they were a military veteran. Each freshman was given a rat hat they had to wear everywhere.

“You wore your cap to signify that you were a lowly freshman,” Yates said.

This lasted for a few weeks, but the freshmen were not at the mercy of the sophomores until Rat Day.  Rat Day was unannounced, and the upperclassmen could make them carry their books, get their meals or even do something silly like act like an airplane.

“If they screamed ‘air raid, air raid,’ you had to stand on one foot, lean forward, and say a poem … I said it so much I’ll never forget it,” Jackson Highsmith said:

I am a lowly freshman
I have no poise nor grace
I must respect the sophomores
To show I know my place
My place is very low indeed
I am a humble soul
I crawl around like a centipede
When I should crawl in a hole
I am a lowly freshman. I have no sense of knowledge
To learn respect and discipline
Is why I came to college!

Jackson Highsmith also recalls some other things the sophomores made the freshmen do. She had to tell Jack N. Averitt, Ph.D, the head of the social studies department and a professor in a “no-nonsense class,” “You tell ‘em cabbage, you got the head” every ten minutes. “It’s so silly, but it’s just a thing of horror,” Jackson Highsmith said. Another boy had to say “You tell ‘em cigar, your butt’s been chewed.”

Yates had a friend who had to stand up on a table in the dining hall and sing “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

There was one night known as “The Running of the Rats.” It would take place in the fall, on a cool, rainy night. The boys would be woken up and taken out of their beds in the middle of the night. Esmonde said that you would have “nothing on but your shoes, your rat hat and your scivvies.”

“The [upperclassmen] had a big mud puddle, and you had to go jump in that mud puddle and slide like you were a baseball player … then you had to run over to the woman’s dorms and sing songs to them over there,” Esmonde said.

There was even a parade downtown. The band would play as the ‘rats’ marched. Sophomores would make them do crazy things during the parade.

“Rat Court” would occur on the night of Rat Day. Sophomores would be the jury and dish out punishments to those who didn’t behave properly as rats. Sophomores were dressed in black, and they were somber and scary looking, Jackson Highsmith recalled. One punishment involved ice blocks that students had to sit on.

“After Rat Court, you could officially be a student,” Jackson Highsmith said.

The juniors and seniors were merely spectators. “We had risen above all that foolishness,” Highsmith said.

Yates said it was all in good fun.

Watermelon Cutting:

The annual watermelon cutting still goes on today. The president cuts watermelon every summer. “The tradition began in 1948 when late President Zach Henderson wanted to provide a cool treat to the students, faculty and staff who were still on campus during the hot summer months,” according to the Georgia Southern University’s traditions page.

Friday Night Movies & Saturday Night Dances:

They would show movies every Friday and hold dances every Saturday. It was a great chance to socialize since the women were only allowed to go out a certain amount of nights per week and these would not count as one of their nights.

There were three major dances a year: The Starlight Ball, Christmas Ball and Faculty Ball.

The Panty Raid:

This only lasted a couple of years. Boys who lived in the dorm would stand in front of girl’s dorm and yell “panty raid” repeatedly, and the women would throw out a pair of panties.

“That was about the wildest thing we did,” Yates said.

Sadie Hawkins Day:

This was the one time girls officially were able to invite the guys. It was held outside on the tennis courts, and it was the only time is was acceptable to dress casually. If a girl had a date, she would call for him from her dorm. It was the reversal of what the boys did.

May Day:

There was a May Queen and a May Court. Elementary through twelfth graders came out and did a performance, and the children danced around the maypoles. Everyone in town came.

“At that time, Georgia Southern and Statesboro were very integrated,” Yates said.

Beauty Pageant:

The different clubs would nominate a girl to be in the beauty pageant. The pictures of each candidate would be sent to a judge.

Sunday Morning Church Bus:

The Baptist Church had a bus that was called Gabriel. Yates recalls that the church bus was known as Gabriel blowing the horn every Sunday morning.

Fashion:

Esmonde describes a lot of the fashion trends with the guys: jeans, t-shirts and v-neck sweaters were popular in fall and winter. White saddles and penny loafers were also very popular, and almost everyone had a pair of white bucks. There was no sloppiness, and almost everyone was cleanly shaven and had a crew cut.

“If you were going out … it was a v-neck sweater,” Esmonde said.  

No one wore shorts; the guys wore jeans or khakis, Yates said.

Eventually, Bermuda shorts with socks up to the knees became popular as well.

Hyde recalls a story of when Bermuda shorts hit campus. Unfortunately, everyone was not a fan. ”There was an elderly lady in the dining hall that did not think the dining hall was a place for Bermuda shorts, and she opposed any[one] wearing them to dine,” Hyde said.

Hyde and a friend, Louis “Doc” Green, decided to go before the student council. Green dressed in a pair of Bermuda shorts and stood on a chair while Hyde asked, “What is indecent about the way this student is dressed to attend classes and all activities at Georgia Teachers College?” Dress regulations were changed the next quarter.

Women wore long skirts and dresses. They could wear jeans on the weekend, but they would have to put a raincoat on if they left the dorm while on campus. Velvet capris pants were also popular with the women, even though they were not allowed to wear them on campus because of their dress code (see rules).

“Most of the boys smoked and they would roll the cigarette up in the sleeve of their t-shirt. That’s what we called ‘cool’ back then,” Jackson Highsmith said.

Sports:

The school only had basketball and baseball. They were known as the Professors, and the games were very popular. The baseball team played on the same field we do now.

“Sports were the big thing on campus,” Yates said.

During Esmonde’s junior year, after the baseball season ended, the team took a bus and went into South Carolina. They went across a wooden bridge with a little stream under it and played volleyball on the beach all day. They maybe passed two cars on the road. Esmonde said there was nothing there except one gas station. That beach is now known as Hilton Head.

“Little did I know at that time that that place would become an absolute haven like it is today,” Esmonde said.  

Rules:

Compared to women, men had hardly any rules. They did not have a curfew, a limited number of nights out or a dress code. They could do whatever they wanted.

“Of course, there’s not much you can do if you don’t have girls,” Yates said.

Discipline was handed out by house council. If you violated the rules of the dorm, you were called down to house counsel to defend yourself. You could be “campused” which meant you could only stay on campus. However, if you were restricted, you could only go to class and to the dining hall.

Guys were allowed to come into the girl’s parlor after dinner until seven o’clock. At seven, the house mother would blow a whistle, and the guys would have to go unless they had a date. After this, the women were in study hall until 10.

Freshmen women were only allowed one night out a week; sophomores two nights; juniors had three; seniors were unlimited. Freshmen had to double date, and each person had to sign a date slip before leaving.

“If you left, you had to sign out. If you went out off the campus you had to pull out a date slip. You had to tell with whom you were leaving and where you were going,” Jackson Highsmith said. If your parents called, the people in the dorm knew where you were going.

They had mandatory chapel twice a week. Yates said you could cut class, but not chapel. She also said that if you skipped, Zach S. Henderson, Ph.D, would hunt you down.

“The only time we could wear anything other than a dress was after 9 o’clock at night if we wanted to go to The Blue Tideーthe little store where you could get only Coca-Colas and crackers and candy bars,” Jackson Highsmith recalls.

“I think some things are too restricted…the bigger we get, the more rules,” Yates said.

Mose Bass:

Mose Bass was an African American janitor at Cone Hall, which was the junior and senior boys dormitory at the time. He was a legend and an icon, and he even had a yearbook dedicated to him one year.

Mose did everything for the guys; he’d wake them up in time for class and make sure they studied, Yates said, “They had a house mother, but Mose took care of the boys,” Yates said.

If sign for a party or something was posted around campus, someone would come by and write “Approved by Mose Bass.” It was an unofficial slogan.

Esmonde said that his roommate, Vaughn Haul, and Mose were friends. Haul would go hunt in the country, Mose would cook up his game, and they would eat together.

“He was a good friend to all the boys on campus,” Esmonde said.

Cost:

“My dad gave me two 100 dollar bills … they gave me two dollars change … Tuition was about 200 dollars a quarter. There might’ve been some other fees attached, I don’t remember, but it was around that figure,” Highsmith said.

Jackson Highsmith said she could go for $1,000 a year for everything: tuition, books, spending money.

“Most of the people that we know that went here have really become successful because they had to work hard. They grew up working hard, they knew that this was a gift that everybody couldn’t get an education that to be here was a gift so they didn’t squander it,” Jackson Highsmith said.

The Town and Campus Life:

Yates explained that they had the College Grill, Dixie Pig (drive-in), Knick Knack Grill, Franklin’s and Dairy Queen. There wasn’t a McDonald’s, Wendy’s or Arby’s. Gnats and Dingus Magees didn’t exist.

“College Grill” was where Gnats Landing is now. It was so close to campus that anyone could walk there, and, considering most students didn’t have cars, that’s what they did. Statesboro was much safer back then; everyone was familiar with each other. Because of this, people could easily hitchhike to their destination.

Esmonde recalls that he could get a chili dog plate from College Grill for 42 cents. “If you had five bucks in your pocket, you were ahead of the game,” Esmonde said.

The Skater Bowl, similar to the Clubhouse, was a skating rink, bowling alley and dance floor with a jukebox.

Jackson Highsmith said professors were very personal: “They always knew us and that had a lot of meaning, the personal interest the professors took in you, Jackson Highsmith said. You would be invited into their homes, and they knew who you were.

Hardly any students had cars. Highsmith recalls that the college didn’t have as many activities or resources as the school does now. “It was probably suitable for our time and our location in the state,” Highsmith said.

Sweetheart Circle has kept its name for decades.  Yates recalled that there used to be a lot benches in sweetheart, and, after a meal in the dining hall, people would go and sit under the trees.

“I hope they keep the integrity of the original campus. It has so many memories and happy times,” Yates said.

“I can’t tell you how proud I am of Georgia Southern University.  Living so far away, I don’t get to visit the campus. My last visit was for the 50 Year Celebration of the Class of 1958.  When you stop and think, in Winter Quarter of 1955, there were around 7500 students at GTC. Now it is over 20,000. Look at all the opportunities people have to get an education in so many fields,” Hyde said.

“I loved Georgia Southern. I loved campus. I loved living here. And I still do. I like all the changes. A lot of people in town say that Statesboro has changed. You know, the traffic is horrible…it’s crowded. But how boring it would be without the students. They bring life into the church. They bring life into the community,” Yates said.

When I walked into the lobby of The Ted Smith Family Center at Paulson Stadium, one thought stood out over all the others: This is a school that’s proud of its football.

The Ted Smith Family Center is home to football head coach Chad Lunsford’s office.

Photo taken by Noelle Walker

Straight in front of whoever walks inside the building is a wall made of windows, as if it is framing the “prettiest little stadium in America.” GATA is in big letters above the wall of glass. It’s a beautiful day in Paulson. The sun is shining, illuminating the football field.  One person runs from endzone to endzone on the field below me. As always, it’s a good day to be an Eagle.

The team’s national championship title plaques are proudly displayed in the lobby. Part of a wall is showcasing the Bill W. Nelson Hall of Fame. As I waited to interview Coach Lunsford, I sat on a blue couch in front of trophy cases holding Southern’s GoDaddy Bowl trophy from 2015 and the Sunbelt Conference Championship trophy from 2014.

Lunsford has held an array of positions, including jobs at Georgia Military College, Appalachian State, Griffin High School, Auburn and Georgia Southern University.

He has always gravitated towards football growing up. He played the sport in little league, middle school and high school. While he claims he wasn’t very good at it, he loved and enjoyed football. His biggest influences were his high school coach and all the coaches he’s worked with throughout his career.

“I just try to take everybody as far as how they handled things, how they did things, and just try to learn the situation they were in,” Lunsford said.   

Lunsford thought he wanted to coach, but he didn’t make up his mind until he was in college.

“Once I jumped into it, I knew that’s what I was meant to be,” Lunsford said.

I asked Lunsford to describe how he felt when Georgia Southern won against App State. He said it was emotional, but he felt more emotional for the seniors because they had never beaten Appalachian State, and he did not want them to leave without that victory. He said them being able to get that made it the most special.

“The other emotion too is just Eagle Nation. All the fans. It just seemed like Georgia Southern again. The power of Paulson was really real that night,” Lunsford said.

 

There are several moments throughout Lunsford’s career where he thought, “This is why I want to be a coach.” One that jumps out at him was the final game of 2016 against Troy at Paulson.  It was senior night. They had a successful senior class, but it wasn’t a good year—the team was 5-7. When Southern won, he saw how emotional the players were after the game, and a lot of them hugged him and told him they appreciated Lunsford sticking with them. 

I asked Lunsford what obstacles he’s had to overcome to achieve success at Southern today, Lunsford said it was going through the hard times and not losing faith or sight of what Georgia Southern is.

“Georgia Southern is a very proud and successful program, and when it’s down, there’s a lot of negativity, and I think being able to overcome that—not just me, but our whole football team and our whole staff and just being able to create a positive environment was the biggest obstacle,” Lunsford said.  

Photo courtesy of Jaren Stephens

At the time of the interview Georgia Southern was in contention for the Sunbelt Championship, I asked Lunsford, from the perspective of coaching, how did he go from a losing season last year to a bowl-eligible team in contention for the Sunbelt Championship. Lunsford said that is starts with culture. He said they’ve always had a strong brotherhood with their players; it’s a close, tight-knit group. Lunsford thought it was important in the off-season to build a positive environment. He said they are still held accountable but with positive spin on everything.

“You got to get the kids to know you care about them and love them. And love equals time, so you got to spend time at it. And I think it was very important because our guys spend time together, our coaches then spend time with them, and it just became a big bond,” Lunsford said.

I asked Lunsford to describe his relationship with the players. He said he’s a player’s coach.

“Their interest is my interest. I want to take care of them and them to feel like they’re being taken care of. But, on the other hand, it’s not a friend relationship. It’s more of maybe a parent relationship where when discipline has to happen, I’m not afraid to discipline when needed,” Lunsford said.  

His positivity has an effect on all of those around him.

Kindle Vildor,  a junior sports management major, is a cornerback for the Georgia Southern football team.

“I feel like it’s more of a team, more of a family compared to last year. I feel like now we have a good brotherhood, and not only with the players but also with the coaches,” Vildor said.

Shai Werts, a redshirt sophomore sports management major, is a quarterback for the Georgia Southern football team.

“He tries to always find the positive in things instead of bashing the negative or always pointing out the negative stuff, so I feel like that always puts out a positive vibe, positive energy that comes with Coach Lunsford,” Werts said.

I asked Werts what the atmosphere this year is compared to last year. He said there’s a lot more positive energy, and he said that he feels this is what has allowed the team to have the season they have had so far.

Vildor and Werts both described Lunsford as a player’s coach.

One thing his wife, Tippy Lunsford, learned from him was to be positive. She said that, in a relationship, there’s always one person who’s stronger at certain things over others.

“He’s like that with everything. If I’m going to say the glass is half empty, it’s half full to him,” Tippy said.

The most important thing to Lunsford when it comes to the team is the guys knowing he cares about them. There are five core values they all try to work towards daily: servant leadership, honesty, humility, accountability and blue-collar work ethic.

I asked Werts how Coach Lunsford impacted his life, and he said he could tell so many stories. The biggest one was about his decision to attend the university. Werts said he had some recruiting, and Lunsford had called him after he had made a different decision. Werts said they talked for about an hour or hour and a half about a lot of things—not just football. After that, he changed his decision. Werts said Lunsford is probably one of the biggest reasons he decided to go to Southern.

“With him now being the head coach  it makes it even more, I guess meaningful because he knows what I’ve been through, he knows all the stuff that I had to go through to get to this point, and he always believed in me, even when he was an assistant coach,” Werts said.

 

Werts said that Lunsford always told him that his time was coming, and, even when it did, he told Werts that he was proud of him, and no matter what, he would always stand behind him.

“He’s never went away from that word,” Werts said.

Vildor described Lunsford as a player’s coach, saying he gets along with every single player, and has a relationship with each and every one.

“I feel like a lot of coaches they probably want to just make it strictly about football, and winning, winning, winning. But he cares about more than that. He cares about how our family is doing, how we’re doing, and, if we need anything, be sure to go to him for it,” Vildor said.

Photo courtesy of Jaren Stephens

Lunsford and defensive coordinator and safeties Scot Sloan have coached together for 9 years at three different previous places: Griffin High School, Georgia Military College and Georgia Southern University.

“In this business, you don’t get a lot of opportunities to work with someone that you’re that close to … During the course of your career, any time you get a chance to cross paths again with somebody you’re good friends with it’s kind of hard to turn down,” Sloan said.

I asked Sloan how it is working with Coach Lunsford. He said they have a good working relationship, and he thinks the fact that they know and trust each other as much as they do helps. He said they have open communication in both directions and they sometimes use each other as sounding boards. Sloan explained they keep it professional even though they are close.  

“The fact that we’ve got such a good trust and good communication lined back and forth, I think helps it be a good working relationship as well,” Sloan said.

I asked Sloan what the players mean to him. He said they mean everything.

“When you’re in this line of work, if you’re not in it for the players, then you’re in it for the wrong reasons,” Sloan said.

 

Being able to mentor young guys as they’re in a huge transitional stage in their life and being able get the opportunity to build and equip them for the real world is important to him.

“Each guy has a different thing, I think, in their life that needs [to be] touched on, and so I think as a coach, if you can identify that and touch on it, then really you’ve done your job as far as the position of being a coach,” Sloan said.  

Sloan has no doubt Lunsford shares this same philosophy. If he didn’t, Sloan wouldn’t have come back to Georgia Southern.

“Football is way bigger than just X and O’s and the schemes that you put together, the plays and things of that nature. It’s really about developing a culture, building a close knit group of players and coaches,” Sloan said.

I asked Sloan how Lunsford resolves conflict.

“He wants to think about it, pray about it, sleep on it throw it around a little bit, and usually it’s the next day when he’ll deal with issues. I think it gives him that time of just kind of absorbing everything, digesting everything, reaching peace with himself … he’s usually spot on in his decisions, so I think it’s a good approach rather than trying to make a knee-jerk reaction, a split second decision … ” Sloan said.

Tippy said the football players are like an extension of Lunsford’s children.

“When I hear him talking to them on the phone or in his office or wherever, it’s almost like they could be a part of our family,” Tippy said. “He loves and cares for them and teaches them and disciplines them all the same way. It’s kind of weird.”

Lunsford and his wife met in college, and they have been married 16 and a half years. The couple has three children. They first met in college.

“I liked his confidence, I liked his athletic ability, his brains. He just had the whole package, and he had a good Christian heart too. It was just perfect for me,” Tippy said.

When asked to describe her husband, the first thing she said was that he’s a very Godly man. She also said he’s a great leader of their family, has a good sense of humor, and is a loving, caring and devoted husband.

She said she would probably describe him in the same way as a coach, just towards the team, players and coaches.

Photo courtesy of Tippy Lunsford.

Lunsford’s family isn’t able to have a family dinner most nights because of obligations like football practices and the children’s sport events, so Lunsford’s family starts out every single day they are home with a family breakfast at 6 a.m.

Tippy said that family is the most important thing to her husband, just under his Christian faith. She knew Lunsford would be a good father before they had children, saying they both have a desire for adventure, and he was like a kid at heart.

“I would think that if he treated them the way I was treated by him, he would be a good father,” said Tippy.

Lunsford does bring his work home with him on occasion, said Tippy. She said it’s like his hobby, and she enjoys it too. After every game the team plays, they go home and watch it together again on the TV. If he has a lot of work he has to do and hasn’t been home in awhile, he’ll try to bring it home just so he is present.

Photo courtesy of Tippy Lunsford

“Sometimes this profession is hard on marriages, but one thing he does that I feel like makes all the world of a difference is I know without a doubt whatever spare time he gets … away will be spent with me and the kids in some form or fashion,” Tippy said.

Sloan said this line of work is competitive, especially when the stakes get higher. He said sometimes the job can consume you, but you can’t stay here 24, 18, or 19 hours a day. At some point, he said, you have to have to push away and go home and pick up where you left off the next day. Sloan said Lunsford was good for him and really showed him that perspective.

“He really sets that standard with the staff for everybody. He wants us to be husbands and dads and not just 27 football coaches,” Sloan said.

Tippy said that there are some sacrifices that have to be made that come with her husband’s job. All three of their kids are in sports, so she has to hurry and get them all where they’re supposed to be.

“When they get out of school, I am 110 miles an hour getting them to all their stuff, you know, kind of like a single mom would be, and they don’t have daddy to come and watch every single game that they play in. However he’ll be at some,” Tippy said.

She thinks their children understand and are okay with this. The family has also had to move around and leave friends or vice versa. Tippy said she has taught their children from a young age that home is not a place. Home is wherever their mom and dad are.

“They have to have the type of personality to handle that, which I think they all do … But I know it’s hard, so that is a sacrifice. I don’t think they would want a different life though,” Tippy said.

I asked Tippy if the stress of Lunsford’s job affects home life. She said she didn’t think so, and you wouldn’t know that anything is wrong. After one of the games they lost, her kids couldn’t tell Southern had lost.

“Of course he was upset about the game, but I don’t think he would change his personality,” Tippy said.

I asked Lunsford what his Christian faith meant to him, Lunsford answered immediately: “It means everything to me. I’m not the perfect Christian, and I’m not a perfect human. I’m not even close, but I know where my strength comes from. And I know that my strength comes from the Lord.”

Lunsford said one of his core values is servant leadership, which he tries to apply to his everyday life. He reminds himself, “it ain’t me,” and that it is God. He also said being a servant leader is his philosophy.

The family’s Christian faith is a big part of their home life. Tippy said that lots of kids are stressed out over sports or grades or whatever, and she tries to remind them that’s not the most important thing.

“My and Chad’s number one role as parents is to teach our kids to love a great God and nothing else comes close to that,” Tippy said.

 

One hardship the Lunsfords had to endure was when they lost their third child at birth in 2010. Tippy said she had carried the baby full term, and he ended up being stillborn. She said it was hard for each of them in different ways.

“That was really hard for me emotionally, and it was hard for him too, but just a different level being the daddy or husband and not actually carrying the baby like you would expect with me,” Tippy said.

“All he knew to do was to pray, and I was, of course, at the time was very mad at God for putting us through all of this, which of course is understanding,” Tippy said. She said Lunsford would leave work in the middle of the day to check on her, and that she, of course, would be crying. He didn’t know what to do, and he would say that they needed to pray.

“He did that and he did that for several days, weeks, and I don’t know if that is what softened my heart or if that’s what got us through it, but I can also say something with that prayer that he would do pulled us through,” Tippy said.

Lunsford said he could only support her and be there for her.

“That was a pretty trying time because I always felt like I could always fix whatever and I could make everything right and that I couldn’t … God really I think affected both of us with our faith at that point because we knew we had to rely on Him to get through it,” Lunsford said.

Tippy said this experience caused the whole family to have a different outlook on life, saying that she feels like the saying “don’t sweat the small stuff because its all small stuff” is very true, and you don’t realize that until you go through something like they did. It affected how she taught her students and parented her children.

“I can see now looking back how good came from that … It touched our family, and it touched my heart, and it changed me and him as people.”

Photo courtesy of Tippy Lunsford

Growing up, Lunsford describes his life as normal. He was raised in a Christian family in a two parent home, and he was always taken care of. His dad and grandfather taught him work ethic from an early age. He wasn’t rich, but he wasn’t poor. Lunsford’s personal influences were his parents and grandparents. He said that he had struggles and it wasn’t perfect, but he definitely can’t complain about his childhood.

“I was well taken care of and shown the right way and shown how to live the right way,” Lunsford said.

Sloan said Lunsford’s coaching style is like his—and it’s part of what drove him to come back and be a part of the staff. He said Lunsford has a good energy and relationship with the players: “It’s not an us and them. It’s we.”

“This is my 27th year, so I’ve been around a bunch of different coaches at a bunch of different levels and so you see and learn from a lot of people you come into contact with … you see some of the screamers and yellers and barkers … Kids don’t really respond to that, not like maybe they did 30 years ago,” Sloan said.

Sloan explained that Lunsford’s style is more of a teacher and embracer.

“Reinforce the positive, correct the negative, but reinforce the positive and really build them up instead of beat them down,” Sloan said.

Sloan has no doubt that this is what’s making the team so successful this year. Sloan said Lunsford’s positive mindset is an upbeat culture that bleeds into the staff and down to the players.

“Once it trickles down … that’s what your locker room is, you know, a positive, upbeat, close-knit group and that bleeds over into success on the field,” Sloan said.

 

Photo courtesy of Jaren Stephens

Werts said they do a lot of team bonding during the off-season. They’ve done different things together like go to the movies, play volleyball and sometimes the coaches invite them to dinner.

“I feel like that’s also a big reason why we’ve come to have success this year. Because he does stuff like that and kind of brings us in closer and brings the brotherhood even tighter than what it is,” Werts said.

Werts said what you see is what you get with Coach Lunsford, and that he doesn’t really change for anybody.

“He is himself, he’s always himself. That’s what I like about him. You know the kind of person you’re going to get every day,” Werts said.

Werts said, “I feel like when you’re choosing a college, somewhere to play, any sport, you want to play for somebody who is all about his players, who puts his players first …Who’s always willing to go to battle with someone like Coach Lunsford [is].”

Getting Ready for the Game

There is nothing better than getting dressed up with your friends and sporting gold, blue or white. You guys can play music, talk about your week, destress and comment on how fun it will be when we beat the opposing team.

Freedom’s Flight

Hearing the Southern Pride Marching Band plays “Final Countdown” while we wait for Freedom’s arrival is always an exciting part of the game. The whole stadium gets quiet, and we all look towards the top of the bleachers in anticipation for our beloved eagle, Freedom. Watching him land causes the crowd to cheer and gets people excited for the game.

All I Do is Win, Win, Win

Before the game officially starts, the song “All I Do Is Win” by Dj Khaled always plays. It’s a great way to hype up the crowd and the lyrics “All I do is win, win, win, no matter what” sets the tone for the game as we let the opposing team know what they are in for. 

Chanting with Gus

Another tradition that happens before kickoff is Gus and the cheerleaders hyping up the crowd. He holds up a sign so the student section an scream Georgia, while the other section screams Southern. After that, he has the student section scream Who’s House, while the other section screams Our House. The stadium is filled with so much school spirit and once again, we remind the opposing team that they don’t stand a chance.

Game Day Entertainment

When there is a break during the game, the school will often have games and prizes for students and guests. One game that gets the crowd pumped is air guitar, where two students are selected to do an Air Guitar performance on the field. Afterwards, the crowd has the opportunity to vote for the winner. The students also love getting free t-shirts, so if a student is loud, showing school spirit, and lucky, they have a chance to get a free shirt in the t-shirt toss. The school hosts a pizza eating contest as well as many other games.

Fireworks and a canon after a touchdown

It’s always exciting seeing one of our players score a touchdown. Southern celebrates each touchdown by setting off fireworks and firing a canon.

Singing Southern’s alma mater and “It Is Well” when the game is over

No team likes to lose, but Georgia Southern is no sore loser. It’s a tradition for some students to stay in the stands while the band plays Southern’s Alma Mater and “It is Well” after every game while students hold each other’s shoulders and sing the song. It’s amazing how he school can still have school spirit even when we didn’t perform our best.  

Game Days at Georgia Southern are unique, filled with school spirit and may serve as some of the greatest times in your college career. These days wouldn’t be the same without these traditions, and this is what makes the football games memorable. Come out and be a part of these game day rituals while watching the “Greatest Team in America.”

Have any to add? Comment below!

Blakeley Bartee contributed to this quiz.

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The George-Anne Reflector has quite a few ideas to turn your closet into gameday fashion central.

Photo by Blake Kessler. Dressing up for gameday can be as simple as wearing a Georgia Southern t-shirt and skirt, or just a blue and white shirt with light colored blue jeans. Not all outfits require flare jeans and off the shoulder tops to be fashionable. 

Girls

Many girls like to wear denim overalls, or denim skirts, paired with a cute tube top or off the shoulder top. Wide leg jeans also tend to be in, worn with crop tops or bodysuits.

Not all of us can have a Pinterest worthy closet, though. That’s where t-shirts can come in!

Whether your shirt has Georgia Southern’s logo on it or one of GS’ famous sayings, t-shirts are the perfect way to keep your gameday outfit casual, yet fashionable.

A common way to get that t-shirt looking cute is to tuck it in your bottoms. Skirts are perfect for this and it’s not hard to find a denim or white skirt in stock at a local store.

If skirts aren’t your thing, t-shirts can very easily be tied on the side or the front to show off your hips when wearing ripped or flare jeans.

Photo by Blake Kessler. T-shirts are the perfect option when you want to be comfortable, but still rep school spirit at the games. T-shirts can be worn out, tucked into skirts and shorts, or tied up on the side. 

Now, on to the shoes and accessories. Platforms shoes and sandals are all over the benches at games. If you’re on the shorter side, these type of shoes can keep your flare jeans from dragging on the ground as you walk.

Don’t think that platforms are the only shoes you can wear, though. Many girls pull on a pair of white Converse or their favorite cowboy boots and are just as well as people wearing platform shoes.

Now gameday accessories are probably the easiest part of putting your outfit together. The 90s called and they said that chokers are here to stay!

Thick, thin, white, black, blue, loads of charms or no charms, chokers are an easy and cheap way to add that last little pop to your gameday outfit.

The type of earrings you can wear honestly depends on how you dress up your neck. If you have a chunky choker, having huge hoop earrings probably wouldn’t be the best idea because your top half might look too busy.

A less dressed up neck calls for flashier earrings, while flashy earrings calls for a pretty plain neck. A bracelet and a couple of rings can take your outfit from gameday to gameyay!

Guys

Now, girls aren’t the only ones that can look cute for gameday. Guys totally can as well.

Photo by Blake Kessler. Guys tend to dress much more casually than girls do at football games. Whether it is a polo or just a shirt with funky blue and white designs, guys can be just as fashionable as girls at the games.

Try a white or blue shirt with some funky designs, paired with some light colored jeans. If you like your knees to be able to breathe, wearing a pair of shorts will work too.

Shoes for guys aren’t as difficult to figure out like girls’ are. Anything from blue and white sneakers to Sperry’s and other boat shoes will round out your outfit nicely.

Accessories for guys also are much simpler, if they even want to wear them. “Dad” hats with GS’ logo or another saying can be worn, straw hats, or a safari hat if you want to channel your inner Steve Irwin.

Sunglasses seem to be a common theme around guys and girls as well. Whether mirrored or dark in hue, sunglasses are the perfect addition to your gameday outfit.

Of course, there are many other ways to dress for gamedays and this isn’t a complete list. So long as you’re cheering on our Eagles, it doesn’t matter if you’re wearing a GS shirt and shorts or overalls and a tank top!

Models: Tandra Smith and Donté Williams