Van Gorder leaving Statesboro, but not for Athens.
As was widely reported around the state of Georgia yesterday afternoon, Brian Van Gorder has resigned as the head coach at Georgia Southern to take over as the linebackers coach of the Atlanta Falcons. The AJC has reaction to the news.
Van Gorder must have really not gotten what he bargained for. This move looks like longterm career suicide for a guy who has unabashedly stated that his goal was to be a college head coach. Leaving a head coaching job after one season, a 3-8 season, will not vanish from his resume. Neither will the fact that this is Coach Van Gorder's fourth stop in four years. That's manic even for assistant football coaches, who often live the life of gypsies. Except when they work at Tennessee, where they live the life of tramps and thieves. Zing!
Anyhow, Van Gorder is a smart guy and he knows how this looks, which makes me think he really wanted to get out of Statesboro now. Why would a Coach want to leave idyllic Statesboro?
Maybe Georgia Southern freshman Matthew Hammock had the answer when he said: "I am glad to see him go. Maybe our new coach will come in and restore some of the traditions that Van Gorder saw unfit for our program." Gotta love that fan support! The fact is Statesboro is and will always be Erk's town, and will always be the home of the Ham Bone. The GSU folk did not take kindly to Van Gorder scrapping the option almost before he unpacked his toiletries at the HoJo, inspite of the fact that it had made their program an anacronism in college football. Van Gorder was right to believe that the Ham Bone will have to go if GSU ultimately intends to move up the ladder to D1-A (another long story among the GSU folks, I'm told).
Or maybe the answer comes from Athletic Director Sam Baker, who proudly informed the media that "I said last year this is one of the most attractive college football coaching jobs in the country. That hasn't changed." Either Sam left out the modifier "in Division 1-AA" or the qualification "south of Vidalia and east of Americus". Or, he's putting on the brave public face of an AD who's just been told, essentially "I'd rather risk professional hara kiri than spend another year around you nutjobs, who are going to get me fired anyway." Or, Sam has been to the Mal Moore school of athletic administration.
Look, I'm a Georgia Southern fan. I grew up in southeast Georgia, I went to football camp at GSU when I was in high school, I remember as a kid meeting GSU players who had National Championship rings bigger than my fist (or so it seemed). I'll pull for the Eagles any time they're not playing Georgia. But with that context I realize that a certain faction of GSU fans do have an outsized sense of their place within the football universe. Any Dawg fan who's been present for one their recent trips to Athens knows of what I speak. They're like that little brother who honestly believes he can beat up big brother. It's endearing to a point. But it's not going to happen. I can only hope that Baker and the GSU alums will know when to quit before they turn Statesboro into Tuscaloosa East, a place where the expectations are irrational, the Alums are bitter, and no sane coach would dare tread.
Van Gorder must have really not gotten what he bargained for. This move looks like longterm career suicide for a guy who has unabashedly stated that his goal was to be a college head coach. Leaving a head coaching job after one season, a 3-8 season, will not vanish from his resume. Neither will the fact that this is Coach Van Gorder's fourth stop in four years. That's manic even for assistant football coaches, who often live the life of gypsies. Except when they work at Tennessee, where they live the life of tramps and thieves. Zing!
Anyhow, Van Gorder is a smart guy and he knows how this looks, which makes me think he really wanted to get out of Statesboro now. Why would a Coach want to leave idyllic Statesboro?
Maybe Georgia Southern freshman Matthew Hammock had the answer when he said: "I am glad to see him go. Maybe our new coach will come in and restore some of the traditions that Van Gorder saw unfit for our program." Gotta love that fan support! The fact is Statesboro is and will always be Erk's town, and will always be the home of the Ham Bone. The GSU folk did not take kindly to Van Gorder scrapping the option almost before he unpacked his toiletries at the HoJo, inspite of the fact that it had made their program an anacronism in college football. Van Gorder was right to believe that the Ham Bone will have to go if GSU ultimately intends to move up the ladder to D1-A (another long story among the GSU folks, I'm told).
Or maybe the answer comes from Athletic Director Sam Baker, who proudly informed the media that "I said last year this is one of the most attractive college football coaching jobs in the country. That hasn't changed." Either Sam left out the modifier "in Division 1-AA" or the qualification "south of Vidalia and east of Americus". Or, he's putting on the brave public face of an AD who's just been told, essentially "I'd rather risk professional hara kiri than spend another year around you nutjobs, who are going to get me fired anyway." Or, Sam has been to the Mal Moore school of athletic administration.
Look, I'm a Georgia Southern fan. I grew up in southeast Georgia, I went to football camp at GSU when I was in high school, I remember as a kid meeting GSU players who had National Championship rings bigger than my fist (or so it seemed). I'll pull for the Eagles any time they're not playing Georgia. But with that context I realize that a certain faction of GSU fans do have an outsized sense of their place within the football universe. Any Dawg fan who's been present for one their recent trips to Athens knows of what I speak. They're like that little brother who honestly believes he can beat up big brother. It's endearing to a point. But it's not going to happen. I can only hope that Baker and the GSU alums will know when to quit before they turn Statesboro into Tuscaloosa East, a place where the expectations are irrational, the Alums are bitter, and no sane coach would dare tread.
posted by MaconDawg at 9:13 AM
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