Despite temperatures still in the 90s, the Georgia Southern football team held its first day of fall camp Wednesday morning. For the first time in school history there was some Day 1 relief from the South Georgia summer heat as the Eagles held their practice session in the covered Tippens training facility.
Head coach Clay Helton was pleased with the way things went on the first day of practice and is happy he still has over 20 practices before the season opener with Boise State.
“It’s an exciting time for everyone,” Helton said. “We have been working on installation and meetings, but today they get a chance to compete and establish their role over the next 24 practices. I am really proud of how this group handled the summer and I feel like we have great team chemistry.”
Entering his third season at Georgia Southern Helton also notices the maturity of the players he has now coached for a few years.
“You look at guys like Marques Watson-Trent, Issac Walker, Jalen White and Derwin Burgess and they are now the older leaders on the team,” Helton said. “They have come a long way in the last few years. There are so many players like that out here who have really matured. Because of that you don’t see a lot of blown assignments or balls on the ground. It is a pro-style like practice."
The Eagles are coming off back-to-back 6-7 seasons under Helton. Both years the Eagles started out strong, and then faded in the last month or so. The 2022 team went 1-4 to end the season, while the 2023 team were 0-5 to close the year. This is something Helton and the players hope to rectify this season.
“We have sat there starting November in a spot to control our own destiny, and we didn’t get our job done,” Helton said. “We feel the heartache we had at the end of the season. Not getting to where we wanted to go to and that is playing for a championship. This year I told them to imagine what a championship football game in Statesboro Georgia would be like. The way you get there is to focus on the moment, and today the moment was this practice and I was proud of how they locked in and focused on today and not something down the road.”
Senior Marques Watson-Trent knows the Eagles have to improve this year, and feels it is important to use the past to motivate for the present.
“It’s not a secret we have 14 losses the last two seasons,” Watson-Trent said. “If you take those as losses you will never get better, but if you take those as lessons that is something you can grow from. We understand how important November is and that championships are won in November. Every day and every detail matters, and dealing with the present will have us prepared for what is at stake."
Senior tight end Beau Johnson admits the way the Eagles played in November has been painful, but he feels the team is using their past to motivate them for this season.
“We got to 6-2 in November and then we kind of let our foot off the gas,” Johnson said. “When you aren’t picked to finish first it kind of puts a chip on your shoulder. I feel like that is something that people need sometimes to help bring a little swagger and confidence into the games.”
The Eagles tied for the most pre-season All-Conference selections this year with nine, but were picked to finish fourth in the Sun Belt Eastern Division. Helton feels like that is due in large part to the fact that they have yet to name a starting quarterback.
“This is a quarterback driven league,” Helton said. “You see a team like Appalachian State with an established quarterback like Joey Aguilar and it’s not surprising they were picked first. I am also not surprised we have nine guys on the All-Conference team. We have not experienced a lot of attrition, unlike a lot of teams and we have guys the people in the league have gotten to know. It is great to have those preseason accolades but I have told the players now you have to go earn that.”
As for the quarterback race it looks to remain a three-way battle between senior Indiana transfer Dexter Williams and sophomores J.C. French and David Dallas. Helton said he has still not seen enough to put one player ahead of the other two, but has stated that he does not plan to rotate quarterbacks.
“I believe when you name a quarterback you have to let him try and get comfortable,” Helton said. “When we name a starter the other two are going to be very disappointed, but they are going to continue to compete. When you are looking over your shoulder every step wondering if an incompletion is going to get me pulled, you don’t play like you are supposed to play so you have to have trust in that guy. The way a guy loses his job is from injury or lack of production over a period of time.”
The Eagles continue with 24 more practices before opening the 2024 season Aug. 31 at home against Bosie State.
