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Home > Jeff Schultz > Archives > 2008 > April > 17 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USDan Reeves would fit at Georgia State
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In hopes of creating interest and unearthing financing to back a start-up football program, Georgia State went less the buttoned-up fundraising route than the, “I know. Let’s put on a show!” route. All it took was employing a 64-year-old coming off knee replacement surgery to channel Mickey Rooney.
“Pan-pan-pant! “Her-her-hers! “That’s the way you spell it! “Here’s the way you yell it! “Panthers! Panthers! Yeah!”
And then, Dan Reeves composed himself. He must have felt it necessary to explain his behavior (if for no other reason than to salvage any chance he had of working in the NFL again).
“My wife was the head cheerleader,” he said.
Georgia State President Carl Patton officially announced Thursday at 2:10 (nice touch) that it will begin playing football in 2010. He and athletics director Mary McElroy will hire a coach this summer. It seems to me they’ve already found one.
I know. Why would Dan Reeves, who has 39 years as a player or coach in the NFL and a relative 15 minutes in college — his four years as a player at South Carolina — want to coach a start-up I-AA team?
Well, for one, a lack of options. Football still runs through his veins and, fact is, the chances of him landing another pro job are slim. He still lives here. He could be merely the “closer” in recruiting, if given the ability to hire his heir and a chief recruiter immediately.
He would be embraced again, as he should be, because nobody deserved to be run over by his players and drop-kicked out the window like he was in Flowery Branch.
Georgia State doesn’t need merely a good football coach to make this work. It needs credibility — for the players who will need to be convinced to come here at the start, for the fans who will need to be convinced to keep buying tickets and shirts and hats through the rough times.
Reeves all but shot down his interest Thursday, without actually saying it. “I don’t know that I’ve got professional football out of my blood,” he said. “That’s where I’m more comfortable. I’m just not sure I want to do something unless I’m 100 percent sure that’s what I want to do.”
And then: “I told people, ‘I don’t want you giving money because you think I’m going to coach.’ “
But he might be more ready for this transition than he realizes.
Reeves has been an adviser/consultant/pompom-pappy for Georgia State for 53 weeks. He was instrumental in the school already raising $1.2 million, much of which came from people who have never given a nickel to the campus. He walked into boardrooms and sold them on the idea of Panther football. He talked about recruiting advantages, about the fact Georgia Southern has 39 players from the Atlanta area, about all of the alums in this city who are now CEOs and CFOs and will support the program.
By the end of the speech, I was ready to bust up the wedge for him.
The cheer? It was borrowed from Reeves’ high school, Americus. It turns out the school also was known as the Panthers. The team colors: blue and white. Reeves cheered and did everything but start bonfires while others were opening checkbooks.
McElroy laughed when first asked about the possibility of him coaching. “I think I’d have to raise a whole lot more money,” she said. But she went on, calling Reeves “a celebrity,” and talked about how, “He got people fired up. When we were in a room, I would just stand back.”
This is going to be a difficult undertaking for Georgia State. McElroy estimated the start-up costs for football at $7 million. There’s a chance that the team will have to practice on a high school field at the outset, until a permanent facility with offices can be built. Losses will far outnumber wins for a while. Everybody will need something or someone to cling to.
I know. Dan Reeves, from Super Bowl player and Super Bowl coach, to Georgia State. Sounds crazy. Even he hasn’t really allowed the thought to sink in.
Maybe he should.
Comments
By Najeh Davenpoop
April 18, 2008 1:29 AM | Link to this
GSU would run 10 deep at tight end.
By JB
April 18, 2008 7:22 AM | Link to this
Be careful Najeh, this new Falcon coach is old school. The Falcons are going to run, run, run. tight ends, H Backs, there will 4 or more on this team.
By Dan
April 18, 2008 9:43 AM | Link to this
Dan Reeves is a fine man and was a solid pro coach — but is NOT the guy for a start-up college program. The Panthers probably will not be able to compete, talent-wise, against established programs for several years if the Panthers have a conventional offense. Here’s hoping GSU gets bold from the get-go, and hires an innovative offensive thinker.
By jim
April 18, 2008 10:18 AM | Link to this
Does he have a college degree? It is tough to sell young men when you did not complete your degree.
By sr. citizen dawg
April 18, 2008 10:20 AM | Link to this
Amen to the “nobody deserved to be run over by his players and drop-kicked out the window like he was in Flowery Branch”. Pro football sucks.
By Stanley Wise
April 18, 2008 10:27 AM | Link to this
As a GSU Graduate I say go get’em Dan. Get those Panthers going. We need someone with a lot of experience and a little cred to help get us off the ground. Who says we can’t compete from day one! if we invest in the right coach, and invest in the talent, we can do whatever we want. Once we get a facility laid out we’ll have as much to offer as anyone.
By ATLNative
April 18, 2008 11:46 AM | Link to this
Stanley - I think you’ve watched Keanu Reaves in “The Replacements” one too many times…
As a current Grad student @ State, I think this is HUGE. In the South, football brings students - not that GSU has enrollment shortages, but it needs tradition to go along side its urban culture. There’s nothing unique to GSU - and that’s how you get out of state money. The problems I see are in creating the traditions and football culture that draws students & alum… tailgating, athlete entrances, campus pageantry, small cities of RVs. The same things that make tailgating for a Falcons game miserable are going to plague GSU unless they find a way to block off campus and let people congregate safely.
The key is to make it an experience… that draws fans, which brings television, which creates more fans and helps recruiting. Add a decent coach and you start the growth of a program that athletes want to come to and fans/alumni want to support.
By Dave
April 18, 2008 12:14 PM | Link to this
It looks like other schools without football are looking to follow Georgia State’s lead in starting up a football program. There is a group out in California trying to bring back football to Cal State Fullerton. They even have a website that makes mention of using Georgia State’s success as a blueprint to reinstate their football program.
Georgia State Provides the Blueprint to Bring Back Titan Football
By MJ
April 18, 2008 2:58 PM | Link to this
If Georgia State gets the right coaches and somehow draws the instrest of players (Dan Reeves, former NFL coach) that may not be top talent, but okay talent they could be good. I graduated from Coastal Carolina University in Mytrle Beach, SC in 05 and while I was there they started a football program. Already they had a .500 season, two winning seasons, made the college playoffs, had a quarterback and defensive back drafted into the NFL, have one wide reciever that will be taken high in this years draft. CCU is going to play Penn State in 2008 and play Clemson in 2009. So a starter program can have success right off the back if down right. CCU recruited guys that just missed Division 1 and also had players that weren’t getting any playing time at bigger schools transfer to Myrtle Beach.
By GSU-Paul
April 18, 2008 3:18 PM | Link to this
Football at GSU brought an excitement to the student population like nothing else. As a current student, I have to say that this exactly what GSU needs. I have never seen that many students that excited about anything on campus. Even if Reeves is not the coach, he brings a legitimacy to the program. Just look at what the U. of South Florida has done in ten years. Panther Pride!
By Desert Dawg
April 18, 2008 6:47 PM | Link to this
AS a GSU graduate, I have to wonder why a football program will be successful at a school that can not reach even a modest level of success in basketball.
I wish GSU the best in this endeavor. I only hope that everyone embraces this idea with deep pockets and the patience of Jobe.
By Ben MIller
April 18, 2008 8:32 PM | Link to this
I was a student at GSU when we went to the NCAA tourney under coach Lefty Drissell. It was the most exciting thing that happened on campus short of graduating. Like Lefty, Dan Reeves would give us some degree of national exposure and give students and Alumni a reason to really get behind GSU football and build a tradition. Can’t wait… See y’all at the Dome in 2010.
By GSU Panther
April 19, 2008 11:57 AM | Link to this
I don’t really know if Dan Reeves is the man for the job. He is really just an NFL-minded guy, and we need someone who is going to come in with the ability to recruit in the Atlanta area and with great connections to highschools around the area.
It is imperative that State be somewhat successful during the first years, and a good, well recognized and respected coach is the one thing that is going to help us the most. There is a lot of work still to be done.
GO STATE!!!
By Tennille Dawg
April 19, 2008 12:24 PM | Link to this
Jim Donnan
By JW
April 24, 2008 11:37 AM | Link to this
First off you need to get the name straight. GSU football indicates a success and a juggernaut at the 1-AA level with 6 National Championships since inception in 1981. Georgia State football would be welcome to come get crushed if they like.