Georgia State will open preseason camp Saturday with a new coach, playing in a new conference and on a new level.
But attitude and expectations may be the most important changes for the team this year as it embarks on its first season in the Sun Belt Conference and playing on the FBS level. The team will hold its first practice at 6 p.m. Saturday and will open the season against Samford on Aug. 30 at the Georgia Dome.
“They’ve taken great pride in being called FBS players,” said coach Trent Miles, who was hired in December after Bill Curry, the coach for the program’s first three seasons, retired.
It will be a tough season. The Panthers went 1-10 last season as FCS members. The offense was mostly inconsistent (an average of 17.4 points per game) and the defense mostly non-existent (38.5 points per game allowed).
But last year was last year, and Miles, with new assistant coaches and new players, expects new things from the 44 lettermen returning, as well as the 20 freshmen and one transfer.
Miles knows what it takes to turn around a team’s fortunes. He inherited an Indiana State team that had won one game in three seasons and led it to a winning record three seasons later.
He implied that doing the same at Georgia State should be much easier because a losing mindset hasn’t become ingrained.
“You aren’t taking over a program that’s a perennial loser,” he said. “You are getting it in its infant stages and you are taking and are trying to keep growing it. That’s a huge difference. You are establishing the culture right now, whereas there you were changing the culture.”
Evidence of the culture refinement could be seen in the biceps and backs of the players walking around the practice facility Friday. Many of them were noticeably bigger than they were last year. The change is a result of dedicated work over the summer in strength-and-conditioning coach Ben Pollard’s offseason workout program.
Cornerback Brent McClendon said last year’s results, combined with the tougher competition and new coaches, resulted in a great determination to improve in the offseason. He said the players have always wanted to get better, but he saw more work put in this offseason. The program was voluntary, but the players approached it as if it were mandatory. Offensive tackle Ulrick John said very few players missed one of the sessions, which defensive lineman Theo Agnew said were held every day.
“It was tough,” Agnew said. “It was probably one of the toughest I’ve been through. It was great for the entire team. We really came together because we had to. When you are tired and when you are exhausted and you push through, that’s when you really mesh.”
But new attitudes don’t change expectations.
The Panthers were predicted to finish last in the Sun Belt Conference. Echoing his players, Miles said he doesn’t care. He wants to win as many games as he can, but his players need to learn how to win.
“It’s teaching them how to compete, how to compete to win, teaching them to win, then teaching them how to win championships,” he said.
Batiste eligible: Georgia State got good news Friday when the NCAA announced that Tarris Batiste will be eligible to play in the coming season.
Batiste, a 6-foot 1, 210-pound linebacker, transferred from Indiana State. He is a sophomore and native of Cartersville.
He brings experience in defensive coordinator’s Jesse Minter scheme and made 24 tackles and one forced fumble last year for the Sycamores.
Game time: Georgia State's game at Louisiana-Monroe on Oct. 26 will kick off at 7 p.m. The time was announced Friday.
About the Author
