Former Georgia Southern coach Chris Hatcher learned two lessons during his time in Statesboro that he has applied to Murray State.
No. 1: He probably will never again become the third coach at a school in 13 months, as he was when he joined the Eagles in 2007.
No. 2: Should he leave the Racers, in his next job he will run his offense from Day 1, something he didn’t do for the first season in Statesboro.
Hatcher will lead Murray State into the Georgia Dome on Saturday to take on Georgia State. It will be Hatcher’s first game coaching in the state since he was fired by the Eagles after the 2009 season.
“I never got an opportunity to get that thing rolling,” he said. “But everything happens for a reason. Would I have liked to stay there one more year? Sure, I think we would have had a really good team. That’s coaching. If they don’t think you’re the right man for the job ...”
Hatcher went 18-15 in three seasons at Georgia Southern after taking over following the disastrous one-year 3-8 stint of Brian VanGorder, who is now the Falcons’ defensive coordinator.
He was hired in Statesboro following a stellar seven-year run at his alma mater, Valdosta State. He led the Blazers to a Division II national championship as part of a 76-12 record.
His first team at Georgia Southern featured a lot of seniors. Rather than try to implement his pass-first attack, he stuck with the familiar run-based offense that he had never coached before.
He began to install his offense during the next two years, but the team featured a lot of freshmen and sophomores, some of the same players who Jeff Monken, the coach hired to replace Hatcher, has turned into the top-ranked team in the FCS (formerly Division I-AA).
Hatcher said he doesn’t have any regrets or ill-will toward Georgia Southern, though he did say that the Murray State fan base understands the process that one has to go through to become competitive.
In the end, he said it just doesn’t seem like the proper fit: a coach who likes to pass trying to lead a team and satisfy a fan base whose six national championships were built on powerful rushing attacks.
“They are back to doing what they do, what their fans know and players know, and they have a great coach and some really good players,” he said.
Hatcher doesn’t have that identity problem at Murray State. He took over a team that hadn’t won more than five games in a season since 2005 and led it to a 6-5 record in 2010, including five wins in the last six games. It was his 10th winning season in 11 as a head coach.
While Hatcher didn’t waste any time installing his offense, he said he has tried to remain patient with the players as they adapt to his way of doing things.
“Quite frankly, this program, they were really down when we got here,” he said. “The guys bought into our style of play from the get-go. I don’t think I really ever got that team at Southern to buy into that passing attack. Some of that was culture, and some of that was mistakes I made.”
Led by a productive offense, directed by quarterback Casey Brockman, that has averaged 32.4 points and 458 yards per game, the Racers are 2-3 this season. It’s not an eye-popping start, but it’s better than a year ago and a sign that players are starting to believe in what they are learning.
However, Hatcher doesn’t want anyone to think they are moving quickly. He declined to put a timetable on when he thinks the team will experience the same type of success that he had at Valdosta State. But he said the job is no longer work, which is what it became at Georgia Southern.
“We are enjoying seeing these guys grow and having fun coaching again,” he said.
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