Willie Fritz never visited Statesboro before interviewing for Georgia Southern’s vacant coaching job this winter.
He knows all about the area now.
Fritz has accepted practically every opportunity to speak to groups of all kinds and sizes since he was hired to replace Jeff Monken on Jan. 9.
“When I came here, my family was still in Texas, so I didn’t have anything to do, anyway,” Fritz said. “I told them to wear me out. I wanted to go out and spread the word.”
There’s been plenty for Fritz to talk about considering that he’s revamping Georgia Southern’s familiar option offense as the Eagles make the move from the Southern Conference to the Sun Belt Conference, a jump that takes them from the FCS to the FBS.
He ran the spread option at Sam Houston State, which he led to the FCS national championship game in 2011 and ’12, and is installing a version of that at Georgia Southern this spring.
Fritz predicts that the Eagles will use the triple option and the double option each about 10-15 times a game, but he is incorporating more one-back formations into the offense.
The largest change will come in the passing game. The Eagles rarely threw in their familiar triple-option offense, and when they did, it was downfield.
They’ll now operate with more progression reads, five-step drops, bootlegs and sprint outs.
“We’re doing a lot more work in the passing game this spring. That’s the area where the guys are behind,” Fritz said. “We’re emphasizing it because that’s where we need to get caught up. The quarterbacks are more in tune with the running game, but they have some throwing ability as well. I feel like the more we do it, the better we’ll get at it.”
Fritz hasn’t set a depth chart, but Kevin Ellison likely has the edge at quarterback. He rushed for 886 yards and passed for 756 as a redshirt freshman, running the offense when Jerick McKinnon moved to running back.
Depth on the offensive line was thin last season, so the Eagles signed five linemen, including three who weigh more than 300 pounds.
Fritz’s arrival coincides with a renovated Paulson Stadium and the move to the Sun Belt, which has 11 teams, including former Southern Conference-foe Appalachian State — also joining this year — and Georgia State.
On Tuesday, ESPNU picked six Sun Belt games to be shown on national TV next season, including Georgia Southern’s games against Appalachian State on Sept. 25 and against Troy on Oct. 30. Both were scheduled to be played on a Saturday, but were moved to Thursday night.
A $10 million renovation project includes a 50,000-square-foot football-operations center and will add 6,200 seats to Paulson Stadium.
The biggest mystery is how Georgia Southern will compete against the higher level of competition on a weekly basis. Louisiana-Lafayette and Arkansas State won bowl games last season, and the teams on the schedule will be bigger, faster and quicker than the Eagles regularly faced in the Southern Conference.
Georgia Southern has played major conference programs such as Georgia and Alabama in the past, and last year, upset Florida on Nov. 23. The Eagles will play North Carolina State, Georgia Tech and Navy next season, in addition to its Sun Belt schedule.
“I’ve been impressed with the playing ability and the coachability of the players here,” Fritz said. “This is a great area around here (for recruiting), and with the history and tradition of Georgia Southern football, that’ll make us attractive to a lot of kids. We’re recruiting players with ability, character, strong academics, and who will help us win Sun Belt Conference championships.”
