Answering speculation swirling around the program, Georgia Southern AD Tom Kleinlein announced Saturday the Eagles will retain head coach Tyson Summers for the 2017 season.
Hired to replace Willie Fritz, the defensive-minded Summers struggled to keep Georgia Southern's offensive reputation up in his first year. The Eagles' yards per play rank fell from 24th in 2015 to 108th this year and its scoring offense dropped from 24th to 78th as the Eagles' record fell from 9-4 to 5-7. (Georgia Southern ended its season today with a 28-24 upset of Troy.)
But Kleinlein believes the path to improvement lies in retaining Summers for next season.
His full statement:
"It has long been my policy to evaluate all programs throughout their respective seasons and then comment after their last game. With our football season now complete, I want to end any speculation surrounding the future of Coach Tyson Summers and let our student-athletes, recruits and fans know he is our coach moving forward.
"Coach Summers and I have had several meetings over the past few weeks to assess our entire football program, and I have confidence that he has a plan in place and will make the necessary decisions to get us back to the level of excellence that all of Eagle Nation has come to expect. Like all of our head coaches, he has my full support, and I am committed to putting him in a position to be successful in the future.
"I recognize that the results on the field this year were not up to our standards, but as I evaluate the entire scope of our program, there are many aspects that are progressing well as we continue our third year in transition as an FBS program."
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