Hatcher faces challenges at Ga. Southern

Posted: July 7, 2007

Associated Press

Chris Hatcher faces quite a challenge in restoring a prestigious but now slumping Georgia Southern football program back into prominence.

After all, it's not like he hasn't done it before. Hatcher took a struggling Division II Valdosta State team during his seven seasons as coach and led them to the 2004 national championship.

"I've been in this situation," he said. "There hasn't been any surprises."

Except for time. Soon after the previous coach stepped down for another job, Hatcher was brought on as Georgia Southern's head coach in mid-January.

When Hatcher was introduced, he said he planned to add more playoff and championship banners early. With not having much time to recruit, build a strong rapport with players and losing over four scholarships has made him more patient rather than seeing quick results.

"When we finally got to know each other, the summer came around," Hatcher said. "I'm about two months behind the eight ball here compared to Valdosta. I can't get them until August to work with them more."

After being hired, he and his staff urgently went after recruits with only 10 days before national signing day.

They ended up with 16 signees, with six others who already committed. But the time put into obtaining recruits took up time for Hatcher to build a strong rapport with returning players, giving him the notion that patience will be required.

Hatcher will also operate below the NCAA maximum scholarship numbers this fall.

"When you have three coaches in 13 months, the program isn't expected to be in great shape," Hatcher said. "But hopefully we can get it back to where it once was."

The Eagles fired Mike Sewak after a stunning collapse in the opening round of the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs two years ago. Sewak was shortly replaced by Brian VanGorder, who left after one season and took an assistant coaching job with the Atlanta Falcons.

Eagle players never got comfortable with VanGorder, who ditched the option for a more balanced attack. They found themselves in unfamiliar territory, ranking sixth in the Southern Conference with points scored (19.9 a game).

Hatcher said the team moral needs a boost to get back on the winning track.

"We need to build up our confidence," he said. "I'm just going to do the things that made my teams successful in the past."

As a player, he went from a freshman walk-on quarterback to ultimately leading the Blazers to playoffs to winning the Harlon Hill Trophy and becoming a two-time All-American. He finished with 11,363 yards passing and 121 touchdowns, completing 1,047 of 1,529 passes while starting 41 straight games.

Hatcher later returned to his alma mater as head coach to guide Valdosta State, posting a 76-12 record in seven seasons.

Clearly, expectations are high -- especially with the Eagles coming off a woeful 3-8 season, their worst record since resuming football in 1982.

Now Hatcher has to live up to the hype, while making players believe in his pass-oriented offense, a style that's not too popular at a school where the triple-option helped them win six I-AA championships.

But given time, Hatcher believes he can produce a winner.

"We like to throw the ball around the field and mix in the run," he said. "That's what I know. And I'm going to go with what works."