STATESBORO — Sun Belt Conference commissioner Karl Benson’s slip of the tongue was quickly corrected Wednesday morning.
Just after Georgia Southern announced it had accepted an invitation to the Sun Belt, a Football Bowl Subdivision conference, Benson looked at some of the potential immediate goals ahead for the Eagles.
GSU would be playing in the six-team Eastern Division of the league during the 2014 season and could play in the Sun Belt’s first championship football game, he said, if the Eagles won their division.
“We don’t say “if” around here,” athletics director Tom Kleinlein said.
It drew a hearty laugh from the crowd of about 300 attending the press conference in the Williams Center.
There may not be a month of playoff games in the future for Georgia Southern, but Eagle fans will be looking to keep key dates in December open.
“It’s going to be a journey,” said Tommy Callaway, a Statesboro resident and longtime Georgia Southern fan. “Everyone needs to look at the big picture and not the small details.”
GSU president Brooks Keel hopes to create exposure for the academic side of the university by having athletics play at the highest level of Division I.
And football programs create the most attention in college athletics.
Eagles coach Jeff Monken understands the mission of the university, but admitted a slight jolt after hearing the team would not be eligible to compete for an FCS championship in 2013 or for a bowl game in 2014.
He said the team had a similar reaction when the coaching staff broke the news to the players Monday.
“There’s an initial shock of ‘What do you mean we don’t get to play for anything?’ ” Monken said. “(It) was the same reaction I had when I found out. I didn’t know the whole timeline — the fact that you aren’t eligible for postseason play for two years. That was a shock to me, initially.
“Sure there’s some disappointment. But what a great opportunity for our football program, to play this one last season with an FCS schedule to really make a statement about Georgia Southern and honor the great teams that have played in the blue and white (Eagle colors) prior to this season and to really springboard this program into FBS football.”
Georgia Southern had the greatest run in FCS postseason history, winning a record six national championships and 46 playoff games.
The Eagles have advanced to the FCS semifinals the last three seasons.
Kleinlein anticipated some fans would be against the move up to the FBS. But those without vision usually have a hard time seeing the future.
“When this all started (Southern restarting its football program in the early 1980s), some of the same people were sitting around saying, ‘Why do we want to do that?’ ” Kleinlein said. “But think about where this institution would be today if we didn’t make the decisions back there.”
Former Georgia Southern athletics director Bucky Wagner was part of the original group that spearheaded college football in Statesboro.
He sees plenty of positives ahead for Southern.
“We should have done this a long time ago,” Wagner said. “This conference is really good for us. It worked out just as good as it possible could have for Georgia Southern with the way realignment fell.”
ON THE WEB
Go to savannahnow.com/sports to watch a video of Georgia Southern coach Jeff Monken talking about the Eagles’ move to the FBS.