Tweet
Wow I am stunned. 
http://i-aa.org/article.asp?articleid=74605
Head Coach Mike Sewak Fired at Georgia Southern
David Coulson, I-AA.org senior columnist
Georgia Southern athletic director Sam Baker confirmed at an afternoon press conference that he would not be renewing the contract of Mike Sewak as the Eagles' head football coach.
Baker also announced that Sewak's staff had been fired.
“After considerable thought and reflection, I decided our football program needs to go in a different direction,” said Baker. “Mike has directed the football program in a professional manner and been a positive ambassador for Georgia Southern. However, our expectations for the football program have not been met. Therefore, I feel it’s time to find new leadership for our storied program.” . . .
Ironically, Baker had announced a four-year extension for Sewak just three months ago.
At the time, Baker told the Macon Telegraph:
"Mike's set for four years. State contracts are for one year and the Southern Boosters add a three-year extension. We got it all worked out this summer."
Sewak was fired despite taking the Eagles to the I-AA football playoffs for the third time in four years as coach. Georgia Southern finished its season on Saturday with a 50-35 first-round playoff loss at No. 4 seed Texas State. . . .
The Eagles, fielding one of their youngest teams in several years, were 8-4 this season and tied for second in the Southern Conference with a 5-2 mark.
Sewak was the Southern Conference coach of the year just last season and had compiled a 35-14 record overall and a 15-7 mark in the SoCon, with two league championships. But he is the first permanent head coach since the restart of the Eagle program in 1982 not to win a national title. . . .
Sewak was an assistant coach at Georgia Southern under legendary coach Erk Russell in 1985-86. He coached running backs in 1985 and defensive backs in 1986, both national championship seasons for the Eagles.
But Sewak and Russell had a falling out two years ago when Sewak fired Russell's son Rusty as the defensive coordinator. Rusty Russell had been a finalist for the head coaching job when Sewak was hired in 2002.
Erk Russell had disassociated himself from the Georgia Southern program and hadn't attended an Eagles game in the past two seasons. He even missed the game against Furman this year, when GSU celebrated the 20th anniversary of its 1985 title win over the Paladins. . . .
The shocks waves were quick around the Southern Conference on Tuesday morning and the response was negative. In the weekly SoCon football teleconferfence, Jerry Moore, at 17 years the dean of the league's coaches, called the move "a real bad deal."
This is the second time in the past nine years that Baker has fired a head coach that has taken a team to the playoffs. Tim Stowers, now the coach at Rhode Island, led the Eagles to a 9-4 record and the quarterfinals of the playoffs in 1995, only to be let go.
Stowers coached GSU to a national championship in 1990 and took the Eagles to the playoffs four times in six years.
There is no immediate word on where Baker will look for a new coach, though it is possible that he might make overtures to someone from Johnson's staff at Navy. . . .
Crazy stuff, glad it isn't us.
Go State! ;D
http://i-aa.org/article.asp?articleid=74605
Head Coach Mike Sewak Fired at Georgia Southern
David Coulson, I-AA.org senior columnist
Georgia Southern athletic director Sam Baker confirmed at an afternoon press conference that he would not be renewing the contract of Mike Sewak as the Eagles' head football coach.
Baker also announced that Sewak's staff had been fired.
“After considerable thought and reflection, I decided our football program needs to go in a different direction,” said Baker. “Mike has directed the football program in a professional manner and been a positive ambassador for Georgia Southern. However, our expectations for the football program have not been met. Therefore, I feel it’s time to find new leadership for our storied program.” . . .
Ironically, Baker had announced a four-year extension for Sewak just three months ago.
At the time, Baker told the Macon Telegraph:
"Mike's set for four years. State contracts are for one year and the Southern Boosters add a three-year extension. We got it all worked out this summer."
Sewak was fired despite taking the Eagles to the I-AA football playoffs for the third time in four years as coach. Georgia Southern finished its season on Saturday with a 50-35 first-round playoff loss at No. 4 seed Texas State. . . .
The Eagles, fielding one of their youngest teams in several years, were 8-4 this season and tied for second in the Southern Conference with a 5-2 mark.
Sewak was the Southern Conference coach of the year just last season and had compiled a 35-14 record overall and a 15-7 mark in the SoCon, with two league championships. But he is the first permanent head coach since the restart of the Eagle program in 1982 not to win a national title. . . .
Sewak was an assistant coach at Georgia Southern under legendary coach Erk Russell in 1985-86. He coached running backs in 1985 and defensive backs in 1986, both national championship seasons for the Eagles.
But Sewak and Russell had a falling out two years ago when Sewak fired Russell's son Rusty as the defensive coordinator. Rusty Russell had been a finalist for the head coaching job when Sewak was hired in 2002.
Erk Russell had disassociated himself from the Georgia Southern program and hadn't attended an Eagles game in the past two seasons. He even missed the game against Furman this year, when GSU celebrated the 20th anniversary of its 1985 title win over the Paladins. . . .
The shocks waves were quick around the Southern Conference on Tuesday morning and the response was negative. In the weekly SoCon football teleconferfence, Jerry Moore, at 17 years the dean of the league's coaches, called the move "a real bad deal."
This is the second time in the past nine years that Baker has fired a head coach that has taken a team to the playoffs. Tim Stowers, now the coach at Rhode Island, led the Eagles to a 9-4 record and the quarterfinals of the playoffs in 1995, only to be let go.
Stowers coached GSU to a national championship in 1990 and took the Eagles to the playoffs four times in six years.
There is no immediate word on where Baker will look for a new coach, though it is possible that he might make overtures to someone from Johnson's staff at Navy. . . .
Crazy stuff, glad it isn't us.
Go State! ;D
Comment