Transcript
Speaker: Welcome back, everybody. It's been a long time. No see to the warm weather fans. Sunbelt podcast. My name is Brian. ah what' With me today is Zeke.
Speaker: If you've been a longtime listener of the podcast, this is season what three for us, Zeke, that we've been doing this now. This is yeah, season three. Yeah.
Speaker: ah So our third, our third chair, who's usually here with us, ah Matt Miguez, who actually invested in a very sweet, like audio mixer for for the sake of the podcast cannot actually make it this ah first two episodes this week.
Speaker: Um, Just due to like life stuff. So that's totally fine. But we are here kicking off our 2025 Sunbelt previews. And as always, we start from the teams that were the worst in the conference last year. And we kind of build our way up, which will be very interesting because some of the teams that are at the were at the top.
Speaker: Mm hmm. I mean, i don't want to step on the Marshall preview, but like, what's that going to be like? So that that's kind of going to be interesting. But Zeke, it's been a long time since we've been on the pod.
Speaker: How have you been before we would you jump into the your Georgia State Panthers here? Yeah, I'm good. This is this is season three. ah That means ah for the third straight season, I'm going to change where I'm recording out of.
Speaker: ah For this season, I started in my college apartment, went into my mom's basement. I've got my own place now. Uh, it's just me. It's a little lonely, but it's a pretty, it's, it's nice. Uh, I enjoy being here. So, uh, we'll see how long this setting, uh, sticks. And by next, next season, we'll find a fourth place to be recording.
Speaker: Uh, it's good to be back, man. It's a long off season. Uh, there's a lot of, A lot of stuff going on. I think college football, ah house settlement was a big deal. i don't think it's something going to really touch on ah today, but I think that's something that is the biggest news out of college football from the offseason.
Speaker: um Per usual, or per has been the trend, I guess, Transfer Portal just absolutely plundering all of the teams that we have. talk about on this show.
Speaker: um i mean, if you look at last year's leaderboards ah from the Sun Belt or you look at the award winners or the all-conference teams, none of those guys are still around, and that's just going to continue being the trend for the next couple years, um which is which is an adjustment, which is definitely an adjustment, but it's something that we've been used to for a couple years, and again, it's just going to keep getting worse and worse.
Speaker: Make of that what you will. um I think it's probably ultimately maybe a little bad for the sport, um but I also have the small school bias coming into play. So I'm glad to be back. I'm glad to be here. I'm looking forward to getting Matt on here ah as soon as we can to play with his new toys.
Speaker: ah Brian got some new toys as well with a sick new mic and the the arm ah the arms stand for the mic. uh when i was moving into this place my mic stand broke it lost a leg so i'm going with the old hand today i'm glad to be here man yeah same uh yeah as as zeke said uh it's been a long time since we've done an episode originally we were going to come back post nfl draft and try to talk through everybody that got drafted uh but unfortunately
Speaker: there just weren't that many people. So and and frankly, like there's with with the legal situation stuff, there was only so much we were going to say about Mike Green. So, you know, but peek behind the curtain. So sorry, everybody. That was if you were waiting on that, that just never materialized. We we typically have more than a couple drafted players that we can talk about, but we unfortunately just didn't really this year. It wasn't one strong.
Speaker: Yeah, it wasn't really a strong, like, Sunbelt crop. So here we are. ah We are back. Zeke, you know, typically the way that we do these previews, especially when it isn't one of our three teams, being Georgia Southern, Georgia State, or Louisiana, I typically drive the discussion based on the great Phil Steele's magazine, and we will have Phil back on the podcast this summer, where we will pelt him with questions. Yeah.
Speaker: But since we have you here and you are the Georgia State kind of aficionado of the pod, i my the idea is you kind of drive the discussion and then I will jump in with questions or or you know want to know kind of where the team sits, things like that. So let's can we could we start a little bit just by talking about how 2024 went, year one for Del McGee,
Speaker: expectations understandably were not high. Although if you listen to mcgit McGee toward the end of the year, I went back and relisten one of our old episodes. McGee had these weird comments toward the end of the year where he was expecting better attendance, better support from the the school, I guess. and he he made some comments toward the end of last season that made it seem like he was a little disappointed in that. But Yeah, there was a big segment we did last year ah that I went back and re-listened to where we basically said, I said, i don't really know what he expected.
Speaker: And you you kind of echoed that because you know what the deal is there in Atlanta. um So, yeah, take take us just briefly through 2024, kind of how the season went, how it progressed, things like that.
Speaker: Yeah, so last year, ah very it will i guess we start two off-seasons ago, ah very late into the off-season, ah rapidly approaching spring football.
Speaker: Georgia State head coach Sean Elliott says, I'm out. Deuce is, I'm going to go take ah the ah offensive line job, I think it is, at South Carolina. ah He had South Carolina ties word on the street is that he was living in South Carolina his entire time ah working for Georgia state weird situation, but notable because Sean Elliott winning his coach in Georgia state history, won several bowl games with the team.
Speaker: ah And. when you you know By Georgia State football standards, was an excellent head coach for that team. ah So you're kind of scrambling late in the offseason.
Speaker: You get Del McGee, who ah comes from the University of Georgia, about two hours east. Obviously the more notable Georgia football team in the state.
Speaker: um He was the running backs coach there. He had previously been in the Sun Belt, working with Georgia Southern, and was an interim head coach for them for a game. I think it was a bowl game, right?
Speaker: it It was the, the 2015 go daddy bowl, uh, their first ever bowl win, uh, in program history, because obviously we had been in FCS school, uh, up to that point and hadn't participated in bowl games because the FCS is a playoff system.
Speaker: Uh, and also came out, they beat bowling green. Um, It was a great time. They carried him off the field. Everybody assumed he would have been in the running for the head coaching job.
Speaker: And then ah Tom Kleinline Galaxy brained us and decided that Tyson Summers was the way to go. And we all know how that ended. the The one thing, too, I wanted to say about McGee's resume when he was at Georgia is his M.O. is a awesome, awesome A++ plus plus recruiter.
Speaker: Like recruiting was his his bag. I don't know if he was the head recruiter at Georgia, but he was up there among the best recruiters in the nation, not just at Georgia where they were winning national championships and having great running backs come through constantly like a stream.
Speaker: he was i mean he He was way up there in in the recruiting ranks. It was a big get just from a pedigree perspective, a shift in focus as far as what Georgia State wanted to do. felt like it felt like ah you You may agree with this. You may not. Again, you pay more attention to the program than I do.
Speaker: It felt like Elliott never really put a stamp on what he wanted the team to be because as an offensive line guy, you would assume... let's establish the run. Let's be physical at the line of scrimmage.
Speaker: And sometimes they did that. And then sometimes it felt very like finesse. So it were it, it just literally depended. I mean, and sometimes it was a game to game thing.
Speaker: where one game they would be physical and run for 200 plus yards. And then the next game, they would try to be cute and throw the ball 50 times with, frankly, a quarterback that wasn't the most accurate guy in the country.
Speaker: So right it was it was just a strange thing where they didn't have a set identity. They were winning games, but they were never really in contention for the East. Anytime they felt like they were kind of building momentum, they'd shoot themselves in the foot or get beat really bad by somebody.
Speaker: And they were always good, not great. And so we had this talk a couple years ago where ah we said, how many how many more years is Georgia State going to do this?
Speaker: Where, yes, he's the winningest coach in program history, but you're also not seeing a progression. It is... wavering between being six to eight, you know, or or even fewer five to eight wins per season. And you just have no idea what you're going to get So, yeah. So so take us through a little bit of last year and then we'll transition and talk about this year.
Speaker: Yeah, so the transition was pretty tough. ah You start off with Darren Granger, Marcus Carroll, ah both no longer with the program. Those were two big hits, especially on the all offensive side. Marcus Carroll, who himself took over from Tucker Gregg, took ah you know Georgia State under Sean Elliott.
Speaker: Had, again, how much they leaned on this was variable game to game and a disappointing ah flexibility in that. But they they had a very strong offensive line room and a very strong ah running game with Darren Granger, Marcus Carroll, Tucker Gregg before that. And perennially, one or two guys that were going to be, ah at least in the conversation for first team, all Sunbelt.
Speaker: Didn't matter who it was. You were going to have a couple guys like that. Um, and frankly, they didn't follow up. Uh, obviously with the late, uh, transition, it was kind of too late. It was obviously too late to get any high school guys.
Speaker: Not that those are players that are going to often make immediate impacts, but it was too late to get those guys. Um, It was far too late to add anything meaningful in the transfer portal.
Speaker: I believe the portal was still open, and that's all funky stuff. and Georgia State guys could leave but you know ah because the coach left, but that doesn't mean that guys are allowed to come in because the coach left. so But it was all post-spring game stuff, right?
Speaker: so Yes, exactly. i With any leading up to the spring game, i if I recall correctly, they didn't even play the spring game. They pushed it back like a month, month and a half. um But again, it it was very, very late in the offseason.
Speaker: And Del McGee comes in through his first year. I've got it pulled up again, relying on Phil Steele's book. We're going to reference it a lot just because it is the closest thing to an encyclopedia you can get.
Speaker: ah For college football, they were 3-9 last year, one in seven in conference. That means they were the worst in the East, ah only better than Southern Miss, who went 1-11 in the West.
Speaker: And other than Vanderbilt, not a ton of wins to hang your hat on. Vanderbilt was ah week four. A great win in hindsight.
Speaker: Oh, great win in hindsight, ah but the other two wins, ah Chattanooga, ah Tennessee Chattanooga, and then your only conference win ah came late in the season against a skidding Texas State team. So a disappointing start.
Speaker: um But you then going into the offseason, it was all right. Well, Del McGee, this is what you're hired for is you talked about, Brian, the opportunity to recruit guys. um This is only his second year. This is only this is realistically only his first recruiting class.
Speaker: um So we're still probably a year and a half, two years away from the guys Del McGee brings in from the high school level, really impacting this team, but he did get a couple notable transfers. And as we go position by position, ah we'll touch on a couple of those guys.
Speaker: um Realistically, any only You can only go up with one conference win coming against a very, at that point, playing fairly poorly Texas State team.
Speaker: ah Georgia State has nowhere to go but up. Per Phil Steele, they returned six offensive starters and four defensive starters. And just from a very high level,
Speaker: ah Georgia State's outlook from my perspective is offensively experienced, offensively ah has some guys that could be really big difference makers. I think quarterback is still um a big question mark as it was last year, but skill positions, I feel relatively comfortable.
Speaker: ah And offensive line has been, as it has been in several the past several years, very strong. Defensively, shaky. that That was an issue last year. The defense was shaky.
Speaker: um Didn't stock up on a ton of other guys. ah But as you look at the starters, again, as they're projected by Phil Steele, ah some guys that I really liked last year that weren't necessarily starters last year were played... um more diminished roles were technically starters entitled, but played relatively diminished roles. So, uh, you know, I don't want to get into schedule quite yet, but I think Georgia state projects as a five win team this year.
Speaker: Um, I think they could maybe go 500. Uh, I find it unlikely, uh, that they shoot any higher than that, higher than six wins. Um, but this is a rebuilding program that's early.
Speaker: um, And so you have you have to look at everything with this team through that lens.
Speaker: Yeah, i I mean, if we're going to start from the most important position on the offensive side of the ball and the the position that touches the ball literally every single play other than center, Christian Valer, frankly, didn't give me a lot to kind of hope for.
Speaker: Like, it didn't seem like he was progressing as the season went on last year. It kind of seemed like it was just kind of the same the whole year and it wasn't great. um Right. I specifically remember a couple of games ah in the middle of the season, Georgia Southern being a ah perfect example where, i mean, I watched that game closely, obviously, because I went to Georgia Southern, huge fan and all that stuff, but it was just like,
Speaker: feast or famine, like either he was going to hit a long ball down the field or he was going to throw some of the worst passes you've ever seen. And frankly, until that, I feel, I still feel like now he could come out and be a totally different quarterback this year.
Speaker: However, the chances of that happening are between slim and none to me. Uh, guys typically don't, Don't go into an offseason looking horrible and then come out and and look like, you know, they don't do the Josh Allen thing. Like, you're ah you're a Bills fan. They don't do the thing where they go from guy couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat to, oh, look, he completes 70% of his passes and he has a three-to-one touchdown interception ratio. That just, like, typically doesn't happen, especially especially at the college, like, G5 level.
Speaker: So right I don't know if there... I'm going to bring this up because this was a big, obviously, storyline for last year. I don't know if you guys have somebody with the Braylon Braxton potential where you just have somebody waiting in the wings that could take over and like make a push to start.
Speaker: um is it Do you know, is it confirmed that Valera is like the entrenched starter or is there like a competition in camp? I have not heard either way, but the lack of conversation around there being competition makes me think it's going to be Christian Valer.
Speaker: ah The only other guys on roster that could really compete, you get PJ Hatter from Texas State, ah who, from what I recall, didn't obviously never played at Texas State behind two really good quarterbacks, um but...
Speaker: really he was liked within that program from what i recall uh i i don't want you know hang my hat on that he he as far as i remember last year did not even play when um uh what's his name what what was the mcleod was even like when he was banged up last year he wasn't even in the three quarterback rotation at Texas State. but the It was Martinez would play, and then they would get Brad Jackson, who was a freshman reps over... i don't remember ever seeing Hatter take a snap last year. so and And I watched a decent bit of Texas State because I feel like they would be put on those like island games where it would be like
Speaker: You know, they love to stagger the Sunbelt games like on ESPN Plus. They would be like the five o'clock game where you're like, OK, so whatever is wrapping up at noon and and and another game starts at 730. Let me just cut on Sam Houston and Texas State or whatever and see and or or whoever.
Speaker: Or they would get a Thursday night game. But I just don't remember him even being kind of in the mix. So he he might be an answer for Georgia State. Are they going to win the the conference ah the way that Marshall did with Braylon Braxton? Probably not.
Speaker: so So it is Valera. There is one other guy in contention that I i actually think – again, I don't think he's – my understanding is that he's not competing ah for any jobs right now.
Speaker: ah But Cameron Brown transferred from Texas Tech. ah He is originally from Georgia and started his football career at West Georgia, ah which is, I think, Division two, maybe Division three.
Speaker: um And i think those. OK, there are several guys on this roster that we're going to point out throughout this episode of guys that.
Speaker: Del McGee liked you. That's why you're here. Del McGee met you at some point when he was at Georgia. You probably didn't have the chops to be a Georgia Bulldog at the time, ah but you are clearly someone that he trusts.
Speaker: Cameron Brown is a guy like that. I still think it's Christian Valer, even though he never really got the full vote of confidence as he ah only took about 60% of snaps at quarterback last year the other I guess it would have been two-thirds. The other third went to Zach Gibson, who had himself come from Georgia Tech as Haynes King rose and took over Georgia Tech football and has done excellent things there.
Speaker: um Cameron Brown, though, is a guy i believe he's a junior. ah If Valer struggles at any point or if I miss news about a QB competition, ah he's someone I think that Del McGee could give a vote of confidence.
Speaker: Ultimately, though, Christian Valer, prototype guy, not mobile like Darren Granger was, um does not project as a conference winning quarterback. um That brings us. he's not yeah He's not going to be one of the high end starters of the conference. We're not going to be looking back. I feel like toward the end of the year, if they win, let's put it this way. If they win, I almost feel like it's going to be in spite of him.
Speaker: Oh, yeah. It's going to be one of those things, which is disappointing because that rolls us into the guys he's going to throw to, ah which is headlined by Ted Hurst, who was a guy that frankly came out of nowhere, ah at least in my perspective on it, because there were guys on this roster, Georgia State roster, that had a little more brand recognition, especially if you were around the program. Josias Credle was one of them. Talik Williams was another one.
Speaker: Two guys that I thought were going to be the one to – ah in this post-Sam Pinckney era of Georgia State receivers. But it was Ted Hurst who ended the year with 56 catches, 961 yards.
Speaker: ah He led the team with nine touchdowns. That's not just nine. ah He led them in receiving or ah rushing touchdowns with nine. Second team all-sunbelt.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, he he was a bona fide stud in it. This was my fault. Came out of nowhere. Was not on my radar to start the year and absolutely tore it up. um Outside of him, it's a fairly thin class.
Speaker: As we look at who Phil Steele projects to take those snaps ah at kind of wide receiver in two and wide receivers three. It's DJ Riles who did nothing.
Speaker: He was a depth guy last year. ah He stuck around. So, you know, they must like him enough. ah And then you're also looking at Leo Blackburn, who played nine games last year at Georgia Tech, ah but didn't do a ton.
Speaker: Ted Hurst, I think, is probably going to be by volume the best receiver in the conference this year, just because of the feasted famine that's around him. There's no one else that's going to take his volume. This isn't going be a South Alabama of 2022 and 2023 when they were feeding their guys for 90 catches year.
Speaker: forcefeeding their guys for ninety catches a year But I mean, Ted Hurst in his second year here, I anticipate 70 catches, a thousand yards. Easy, easy, easy, easy.
Speaker: Do you have any questions about that room? Is there anything that you you're wondering before we move on from that? I mean, Leo Blackburn's got some nice sides to him, I would say, as a as a big body kind of X receiver. If they deploy him in that way, you know, six, five to 20.
Speaker: So that's. interesting because again we I alluded to it earlier Valera is not the most accurate passer I've ever seen in my entire life so hopefully that increased catch radius might help him out a little bit but we've been burned on these like We love Phil Steele, but we've been burned kind of on these depth chart projections before where it's like they're listed as the second or third receiver, and then the guy finishes with like 170 yards receiving for an entire season.
Speaker: So were we are we are doing our best here. like Obviously, we won't know until they they put the helmets and the pads on. um Ted Hurst also... Nice, nice tall target. Six, three, one 85. Yeah. i I think it's going to be, you, you mentioned South Alabama of years past. There was a year where they basically had, and it might've been last year. I can't remember. All these years are starting to run together for me, but there was a year where they basically had one volume receiver and then it was just kind of everybody else.
Speaker: And I, I kind of think that that's what we're going to get here is where, did did you Did Ted Hurst, when you watched them, did Ted Hurst line up in the slot or was he it outside kind of receiver? No, I mean, he's a burner. hes He's a burner. And I think that makes Leo Blackburn interesting in that they're both very tall, ah but in different ways. One one is your big body broadly speaking, Calvin Johnson type, jump ball type guy that can make a catch over anyone.
Speaker: Whereas Ted Burst is more in that, like Jamison Williams is a recent comp where you're a skinny 6'3", that runs ah you know a 4'2", So I think that there are going to be a couple games – um If these are the three they run with Riles, Hurst, and Blackburn, Blackburn is going to have the opportunity to lead the team in receiving a couple games.
Speaker: um But ultimately, Hurst is very much a ah out you know ah typical y as opposed to your X, but he's not he doesn't have the the strength to move inside.
Speaker: um Okay. Someone else in that room I do have to give a shout out to is Jalen Marshall. ah You're not going to see him on the Phil Steele page because he's in real small print, ah but he spent the last two years at Shorter University, ah which is one of the schools that I cover in my job now. So that's really cool to see ah him move up from D2 Shorter ah up to Division I in the FBS. That's really ah really awesome. Congratulations to him.
Speaker: ah The others – I'm sorry. no No, I was going to transition to the running back position yeah because your boy, Freddie Brock, has departed now.
Speaker: ah Freddie Brock, who obviously you you were very, very high on, and and frankly, Matt and i were a little baffled by it, some some of the previews and picks that you made. yeah ah no Most notably, again, Georgia Southern, ah where you were like, he's going to crush him, and it was like 38 yards on 10 carries.
Speaker: But so talk to me a little bit about who is it? Jordan Simmons ah is the guy that projects as the starter at the running back spot. Kind of talk to me a little bit about the running back room and kind of what you anticipate there.
Speaker: So it's completely retooled for one. As you look at the Phil Steele book or just look at you know whoever is recording your stats, you'll see the top three running backs from last season all gone. Freddie Brock, Michael Duke, Sivion Wilkerson.
Speaker: ah I am going to deviate from the Phil Steele book here, though, ah because I think the top running back in this room is Branson Robinson. ah This is certainly a little bit of bias, ah but Branson Robinson transferred in from the University of Georgia. He is obviously intimately familiar with Del McGee. He was coached by Del McGee.
Speaker: ah He played a very good depth role for the Georgia Bulldogs ah in over the past couple of years. Um, but never, you know, that that's a running back you contender. So it's tough to break out in that room.
Speaker: Uh, I think Branson Robinson takes the majority of these touches. Uh, he's very much a power back guy. um as I look at him, he's, uh, listed five, 10 to 20.
Speaker: So, I mean, he, he's very much a power between the tackles, uh, going to run you over guy. ah That differs in the style of Freddie Brock, who is a very high average per carry. He averaged 5.4 yards per carry last season ah and added a fair bit in the passing game as well with 21 catches, 166 yards,
Speaker: um and was the make sure I'm counting that right, seventh leading or sixth leading receiver on the team last year. So Freddie Brock, more of a three-down guy, Branson Robinson, probably not on the field ah for third and medium, third and longs.
Speaker: But that that's where I'm going to deviate most from Phil Steele as we talk about the Panthers. is I think Branson Robinson has the potential to be an 800-900 yard guy. I saw him and several years at Georgia. I'm trying to make sure I've got his numbers from last year correct.
Speaker: um Does he have it here?
Speaker: No, but anyway, ah that that's where I look. But ultimately, from an offensive perspective, this is the weakest group. ah Whereas Ted Hurst leads a group of C-tier receivers, at least as we look at it preseason.
Speaker: ah Branson... Ted Hurst is a A-tier receiver leading a bunch of C-tiers. Branson Robinson or whoever is probably a B-minus leading a group of C-tiers. This is not going to be the Georgia State team that has had excellent running backs in the past.
Speaker: this I think their offensive line, which we'll touch on yeah briefly in a moment, ah is strong enough to block for a guy to rush for 800-900 yards. ah But Branson Robinson behind him, ah no matter how high you rate him, it's pretty thin.
Speaker: So i i haven't prepped you for this question. i apologize. i I should have said something in the in the um kind of before we started recording. So you can I assume you don't have a lot to say about the tight end position. So I just want to kind of put all of this in one box for you.
Speaker: Obviously, Georgia State coming into or at the end of this last previous recruiting cycle had a very good, at least what was on paper projected to be a very good recruiting class.
Speaker: ah Again, the the rating systems for the Sunbelt and G5 in general are just all over the place. like It really... it your team is favored basically if you have somebody running like your 24 7 page because on three does a fine ish job but they don't have enough bodies to be quite honest to cover all of the g5 and espn couldn't care less like if you're not in the top 25 recruiting classes in the country you might well not exist to them so um
Speaker: My question to you is, is there maybe anybody that's coming in from last year's or this this previous recruiting class that was supposedly very solid from McGee's perspective that you think might make a push to to for some playing time? Because as you said, it's like Ted Hurst,
Speaker: a bunch of dudes body wise in the running back room. We haven't touched it on the tight end position, but I don't see anything there that makes me think that this guy's going to have 800 yards receiving this year.
Speaker: So is there anybody that's incoming maybe as like a freshman that you'd be like, all right, maybe there's something there. Or do you think these guys just simply need a little bit more seasoning before we get there?
Speaker: I'm going to shoot you straight. I don't think so. We're at a level of football, and you know this is a broad statement, but true freshmen don't take over in the Sun Belt like they might maybe in the SEC and the Big Ten.
Speaker: ah That's just the consequence of playing at this level. You get less blue chips. You get less red chips. You get less any chips. um you're You're looking for guys that prototype well.
Speaker: You look for guys that are... have high ceilings, uh, and have a floor. So someone that can be a good football player for you. So, uh, there's no one in the incoming recruiting class that I super, super, super love.
Speaker: Uh, there are a handful of guys. Um, frankly, a lot of them left, but there's still a handful of guys that last year were freshmen or red shirt freshmen that, ah Played really well, the more particularly on the defensive end.
Speaker: um there's There's one guy in the defensive back group that I really liked and didn't get a ton of tick last year, and I thought he deserved more. um But ultimately, what what Georgia State is hanging its hat on if it wants to be a competitive team this year is is the transfer class. and Again, that's just kind of ultimately a consequence of modern football.
Speaker: Sure. um All right. So let's let's transition to the offensive line here. ah This is kind of going to be the backbone of this team if they are going to keep the layer both clean, if they're going to be able to run the football, ah if they want to get obviously Ted Hurst ah in involved in the passing game.
Speaker: Again, Valer needs time because he's not one of the elite processor processors at the position to be quite Frank. Uh, and I think that some of their problems last year came from him feeling pressure, whether it be actually there or whether it was all in his head and it had kind of gotten to him.
Speaker: Uh, I felt like, that was sort of the reason why he felt like he was rushed in his decision-making and made some, frankly, bad th throws, bad decisions, things like that. and So talk to me a little bit about the offensive line and and kind of who you think the difference makers of Pierre might be.
Speaker: Yeah, so this group lost a lot of talent. um Trevor Timmons was a guy, on I think he played mostly on the right as a tackle that is no longer ah at Georgia State, and that's a huge, huge loss. I thought he was excellent last season. The other tackle, Chaquema, one of those names that always trips you up, ah was also excellent.
Speaker: you're You're only really returning one starting offensive lineman. ah However, the guys that are coming back in were starters elsewhere, which gives me hope. ah The biggest thing for me when evaluating ah offensive lines ah is going to be experience starting.
Speaker: ah It really just college it football experience. you You need size. It's one of those positions that... size does matter. And as you get older, as you transition from an 18 year old to a 22 year old, that's going to play a big deal.
Speaker: Uh, Alec Johnson is the only returning, uh, Georgia state starter. He was the center. He started last year as a freshman, uh, and did pretty well. Um,
Speaker: that That's a very difficult position to start as as a freshman. If you're seeing a freshman start on the O-line, it's usually at the guards. They're not big enough typically to play tackle, and they're certainly not cerebral enough to play in the middle as a center. So that's very promising, having a young guy that was center-ready, start-ready out of there.
Speaker: You get Tyler Williams, ah last year starter at Akron, and DeAndre Duffus, who ah didn't play a ton but does come from Maryland. as your two guards, Darrell Bailey, ah Darrell Bailey from ah East Tennessee.
Speaker: He was a so ah starter there. And then Obadiah Obiasuri, who did not play at NC state. um Again, this, this is a fresh group, but I am very encouraged, especially by the three interior guys, all playing very large roles last year as starters.
Speaker: Um, It's Alec Johnson, though. You ask who's the impact guy, it's Alec Johnson. I can't, don't know the number, but there are not many teams in the country with sophomore starting centers.
Speaker: that That really, really impresses me, and he's a guy who, if this program keeps, ah will be a first-team Sunbelter, if not by the end of this year, by the end of next year.
Speaker: Yeah, I could totally see that. You're you're dead on about the ah the center position. if If you've got a young guy playing at the center spot, typically they've got to be special or they have to be way ahead of the game like mentally to kind of handle...
Speaker: i i I assume at the college level, I know the way it works at the pro level. I assume at the college level, they're the ones that are setting protections, calling out blitzes, you know, all of that sort of stuff. So yeah, if you see a young guy starting at center, they have to be legit.
Speaker: Um, so I don't, I don't really have a problem with you calling out like he's going to be an all conference selection probably sooner than later. yeah. Yeah, I would say I'm sure you are you might agree with this, might not. I think the left tackle spot, the fact that Obasuri hasn't really played, that might be a little bit of a cause for concern. He's got a good build for the left tackle spot. i think he's 320. Yeah.
Speaker: three twenty um But yeah, that lack of you just never know what you're going to get with that lack of ah experience at the college level. So we'll have to see kind of what happens there. And like I said, hopefully between play calling and the layers just decision making, hopefully they try to make it as easy as possible on guys like that and don't make them try to hold up protection six, seven, eight seconds when in reality it should kind of be like one, two, three,
Speaker: get rid of it so we'll see about that um so let's move to the defensive side of the ball this was a frankly it was a disaster last season i mean from my perspective like i don't know how many games we we recapped and you were you were kind of just being like yeah that i agree um they they don't really didn't have any difference makers of the defensive in any defensive positions really this looked like a a vintage not last year but in years past a vintage like Arkansas State situation where it's like there might be one guy here that does something but there's 10 other guys that just kind of exist on the field so is it kind of the same I know you talked about it being a little rough is it kind of the same this year do you kind of anticipate that they're going to keep building towards something
Speaker: ah I mean, it ah again, it's going to be how good are these guys transfer-wise that are coming in, and can they tide you over until somebody real comes through? There were a lot of disappointing players defensively. Kevin Swint is probably the most so.
Speaker: I anticipate... Homerism aside, i anticipated him to have a great year ah coming off the edge, but ended up with only four and a half sacks and 48 tackles. Kenyatta Watson was disappointing.
Speaker: Gavin Pringle, who had had a good year, was disappointing. Isaiah Guy, who had had a good year, was disappointing. ah No one really took a big step forward. And bright side, all those guys that didn't take a step forward are no longer here.
Speaker: Down side, all those guys that were here, No longer here. Um, yeah so I think the two guys are three rather that I really want to point to defensively.
Speaker: Funches Lewis and Henry Bryant, uh, are two, uh, they're not necessarily returning starters, uh, but are two returning players. Um, Bryant was more so a starter, but they both play interior defensive line. Funches Lewis, ah more of a nose guard type, but they both are sub 300, both a smidge over six feet. So ah they're more so three techs than one techs.
Speaker: Although again, here, Phil Steele lists Funches Lewis as a nose. And then you get Damian Wilson, who was a... um I mean, he's he's probably going to be one of the better middle linebackers in the conference.
Speaker: Last year with ah Marquez Watson-Trent at Southern, obviously. And then it was at Jason... I'm blanking on his name. to mold them mint Henderson, yes.
Speaker: ah From Old Dominion. I mean, there were some incredible stand-up linebackers ah in the conference last season. But with all those guys gone now, I think Damian Wilson has the opportunity to be a a very good ah stand-up linebacker.
Speaker: linebacker for this team. He's got a great ball sense. He's a great tackler. um I've long said that and will until my deathbed say that tackles are a circumstantial stat, um but you still have to make said tackles.
Speaker: And that's what he impresses with the most per me and other folks. um I like him and I think he he could make a big impact. Another person that I thought would I don't think I would have projected him to be a starter at the end of last season, but I did like, uh, it's Sean D'Ajne, who is a corner. Uh, he is make sure i get his height.
Speaker: He's six, three, two Oh seven. Right. So he profiles more as a, uh, almost like a nickel guy, but he does play like a traditional corner role for this team. Um, he He was very good in coverage, and at that size, it's hard not to be a very good tackler as a defensive back. ah Again, ah maybe he plays some sort of tweener into a nickel or tweener into a ah safety role, but that's another guy that didn't play a ton last year and I thought was probably still a year away from starting.
Speaker: But Phil Steele here pegs him as a starter on their depth chart and is someone that I think ah could be a real impact maker.
Speaker: So one of the things, too, that Phil Steele ah points out is that they have a new defensive coordinator and inexperienced secondary, which you touched on.
Speaker: ah One of the things that I guess we should have touched on when we talked about the offensive section, but we could talk about it now. Oh, yeah. They have two new coordinators, both on offense and defense. Can i I'm going to drop like a not so hot take on you.
Speaker: I think Hugh Jackson's offensive coordinator is going terrible. like It's hard to disagree, man. Yeah. he he just i He built up so much goodwill. It felt like in the mid-thousands in the NFL. like He was the guy before Eric Bien-Ami and everybody pointing to him and going, that guy should be a head coach.
Speaker: It was Hugh Jackson. Everybody was like, this guy's great. He's got an offensive mind for the game. like He should get a shot. Got a shot with the Raiders. ish but the Raiders were an absolute travesty toward the end of Al Davis's life I mean they hired like Lane Kiffin when he was like 28 years old for one season like they were just they were just throwing stuff at the wall and hoping something stuck and then to get into the ah Cleveland tenure I mean one in 31 as a head coach had one of the what two oh and 16 seasons in NFL history and
Speaker: I think it showed what the entire coaching world around them football, pro college, D1, D2, FCS, whatever thought about him that it was like the only opportunities there were really, ah other than holding Marvin Lewis's headset for like half a season in Cincinnati before he got canned was working at the FCS, like HBCU level.
Speaker: So i I'm going to really, I know expectations weren't super high for the offense, but between Valera, what I saw from Valera last season and Hugh Jackson coming in, I'm really tempering, tempering expectations here. Like, i I hope that it's not this, but it might have been like Del McGee being like, hey, this is a good buddy of mine. Let's get him a job.
Speaker: Yeah. and So and i I would hate to see that. So Hugh Jackson came to the program ah after Del McGee was hired, ah but before the season started, and he was entitled the assistant general manager.
Speaker: What that means? Not quite sure. I don't think anyone really knows. Roster management, basically. Yeah. Transfers, stuff like that Cool. ah That's awesome.
Speaker: Yeah. Del McGee, when he picked his coordinators, ah before it was before Hugh Jackson was a part of the program. He picked Jim Chaney, who had come over from Texas A&M, if I remember correctly.
Speaker: Chaney's still with the team, but is now an analyst. um So what went into that decision? Who knows? How much coaching input did Hugh Jackson have?
Speaker: Not quite sure. It's easy to talk about, though, because Hugh Jackson is ah one of the more dunkable names in all of football ever. It's like him, Joe Marcus Russell.
Speaker: ah That might be. Yeah. Who who else do you want to put on there? So ah it is one that does not inspire a world of confidence. However, I. I don't think that Hugh Jackson is a guy you hire ah as when you already have an OC, bring him in as the assistant GM like I.
Speaker: I'm willing to trust the process. As a fan, I want to trust the process, which might be why I'm willing to as an outsider. um But this could be a shipwreck.
Speaker: It could be. When you said that sentence, Hugh Jackson is not a guy you hire, I thought that was going to be the end of the sentence. It probably should have been. I... Hugh Jackson is not a guy you hire for ah for his coaching pedigree or right for ah for his advanced schema.
Speaker: It's someone you hire because you you like his experience. I mean, he is a very long-tenured head coach, had success in college to some degree, um was recently the head coach at Grambling, although that was short-lived.
Speaker: And if you can't cut it at Grambling... What are you doing? um Yeah. So ah it's not a move that, again, inspires confidence, but I'm willing to trust the process there.
Speaker: ah As for the defensive coordinator, can't say I know much.
Speaker: He's got a lot of experience as well at the, at the defensive spots, especially in the Sunbelt was a, I believe he was the defensive coordinator at South Alabama for one season ah in 2014, 15 is what nick says.
Speaker: And then most recently was the cornerbacks coach at Troy kind of when they were making their run with John Summerall and all of those guys. So you know I think that's good. have Having a DB guy is good.
Speaker: um Last year, Austin, I felt like they went... We talked it about it a couple times where they went like weirdly soft where they would play... what should look, what looks like they should be hard zones, but then would be really soft, have some real squishy spots. So ah perhaps inspired by having a DB guy, Troy's turned out a couple of NFL DBs in the past several years, I think more than one.
Speaker: um So i I suppose, again, that's a, that's a pedigree pick. You're not getting the cream of the crop at this level. Uh, we'll, we'll find out. Uh, coordinators are, we're not the problem with this team last year. Um, and I don't anticipate them being the problem with, uh, for this team this year either.
Speaker: So let's ah let's wrap up here talking about the schedule. You said at the top you believed that they were a five-win football team this year. Tell me what the five are that you think that they will either will win or have a solid chance to win. Because on first glance, it looks like a tough schedule, especially when you consider kind of the level of talent that they have as opposed to a lot of other teams in the conference.
Speaker: So... tell Tell me which ones you're you're pointing to and going, okay, let's put a pin in that one and and come back to it. Sure. I mean, starting off, Murray State is the only out-of-conference layup that I see. I think Memphis is possible.
Speaker: ah You upset Vandy at home, or I guess that's a weird phrase, because when you say at home, well, who was at home? When Georgia State was at home, they upset Vandy last year, ah but now you travel for the back half of that away, ah home and home, right?
Speaker: I don't think you repeat that. JMU is an interesting game. i think... ah
Speaker: Shoot, you know? I said five without having looked at their schedule. If I had to get to five, do you want me to give you which ones I would be looking at? Let me give you my five, and then I want to hear yours. Okay, go ahead.
Speaker: It's Murray State. It's...
Speaker: Marshall...
Speaker: Yep. Coastal.
Speaker: It might just be Troy Old Dominion. It might be just a really good back half for this team if they reach five. I freeballed five, and I feel very bad about that number looking at it now. I was like, shoot, I forgot they have to play the other Sunbelt teams.
Speaker: right You're like, what? They have to play the other Sunbelt teams. Where did this come from? um No, the the five that I was looking at on on glance at the schedule, ah Murray State, um South Alabama, because frankly, you never have any idea what you're going to get from them.
Speaker: um Even it ah outside of that one season where they were like 10 and 2, you You truly yeah like they might show up. They might not. And it's a home game on a Thursday night, a week before um Halloween. So who knows?
Speaker: ah Coastal, because I believe, frankly, that their coach is a dead man walking. I think he's the new Will Hall where everybody's just kind of sitting around being like, when's this guy going to get canned?
Speaker: ah last year didn't go very well I don't anticipate them getting much better um and we'll again when we have Phil Steele on the podcast we'll talk to him about that because we asked him about Will Hall last year and he was like yeah this isn't going to last very long and Marshall, like you said, totally retooling new coach, everything.
Speaker: um I don't think that that's going to be a recipe for a ton of success for them. Troy is kind of iffy. They seemed like they figured out their quarterback position at the end of last year. um And they had a good win against Southern toward the end of the season. But again, it's You just, you don't know.
Speaker: um So let's see. Murray State, South Al, Coastal, Marshall, Troy would be my five. if if you If you put a gun to my head and said pick five wins off this schedule, those would be the five that I would look at because frankly...
Speaker: Outside of Murray State, like there are a couple of real, real shaky teams in the conference that I don't have ton of ah faith in, let's just say. And I want to see it before I kind of say, oh, no, definitively, they're better than Georgia State.
Speaker: Right. ah Yeah, I think ultimately, as I said at the top, I mean, you just have to look at this team through the lens of a rebuild and through the lens of we're waiting until recruiting, you know, Maestro Del McGee's guys actually get in here.
Speaker: um And we're still a yeah We're still yeah two years away from that because he got such a late jump and did not get a recruiting class going into his initial year. um So we're still two years away before ah we can really, really look at Del McGee and evaluate his success here.
Speaker: um It's a shaky start. It'll probably continue to be shaky. Yeah. And if if he wants to get to that four-year mark where this show is very adamant that you get four years ah before we can make any real calls, um if he wants to even get to that four-year mark, though, he's got to take a step forward this year.
Speaker: I think he's done a solid enough job retooling. the defense still The defense still scares me, um but you have a couple of skill position guys, those being Ted Hirsch, Branson Robinson, who I think i i think Ted Hirsch will finish with the most receiving yards in the conference this year.
Speaker: um But outside of that, it's going to be shaky, man. It's going to another long year. Yeah. Also, maestro.
Speaker: what and What a pronunciation of that word. i wanted i wanted another word that started with R, but I couldn't find one quick enough. Pretty bummed about that. I don't know if you listen to the Ringer fantasy football podcast, but they have a guy on there that notoriously ah mispronounces words, and it's hilarious because he'll he'll say things like maestro.
Speaker: but he truly means it. And he's like, that's not how it's pronounced. So I didn't know if you were pulling a ah Danny Heifetz or not. Um, but yeah, so that pretty much wraps up our preview of Georgia state.
Speaker: Um, Four, five win-ish team. um You know, frankly, final thoughts here. I think Del McGee, and I don't say this just because he had coached at Southern. I think with the circumstances around the Georgia State program and how he kind of came in and when all that happened,
Speaker: I think he deserves a little bit more runway than a lot of other coaches that get hired in a normal timeline and they have a job in December and they know, you know, boom, boom, boom. He's, he's sitting back. And then all of a sudden it's like, he's hired.
Speaker: He's got to make a bunch of moves going into last season. He doesn't have a full recruiting cycle. I think year one was a wash because he was just kind of making it happen with um who he had left.
Speaker: Um, But if we find out by the end of the season that Christian Valera is definitively not the answer, he's he's kind of got an answer for that. Because if you're pulling a a Clay Helton and you're just sticking with a guy just out of a sense of a misguided sense of loyalty, you can't.
Speaker: Because it it's going to end up people. I know that the fan base in in Atlanta is not quite as passionate as a lot of the other fan bases around the conference, but people will show up with pitchforks if you keep running a guy out that is definitively like, you can't do this.
Speaker: you You cannot keep running this guy out and hoping but something different is going to happen. So, yeah. um i'm i'm ah I'm very dubious of the Hugh Jackson-Volair connection.
Speaker: um i Frankly, I thought that instead of hiring Jackson, they should have done what we say a lot of times, especially me. I beat this drum a lot, where you go down to the FCS level, find whoever has the best offense, and offer them an FBS coordinator-level paycheck to come import that offense, and then...
Speaker: bring whoever they want over that wants to move up from the FCS because frankly it's it's not like ah Georgia State you know I know they've had some good recruiting classes they're not exactly bursting with talent at the seams where they're like hey man we're just not gonna find a roster spot for you it's like we could just take a few fewer transfers and and find a spot for someone else ah you know if they came up from the FCS ranks so That's kind of my overall thoughts on it.
Speaker: low Low ceiling. We'll see if they, if they surprise us, I I'd be very surprised if they ended up even being kind of a middle tier team in the conference. Um, I think there's some, still some really good talented teams. Um,
Speaker: one of which we will we will come out with our episode on Thursday about Georgia, not Georgia State, that's this one, Southern Miss and all of the changes that they've made, how they've basically taken Huntington and ported it ah to Hattiesburg.
Speaker: So we'll we'll talk a little bit about that in the episode that comes out later this week. But Zeke, do you want to give some some final thoughts and as we wrap up here? ah No, man. I think...
Speaker: from a Georgia state perspective, uh, as I said, just hold onto your hats and bear, bear the rebuild as long as you can. uh, season wise, uh, or I guess, you know, tease the next episode. Yeah.
Speaker: Uh, the Southern Miss thundering herd are probably the most top to bottom talented team in the conference. Um, uh, they get, they get the best quarterback in the conference. Uh, they, they get,
Speaker: what was the best coach in the conference last year. So um that'll be a really fun one to talk about and contrast how a team that I have never once said a single good thing about in my life on or off will probably make a run for the conference title.
Speaker: um So I'm excited to talk about that. And we're going to go ahead and record that right now and have that up ah have that up Thursday. We hope to see you all there. to To tease it even further, Zeke, are we on Texas State Watch with you as far as Southern Miss goes?
Speaker: are we Are we predicting a one-loss college football playoff contender here? You'll have to find out Thursday. Awesome. Awesome.
Speaker: Well done. Zeke, do you want to go ahead and plug your socials well before we get out? And then I'll do the same. You can find me everywhere at Zeke Palermo, Z-E-K-E-P-A-L-E-R-M-O.
Speaker: You can find our third hoke ho co-host, Matt Miguez, at Miguez Matt, M-I-G-U-E-Z-M-A-T-T. You can find the show at Warm Weather Fans, spelt just how you think it would be.
Speaker: And Brian will send us home. Yeah, you can find me ah on most platforms at WatchTheStone. ah Feel free to send us emails, thoughts, questions. ah We would love to have mailbag episode ah as we're as we're cranking out these previews.
Speaker: Preview season has started. i know it's early. It seems like at the end of June. However, you know there's only a few real weeks ah through the rest of the month until, you know,
Speaker: through July and and August until, you know, it's, it's Labor Day weekend and and we're in week zero week one, stuff like that. So thank you everybody for listening. And we will ah be back on Thursday to talk over Southern Miss and all of the changes with their program.
Speaker: This has been warm weather fans, the Sunbelt podcast.
