Georgia Southern changes recruiting focus

New Georgia Southern offensive coordinator Bryan Cook was just minutes into explaining his vision for what he wanted to do offensively, and that led to the immediate question of how that would impact the Eagles’ recruiting.

There’s no question it will.

Cook, who spent the past four years coaching quarterbacks and B-backs at Georgia Tech and was the offensive coordinator at run-oriented Cal Poly the four years before that, was clear in what he wants. First, the quarterback will be expected to run for 100 yards per game and pass for another 200, and linemen must be athletic and be able to get to the second level quickly.

That could create problems for the Eagles as there are only four quarterbacks on the roster, and what Cook described would be a departure from the type of linemen the Eagles have recruited since Jeff Monken left for Army. Of the four quarterbacks on the roster, only rising sophomore Seth Shuman saw limited action in four games as he ran for 39 yards and threw for 373.

National signing day is Feb. 1, and head coach Tyson Summers said he anticipates signing approximately 23 players. Summers said while the Eagles might be changing their offensive and recruiting philosophies, any offers made to players will be honored.

“You don’t want to be in the situation where you’re doing that with committed kids,” Summers said. “We’re all in the situation when you’re doing that with committed kids. We’re all in the situation now where the number one thing we have to do with individuals and high school coaches is communications.

“Everything with recruiting comes down to being about people and about relationships so as we move in with three new guys on offense there are some guys who have gotten phone calls from us because we’ve chosen to go in a little different direction at a position maybe.”

The Eagles announced last week that three freshmen enrolled early: offensive linemen Ted Fields Jr. of Glenn Mills, Pennsylvania, and Jarrod Leeds of Green Cove Springs, Florida, and defensive back Jaden Garrett of Plant City, Florida. In addition to those three, the Eagles have 12 commitments, according to Scout.com’s Eagle Sports Insider.

“Recruiting, that game is played in January,” Summers said. “You spend all year, 11 months, to practice and prep, but this game is played right now. Basically we need to finish strong. We need to have a good month as we’re able to get on the road here toward the end of the week and have three good official visit weekends.”

This story was originally published January 16, 2017 at 2:42 PM with the headline "Georgia Southern changes recruiting focus."