An 0-6 start to the season appears to be the last straw for Georgia Southern as the school reportedly fired coach Tyson Summers, Football Scoop reported on Sunday.
The move came after the Eagles fell 0-6 following a 55-20 loss to a previously winless UMass. Georgia Southern fell to 5-13 under Summers.
A one-time FCS/Division I-AA power, the Eagles won six national titles before a move to FBS in 2014. They won nine games in 2014 and ‘15 under Willie Fritz, who then took the head job at Tulane.
A Georgia native and a former Georgia Southern assistant, Summers was hired away after spending one season as defensive coordinator at Colorado State under Mike Bobo. One criticism is he went away from the Eagles’ trademark triple option and the results were dismal.
Summers replaced co-offensive coordinators David Dean and Rance Gillespie after the 2016 season, but they’re each suing the athletics department for alleged underhanded tactics initiated by Summers to significantly reduce each coach’s buyout once they were eventually let go, Football Scoop reported.
UPDATE: Georgia Southern has confirmed the news and has announced Summers has been relieved of his duties.
Summers Relieved Of Georgia Southern Coaching Duties; Lunsford to act as interim head coach
RELEASE: https://t.co/6v8CNJkAgY pic.twitter.com/kDspez1D2t
— Georgia Southern Football (@GSAthletics_FB) October 22, 2017
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
