GSU head coach Chris Hatcher fired

Shortly after the Georgia Southern Eagles defeated The Citadel 13-6 at Paulson Stadium in their final football game of the season on Saturday, head coach Chris Hatcher was informed that his contract would not be renewed.

Hatcher and his team were fired after three seasons with a record of 18-15.

“After the coaches’ show, (Vice President for Business and Finance) Dr. (Ronald) Core and I met with Coach Hatcher and informed him that the university had decided not to renew his contract,” said GSU athletic director Sam Baker. “This was an ongoing discussion over the past week and the decision was made. It did not impact the game (Saturday), but it was a decision we had to make and move forward as quickly as possible.”

The decision was made by a group of administrators that included Baker, Core, Baker’s immediate supervisor, and GSU President Dr. Bruce Grube.

Grube, who resigned from his post and will step down on December 31, also said he had communicated about the situation with Dr. Brooks Keel, who will assume the presidency on January 1.

“His response is that he and I are in complete agreement on this decision,” Grube said. “We both strongly support Sam Baker. … He is responsible for ensuring that high-quality sport takes place here, and that is exactly what he is doing right now.”

Baker said the main reason for the decision not to renew Hatcher’s contract was the lack of improvement in the team’s play.

“We just didn’t feel like next year was going to be any different than this year,” Baker said. “We just felt like now was the right time to do it – to make the change and start over – to work on getting our program back to being one of the best programs in football (Football Championship Subdivision).”

The 2010 recruitment year was a factor in the timing of the termination.

“It’s very, very important for our program that we get a good recruiting class,” Baker said. “We definitely don’t want to have a coaching hub. … We talked about whether we should wait, but it just seemed like the right thing to do to go ahead and make the decision.”

The next head coach has not yet been determined, but the goal of filling the position should be achieved as soon as possible.

“We obviously have some ideas,” Baker said, “and I think it’s important to implement them as quickly as possible. Timing will be of utmost importance in recruiting.”

Baker indicated that all available candidates would be considered, including those from the coaching pedigree of Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson. Johnson perfected his triple-option offense at Georgia Southern and ran it successfully at Navy. He is currently the head coach at No. 7-ranked Georgia Tech.

Baker hopes the new contestant, whoever gets it, will help win back a fan base he feels has become alienated from the show.

“I think we lost some of those people along the way and we need to try to revive that fan base and get them back into our program.”

Baker takes full responsibility for the decline of a program that reached the FCS playoffs eight times in the nine years before former coach Mike Sewak was fired in 2005.

“I’m always in charge,” Baker said. “It’s my job to run the athletic department. I’m certainly visible. In the 14 years I’ve been here, I’ve never run away from anything. I feel like we made good decisions based on the information we had at the time. As time goes on, sometimes things change. Sometimes things don’t go the way you want them to.”

Grube also addressed rumors that Georgia Southern’s high academic standards have limited the program’s ability to recruit quality players. He said 18 high-risk players have received waivers over the past three years.

“The fact is we created 18 exceptions to admit football players here,” the GSU president said. “Only 40 percent of those remain. … There were many opportunities to admit kids, and the excuse that admissions standards are the obstacle, folks, just doesn’t reflect the reality.”

Grube described Johnson’s recruiting restrictions during his time in the Navy.

“Paul Johnson told us he didn’t have any exemptions when he joined the Navy,” Grube said. “He went to the superintendent, got one, and was told if he got through that one, he might get two the next year. He did. We had 18, so I don’t find the talk out there funny that it’s our admissions standards that prevent our program from being good.”

Hatcher could not be reached for comment.

You can reach Matt Yogus at (912) 489-9408.