STATESBORO - In Georgia Southern’s first year in the Sun Belt Conference, Willie Fritz led the Eagles to an 8-0 mark and a league title.
In the 12 years since, the Eagles have not even played for a conference championship.
Fritz coached at Georgia Southern for only two years, guiding them to their first bowl appearance in 2015. Though his stay in Statesboro was brief, he has fond memories and is looking forward to returning Saturday.
“We loved it,” he said. “My wife Susan and I talk about it all the time how much we enjoyed being in Statesboro. Great place, great people. I loved the coaches I had and the players, and it was a fun time. We're looking forward to some day in 10 or 20 years when I retire coming back here and going to homecoming and watching games.”
One regret Fritz has is not being able to attend the Georgia Southern Hall of Fame inductions Friday night. Among the inductees are Roger Inman and Frank Hook, Eagles athletics stalwarts, and former Eagles star running Matt Breida, who played under Fritz.
“I think the world of Roger Inman and Frank Hook,” Fritz said. “You know, those two guys helped me understand everything about Georgia Southern and Statesboro. They were both so good to me. And then Matt Breida is one of my all-time favorite players. I just loved Matt. He just had such a great college career and went to play in the NFL and is such a great person as well.”
Fritz credited former Eagle head coach Jeff Monken for helping make the transition to FBS so smooth and was happy he could work his offense around what the Eagles had, and the players he helped recruit.
“It was a perfect fit for what I was running at the time,” Fritz said. “Georgia Southern was under center running the triple option. We were a gun spread, triple option. Jeff Monken deserves a lot of credit. Most of the time when I have taken over a program, they're not in real good shape. Jeff had done a great job and had discipline within the program. It was great to show everyone that the top tier FCS schools could compete in the FBS.”
In addition to the culture Monken left him, Fritz also credited the quarterback situation for helping as well. Fritz inherited a quarterback room with Kevin Ellison, Favian Upshaw and Ezayi Youyoute.
“We had three really good quarterbacks,” Fritz said. “Kevin Ellison helped lead them to a win over Florida and he was a key ingredient. We also had Favian Upshaw and it was great to mix those two guys in. Our third string was Ezayi Youyoute who could have started for many teams and actually came in late in the season and won a game for us.”
Fritz’s current team isn’t hurting too much at quarterback either = Texas A&M transfer Conner Weigman has thrown for 708 yards and seven touchdowns and has completed over 70 percent of his passes. He has also rushed for over 100 yards and one score.
“We're doing a much better job this year of running the ball with the running backs,” Fritz said. “We've got a veteran quarterback with a lot of experience and this is the first time he's run the same offensive system two years in a row since high school.”
The Cougars were a two-point conversion away from sending their game with 11th ranked Texas Tech into overtime. Coming off a tough loss, Fritz believes his team has done a great job preparing for their trip to Statesboro and he knows it will be an exciting atmosphere.
It also will be his first look at the opposing locker room at Paulson Stadium.
“They were asking me about the locker room setup and I said, you know, I've never been in that locker room,” Fritz said. “I have a few guys that were on my staff there at Georgia Southern who are with me and know what it’s like there. We're excited to go back and play. I know it's going to be great competition and as a coach and competitor you want to play against great competition.”