Colorado State defensive coordinator Tyson Summers is set to become Georgia Southern University's next head football coach.
Late Sunday afternoon, Georgia Southern Director of Athletics Tom Kleinlein and the Georgia Southern Board of Regents announced that Summers has accepted an offer to become the Eagles' next head coach.
“Besides the day I married my wife and the days my children were born, this is right up there as one of the most exciting moments in my life,” Summers said. “This is home for my wife, Beth, and I and we’re excited to be able to get to Statesboro and carry on the proud traditions of both Georgia Southern University and the Eagle football program. I’m looking forward to building off the offense that is in place and continuing to progress with the defense. I’m just exceptionally excited to be a Georgia Southern Eagle!”
Summers emerged as the top candidate this weekend after Penn State co-defensive coordinator and former GSU defensive coordinator Brent Pry and Charleston Southern head coach Jamey Caldwell were thought to be the favorites.
A native of Tifton, Summers coached the safeties at Georgia Southern in 2006 under Brian Van Gorder. Summers then spent five years at the University of Alabama-Birmingham and went to the University of Central Florida as that program’s linebackers and safeties coach in 2012.
He became defensive coordinator at Central Florida in 2014, and in his first full season as a defensive coordinator, Summers guided the top defense in the American Athletic Conference, and one that ranked in the top 10 among Football Bowl Subdivision schools in total defense (fifth, 298.5 yards per game), rushing defense (sixth, 104.3) and scoring defense (ninth, 19.2 points per game). Summers' defense helped UCF to a 9-4 record, a second-consecutive American Athletic Conference title and a berth in the Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl. The Knights held six opponents to less than 100 rushing yards and nine to fewer than 200 passing yards.
Summers was hired as defensive coordinator at Colorado State by Mike Bobo, who was offensive coordinator at Georgia under Mark Richt before taking over the Rams in December 2014.
“The search committee and myself went through a long process and evaluated a number of candidates and we have decided on Tyson Summers, who is a great fit for us here at Georgia Southern,” Kleinlein said. “I’m excited about Tyson coming in and leading our program. What we get in Tyson is someone who knows Georgia, someone who was born and raised in Georgia, someone who has recruited Georgia his entire career, and someone who has been a part of a Group of 5 school that has played on New Year’s Day, which is the level we’re aspiring to get to.”
According to USA Today, the Group of 5 consists of the following conferences: the AAC, Conference USA, the Mid-American Conference, the Mountain West Conference and the Sun Belt Conference.
Georgia Southern AMR contributed to this report.