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The departure of head coach Willie Fritz left the Georgia Southern Eagles without much of a coaching staff. However in the past week it has been confirmed that UCF defensive line coach Lorenzo Costantini will be the defensive coordinator, and both Valdosta State head coach David Dean and Valdosta High School coach Rance Gillespie will be co-offensive coordinators.
Offense
What do the hires of two offensive coordinators mean for the option? We'll have to wait and see. Gillespie is getting his second chance as offensive coordinator for the Eagles, having worked under former head coach Chris Hatcher for three years before becoming VHS head coach. Gillespie sports a 119-51 record in 14 seasons as a head coach.
Dean is the other addition to the offensive staff. He has spent the last nine seasons as head coach of the Blazers. Dean was the offensive coordinator under Hatcher at VSU, and game tape of this past season's Blazers squad shows a healthy mix of zone read plays with short passes mixed in. Dean has had a good bit of success in his time as VSU coach, compiling a 79-27 record and winning a couple of Division II national championships, in 2007 and 2012.
Here is Dean outlining his offensive philosophy:
Head Coach Tyson Summers has said he is committed to running the option out of the gun, and that has brought GS offensive success over the past couple seasons. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Defense
Costantini has bounced around to several jobs in his time as a coach, with tenures at UCF, UAB, UTEP, and Tulane. He was brought on to the Knights staff in 2013, a year before Summers' compiled an impressive UCF defense that put the team in the top 25 of nearly every defensive category.
Costantini also brings experience as a recruiter, as he was responsible for recruiting the Florida panhandle. Hopefully his history with recruiting that area will open up a pipeline for the Eagles to grab some valuable high school talent.
Here's a profile that UCF put together about Costantini:
Georgia Southern was ranked 97th in the country with 22 sacks this season. The defensive line needs better production, and the additions of Summers and Costantini should lead to an improved defense all around.