Firing 'unbelievable,' Higgins says

STATESBORO, Ga. -- Citadel football coach Kevin Higgins had left Paulson Stadium and was headed back to Charleston when someone phoned him with the news.

"Unbelievable," Higgins said after learning that Georgia Southern had fired its head coach Chris Hatcher about an hour after its 13-6 victory over The Citadel on Saturday.

It was the latest twist for a once-proud GSU program that has claimed six national championships since legendary coach Erk Russell revived the program in 1982.

The Eagles now have had three coaches in five years, two of them fired by athletic director Sam Baker, who himself has been under heat from GSU fans this year.

Baker fired Mike Sewak in 2005 after Sewak posted a 35-14 record in four seasons. Baker then hired Brian Van Gorder, who went 3-8 in one disastrous season before fleeing to the NFL, leading to the hiring of Hatcher.

Hatcher was 18-15 in three seasons, but his record got worse each year -- from 7-4 in 2006 to 6-5 last year and 5-6 this season, just GSU's third losing record in 28 years.

Hatcher conducted his post-game coach's show Saturday before Baker informed him that his contract would not be renewed.

"This had been an on-going discussion over the past week," Baker said in a news conference after the game. "The game today had no bearing on it. It was a decision we felt like we needed to make, and to move as quickly as possible."

Baker said the direction of the program and the prospects for next season led him to fire Hatcher, who had a sparkling 76-12 record at Division II Valdosta State before coming to GSU.

"We did not feel that next year was going to be any different from this year," Baker said. "So we felt, now's the time to do it, make the change and get working towards getting our program back to being one of the premier programs in FCS football."

Baker said a "national search" would commence to find Hatcher's successor "as soon as possible." Hatcher earned a salary of about $200,000 per year.

Speculation will center on the coaching staffs of Georgia Tech and Navy, where ex-GSU coach Paul Johnson has had success installing the triple-option he used to pile up a 62-10 record and two national titles at GSU from 1997-2001.

GSU had truncated recruiting efforts due the timing of the hiring of VanGorder and Hatcher, which is one reason Baker acted quickly this time.

"It is very, very important to our program that we go out and get a good recruiting class," Baker said. "We certainly don't want to have a turnstile of coaches, but it seemed like the proper time to do this."

Asked if Hatcher was surprised, Baker said, "Yes."

Recruiting needs

While GSU is searching for a new coach, The Citadel will get busy on the recruiting trail. Coach Kevin Higgins said he will sign two quarterbacks in this class, and said the Bulldogs need "a little bit at every position."

"We do need to get two running backs in and two quarterbacks," he said. "We need to get a receiver, two or three offensive linemen, two defensive linemen, two linebackers and two or three guys for the secondary."

The Citadel loses six senior starters from this year's team, including offensive linemen Dan DeHaven and Tommy Suggs; defensive linemen Dewitt Jones and Terrence Reese; linebacker Jordon Gilmore; and cornerback Ryan Jones.

Quarterback Bart Blanchard, a redshirt junior, could return for a fifth year.

Extra points

--With five catches for 81 yards and a touchdown, Andre Roberts finished the season with 77 catches for 792 yards and seven touchdowns. For his career, he had 288 catches for 3,743 yards and 38 touchdowns. Roberts also returned kickoffs -- for the first time all season -- against GSU, averaging 22 yards on three returns.

--Sophomore WR Luke Caldwell had his best day of the season, catching 7 balls for 48 yards ... Caldwell also threw a 25-yard pass to Kevin Hardy on a trick play ... RB Van Dyke Jones averaged 6.2 yards per carry, but a sore ankle limited him to five attempts for 31 yards ... QB Miguel Starks came in late and hit 5 of 9 passes for 32 yards, and ran three times for 17 yards.

--DT Terrence Reese had seven tackles, 2.5 for loss, in his final game, and senior LB Jordon Gilmore also had seven stops ... Sophomore LB Tolu Akindele made seven tackles, 2.5 for loss ... Sophomore DE Chris Billingslea had the Bulldogs' only sack ... The Citadel had 10 tackles for loss ... Spring practice starts near the end of February.