Georgia Southern — Sun Belt
HC
Clay Helton · Allen E. Paulson Stadium · Statesboro, GA · 25,000 cap
PPA off / def
0.20 / 0.27
2025
Class rank
#89
class of 2026
Returning PPA
6%
returning production
2026 schedule
2025 results (7–6)
Statistical comps — 2025 Georgia Southern's closest analogs
Nearest neighbors by z-scored success rate, explosiveness, run rate & havoc (offense + defense), 2015–25.
2025 leaders
Transfer portal — 2026 (17 in / 18 out)
| Incoming |
|---|
| Rashon Myles Jr. | LB | ← Abilene Christian | ★★★ |
| Alex Taylor | WR | ← North Carolina | ★★★ |
| Kam Mikell | WR | ← Colorado | ★★★ |
| Aaron Sears | CB | ← Stephen F. Austin | ★★★ |
| Noah Mangham | CB | ← Abilene Christian | ★★★ |
| Mo Clipper Jr. | IOL | ← Charlotte | ★★★ |
| Andre Greene Jr. | WR | ← Virginia | ★★★ |
| King Phillips | WR | ← Texas A&M-Kingsville | ★★★ |
| + 9 more |
Origins
Russell left Georgia's defensive coordinator job to restart a dormant program in 1982 and won six national titles at the lower level with the triple option. Georgia Southern beat Florida in the Swamp in 2013 without completing a pass.
Founded 1906 · A district agricultural and mechanical school in south Georgia · first football 1924 · defined by Erk Russell
All-time record
Win %
54.4%
37 seasons played
Winning seasons
16
43% of seasons
By level: ii/iii 0–3 (1936–1937) · FCS 81–60 (1984–2013) · FBS 80–72 (2014–2025)
| Best seasons | W | L | Conference |
|---|
| 2011 | 10 | 2 | Southern |
| 2018 | 10 | 3 | Sun Belt |
| 2004 | 10 | 3 | Southern |
| 2014 | 9 | 3 | Sun Belt |
| 2012 | 9 | 3 | Southern |
Season records from CollegeFootballData, which is why the span starts at 1936 — that is where its coverage of this program begins, not necessarily the first year it fielded a team.
Play-calling tendencies (2025 · garbage time excluded)
| Situation | Plays | Run % | Success % | Nat'l | Avg yds | Expl % |
|---|
| 1st down | 368 | 54% |
48% | 38 of 136 | 6.3 | 12% |
| 2nd down | 256 | 46% |
42% | 85 of 136 | 6.0 | 12% |
| 3rd & short (≤3) | 41 | 73% |
63% | — | 4.2 | 2% |
| 3rd & medium (4–7) | 58 | 40% |
48% | — | 6.0 | 10% |
| 3rd & long (8+) | 59 | 29% |
34% | — | 6.4 | 20% |
| 4th down | 14 | 64% |
50% | — | 3.8 | 7% |
155 drives · 37% ended in points · 7.5 plays and 40.8 yards per drive · 1.12 PPA per drive
Success: 50% of yardage needed on 1st, 70% on 2nd, 100% on 3rd/4th. Explosive: 12+ yd rush / 16+ yd pass. National rank is shown only for 1st and 2nd down, where every team has 100+ plays; the later buckets average 18-43 and a rank there would be noise.
League leaderboard →Most valuable plays (by PPA, 2025)
| Wk | Opp | Play | Yds | PPA |
|---|
| 12 | Coastal Carolina |
(11:00) No Huddle-Shotgun #22 O.Arnold pass complete deep right to #4 C.Brown caught at CC… |
73 | 6.53 |
| 12 | Coastal Carolina |
(04:04) No Huddle-Shotgun #22 O.Arnold rush middle for 62 yards gain to the CCU00 TOUCHDOW… |
62 | 4.95 |
| 12 | Coastal Carolina |
(03:12) No Huddle-Shotgun #22 O.Arnold rush middle for 55 yards gain to the CCU37 (#14 M.W… |
55 | 4.28 |
| 3 | Jacksonville State |
OJ Arnold run for 41 yds to the JXST 24 for a 1ST down |
41 | 4.23 |
| 7 | Southern Miss |
JC French IV pass complete to Camden Brown for 21 yds to the USM 28 for a 1ST down |
21 | 4.14 |
| 8 | Georgia State |
JC French IV pass complete to OJ Arnold for 40 yds to the GAST 31 for a 1ST down |
40 | 4.00 |
| 11 | App State |
End of 4th quarter. |
63 | 3.88 |
| 2 | USC |
Jamarian Samuel run for 36 yds to the USC 39 for a 1ST down |
36 | 3.64 |