With the start of preseason just over a week away, Georgia Southern head football coach Clay Helton, along with fifth-year running back Jalen White and redshirt senior defensive back TJ Smith represented the Eagles at the 2024 Sun Belt Media Day, held at the New Orleans Marriott Warehouse Arts District and Caesars Superdome on Tuesday. The event, which used to be a one-day affair, was once again split over two days with the size of the league now. The East Division was up first this year with the West Division going second this year.
𝗦𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 up. #HailSouthern pic.twitter.com/FNfKlNggw0
— Georgia Southern Football (@GSAthletics_FB) July 23, 2024
The group arrived on Monday afternoon and went to dinner in New Orleans before taking in the sights and sounds of the city. After dinner, Coach Helton took the players to experience the legendary beignets at Cafe du Monde before returning for a solid night's sleep.
On Tuesday, the three were up and early as they went through the car wash of media interviews throughout the morning and into the afternoon and headed back to Statesboro on so the players can finish up off-season workouts before the start of camp on July 31.
For Helton, he did numerous radio interviews, and also did several one-on-ones with local and regional outlets. With the travel difficulties around the country, several interviews turned into phone calls and Zooms. Jeff Roberts from WTOC made the trip from Savannah, marking the first time a non-GS media member had made the trip to New Orleans. A wide range of topics on the day included N.I.L., the new signing day windows, analysts now being able to coach, the new playoff, new technology pieces, collectives and the Eagles' tough 2024 schedule. The most popular question was in regards to the three-way quarterback battle the Eagles will have in preseason camp. Helton is excited about all three in the running—David Dallas, JC French and Dexter Williams II—but isn't in a rush to make a decision.
"The beauty of being able to go into a quarterback competition, which we have not been in since I've been at Georgia Southern, is to let everyone grow," Helton said. "We had 15 practices in spring football. Establish who is playing best in the moment, who is establishing himself as a leader, who is making great decisions getting the ball out on time, being able to lead our football team. David Dallas is healthy, JC French is healthy. We bring Dexter Williams II in, Tyler Budge, who is tremendous young talent, and Colton Fitzgerald, you have depth and talent. We will go through those 25 practices and the guy who is producing and leading our team best will walk out there first against Boise State."
For the players, a hot topic was their thoughts on the new EA Sports College Football '25 game, as well as the newly expanded playoff and the season in general. In the green room, the Sun Belt had a console set up for the players from each team to play Madden NFL game and some local food treats. ODU's Jason Henderson has the highest ranking of Sun Belt players, but White says he's happy with his rating of 89 and Smith said while his overall level was a little low for his liking, he was pleased with his rating in the acceleration category.
The three took to the main podium first and then spent the rest of the day hitting various outlets that cover the league, as well as a photo shoot, a video room where they were asked a litany of random questions such as their favorite Thanksgiving side and who their favorite teacher was when they were in school.
Toward the end of the day, the group got to go over to the Dome to the Sun Belt's digital studio and a live hit on ESPN+.
As mentioned, camp begins on July 31 as the Eagles prepare for their season opener on Aug. 31 at home against Boise State. Season tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at GSEagles.com/Tickets.
The full practice schedule and open availability will be announced on next week.
