With the start of preseason camp a week away, Georgia Southern head football coach Clay Helton, along with sixth-year quarterback Kyle Vantrease and sixth-year defensive lineman Dillon Springer represented the Eagles at the 2022 Sun Belt Media Day, held in the New Orleans Sheraton and Caesars Superdome on Tuesday. The event, normally a one-day affair, was split over two days with the size of the league now. The East Division was up first on Tuesday with the West Division slated to go on Wednesday.
The group arrived on Monday afternoon and went to dinner in downtown New Orleans before taking in the sights and Cafe Du Monde for beignets. For Vantrease, it was his first trip to New Orleans. For Springer, he was born and raised in the state ... but more on that later.The three went through the car wash of media interviews throughout the morning and into the afternoon and headed back to Statesboro on Eagle One so the players can finish up off-season workouts before the start of camp on Aug. 2.
For Helton, he did several radio interviews, an ESPN studio shot, a spot with the GS Radio Network, and also did several one-on-ones with local and regional outlets. A wide range of topics included N.I.L., conference expansion, transfer portal and even about the upcoming season. As one of the new coaches in the league, many were eager to get his thoughts on his new coaching home. The three took to the main podium late in the morning and spent the rest of the day hitting various outlets that cover the league.
Toward the end of the day, the group got to go over to the Dome to the Sun Belt's new digital studio and a live hit on ESPN+.
A few nuggets from the day:
• Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Keith Gill announced during his annual State of the Conference address at Sun Belt Football Media Days that the conference has expanded its media rights deal with ESPN. The new agreement, which still runs through the 2030-31 academic year, will provide the Sun Belt with additional resources, exposure and linear opportunities for Sun Belt football and basketball. The new agreement, which still runs through the 2030-31 academic year will result in more than 6,000 additional live events available on ESPN+ including men's soccer, women's soccer, women's volleyball, baseball and softball. This commitment to Olympic sport coverage will include an equal number of baseball and softball contests—over 1,000 events in each sport—and will feature instant replay for the 2023 season. The conference also plans to decrease the overlaps of baseball and softball conference homestand weekends in future seasons to further enhance ESPN+ coverage.
• Gill also said the conference is close to announcing a sixth bowl partner.
• Perhaps the line of the day came from Helton when asked about the difference between his previous commute to work in Los Angeles and now what it is in Statesboro. Helton told the media his commute went from about an hour to about seven minutes, or "two country songs and a half a cup of coffee away," which brought laughter to the room of media assembled in New Orleans.
• Vantrease already has a pretty good feeling for several opponents on this year's schedule. In his final 14 games at Buffalo, he played six games against five different teams Georgia Southern will play this season: Ball State (twice), Marshall, Nebraska, Coastal Carolina and ODU.
• Springer became the first member of his family to graduate from college when we walked across the state at Georgia Southern with a degree in interdisciplinary studies. His grandmother has 14 children and around 30 grandchildren with Springer becoming the first to graduate from college. He was born and raised in Louisiana, but attended high school at Midland High in Texas before enrolling at Trinity Valley Community College in 2017. He enrolled at Georgia Southern in the fall of 2018. He told Vantrease last night that it was good to be back in his home state, but if he started talking funny, it was because he was "back around his people."
As mentioned, camp begins on Aug. 2 as the Eagles prepare for their season opener on Sept. 3 at home against Morgan State. Season tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at GSEagles.com/Tickets.
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