Georgia Southern Football

Georgia Southern hired former USC coach Clay Helton as its new head football coach Tuesday.

Helton agreed to a five-year contract worth nearly $800,000 per year, according to Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports. 

Matt Zenitz of On3 Sports previously reported that Helton was a candidate for the job.

Helton was fired by USC in September after a 1-1 start to the season.

USC named Helton its full-time head coach during the 2015 season, and he spent parts of eight seasons as the head coach of the Trojans, including one game as interim head coach in 2013.

Helton became the interim head coach again in place of Steve Sarkisian and ultimately had the interim tag removed. It initially seemed like a good decision, as USC won double-digit games in back-to-back seasons, going 10-3 in 2016 and 11-3 in 2017.

USC dropped to 5-7 the following season, however, and never won more than eight games in a single season again under Helton.

All told, the Trojans went 46-24 during Helton's tenure, winning one Pac-12 title and going 2-3 in bowl games, including a win in the 2017 Rose Bowl over Penn State.

Georgia Southern became an FBS program in 2014 and has enjoyed a great deal of success in the Sun Belt Conference, posting five winning seasons in seven tries and going 3-1 in bowl games.

Chad Lunsford spent parts of four seasons as the Eagles head coach, leading them to a school-record 10 wins as an FBS program in 2018. They followed that up with winning records and bowl appearances in each of the past two seasons as well.

Lunsford was fired after a 1-3 start this season, though, and the Eagles are just 2-6 overall this season and on pace for their worst record since going 2-10 in 2017.

Helton had no head coaching experience before his time at USC, and he has not coached anywhere other than USC since he was an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Memphis in 2009.

In Helton, Georgia Southern is landing someone with big-time head coaching experience and the ability to attract some high-level recruits to a smaller school.

Georgia Southern nose tackle Gavin Adcock was suspended indefinitely after chugging a beer atop a moving team bus prior to Saturday's 28-20 loss to Louisiana.

Adcock also released a statement and apologized for his "foolish actions":

The redshirt senior had one tackle against Louisiana.

The reverberations from Adcock's stunt extended beyond his suspension. 

Georgia Southern fired head coach Chad Lunsford after falling to 1-3. Addressing the move Monday, athletic director Jared Benko said the administration did consider the video of Adcock when making a final decision about Lunsford.

Benko told the Savannah Morning News' Nathan Dominitz he undertook a "comprehensive evaluation" of Lunsford and the football program after taking over as AD in March 2020.

"If you look at how we started the year, 1-3 is not the start anybody wanted," he said. "You're looking at everything from what the result was, how the guys played. You're looking at overall team camaraderie. You're looking at everything in totality."

In addition to his suspension, Benko said Adcock is also subject to discipline as a student of Georgia Southern.

After redshirting the 2017 season, the Watkinsville, Georgia, native made 23 appearances over the past three years.

Georgia Southern is back in action Saturday against Arkansas State. The Eagles have eight games remaining in the regular season, and they're facing an uphill battle to earn their fourth straight bid to a postseason bowl.

Joe Bradshaw, a freshman wide receiver at Charleston Southern, died on Thursday at the age of 19. 

The school said in a statement that Bradshaw died off-campus and authorities are still in the process of gathering information.

Buccaneers head coach Autry Denson included a statement in the school's announcement:

"On behalf of the Charleston Southern Football ministry, we offer our condolences to the Bradshaw and Edwards' family regarding the untimely passing of an exceptional young man, Joe 'Jo Jo' Bradshaw. It is imperative that we not judge or allow circumstances to define who Joe was as a person. Not only would that in and of itself be a tragedy, but it also would not accurately portray who Joe really was. Jo Jo was a phenomenal young man, son, student, and teammate.  He was a computer engineering major. His position on the field was as a wide receiver, but that huge smile and big heart influenced every one of his teammates and coaches."

Denson noted that Bradshaw recently had wrist surgery, but "was spotted in the parking lot (on the same day as his procedure) attempting to attend a team meeting that he was excused from."

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of FCS programs delayed the start of the 2020 football season until the spring. The Buccaneers played their first game of the season on March 13, a 24-19 loss to Kennesaw State. 

Bradshaw, who was a walk-on receiver, didn't appear in that game. He did record 51 receptions during his senior year at Nease High School. 

Charleston Southern said it will hold a memorial service for Bradshaw at a later date to be determined. 

Georgia Southern football player Jordan Wiggins died after being found unresponsive at his residence hall Monday.

He was 18. 

"We are devastated to learn of Jordan's passing," director of athletics Tom Kleinlein said. "Although he has only been on campus for a few months, Jordan has left an indelible mark on our program. He was a great person, a great teammate and a great friend to the entire Georgia Southern community. Our deepest condolences and heartfelt thoughts go out to the Wiggins family, and all those who knew and loved Jordan."

Wiggins was a freshman offensive lineman who had yet to appear in any games for the Eagles. He was expected to redshirt.

"My heart is broken for Jordan, his family, our team and this university," head coach Chad Lunsford said. "Jordan was a great Georgia Southern Man with a bright future. His time on Earth was short, but we know that there is a greater plan, and we must trust that. If he was indeed struggling with some personal issues, I wish the resources that we currently provide our students could have helped more. Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone this is affecting."

The Bulloch County Coroner said Wiggins died of suicide by overdose, per Frank Sulkowski of WJCL. The case has been referred to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. 

The prosecutor in Saluda County, South Carolina, dropped a charge of cocaine possession against Georgia Southern quarterback Shai Werts after police identified and tested a substance on the hood of his car, according to Travis Jaudon of the Savannah Morning News. 

Authorities pulled Werts over for speeding and discovered a white powder on his vehicle. Field tests at the scene initially came back as positive for cocaine. Werts, however, told officers it was bird poop he had tried washing off the car.

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division performed further tests on the substance and the results came back negative for cocaine.

"As prosecutors, it's quite simple," prosecutor Al Eargle said. "We view a case as it relates to a courtroom and what our burden of proof is, and that is beyond a reasonable doubt. After I extensively looked at everything that law enforcement presented to me, I came to the conclusion that I couldn't meet that burden of proof."

Georgia Southern initially suspended Werts following his arrest and has since lifted the suspension in light of the charge being dropped.

Werts appeared in 13 games last season, throwing for 987 yards and 10 touchdowns and running for 908 yards and 15 scores.

He'll now be available for the Eagles when they start the regular season Aug. 31 on the road against LSU.