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Pull Up a Chair: Chris Hatcher

By BJ Bennett
SouthernPigskin.com
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SouthernPigskin.com staff writer J.T. Bennett continues his Pull Up a Chair column with Georgia Southern Head Coach Chris Hatcher.

By J.T. Bennett
SouthernPigskin.com Staff Writer


SouthernPigskin.com staff writer J.T. Bennett continues his Pull Up a Chair column with Georgia Southern Head Coach Chris Hatcher.  Share your thoughts on the SouthernPigskin.com Message Boards.


Chris Hatcher just completed his second season as the head coach of Georgia Southern University.  Hatcher won the 2004 Division II national championship as the head coach at Valdosta State.  Hatcher has been the quarterbacks coach at Central Florida and Kentucky.  As a player, he was a two-time All-American and a Harlon Hill Trophy award winner at VSU.


What is your favorite food?
Fried Chicken.

What is your favorite movie?
Its a Wonderful Life.

Who is your favorite musician?
Alan Jackson.

What college did you attend?
Valdosta State.

What was your Major?
Health and Physical Education.

What was your first Job
Industrial Mine and Pipe Supply in Macon, GA.  I worked there through college.

What was your first coaching job?
Central Florida in 1996.

Who is your coaching mentor?
My dad.  He has been coaching for 42 years.

What do you think about Valdosta winning ESPN’s Titletown USA contest?
I think it was very well deserved.  A lot of different places could have won that.  It is cool to be apart of it.

What is your favorite stadium to coach in?
Paulson Stadium.

What is your most memorable game?
The 2004 Division II National Title game.

How is it playing the Southern Conference?
Its a very competitive conference.  There are great players and coaches.  The rivalries and traditions are the best in FCS.

What is the plan for bouncing back?
This year was kind of like our first year.  This year we played 32 freshmen and 22 started at some point.  We have a young team. 

Who is your biggest rival?
Furman and Appalachian State.

Who is your favorite coach that you have coached against?
Mike Ayers at Wofford.  He is kind of like me.  You don’t know what you’re gonna get.

Do you have any hidden talents
I am a great yard man.  I may be the best. (laughing)

What game did you have the most fun coaching?
In 1997, I was at Kentucky and we beat Alabama.  It was the first time we ever beat Alabama.

What is your favorite part of coaching at Georgia Southern?
Being around the players.  And competing every weekend against the best teams in the country.

How is recruiting going?
Its early but we are making progress and we are looking at a lot of players.

What is your ideal lazy Sunday
Go to Mass, then go pick up a bucket of chicken.  We would get in the Mule and grab the fishing poles.  My family and I would just go hang out and relax.

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Share your thoughts on the SouthernPigskin.com Message Boards or email J.T. at jtsouthernpigskin@yahoo.com

BJ Bennett - Bennett developed the Southern Pigskin concept as a teenager. He has worked for over a decade in sports journalism, writing for major newspapers and hosting a radio show for The Fan Sports Radio 103.7, ESPN Radio Coastal Georgia. Bennett has been published in newspapers, magazines, journals and websites all across the southeast. Down Here, Bennett's original book on southern college football, is currently in the process of being published.