Georgia Southern used to be perceived as a bastion of stability.

            Lately, not so much.

            Chad Lunsford hopes to change that as the program’s 10th modern-era head coach, which he was named on Monday after more than a month as interim.

            “I’ve been around it in the good times, I’ve been around it in the bad times," he said at Monday's press conference. "And I think I’ve, I know I’ve learned a lot. I think my experiences definitely put me in a position to be successful here.

            “Statesboro, Georgia is very special to us. It’s not my hometown, but it might as well be. I’m very excited about that, and look forward to never leaving.”

            The timing was good and quick for athletics director Tom Kleinlein, with the recent flurry of turnover on the college scene as well as the early signing period.

            “We talked to (power 5) coordinators and sitting head coaches,” Kleinlein said in Monday’s press conference. “And then we measured (Lunsford) up against those guys. Make no mistake. This job was not given. It was earned."

            He’ll get a nice raise, to $650,000, and signed a four-year contract.

            “I love the fact that we’re going to be able to bring this thing all back together and move forward and bring back Georgia Southern football the way we want to see it,” he said at the press conference. “This is a group of guys that have fought through a very tough year. It’s always been no quit, all fight.”

            The Eagles eventually started performing well since Lunsford took over on Oct. 22 as interim head coach upon the abrupt firing of Tyson Summers.

            Winless at the time and coming off an embarrassing 55-20 loss to winless Massachusetts, the Eagles were competitive before losing 38-16 at Troy, following that with a 21-17 loss to Georgia State and 27-6 to Appalachian State.

            Things came together in a spectacular way on Nov. 18 when Georgia Southern demolished South Alabama 52-0, the third-most points scored by GSU in a game against an FBS opponent, and its first shutout on this level.

            They followed that up with a 34-24 win over Louisiana on the road. They close the season this week at Coastal Carolina.

            Lunsford received tremendous support from current and former players. Videos from last Saturday’s game showed players shouting “We want Luns.” There was a #WeWantLunsford hashtag on Twitter

            Former Houston County wideout Darion Anderson was among those expressing that sentiment, tweeting “WE. WANT. LUNSFORD” on Saturday.

            “What it comes down to is, and I think this is what all coaches are in the business for, is relationships,” Lunsford said. “Having the opportunity to be at Georgia Southern for a long time and be a part of this, I’ve had the opportunity to build relationships.

            “I think that’s what’s started to show.”

            Lunsford was preceded by Summers, who succeeded Willie Fritz (left for Tulane after two season), who succeeded Jeff Monken (who left for Army after four seasons), who succeeded Chris Hatcher (fired after three seasons), who succeed Brian VanGorder (left after one season).

            The last sign of long-term stability ended in 2005 with the dismissal of Mike Sewak, a longtime assistant under Paul Johnson, with a four-year record of 35-14.

            Easily overlooked is that there hasn’t been much stability with Georgia Southern coaching. Erk Russell restarted the program in 1982 and stayed for eight seasons. Tim Stowers is next in tenure with six seasons. Johnson was in Statesboro for only five.

            Lunsford is from Elberton, but graduated from Georgia College, and began his coaching career down the road at Georgia Military College, serving as a student assistant, then running backs coach and then linebackers coach.

          After two seasons at Appalachian State, he spent three seasons at Georgia Southern - 2003-05 - as running backs and slotback coach.

          Lunsford followed the 2006-07 year at Griffin by returning to GMC as special teams coordinator and linebackers coach for two years. Lunsford was hired by former GSU head coach Jeff Monken in 2013 after four years in football administration at Auburn.

          Lunsford was a nominee n 2016 for the Broyles Award for the top assistant in FBS football. He was promoted to assistant head coach before the 2017 season.

          His wife Tippy (Hyde) is from Macon and graduated from Tattnall.