{"id":7917,"date":"2020-08-07T15:24:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-07T19:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/?p=7917"},"modified":"2020-08-07T15:18:39","modified_gmt":"2020-08-07T19:18:39","slug":"a-time-to-soar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/2020\/08\/07\/a-time-to-soar\/","title":{"rendered":"A Time to Soar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

New Director of Athletics Jared Benko Joins Eagles During Historic Challenges<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Jared Benko began his tenure as the new director of athletics for Georgia Southern on April 1, right in the middle of historic challenges for the University, for athletics and for the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On March 12, just three days after his first visit to the University, the NCAA suspended men\u2019s and women\u2019s basketball and tournament play. Less than two weeks later, Benko would have to conduct a search for a new men\u2019s basketball coach in the middle of a pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ll never forget that Thursday as we were heading back, everything started to break on the cancellation of tournaments,\u201d he said. \u201cThere were about three days with no real COVID concerns and then the floodgates broke.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the pandemic may have changed the way he approached his role as director of athletics, Benko says it didn\u2019t change the job. He began the coaching search the way he always does, calling mentors, friends and other coaches to gather a large list of good candidates. \u201cIt\u2019s like putting a puzzle together,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the candidates were narrowed down to five, he met all of them on Zoom, an online meeting platform, and made a decision. The entire process took Benko less than two weeks to find Brian Burg, former assistant coach at Texas Tech, who now leads the Eagles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a winner,\u201d said Benko. \u201cHe\u2019s won everywhere he\u2019s been. He\u2019s worked with some of the best coaches in the country\u2026 He\u2019s going to take us to heights we haven\u2019t been in a while.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Formerly the deputy director of athletics and chief financial officer at Mississippi State University, Benko brings more than a decade of experience in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), where he served in various athletics positions at Auburn University, the University of Arkansas and the University of Georgia. In his new role at Georgia Southern, he reports directly to the University president and serves as a member of the president\u2019s cabinet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis was a highly sought-after position attracting over 100 candidates from across the nation,\u201d said Georgia Southern University President Kyle Marrero. \u201cThe expressed enthusiasm for and reputation of Georgia Southern validated the success we have had, and the potential in our future. Jared stood out in everyone\u2019s mind. The committee and I are confident he is the right person to capitalize on our momentum and lead Eagle Nation to even greater heights.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While plans to keep athletes, students, fans and patrons safe loom large in the new director\u2019s mind, Benko says he and his staff are planning for their first football home game on Sept. 12, \u201cand until we hear otherwise, that\u2019s what we\u2019re working toward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benko has big plans for the athletics program. He\u2019s aiming for comprehensive excellence in all 17 programs, both on the field and in the classroom, expanding engagement with fans, donors, alumni and students in person and on social media, and looking for new ways to generate revenue and expand the fan base. He hopes to reach alumni and fans in Savannah, and in greater markets throughout Georgia, between Statesboro, Savannah, Atlanta and Augusta, where the University has large numbers of alumni.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And have the historic challenges changed his expectations about what he can accomplish?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have a strong faith, so in this process I\u2019ve tried to focus on what I can control and let God handle the rest,\u201d he said. \u201cI try to plan for contingencies, but the challenge is really an opportunity for growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou know, it\u2019s 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you handle it.\u201d \u2014 Doy Cave<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Director of Athletics Jared Benko Joins Eagles During Historic Challenges Jared Benko began his tenure as the new director of athletics for Georgia Southern on April 1, right in the middle of historic challenges for the University, for athletics and for the nation. On March 12, just three days after his first visit to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":8131,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[64],"class_list":["post-7917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-athletics","tag-summer-2020"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7917\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}