When I wrote the preseason football roundups late last summer, I had a feeling I was writing about the Rance Gillespie-led Valdosta Wildcats for the last time. I just had this feeling that 2015 would be Coach Gillespie’s last season with the school. I didn’t like the feeling I had; I always enjoyed talking to Coach Gillespie, even if he was hard to track down. But he was a good coach, and I didn’t want to see him go.
So, several months ago, when I heard the announcement that he was leaving Valdosta, I wasn’t surprised at all. I was, however, surprised that he was leaving the Wildcats for the college ranks. Gillespie returned to Georgia Southern, where he had previously served as offensive coordinator from 2007-2009, to fill the position of co-offensive coordinator (a job he will share with David Dean, Valdosta State University’s former head coach).
Gillespie is familiar enough with Statesboro and the Georgia Southern community. And he’s going to have a few more familiar faces around him – both his quarterback and middle linebacker, Seth Shuman and Todd Bradley, will be joining him.
Shuman and Bradley are players with elite-level talent, and both represented Valdosta High School in the GACA North-South All-Star Classic. Shuman is the most prolific quarterback in Valdosta history; under Gillespie’s tutelage, Shuman completed 227 passes in 399 attempts, threw 25 touchdowns to just three interceptions, and totaled 3,194 passing yards – a Valdosta High single season record. As a junior, Bradley finished with 142 tackles, 22 tackles for a loss, and three interceptions. He missed nearly half of his senior campaign due to injury, but over the final seven games of the Wildcats’ season, he demonstrated the dominant level of play that put him on the recruiting radar the previous year.
Shuman and Bradley are two of 27 players the Eagles signed in this year’s recruiting class, believed by many to be the best class in the Sun Belt Conference. Georgia Southern signed a total of two quarterbacks and four linebackers.
Valdostadailytimes.com and gseagles.com contributed to this story.
Special Feature/South Georgia/April 2016
Bradley, Shuman follow former coach to Georgia Southern
Robert Preston Jr.
