Macon Touchdown Club

On Monday night, November 4th, the Macon Touchdown Club will welcome Gary Stokan, CEO and president of Peach Bowl, Inc., as our featured speaker.

Gary P. Stokan is CEO and president of Peach Bowl, Inc., a position he has held since 1998. As CEO and president of Peach Bowl, Inc., which has generated an economic impact of more than $1.05 billion and $64.2 million in direct government tax revenue for the city of Atlanta and state of Georgia since 1999, Stokan has positioned the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl as one of the best bowl game organizations in the nation, and earned the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl a position as a New Year’s Six bowl game in the College Football Playoff along with the Rose, Sugar, Orange, Fiesta and Cotton Bowls. This year, the CFP rewarded the Bowl with a six year extension to remain part of the New Year’s Six and host future CFP Semifinal games in 2019, 2022 and 2025. Stokan also inked an eight year contract with Mercedes-Benz Stadium through 2025.

Under Stokan’s leadership, the Bowl has enjoyed sellouts in 18 of the past 20 years, earning the second-longest sellout record in the Bowl business, has distributed more than $173 million in team payouts, and is college football’s most charitable bowl organization – having given $31.6 million since 2002 – which garnered the Atlanta Small Business Philanthropic Award. Most recently, Peach Bowl, Inc. was named a Top 10 Small Business in Atlanta by Business Leader Media, and was also presented with the Phoenix Award, the highest honor an individual or group can receive from the mayor of Atlanta.

https://www.chick-fil-apeachbowl.com/bowl/staff

As always, we will meet at The Methodist Home For Children, in The Rumford Center. The address is 304 Pierce Avenue, and the meeting begins at 6:30 pm.

Guest Fee is $30.00, and includes dinner, club activities, recognition of local high school athletes, recognition of a local high school, and the speaker.

 

Tags: Guest Speakers, Weekly Update by bryant
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On Monday night, October 28th, the Macon Touchdown Club will welcome David Greene, former UGA QB, as our featured speaker.

David Greene played quarterback at the University of Georgia. He began his career as a redshirt freshman in 2001, being named the starter before the season. His most notable freshman game occurred at #5 Tennessee on October 6, known as the “Hobnail Boot” game. This phrase was coined by Georgia’s famous play-by-play announcer Larry Munson. After Tennessee took the lead in the fourth quarter on a successful screen pass with :44 left, Greene led the Bulldogs back down the field with an inspiring series of quick passes. The winning touchdown pass went to fullback Verron Haynes in a now famous play known as “P-44 Haynes” or the “Hobnail Boot” play with just five seconds remaining on the clock. Upon Greene’s completion to Haynes in the endzone for the winning touchdown, announcer Munson made this fateful call: “We just stepped on their face with a hobnail boot and broke their nose. We just crushed their face!”

This play marked the beginning of Greene’s record-setting career at Georgia, highlighted by guiding the team to a Sugar Bowl victory in 2002. The same season he led the Bulldogs to their first SEC championship since 1982. He was named SEC Offensive Rookie of the Year after the 2001 season, and was the 2002 Offensive Player of the Year for The Southeastern Conference. In 2004, Greene made 214 consecutive pass attempts without an interception, a record that stood until broken by Andre Woodson from Kentucky in 2007.

At Georgia, one of Greene’s roommates was friend and future Cincinnati Bengals defensive lineman David Pollack, who was drafted 17th in 2005. The two played football together when they were younger in Snellville, though they went to different high schools.

Greene finished his college career as the winningest quarterback in NCAA Division I history with 42 wins in four years, eclipsing the record previously held by Peyton Manning. However, on November 21, 2009, University of Texas quarterback Colt McCoy broke his record with a win over University of Kansas. Greene finished his college career as the Southeastern Conference all-time career leader in yards gained with 11,270 until that record was broken by Aaron Murray on October 5, 2013 against Tennessee.

As always, we will meet at The Methodist Home For Children, in The Rumford Center. The address is 304 Pierce Avenue, and the meeting begins at 6:30 pm.

Guest Fee is $30.00, and includes dinner, club activities, recognition of local high school athletes, recognition of a local high school, and the speaker.

 

Tags: Guest Speakers, Weekly Update by bryant
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The Macon Touchdown Club is having our 9th Annual Boston Butt Sale. The price of the tickets are $35.00.

This year, we will have a different way of picking up your Boston Butts. Welch’s Country Smokehouse, located at 1687 Bass Road, will be preparing the Boston Butts. All you will need to do is, call Welch’s 24 hours in advance, 48 hours during the Holidays, and let them know when you will making your pick-up. They will have your Boston Butt ready for you to pick-up and enjoy. The tickets for this sale will be good from the day that you purchase, to January 31, 2020.

The proceeds benefit the Bobby Sanders Memorial Scholarship, awarded by the Macon Touchdown Club. Each year the Macon Touchdown Club awards these scholarships to high school seniors. Started in 1987, the Macon Touchdown Club has awarded over $350,000 in scholarships.

Tickets are available through any of the Macon Touchdown Club members.

Tags: Uncategorized by bryant
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On Monday night, October 21st, the Macon Touchdown Club will welcome Tommy Tuberville, College Coaching Legend, as our featured speaker.

Tommy Tuberville began his head coaching career in the SEC with the Ole Miss Rebels in 1995, but he is best known for his 10 seasons at the helm of the Auburn Tigers football program from 1999-2008. Tuberville took over an Ole Miss program buried by NCAA sanctions and revived it during his four years in Oxford. Tuberville posted three winning seasons at Ole Miss, never winning fewer than five games in any season. He earned his nickname “the Riverboat Gambler” for his aggressive play-calling while coaching the Rebels. He had his best year at Ole Miss in 1997 when the team went 8-4, winning the Motor City Bowl and finishing the season ranked 22nd in the final Associated Press poll.

Tuberville was 85-40 in 10 seasons at Auburn, including a perfect 13-0 season and an SEC championship in 2004. His team finished the ’04 season ranked second in the final polls despite missing out on a chance to compete in the National Championship game. Tuberville won at least nine games five other times at Auburn and finished first in the SEC West division four other times. He was 5-3 in eight bowl games as coach of the Tigers, but was let go as head coach after a 5-7 season in 2008, his first losing season since his first year at Auburn in 1999.

Tuberville was a two-time SEC coach of the year in 1997 and 2004, and in ’04 was named AFCA Coach of the Year and Walter Camp Coach of the Year.

Coaching History Team Years
Head Coach Cincinnati Bearcats 2013-Present
Head Coach Texas Tech Red Raiders 2010-2012
Head Coach Auburn Tigers 1999-2008
Head Coach Ole Miss Rebels 1995-1998
Defensive Coordinator Texas A&M Aggies 1994
Assistant Coach Miami Hurricanes 1986-1993
Defensive Ends/Linebackers Coach Arkansas St. Red Wolves 1980-1984

https://www.tommyforsenate.com

As always, we will meet at The Methodist Home For Children, in The Rumford Center. The address is 304 Pierce Avenue, and the meeting begins at 6:30 pm.

Guest Fee is $30.00, and includes dinner, club activities, recognition of local high school athletes, recognition of a local high school, and the speaker.

 

Tags: Guest Speakers, Weekly Update by bryant
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On Monday night, October 14th, the Macon Touchdown Club will welcome Coach Chris Hatcher, Head Coach of Samford University as our featured speaker.

Chris Hatcher was named Samford’s 36th head football coach on Dec. 11, 2014.

Now in the midst of his fifth season at Samford, Hatcher boasts a career record of 151-78 in 19-plus years as a college head coach, having previously coached at Murray State, Georgia Southern and Valdosta State.

Hatcher’s 2018 team posted the program’s eighth-straight winning season, the longest streak in program history. Also during the season, quarterback Devlin Hodges became the FCS’ all-time leader in career passing yards. Hodges also earned the highest individual honor at the FCS level, winning the Walter Payton Award. Additionally, he was named the Southern Conference’s Offensive Player of the Year for a third-straight season.

Also in 2018, Hodges set school records for single-season completions (388), attempts (550), passing yards (4,283). Hodges was named the SoCon’s Offensive Player of the Year and a third team All-American at the conclusion of the season.

In 2017, Hatcher led the team to an 8-4 record and a spot in the NCAA Division I-FCS Playoffs for a second-straight season for the first time since 1992.

As a unit, the 2016 Samford offense ranked third among all FCS schools in passing offense, averaging 349.4 passing yards per game. The offense also ranked sixth in the nation in red zone offense (90.2%), 11th in team passing efficiency (155.24), 12th in scoring offense (35.1 ppg.) and 14th in total offense (446.2 ypg.).

In his first season at Samford in 2015, Hatcher put his stamp on the Bulldog program. Samford finished the season third in the nation in passing offense (332.9 ypg.), seventh in the nation in total offense (479.7 ypg.) and seventh in fourth down conversions (66.7%). Hatcher’s special teams also stood out, ranking fifth nationally in kickoff return average (24.34 ypr.).

Hatcher led the Bulldogs to a 6-5 record that first season, ending the season with a pair of impressive Southern Conference road wins at Wofford and Mercer. The 2015 team also produced a pair of All-Americans in cornerback James Bradberry and place-kicker Anthony Pistelli.

Hatcher is no stranger to the Southern Conference, as he served as the head coach at Georgia Southern from 2007 to 2009.

In his first season with the Eagles in 2007, Hatcher led GSU to the second-best regular season turnaround in program history, a plus-4 improvement from 2006. The Eagles ranked among the national leaders in various categories on offense, defense and special teams.

He also coached five All-America players, including quarterback Jayson Foster, the second Walter Payton Award winner at GSU.

The Eagles returned to the national rankings after a 14-week hiatus as the Hatcher era got off to a 4-1 start. GSU climbed as high as No. 11, after the Eagles recorded three-straight victories at No. 5 Appalachian State, ending the Mountaineers 30-game home winning streak, at home against No. 25 The Citadel and at No. 10 Wofford.

Prior to his time at GSU, Hatcher molded Valdosta State into one of the most dominant teams in Division II.

The winningest coach in Blazers’ history, Hatcher was 76-12 at his alma mater. In his first year back at VSU, Hatcher took a 4-7 squad the previous year and produced a 10-2 overall record (8-1 in GSC action) and a berth in the Division II playoffs. He coached quarterback Dusty Bonner, who was a two-time winner of the Harlon Hill Trophy as the NCAA Division II Player of the Year, an award Hatcher won himself in 1994.

His 2001 and 2002 teams posted back-to-back undefeated records during the regular season, part of a Gulf South Conference record 35 straight victories during the regular season.

The Macon, Ga., native spent one year as quarterbacks/tight ends coach at the University of Central Florida where he worked with future NFL quarterback Daunte Culpepper. He then spent three years working with the quarterbacks at the University of Kentucky where he worked under former VSU head coach Hal Mumme. During his time with the Wildcats, he coached the No. 1 NFL draft pick, All-America quarterback Tim Couch.

While at UK, Hatcher and the Wildcats played in the 1999 Outback Bowl, the program’s first New Year’s Day Bowl in 47 years, then followed that the following year with a berth in the ’99 Music City Bowl. It marked the first time the Wildcats had consecutive bowl appearances in 15 years.

Hatcher carried his success on the playing field to help him develop into one of the nation’s winningest coaches. A two-time All-American quarterback at VSU (1993 and 1994), Hatcher threw for 11,363 yards and 121 touchdowns during his stellar career. During his senior year in 1994, he led the Blazers to their first postseason berth, advancing to the quarterfinals, and when it was all said and done set 29 VSU passing and total offense records.

Among the national records he once set were a 68.5 career completion percentage and a streak of 20-straight completions in a game against New Haven. Hatcher held 14 Valdosta State, 13 Gulf South Conference and 17 Division II national records. He also started 41 consecutive games, posting a 29-10-2 record.

Not only did Hatcher excel on the field, he was just as successful in the classroom. Twice he received the Gulf South Conference’s Commissioner’s Trophy which is awarded to the league’s Most Outstanding Student-Athlete. He finished his senior year by winning several national honors including: the NCAA Top Eight Award, the CoSIDA Academic All-America National Player of the Year and a postgraduate scholarship from the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame.

At the time when Hatcher won the Harlon Hill Trophy, he won by the second-largest voting margin in the then-19-year history of the award. Hatcher was also voted to the GSC Football team of the 1990s.

The honors continued to add up even after his playing days. Hatcher was named to the Valdosta State University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001, in his first year of eligibility. He was also elected into the Macon Sports Hall of Fame the same year.

In 2005, Hatcher was inducted into the Division II Hall of Fame. Hatcher was also inducted into the inaugural class of the GSC Hall of Fame in 2014.

http://samfordsports.com

As always, we will meet at The Methodist Home For Children, in The Rumford Center. The address is 304 Pierce Avenue, and the meeting begins at 6:30 pm.

Guest Fee is $30.00, and includes dinner, club activities, recognition of local high school athletes, recognition of a local high school, and the speaker.

 

Tags: Guest Speakers, Weekly Update by bryant
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On Monday night, October 7th, the Macon Touchdown Club will welcome Coach Chad Lunsford from Georgia Southern as our featured speaker.

The 2019 campaign marks the 11th season overall, and seventh in his current stint at Georgia Southern for Chad Lunsford, who has worn many hats in his time in Statesboro. Lunsford was promoted from assistant head coach to interim head coach on Oct. 22, 2017. He was named the 10th full-time head coach in the modern era on Nov. 27, 2017.

After working with the wide receivers in 2013, Lunsford worked two seasons with the tight ends and served as recruiting coordinator in 2014 and 2015. As he has since 2014, Lunsford will continue to coach the Eagle tight ends and will once again serve in the role of special teams coordinator, a title he added in 2016. He was also named the program’s assistant head coach in 2017.

In 2016, Lunsford was named a Broyles Award nominee, given to the nation’s top assistant coach.

On the recruiting side, Lunsford helped engineer signing classes which featured 22 players and ranked in the top half of the Sun Belt in 2015, also ranked near the top of the Sun Belt in 2014 and in 2016.

Georgia Southern’s wide receivers in 2013 led NCAA Division I with most yards per completion, averaging 19.3 yards per catch. Fourteen catches ranked among Georgia Southern’s big plays as the Eagle receiving corps contributed to one of the nation’s top offenses.

Lunsford returned to Statesboro as wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator in June 2013 after four years in an administrative position with the Auburn football program. He served in consecutive roles as the Tigers’ Director of Scouting and Director of Player Personnel, assisting with the day-to-day operations of Auburn football, with an emphasis on recruiting, organizing and prospect evaluation.

Credited with making advancements in technology and introducing new concepts to help the Tigers win recruiting wars, Lunsford assisted with and organized numerous other aspects of Auburn’s recruiting process. The Tigers boasted three of the nation’s top recruiting classes in 2010, 2011 and 2012, and that success translated to the field where Auburn claimed the 2010 BCS national championship, 2010 Southeastern Conference Championship and made appearances in two other bowl games.

Lunsford coached the slotbacks in his previous three seasons (2003-05) on the Georgia Southern staff, including the Eagles’ eventual all-time receptions leader Raja Andrews, who finished his career with 127 catches and as the record holder for receiving yards in a single season with 873. Armed with the ability to run and deliver blocks as well as catch passes in the option offense, his slotbacks provided physical and statistical support to three-straight NCAA Division I rushing titles to go along with a Southern Conference championship in 2004.

Lunsford played at Elbert County High School for legendary coach T. McFerrin, Lunsford was a two-way starter at linebacker and center for the Blue Devils. During his high school career, Elbert County made four-straight appearances in the state playoffs and posted a 20-3 record in his junior and senior years.

Lunsford graduated from Georgia College in May 2000 with a degree in biology and minor in mathematics, and earned a Master’s of Sport Science degree from the United States Sports Academy in 2002.

While at Georgia College as an undergraduate, he served as a student assistant with Georgia Military College, beginning his career coaching the tight ends. In February 1997, he was hired as the running backs coach and handled several of the program’s administrative areas. The Bulldogs would play in three straight Golden Isles bowl games, capture the 1998 National Junior College Athletics Association (NJCAA) rushing title with an average of more than 300 yards per game, and bring home the 1999 Golden Isles bowl championship.

Lunsford moved to the defensive side of the ball for the 2000 season and his coaching efforts helped GMC rank second nationally in total defense that year. An opportunity to coach on the offense again prompted him to accept an assistant coaching position at Appalachian State where he would coach the tight ends for the 2001 and 2002 seasons.

http://www.gseagles.com

As always, we will meet at The Methodist Home For Children, in The Rumford Center. The address is 304 Pierce Avenue, and the meeting begins at 6:30 pm.

Special Guest Fee for this meeting will be $20.00, and includes dinner, club activities, recognition of local high school athletes, recognition of a local high school, and the speaker.

Tags: Guest Speakers, Weekly Update by bryant
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