World-Class Speed
Georgia Southern QB Favian Upshaw Returns to Coach Eagles Running Backs
It’s been six years since Favian Upshaw (‘16) forever etched himself into Georgia Southern history.
He was a junior QB for the Eagles in 2015 when they faced Bowling Green in their first ever bowl game, the GoDaddy Bowl, in Mobile, Alabama. The first half was close, but in the second half, Upshaw went off. He scored four rushing touchdowns — none more memorable than his 80-yard, nail-in-the-coffin, ESPN-Top-10-Countdown sprint that began the 59-27 rout of the Falcons.
This season, Upshaw is looking to etch himself into Georgia Southern history yet again — this time as a coach — managing the “world-class speed” of the current crop of Eagles running backs.
“Favian as a player showed great leadership and had the intangibles that were needed to play quarterback,” said Head Coach Chad Lunsford. “He has done an awesome job of taking those qualities and earning his way up the ranks of coaching to develop into a great young coach. I believe he will be a rock star in the coaching business.”
Upshaw returns to Georgia Southern after coaching stints at Benedict College and Savannah State — both teams that did not play during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to those positions, however, Upshaw served as a graduate assistant coach at Tulane under former Eagles head coach Willie Fritz and current offensive coordinator Doug Ruse. In this role, he served as the offensive assistant coach, concentrating on quarterbacks, and assisting the coaching staff with practice planning, film preparation and coordinating individual, position and staff meetings.
During his tenure, the Green Wave won their first back-to-back bowl wins in school history, including a convincing 41-24 win over Louisiana in the Cure Bowl. In 2019, Tulane was the ninth-best rushing team in the country and finished with a school-record 5,841 yards on offense. Upshaw says the experience prepared him for coaching at the collegiate level.
“I didn’t understand how much really went into game planning and coaching and getting ready to prepare a team week in and week out,” he said. “But all the work that goes on behind the scenes, the late hours, the early hours of getting a game plan ready to get the guys prepared, it was eye-opening.”
The young coach is excited about the upcoming season for the Eagles, especially running the football. Seniors Logan Wright and J.D. King and senior Tulane transfer Amare Jones are primed to lead the unit, but a group of speedy underclassmen including Gerald Green and Jalen White return to the lineup as well.
At the time of this interview, Upshaw was just finishing spring practice and didn’t know how the starting lineup would look just yet. However, he says Georgia Southern’s ground game will be loaded with talent.
“I mean, with five guys that are that talented, you know, it’s kind of the same situation that was with me and Kevin [Ellison],” he said. “How can you only use just one guy when they’re all good enough to play, and they all bring something different?” — Doy Cave