By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

New blood mixed with some old blood to joyously talk about the game in which blood is shed.

That was the case Thursday for a gathering at Mercer for a football season opener that had a little more juice than usual.

About 100 staff and fans gathered at the University Center for a little motivational talk about the start of the Mercer football season 23 days away.

The FCS Kickoff is a made-for-TV event that started a little more than a decade ago. It was played on campus sites (Eastern Washington, Montana, and North Dakota State) from 2014-16 before moving to the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Ala.

That’s where Mercer beat North Alabama 17-7, a game still fresh in the mind of new head coach Joel Taylor.

“I can tell you this,” the former Mercer defensive coordinator said. “My first memory of that game: it was hot as fish grease, OK? Probably one of the hottest games I've ever coached in. It was really, really hot.”

Mercer joins Jacksonville State, North Dakota State, and North Alabama as the only four teams out of the 17 to participate more than once.

That includes the no-contest in 2025 when lightning ended the Bears’ game with UC-Davis in the fourth quarter.

Mercer welcomes East Texas A&M at 7 p.m. on Aug. 29 in the game. East Texas A&M moved up from Division II for the 2022 season and joined the Southland Conference. The Lions, who reached the Division II playoffs every year from 2015-19, are 12-33 since then.

There was no actual news offered at the event which was ostensibly more of a chance for a quasi-introduction of new athletics director Brian Gerrity and serve as a little jump-start to perhaps a new era at Mercer as far as athletics administration, as well as for another highly anticipated football season.

Gerrity was announced on July 29 as the school’s 21st athletic director, succeeding Jim Cole on Aug. 1. He enters his 16th year at Mercer, having arrived to take over the Mercer Athletic Foundation, the athletics department’s main fund-raising arm.

“There's only 365 Division I athletic directors in the country,” said Gerrity, whose appointment was roundly applauded by athletics department staff and coaches. “I am honored and it's really special to be one of them and I understand the responsibility that comes with that.

“In (his) notes, it says I need to share my vision. Well, I'm going to simply put it in one sentence. We will be the premier private FCS institution in the country.”

Gerrity spoke, as did Mercer president Penny Elkins, Macon-Bibb mayor Lester Miller, and new head coach Taylor.

**New athletics director Brian Gerrity**

The gathering gave Taylor – a former defensive coordinator at Mercer - another chance to get in front of school staff and some boosters to talk about the team picked to win a third Southern Conference title in a row.

The current NCAA climate makes title defenses even harder.

“I don't know if you know, but we've brought in 75 new players, right?,” Taylor said. “We got 115 on our roster. So that is over half.”

One returnee is former Tattnall standout Brayden Smith, the preseason Southern Conference offensive player of the year and member of some national watch lists. The only names Taylor mentioned were those competing for the position that draws the most interest.

Quarterback.

Mercer’s last two starting quarterbacks were freshmen who began the season on the bench but took over and lifted Mercer. Whitt Newbauer is now at Oklahoma and Braden Atkinson is now at Oregon State.

That won’t happen this year, though. None of the quarterbacks on Mercer’s roster are true freshmen.

Mercer will again host pregame concerts on Black Field, adjacent to Five Star Stadium, along with other festivities.

“There will be a concert series for every single home game, just as usual, and that starts on August 29th,” Elkins said. “We will launch all of the great acts who will be here performing, but we want to get all of you in that Black Field excited about the game, and then we will shepherd you right over to the stadium.”

As the world of college sports seems to undergo weekly changes that most involve the need for more money, the gathering gave Gerrity in particular a chance to make a push for increased support.

“We need success in revenue generation,” he said. “I had to say it. I've been with the MAF for 15 years. We need you all to be very generous. August 29th is coming fast.”

Mercer opens with three home games – including against Southern Conference rival Furman - before visiting Georgia Tech on Sept. 19.

Despite the program’s increased success – the Bears are 43-23 the last five seasons – Five Star Stadium has as many empty seats on the average home Saturday as filled, “announced” attendance figures notwithstanding.

The stadium’s actual seating capacity is about 7,500 with a listed facility capacity of 10,200. The only times the stadium has been around that 10,200-person figure was for the reinstated program’s opener against Reinhardt in 2013 and for the Northside-Peach County high school game in 2018 as part of the Macon Touchdown Club’s Middle Georgia Kickoff Classic.

Mercer would like more people on hand for one of the top programs on the FCS level, but the Taylor is grateful for what he gets.

“Our fans are tremendous,” he said. “I think they play a key role in our success. When you talk about the energy that brings, the momentum that they give us, it's just an incredible home field advantage. And now we get an opportunity to show the world.”