Photo by: Parker Waters
Mr. Reliable: Long Snapper Eatherly Ready to Improve on Fourth Team All-American Season
Apr 2, 2019 | Football
By Tom Symonds
TulaneGreenWave.com
NEW ORLEANS – When Tulane football's Geron Eatherly is asked if he has ever had a bad snap since taking over as the team's long snapper, he is very quick to point out that he has never had one.
Eatherly is then also quick to find a piece of wood to knock on to avoid any possible jinx.
"I'm very superstitious," Eatherly said. "I have the exact same warm up for every single game."
As the team's long snapper, Eatherly is fully aware that one bad snap to the punter or the holder could potentially cost Tulane a game, so when preparing for a game, the San Antonio, Texas, native takes a different approach than others on the team.
"It's kind of different from a lot of players," Eatherly said. "I try to stay as calm as possible and try to keep my nerves controlled so that I can stay put-together out there because any increase in my nervousness could cause me to have a bad snap. I just try to stay as composed and confident as I can through the whole procedure."
Eatherly, who is entering his senior season at Tulane, has made a career of staying in the background.
"Yeah that's a good thing," Eatherly said. "I don't like hearing my name after a game and I don't like people recognizing me after a game."
"The best thing about a snapper is if you don't talk about him very much," head coach Willie Fritz said.
Although Eatherly has done his best to stay out of the headlines, each perfect snap slowly derails that quest.
"Geron is just so accurate, and he's so consistent," Fritz said.
Eatherly's consistency throughout the 2018 season earned him Phil Steele Fourth Team All-America honors.
"I didn't originally see it," Eatherly said. "My friend who was actually in the first-team spot retweeted it, so I saw it based after his Twitter. I was really happy about it because obviously there are things that I can still work toward. Fourth team is never the goal. It's always first team. I was happy about it, but I just can't keep this from helping me push on."
Although Eatherly has begun to earn individual recognition nationally for his ability, he is also quick to point out the importance of his teammates that make the Green Wave's special teams' units one of the best in The American.
"It's awesome knowing that I have a punter back there who trusts me enough and one that I get along with," Eatherly said.
Teammate Ryan Wright, who earned freshman All-American honors a year ago, also realizes the importance of a good long snapper and never takes Eatherly's reliability for granted.
"I never get a bad snap from Geron," Wright said.
GREEN WAVE RUNS TWO-MINUTE DRILL AT SATURDAY PRACTICE
The Green Wave football team had its final spring practice of March on Saturday morning at Yulman Stadium, working hard on team exercises and running through kickoffs and two-minute drills as practice game to a close.
Coach Willie Fritz enjoyed the two-minute drills that the squad practiced, saying it was particularly helpful for the quarterbacks in a new offensive system.
"They've got to understand when the game clock and the play clock is running," Fritz said. "They've got all the signals, getting everybody lined up, they've got to understand the coverage, there's a lot to process. So it's good to put those guys in those type of stressful situations."
As spring practice continues, it has become increasingly obvious that the Tulane's defensive line will be one of its strengths in the fall. That unit, led by rising juniors Patrick Johnson and Cameron Sample, showed its potential last year when it helped the Green Wave to 41 sacks.
Johnson in particular had a breakout year, recording 10.5 sacks to lead the nation among sophomores.
"He's just got a knack for rushing the passer, very coachable guy, student of the game," Fritz said about Johnson. "The thing I enjoy about Patrick is you watch him do drills and then he goes out and does it in the games. Sometimes guys have a tough time carrying it out there in the game, and he certainly doesn't."
The defensive line as a whole should prove to have impressive depth this season with experience all across the board. Jeffery Johnson, Alfred Thomas, Davon Wright and Juan Monjarres all played significant time last season as freshmen, redshirt junior De'Andre Williams was a starter for most of the season and Jamiran James is likely to play a bigger role after an injury kept him off the field in 2018.
And as most opponents run faced-paced offenses, that depth will be key especially in late-game situations.
"For the most part those guys have got pretty good stamina," Fritz said of his defensive line. "With the pace of play that's happening nowadays, you've got to be able to go for five, six, seven, eight plays in a row."
Tulane opens the 2019 season on Thursday, August 29 at home against FIU with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.
For season ticket information, please call 504-861-WAVE (9283), log on to TulaneTix.com or visit the ticket office at the James W. Wilson Jr. Center.
Download the official mobile app of Tulane Athletics. Now, you can stay in touch with the Green Wave anytime and anywhere on your Android or iOS mobile device.
Follow Tulane football on Twitter, Facebook and @GreenWaveFB on Snapchat. Follow Tulane Athletics on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
TulaneGreenWave.com
NEW ORLEANS – When Tulane football's Geron Eatherly is asked if he has ever had a bad snap since taking over as the team's long snapper, he is very quick to point out that he has never had one.
Eatherly is then also quick to find a piece of wood to knock on to avoid any possible jinx.
"I'm very superstitious," Eatherly said. "I have the exact same warm up for every single game."
As the team's long snapper, Eatherly is fully aware that one bad snap to the punter or the holder could potentially cost Tulane a game, so when preparing for a game, the San Antonio, Texas, native takes a different approach than others on the team.
"It's kind of different from a lot of players," Eatherly said. "I try to stay as calm as possible and try to keep my nerves controlled so that I can stay put-together out there because any increase in my nervousness could cause me to have a bad snap. I just try to stay as composed and confident as I can through the whole procedure."
Eatherly, who is entering his senior season at Tulane, has made a career of staying in the background.
"Yeah that's a good thing," Eatherly said. "I don't like hearing my name after a game and I don't like people recognizing me after a game."
"The best thing about a snapper is if you don't talk about him very much," head coach Willie Fritz said.
Although Eatherly has done his best to stay out of the headlines, each perfect snap slowly derails that quest.
"Geron is just so accurate, and he's so consistent," Fritz said.
Eatherly's consistency throughout the 2018 season earned him Phil Steele Fourth Team All-America honors.
"I didn't originally see it," Eatherly said. "My friend who was actually in the first-team spot retweeted it, so I saw it based after his Twitter. I was really happy about it because obviously there are things that I can still work toward. Fourth team is never the goal. It's always first team. I was happy about it, but I just can't keep this from helping me push on."
Although Eatherly has begun to earn individual recognition nationally for his ability, he is also quick to point out the importance of his teammates that make the Green Wave's special teams' units one of the best in The American.
"It's awesome knowing that I have a punter back there who trusts me enough and one that I get along with," Eatherly said.
Teammate Ryan Wright, who earned freshman All-American honors a year ago, also realizes the importance of a good long snapper and never takes Eatherly's reliability for granted.
"I never get a bad snap from Geron," Wright said.
GREEN WAVE RUNS TWO-MINUTE DRILL AT SATURDAY PRACTICE
The Green Wave football team had its final spring practice of March on Saturday morning at Yulman Stadium, working hard on team exercises and running through kickoffs and two-minute drills as practice game to a close.
Coach Willie Fritz enjoyed the two-minute drills that the squad practiced, saying it was particularly helpful for the quarterbacks in a new offensive system.
"They've got to understand when the game clock and the play clock is running," Fritz said. "They've got all the signals, getting everybody lined up, they've got to understand the coverage, there's a lot to process. So it's good to put those guys in those type of stressful situations."
As spring practice continues, it has become increasingly obvious that the Tulane's defensive line will be one of its strengths in the fall. That unit, led by rising juniors Patrick Johnson and Cameron Sample, showed its potential last year when it helped the Green Wave to 41 sacks.
Johnson in particular had a breakout year, recording 10.5 sacks to lead the nation among sophomores.
"He's just got a knack for rushing the passer, very coachable guy, student of the game," Fritz said about Johnson. "The thing I enjoy about Patrick is you watch him do drills and then he goes out and does it in the games. Sometimes guys have a tough time carrying it out there in the game, and he certainly doesn't."
The defensive line as a whole should prove to have impressive depth this season with experience all across the board. Jeffery Johnson, Alfred Thomas, Davon Wright and Juan Monjarres all played significant time last season as freshmen, redshirt junior De'Andre Williams was a starter for most of the season and Jamiran James is likely to play a bigger role after an injury kept him off the field in 2018.
And as most opponents run faced-paced offenses, that depth will be key especially in late-game situations.
"For the most part those guys have got pretty good stamina," Fritz said of his defensive line. "With the pace of play that's happening nowadays, you've got to be able to go for five, six, seven, eight plays in a row."
Tulane opens the 2019 season on Thursday, August 29 at home against FIU with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.
For season ticket information, please call 504-861-WAVE (9283), log on to TulaneTix.com or visit the ticket office at the James W. Wilson Jr. Center.
Download the official mobile app of Tulane Athletics. Now, you can stay in touch with the Green Wave anytime and anywhere on your Android or iOS mobile device.
Follow Tulane football on Twitter, Facebook and @GreenWaveFB on Snapchat. Follow Tulane Athletics on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
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