Eagle Nation Collective’s Kick Off Social Celebrates Resounding Success

Aug 16

STATESBORO, Georgia, August 11, 2023 – If there were any questions about whether the Statesboro community would support Georgia Southern University Athletics’ first NIL collective, they were clearly answered Friday night. Over 250 people attended the sold-out Eagle Nation Kick Off Social, the inaugural event for the Eagle Nation Collective, that raised close to $100,000 for the organization.

CBS College football analyst Rick Neuheisel headlined the night that included a Q&A with Head Coach Clay Helton, Offensive Coordinator Bryan Ellis, new Defensive Coordinator Brandon Bailey and Special Teams Coordinator Turner West.

Neuheisel, a former quarterback and college football coach at UCLA with coaching stints at Washington and Colorado, is the current co-host of College Sports Radio on SiriusXM.

“We can’t thank Coach Neuheisel enough for being here for our first kick off event,” said Kyle Vantrease, the Director of Business Development for the Eagle Nation Collective. “The support we have received from Eagle Nation locally and throughout Georgia has been amazing. We greatly appreciate it and I know our student-athletes do too.”

Established in January 2023 and publicly launched in July, the Eagle Nation Collective is the Official NIL Collective of Georgia Southern Athletics. Leonard Bevill, the former Chairman of the GS Athletics Foundation, serves as the Managing Director and started the organization with a group of twenty initial investors.

“Everything we do is focused on creating a legacy of more success, both in competition and in life, for our student-athletes,” remarked Bevill. “Thanks to the generosity of Georgia Southern’s passionate fan base, we can provide financial resources through NIL activities. Even though this was a football centric event, there is a student-athlete from every athletic team at Georgia Southern represented in our collective. That was our goal from the onset, and I am proud to say we have accomplished that.”

To learn more about the Eagle Nation Collective, please visit www.EagleNationNIL.com.