In 1981, former University of Georgia Defensive Coordinator Erk Russell was hired to restart the football program at Georgia Southern College (as the university was called at the time), a program that had not competed in forty years. Erk Russell became America's winningest coach, leading to the Eagles to three national championships. The Eagles extended Division I's longest home win streak from 26 to 37 games, gaining distinction as the only 15-0 college team of the twentieth century. Russell's final record at Georgia Southern, after his retirement in 1989, was 83-22-1 (.788).