Carrollton, GA - The original plan was simple. Get into college, play Division-I football and have fun doing so. That was the original plan. But sometimes the path to success in life is different than the original plan.
Such is the case for West Georgia junior defensive end
Brandon McEachern.
Playing football for a powerhouse high school like Buford, McEachern was a strong candidate to play at the next level. Boasting 4.6 speed on the defensive line, he was a prime target for Georgia Southern. But just before beginning his freshman year at GSU, McEachern ran into a self-inflicted roadblock that made playing at Georgia Southern more difficult. So the fun began to be less fun.
“I practiced and did well on the field,” said McEachern. “But I didn’t take the time that was needed off the field to make sure that my academics were in order.”
During a scrimmage prior to the 2007 season, things got worse, as there was a pile-up at the end of a play and he was pushed back into an awkward position. The result was a broken foot and an end to his playing career at Georgia Southern. The fun continued to subside.
In the summer of 2008, he transferred to Garden City CC in Garden City, Kan. He was one of only 12 out-of-state players who were chosen to play at the junior college. Due to an academic snafu, he was left out of his second straight collegiate football season due as he was one credit hour short. The fun of college football and college life in general hit a low point.
Then the path took a turn that McEachern did not expect, as West Georgia and head coach
Daryl Dickey came into the picture.
“I was tired of moving around and wanted to move closer to home,” McEachern said. “But more than anything else, I wanted to enjoy being in college again.”
The first meeting between the prospective college football player and his soon-to-be coach was one that McEachern would not soon forget.
“When I first met with Coach Dickey, I could tell immediately that he was different than other coaches I had come across,” said McEachern. “He did not talk to me about what I could do for him, but instead told me about what he could do for me to make this my home for the next several years.”
McEachern was sold on the West Georgia program and everything Carrollton had to offer. It was as if the fun was already back.
“To be completely honest, I love it here,” McEachern said. “ I’ve grown close to people at every place I’ve been, but the relationships I built were not nearly as strong and didn’t happen nearly as fast as they have at West Georgia.“
Since coming to West Georgia, McEachern has elevated his GPA from one that was in the “mid to high ones” at Georgia Southern, to its current level of 2.7. He has joined up with groups like Campus Outreach and a weekly football bible study. The fun started to come back to college life for him.
“Being a part of groups like that help you to get connected with people that think and act and deal with the same types of temptation that you are going through,” said McEachern. “But the best thing about being in
Carrollton is that you won’t get lost in a crowd. There are a lot of students here, but there is just something different about West Georgia than anywhere else that I have been.”
On August 28, 2009 McEachern took the next step in his returning to the fun side of things. He put on the West Georgia uniform and made that impact that he had hoped to make two years before. On the first offensive play from scrimmage for Wingate, he joined fellow defensive end Jeremy Cook in making the first tackle of the season.
The next 11 weeks were a tough introduction to college football for McEachern, but the lessons he had learned and the players and coaches around him made things a little better.
“It was definitely tough going through a 1-9 year last season,” said McEachern. “But it helps when you walk into the Murphy Building every day and see 10 coaches working harder than ever when it seems like no one else wants to.”
As the next year approaches, McEachern expects great things from himself and his teammates. He expects the fun to continue to grow.
“I’ve learned that fun is being prepared both athletically and mentally,” said McEachern. “The biggest part of that, both in the field and the classroom, is if you do your job, work hard and come prepared to play, the fun will come.”
The “fun” lesson for McEachern has been three years in the making. He endured hardships, injuries and letdowns, but in the end, has come out of it a better man.
“The difference between now and 2007 is that I truly feel like I’ve grown up,” said McEachern. “The lack of maturity that I had when I was first in college, both in my personal life and in my academic life, was something I didn’t quite understand.”
“College is what you make of it,” he continued. “No one is going to push you to succeed in the classroom, you have to push yourself. If you are responsible and mature enough to do the little things, you can truly have fun.”