Paulson Stadium

History

The stadium is named for the late Allen E. Paulson, founder and owner of Gulfstream Aerospace, who donated more than $1 million toward construction of the facility. The late State Senator Glenn Bryant of Hinesville donated over $250,000 for the property. To recognize his gift, the playing surface of the stadium was named Glenn Bryant Field until 2024. The field was renamed to Evans Family Field ahead of the 2024 season after Brianna and RT Evans of Evans General Contractors donated $3 million to the Georgia Southern Athletics, the single largest donation in university history.

The first game in Paulson was originally scheduled for September 1, 1984, against the Florida A&M Rattlers, but construction delayed by wet weather forced this game to be played in Savannah. The first touchdown scored was a 36-yard run around the right side by quarterback Tracy Ham against Liberty Baptist on September 29, 1984.

Features

From the stadium's opening in 1984 until the end of the 2015 season, Paulson Stadium used a natural grass surface. On February 5, 2016, the university's athletic department announced that an artificial surface supplied by Shaw Sports Turf of Calhoun would be installed for the 2016 season. In 2023, the playing field and adjacent newly constructed Anthony P. Tippins Family Training Facility were outfitted with new FieldTurf Vertex Prestige artificial turf with a CoolPlay top layer.

Expansion

The stadium was scheduled to undergo a massive construction and expansion project beginning in the offseason of 2012. However, the start of the project was delayed until the 2013 offseason. This expansion project increased Paulson Stadium's total capacity to 25,000 and moved all of Georgia Southern's football facilities to a state-of-the-art Football Operations Center onsite. At the time the plan was originally announced, the 57,000-square foot facility was intended to be first of class at the FCS level and rival many at the FBS level; at the time of completion, Georgia Southern was a transitional FBS member in the Sun Belt Conference. The Ted Smith Family Football Center consists of coaches' offices, team meeting rooms, locker rooms, rehabilitation rooms, weight room and the Georgia Southern Football Hall of Fame. The $10 million facility is the largest privately funded project in the history of Georgia Southern University. The northern mid-deck was completed in time for the Spring 2014 commencement ceremony while the Ted Smith Family Football Center was formally dedicated on August 16, 2014.

Attendance records

Italics indicate games played as an FCS program (prior to the 2014 inaugural FBS season)

References

References

1. [http://www.georgiasouthern.edu/vtour/paulson.php Campus Tour: Paulson Stadium] {{Webarchive. link. (2008-07-26 , Retrieved July 28, 2008)
2. Georgia Southern Football Media Guide, 2004. 9
3. "Allen E. Paulson Stadium – Georgia Southern University Eagles Athletics". Georgiasoutherneagles.com.
4. Georgia Southern Football Media Guide, 2004. 187
5. "FB_1_General_Info_2025.pdf".
6. "FB_5_RecordBook_2025.pdf".
7. "Paulson Stadium Field to be Re-Named After Generous Donation From Evans Family".
8. "Shaw Sports Turf Selected to Provide the New Field for Paulson Stadium". Georgia Southern Eagles.
9. (2023-07-03). "New Turf Surface Installation Completed at Paulson Stadium".
10. Cannady, Del. (June 5, 2013). "Georgia Southern breaks ground on stadium expansion". [[WTOC-TV]].
11. (2 August 2014). "Football Operations Center Ribbon Cutting and Eagle Fan Fest Set for August 16th".