Here's where Furman football is picked to finish in the Southern Conference in 2023
Thursday was a bit of a different kind of Southern Conference football Media Day for Furman’s Clay Hendrix. On the cusp of his seventh season as coach, it was the first time he fielded questions about his team being the consensus favorite to win the league championship.
With 20 returning starters from the 2022 team that went 10-3 and reached the second round of the FCS playoffs, Furman had 30 first-place votes and 345 total points to lead the SoCon’s preseason media poll. Samford, which went undefeated in the league last year, was second with eight first-place votes and 316 points.
While the Paladins had five first-place votes to the Bulldogs’ four in the coaches’ poll, the teams tied for the top spot with 59 total points.
It’s the first time Furman has been the consensus pick for SoCon favorite since 2005. That season, the Paladins finished second in the league, went 11-3 and lost in the FCS semifinals.
“I’d like to be picked first every year. … It’s great to talk about today, but it really doesn’t matter,” Hendrix said. “I think we were picked fourth last season. In 1988, we were picked fourth and won the national title.
“We’ve just got to go to work and get better. I haven’t seen a single thing since January from our kids that makes me think they’re not hungry to go do that work. … We’ve got a chance to have a really good team and that’s all it (being picked first) means.”
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Fifteen Furman players were selected to the preseason all-conference team:
First team: RB Dominic Roberto, Sr.; OL Jacob Johanning, Sr.; OL Pearson Toomey, Sr.; LB Braden Gilby, Gr.; DB Travis Blackshear, Gr.; DB Hugh Ryan, Sr.; LS Julian Ashby, Jr.
Second team: QB Tyler Huff, Gr.; WR Joshua Harris, Jr.; DL Jack Barton, Sr.; DL Sirod Cook, Gr.; DL Matt Sochovka, Gr.; DB Kam Brinson, Sr.; PK Ian Williams, Jr.; RS Wayne Anderson, Sr.
Furman opens the season Aug. 31, hosting Tennessee Tech at 7 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Where Furman football is picked to finish in the Southern Conference
