It’s not hard to imagine Tyler Huff leading troops. Based on his direction of the Furman University offense, he’s a natural.

The Armed Forces Merit Award goes each season to the individual or group with a military background, or involvement with the military, who has made an impact on college football.

Huff is the recipient. There’s only one each year. He is the 12^th ever to win it. He is one of 46 nominated (41 individuals, five programs) and 11 finalists.

The graduate transfer quarterback of the Paladins was commissioned into the Army Reserves upon his graduation from Presbyterian College on May 13, 2022. He will depart on Jan. 8, 2023, to Fort Huachuca, Ariz., for active-duty training through May 7.

Huff was selected by a nine-member committee made of Football Writers Association of America members and Lockheed Armed Forces Bowl officials.

It’s hard to beat “forthright” as an adjective to describe Huff. He looks an interviewer in the eyes and answers the questions asked. Sometimes the questioner gets bonus coverage.

For instance, asked about the knee injury he suffered in fall 2021 at Presbyterian, Huff matter-of-factly said he’d never been much of a running quarterback until after the surgery. That repaired knee gave him something to prove with it.

When Huff went down to a shoulder injury in the first half of Saturday’s win at Chattanooga, he popped up and trotted off the field without letting on that he was hurt. He trotted into the sideline tent, emerged and tried to make some warm-up throws, realized he couldn’t go and didn’t. Redshirt freshman Carson Jones came off the bench and led the Paladins to a 17-14 victory that clinched an FSC playoff berth.

Barring emergency, Huff’s goal now is to be ready for the playoffs.

“Having a commissioned Army officer quarterbacking a nationally-ranked school makes today’s presentation special,” said Brant Ringler, executive director of the bowl. “Tyler is a dual threat, on and off the field. On the gridiron, he is a runner and passer. As an individual, he has made a commitment to serve his family and country.

“Huff is so much more than a standout quarterback. He’s a husband, a graduate student and a leader of men. He is following in the footsteps of family members who have served in the military. Tyler has proven that he is so much more than just a student-athlete.”
In leading Furman to an 8-1 record this season and consensus No. 2 ranking in the two major FCS Top 25 polls, Huff has compiled 1,977 total yards for the Paladins with 488 yards rushing (5 TDs) and 1,489 yards passing (9 TDs).  He began his Furman career by leading the Paladins to the 2022 FCS playoffs and a 10-3 mark with 694 yards rushing (8 TDs) and 2,199 yards passing (15 TDs).

Huff played his first three seasons at Presbyterian (2019-21), where he amassed 3,085 total yards (525 rushing and 2,560 passing) and 27 touchdowns. He played just four games at Presbyterian in 2021, qualifying for a medical redshirt. He earned his undergraduate degree from PC, majoring in business administration with a concentration in business analytics.

In the COVID spring season of 2021, Huff led Presbyterian to a 4-3 record, at which point everything changed. The school fired head coach Tommy Spangler in favor of Kevin Kelley, who lasted one revolutionary, 2-9, season in Clinton with his hand-picked quarterback, Ren Hefley, at the helm. Hefley threw 10 touchdown passes in a single game – a single early game – and set an NCAA record by throwing 30 interceptions.

Huff had every right to wear a tee shirt emblazoned with “I played for the Coach Who Never Punts, and all I got was this crummy knee surgery.”

But, of course, he didn’t. He did his best. He graduated from PC and asked no favors at Furman, where he became first a surprise starter and then a surprise star. Spangler coaches the Paladins’ safeties and special teams. Furman is 18-4 since they showed up.

Furman head coach Clay Hendrix, who coached at the United States Air Force Academy for 10 seasons before returning to his alma mater in 2017, said Huff “joined our program in the summer of 2022, and over a span of 16 months has been a positive difference maker in every regard. Through his role as our starting quarterback, which he secured in the fall of 2022 without the benefit of going through spring practice, he quickly established himself as a top performer and leader in our program who commands tremendous respect, which he returns with consistently strong, unselfish support of his teammates.

“The stature Tyler holds is reflected in the fact he was elected a team co-captain for the 2023 season by vote of his teammates — something I have rarely witnessed for a second-year player in my 38 years of coaching. Tyler’s maturity and confidence as a person and player, constructed though his playing experience and shaped by the challenges of coaching changes and injury he experienced prior to coming to Furman, have also been greatly influenced by his military background. No football team wins without strong, effective leadership and ability at the quarterback position. Tyler quickly deflects and shares praise among his teammates, which to me underscores even more his effectiveness as person, player, and leader on the field and beyond.”

Other past recipients of the award include Nate Boyer of the University of Texas (2012), Brandon McCoy of the University of North Texas (2013), Daniel Rodriguez from Clemson University (2014), Bret Robertson of Westminster College (Fulton, Mo., 2015), Steven Rhodes from Middle Tennessee State University (2016), Dr. Chris Howard from Robert Morris University (2018), Army West Point assistant coach Mike Viti (2019), Collin O’Donnell of Bluefield College of Virginia (2020) and Damien Jackson of the University of Nebraska (2021).

Kansas State and its football team were honored in 2017 as the sixth recipient of the Armed Forces Merit Award presented by the FWAA for the university’s partnership with the United States Army that created a bond between the school’s athletic department and the Iron Rangers at Fort Riley.

Reckon I can find 20 people who like this independent site enough to chip in $20 to keep it going?

Support the advertisers, and help keep the site – the game stories, the blogs, the photos – alive by making a donation to DHK Sports, P.O. Box 768, Clinton, S.C. 29325 or making a small monthly donation via Patreon. The Laurens County site is here. The Furman site is here.

Another way I can derive some revenue is if you purchase my books at MonteDutton.net. They’re quite entertaining in spite of the fellow who wrote them. Two of my novels, Cowboys Come Home and Lightning in a Bottle, are available in audio versions. The latest, The Latter Days, is about baseball.

Photo galleries are posted on Instagram @furmanatt and @laurenscountysports.