As in old westerns, Furman’s defense features bandits and spurs, though football bandits do not wear the latter.
Leading the way at bandit is one of Furman’s tops defensive returnees, Luke Clark (6-3, 253, R-Sr.), who is coming off an impressive season that saw him register 53 tackles and a team-leading six sacks. A preseason Stats Perform All-America selection and consensus All-SoCon pick, he owns 26 starts and 12 sacks in his career.
“Luke is one of the most experienced players in our program and one of the better defensive players in our league,” observed head coach Clay Hendrix. “He’s played a ton of football for us and has really been productive versus the run and the pass. We certainly look for him to have a big year.”
Behind Clark the Paladins must overcome the loss of Alex Maier (6-4, 238, R-Jr.), a two-year letterman whose knee injury in the spring will sideline him for the coming campaign. Maier’s absence will affect Furman’s depth at bandit, which would have benefited from his 11 games of quality work a year ago.
The top two candidates expected to fill the void include Dylan Chiedo (6-2, 239, R-So.) and Tanner Schuck (6-3, 233, R-Fr.).
“Dylan is a guy we moved from inside linebacker to bandit, thinking it is the best place to use his skill set,” Hendrix said. “He’s a really good athlete and is smart. I think he makes us better there against the run and the pass.
“Tanner’s a young guy we redshirted a year ago who is really solid and dependable. I think he, along with Dylan and Luke, will get the majority of snaps.”
Two others who may have some role to play are Griffin Farmery (6-0, 223, R-Fr.) and December signee Trevor Short (6-3, 228, Fr.).
The spur/nickel-back position may change from week to week based on what the Paladins expect to see and implement schematically, according to Hendrix.
“That position can be filled by a lot of guys on our team because we cross-train a number of guys there.”
What is known about the slot is the Paladins won’t have graduated All-American Cally Chizik (64 tackles, 5 INTs) to lean on this year following a stellar 2023 campaign.
Heading into the preseason, first mention at spur/nickel was Justin Hartwell (5-11, 204, R-Jr.), but that was before he sustained a season ending knee injury last week in practice. Hartwell had seen most of his playing time at safety and as a special-teams contributor.
Players earning mentions to see duty at the hybrid position are Brandt Babin (6-1, 218, R-Jr.), Will Kobuszewski (6-2, 207, R-Jr.), and possibly A.K. Burrell (6-0, 208, So.).
“Brandt is a guy who we have playing inside linebacker who has played spur. We could move him back out there, and Will Kobuszewski is another guy — a player who has been in our program for four years — who is fighting to get on the field,” stated Hendrix.
Jack Farrell (5-11, 182, Fr.) will provide depth.
“How that position is utilized will likely be dependent on the stuff we expect to see,” added Hendrix.
Fifth-year outside hitter Mary Beth Headley made All-Southern Conference and the Paladins were tabbed fourth by the league’s volleyball head coaches in the preseason poll.
Furman received one first-place vote in the preseason poll for a total of 43 points. The Paladins compiled a 17-11 overall record last season and finished fifth in the SoCon standings with an 8-8 mark.
Defending regular season champion The Citadel is the favorite after receiving four first-place votes and 58 points. Samford follows in second with one first-place vote and 53 points while Mercer is projected third with one first-place vote and 47 points. Wofford, which captured the SoCon tournament title, comes in behind Furman in fifth place with one first-place vote and 36 points. ETSU picked up the final first-place vote and is picked sixth with 30 points.
Chattanooga (7th, 27 points), Western Carolina (8th, 21 points), and UNCG (9th, 9 points), round out the preseason poll.
A native of Newnan, Ga., Headley was a second team All-SoCon selection in 2023 after leading the team with 268 kills in 28 matches with 22 starts.
The Paladins open the 2024 season Aug. 30-31 in the Furman Invite at Alley Gymnasium.
All-Southern Conference Volleyball Preseason All-Conference
Belle Hogan, The Citadel, Sr., S
Ali Ruffin, The Citadel, Sr., OH
Jenna Forster, ETSU, Gr., RS
Mary Beth Headley, Furman, Gr., OH
Skyler Bumpers, Mercer, Sr., MB
Gracie Lynn Butler, Samford, Sr., OH
Kaleigh Meritt, Samford, R-So., OH
Paige Gallentine, Chattanooga, Sr., L
Charles Collings has joined the men’s golf program as assistant coach under Matt Davidson.
[Charles] is a great fit for our program and Furman University as a whole and will help us tremendously on and off the course,” stated Davidson.
Collings served as the head men’s and women’s golf coach at Shorter during the 2023-24 season.
Prior to his time at Shorter, Collings worked as a graduate assistant coach at Winthrop and as an instructor at the Chris Haack Bulldog Golf Camp.
During a collegiate career that spanned five seasons, Collings spent two seasons at Flagler, two seasons at Shorter, and a graduate season at Winthrop.
Collings, who is from Jacksonville, Fla., earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in sports management from Shorter in 2022. He completed a master’s degree in sports and fitness administration from Winthrop in 2024.
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