Next Year

[FurmAlum]

I do not think that FU should make any coaching changes. We have the whole offense coming back next year except for Wynn, Daniel, and DeLuca. They have improved over the course of the year and have won 4 conference games with a true freshman QB. They should be much better next year and I don't think bringing in a new OC with a new system would be the right thing to do. Heck, Jace is just learning the current system.

That doesn't mean we don't try to improve the passing game. BB can do that. Maybe look for a transfer playmaker?
Also, retaining all the coaches will help with player retention and recruiting.

The D loses some players but also has enough coming back where they ought to be good again. I would hope all the defensive coaches return too.

This team showed me a lot, coaches and players, by not quitting and winning the last two games. Wynn out there playing hurt in the last game tells me what the players think of the coaches. They want to play for them.

CCH is a good leader and can get the job done. We just need to keep supporting him. Time to focus on signing another good recruiting class.

[purplehorse]

9-9 in the calendar year 2021 with our best wins being ETSU (spring) and Sammy and VMI (fall). I expected a lot more from CCH in his 4th and 5th years. I agree changing any portion of the coaching staff is not always the right answer BUT another mediocre season next year and I think we need to make coaching staff changes.

Your positivity is almost inspiring. For a minute there I thought you must be a coach’s family member.

[The Jackal]

QB: Obviously still a question mark going forward, though we should come back next season with two guys with some games under their belts. We certainly cannot discount that Wilson was a true freshman and should continue to get better.

RB: Wynn's injury this year, I think, forced Furman to reshuffle the deck and led to the emergence of Dominic Roberto. Roberto reminds me a lot of Felton, and I expect we will continue to see him featured in the offense with complimentary guys like and Abrams/Thomas/Anderson/Abshier. I expect with Wynn and McElveen graduating, we'll see the two young Texans, Robinson and Hicks, work into the rotation.

WR: We lose Deluca, but return Harris, Bell, Shiflett, and Peterson. Harris quietly had a solid season as the #2 target, catching an impressive 26 balls. I think this will be an area that will continue to improve along with the QBs as they gain experience.

OL: Return 4 starters and pretty much the entire two deep. They kept getting better during the course of the season and, I think, will be an excellent group next year.

TE: Ryan Miller should return, but really he and Noah Henderson are more in the WR category. Furman recruited some bigger more prototype TEs in the 2021 class, and I think a couple of those guys saw time earlier in the season. It will be interesting to see if those guys come along and Furman uses Miller more as a WR and have more traditional type TEs play the inline role.

DL: Going to sustain some losses here: Lawrence, Stokes, and Lewis. We'll return a good bit of depth, as Furman rotated heavily up front. A lot of young guys played some key roles.

ILB: Strong group. I think only Gilby is even a junior. Like QB, the more these guys play and play together, the better they are going to be.

Spur: Dae'One Wilkins is a great player. Caden Richards played a bunch as a freshman. Amaah Achina was a highly recruited freshman that played in the last four games of the year and should redshirt.

Ban: Big losses with Hope and McKoy. I put Mckoy here because he's technically a Bandit, but plays all over the field for Furman and is going to leave a hole. Luke Clark has played a good bit as a freshman. Alex Maier was a highly regarded recruit that saw some time this season as well. Probably along with DL the one area we need to add some depth and guys ready to step in. Maybe we'll see one of these athletic ILBs (Dimaggio, McCormick) move out to Bandit.

CB: It appears Blackshear is moving, whose been a good player for us. These two freshmen, Robinson and Morris, looked good a lot of the year. They'll keep getting better. Cally Chizik, it looks, played only in the TTU game, so getting him back would be big.

SS: Dimarcus Clay played a ton for us over the years. Behind him, though, are guys that played a lot of snaps. Kam Brinson seems like the heir apparent. Going to need to find depth here, though.

FS: Hugh Ryan is back and should be the primary guy. Rhodes saw a good bit of time in relief.

[The Jackal]

Just for curiosity's sake.

Jace Wilson had close to the same number of completions in 7 games that Darren Grainger did in 13 games as a redshirt freshman. Wilson had a better completion percentage and significantly more yards per game passing than Grainger.

I expect if Wilson had played the same number of games, he'd have blown by Grainger's offensive production.

Does that mean anything? No. It potentially suggests that Wilson is already ahead now of where Grainger was at a further point in his career when he became a starter (having already been in the program a few years)

[FU3]

I think this probably has a lot to do with the fact Grainger played only one season of HS QB while JW played his entire career at QB in Texas 6A football. Grainger at that point was about as raw as you could get for an FCS QB. The overall development of our QBs has not been a strong suit however I believe JW has a high upside and with a real off season we can tailor our scheme to his skill set.

[gofurman]

QB: Obviously still a question mark going forward, though we should come back next season with two guys with some games under their belts. We certainly cannot discount that Wilson was a true freshman and should continue to get better.

RB: Wynn's injury this year, I think, forced Furman to reshuffle the deck and led to the emergence of Dominic Roberto. Roberto reminds me a lot of Felton, and I expect we will continue to see him featured in the offense with complimentary guys like and Abrams/Thomas/Anderson/Abshier. I expect with Wynn and McElveen graduating, we'll see the two young Texans, Robinson and Hicks, work into the rotation.

WR: We lose Deluca, but return Harris, Bell, Shiflett, and Peterson. Harris quietly had a solid season as the #2 target, catching an impressive 26 balls. I think this will be an area that will continue to improve along with the QBs as they gain experience.

OL: Return 4 starters and pretty much the entire two deep. They kept getting better during the course of the season and, I think, will be an excellent group next year.

TE: Ryan Miller should return, but really he and Noah Henderson are more in the WR category. Furman recruited some bigger more prototype TEs in the 2021 class, and I think a couple of those guys saw time earlier in the season. It will be interesting to see if those guys come along and Furman uses Miller more as a WR and have more traditional type TEs play the inline role.

DL: Going to sustain some losses here: Lawrence, Stokes, and Lewis. We'll return a good bit of depth, as Furman rotated heavily up front. A lot of young guys played some key roles.

ILB: Strong group. I think only Gilby is even a junior. Like QB, the more these guys play and play together, the better they are going to be.

Spur: Dae'One Wilkins is a great player. Caden Richards played a bunch as a freshman. Amaah Achina was a highly recruited freshman that played in the last four games of the year and should redshirt.

Ban: Big losses with Hope and McKoy. I put Mckoy here because he's technically a Bandit, but plays all over the field for Furman and is going to leave a hole. Luke Clark has played a good bit as a freshman. Alex Maier was a highly regarded recruit that saw some time this season as well. Probably along with DL the one area we need to add some depth and guys ready to step in. Maybe we'll see one of these athletic ILBs (Dimaggio, McCormick) move out to Bandit.

CB: It appears Blackshear is moving, whose been a good player for us. These two freshmen, Robinson and Morris, looked good a lot of the year. They'll keep getting better. Cally Chizik, it looks, played only in the TTU game, so getting him back would be big.

SS: Dimarcus Clay played a ton for us over the years. Behind him, though, are guys that played a lot of snaps. Kam Brinson seems like the heir apparent. Going to need to find depth here, though.

FS: Hugh Ryan is back and should be the primary guy. Rhodes saw a good bit of time in relief.

Blackshear is moving? What does that mean. Is he leaving??

[The Jackal]

I think he was recognized on senior day.

[gofurman]

I think he was recognized on senior day.

Dam. He is very good and was listed as a true junior in program. Can anyone confirm this? Is Blackshear definitely gone?

[The Jackal]

I think he was recognized on senior day.

Dam. He is very good and was listed as a true junior in program. Can anyone confirm this? Is Blackshear definitely gone?

It is quite literally the dead center of the first page of the game notes.

[AstroDin]

I'll add some color…

QB: Carson Jones 6-2 205 (Maryville, HS) - it wouldn't surprise me if Jones enrolls early. Furman also has an interest in two other QBs Brooks Prangle and Davin Patterson.

RB: Jackal already mentioned the Texans Hicks and Robinson. I love the way Furman started using multiple backs the second half of the season. My guess is Hicks will be Abrams back up and Robinson will back up at tailback. Furman will bring in an interesting PWO commit in Bryce Sain (Sain is 5-6/182 has rushed for over 5,000 yards).

WR: Right now Tobi Olawole is still a Furman commit. Olawole is a little bigger than Joshua Harris at 6-2 185. My fear is Olawole is on the verge of getting some FBS offers. Mercer has offered recently but he's still committed. The other thing is he's blowing up late in the season for Buford and becoming a highlight reel.

OL: Furman has two commits both are big fellas. Eli Brasher 6-4 285 from Arden, NC, and Caleb Lyons 6-3 315 from Piqua, OH.

And now the defense. Furman's offense class of commitments is impressive, the defensive commitments is equally impressive.

DB/S: Tre McLeod 6-2 205 Trinity Collegiate (Darlington) is one of the top DBs in the state. By the way, his teammate and best friend Reggion Bennett has decommitted from Buffalo and has re-opened his recruiting. Bennett and McLeod visited FU together. Bennett is a 3-star athlete (5-7) who runs a 4.4.

One of Paladin's top commits is 3-star athlete Charles Ingram V. Ingram (5-11 180) could play SS or DB. Ingram plays for Ensworth and is part of an impressive haul from Tennessee.

DL: Furman has three defensive line commits that have publically committed, I believe we actually have a fourth. This could be the most impressive group of commits in this class.

DT Seth Vaughn (6-2 290) Futon HS (TN) ranked #9 by 5star preps
NG Malachi Harrison (6-1 290) CAK (TN) ranked #11 by 5star preps
DE Thomas Pilon (6-3 265) Maccallie Schooll (TN)
Expect one more commit in the 2022 DL class

LB: I'm pretty sure I know who committed this week but I'm not going to post it until the player publically announces.
That said the evidence points to a highly recruited 3-star linebacker.

[The Jackal]

The play by play guy, who, admittedly, got A LOT wrong on the broadcast, did note that Hendrix had said they'd wrapped up their 2022 recruiting. Not sure if everyone is in the boat or not.

[AstroDin]

The play by play guy, who, admittedly, got A LOT wrong on the broadcast, did note that Hendrix had said they'd wrapped up their 2022 recruiting. Not sure if everyone is in the boat or not.

We could have wrapped up recruiting—other than the tweet last week about the big news from a Furman coach, Furman's coaches have started to not publically post a commitment. I believe this is a new strategy, so it makes it hard to know who's in the stable.

Furman has some offers out there at least two have committed IMO.
We've offered two defensive linemen one from Texas and one from Ohio.
We've offered a linebacker from Florida.
We've got offers out to a WR from Bama and a WR/RB from SC.

[AstroDin]

I'll also go out on a limb and say we really missed Bryce Stanfield's motor against WCU. Stanfield is All SoCon caliber. J Jackson is proving to also be a valuable asset. I hear great things from a player's parent about Alex Maier, he did play in one game made an impact on special teams.

CCH has spoken highly of; Lex Capitano (WR) and Ryan Lamb (OG) we have several other players that I think we see contribute in 22.

[Yadkin]

OL: Four starters return, but actually we'll have six returnees who count starting experience (Pearson Toomey started first nine games at OT before injury took him out; Dylan Davis started last two games, and Wyatt Hughes earned a start or two along the way). Also, look for Ryan Lamb to quickly establish himself. Can play all three positions. Wanna put a smile on CCH's face? Ask him about Ryan Lamb.

TE: Ryan Miller. Enough said.

WR: DeLuca was a walkon who had a solid career. Much respect. Harris looks like a young Donald Lipscomb. There wasn't w whole lot in between those two this year. Hopefully 2022 will see some overall improvement. Big key to improved passing game, obviously.

QB: This has been fleshed out infinitum, but the stark truth is Grainger checking out in Dec. of 2020 hurt the program in a big way. Worst time possible. No fix at FU at that point for spring season when we had one scholarship QB. Also, a little known truth is a Dec. 2020 QB signee from Texas wanted to enroll early but the powers at FU said nyet. Imagine what a spring season of practice for JW would have meant? Beat ETSU, WCU? Probably. Decisions and elections have consequences.

RB: Roberto, Abrams, Anderson, Abshier, Thomas, Hicks, Robinson. That's a full house, folks.

DL: Biggest losses there, but as mentioned a lot of rotation there means the new starters will be guys with quality PT. Coleman, Stanfield, and Sochovka (coming back) will be the principals, with Johnson, Jackson, and Rogers (all three of whom played a good bit this year) also returning. Look for Parisison to emerge. Beast body.

LB: Five experienced guys return in Gilby, Kuzemka, Scianna, and McCormick the top four, along with DiMaggio. Miller has also played in there.

CB: Blackshear was feast or famine. Had seven takeaways, which led the team. We'll have four experienced players back: Morris, Johnson, Chizik, and Yates.

BAN: The position featured four starters this year, and three return: Wilkins, Richards, and Miller. We'll be fine there.

S: Ryan and Brinson are experienced performers. Jack Rhodes will be in the mix. Richards also knows the safety positions.

[The Jackal]

Should note that Petit, the freshman OT from Ohio, was listed on the two deep against Samford.