For me, the hassle and parking fees flying out of ATL aren't worth it unless it's an international flight. But I appreciate FuBear sharing that price. I'm also a Delta Million Flyer—Delta will make every effort to get me home. Other airlines and getting back to GSP late-you're out of luck.
Back to the Future of Purple Football…
What excites me most is the fusion of several things that give me confidence in the future of Furman's athletic programs.
Many, rightly so based on the Shi-Days, have questioned the commitment of Furman's admin and sports (mainly football). As we see—the new Grad program is a difference maker for Furman sports. I believe more is to come, all I can say.
Clay IMO hired UP with the recent hires—always a good sign when your program can lure excellent assistant coaches.
If you look at a school like NDSU, they're built primarily with little players with stars. They do have some three and two-star players. They have a system and evaluate players well, then develop them.
Furman went through some lean years related to players offered not contributing. We also over-recruited some positions. Bruce Fowler had a mess on his hands. And in comes Clay, who methodically and patiently has built this team with a strong emphasis on more athletic players on both lines. Clay also mentioned the lack of explosive players.
Folks, we're 9-2. What makes this IMO more impressive is we were able to get here playing a group of only seven offensive linemen. Losing two contending starters in the preseason to injury, plus two incoming freshmen deciding not to come back. Left Furman down four scholarship players on the offensive line.
The defensive line had its own issue. Losing JJ in the CSU game caused a shuffle of players. The best news here is the play of highly-recruited Jack Barton. Jack was gone from a sparingly used backup to a difference-maker.
I'll close with this—our coaching staff is proving itself to be excellent at seeing talent and fit for Furman. Bringing in transfers like Huff, Stephens, Dean, and Gissinger. Our high school recruiting is spot-on. We have a consensus all-conference OG with only two offers from a small A private school. We have a starting linebacker that could have played TE or LB with many offers. Not to mention a starting running back whose only other offers were to play linebacker.
We rightly get excited about a commitment from a 6-7 tight end with a bunch of FBS offers. It's the offers to players with modest recruiting that are interesting regarding this staff.
