SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Southern Conference’s nine football coaches have selected their annual all-conference teams and specialty awards for the 2017 season. Samford redshirt junior quarterback Devlin Hodges repeated as the Offensive Player of the Year, while teammate and junior defensive lineman Ahmad Gooden was tabbed the defensive player of the year. Mercer quarterback Kaelan Riley was named the freshman of the year and Furman senior offensive lineman Matthew Schmidt earned the Jacobs Blocking Award. Furman’s Clay Hendrix was named the coach of the year.

The coaches, who could not vote for their own players, selected all-conference first and second teams and all-freshman teams on offense, defense and special teams. Due to a tie in the voting, the first team contains an additional spot at defensive back.

2017 Coaches All-Southern Conference Football Team
Offensive Player of the Year – Devlin Hodges, Samford, R-Jr., QB
Defensive Player of the Year – Ahmad Gooden, Samford, Jr., DL
Freshman of the Year – Kaelan Riley, Mercer, QB
Jacobs Blocking Award – Matthew Schmidt, Furman, Sr., OL
Coach of the Year – Clay Hendrix, Furman

First team offense
QB Devlin Hodges, Samford
RB Antonio Wilcox, Furman
RB Detrez Newsome, Western Carolina
OL Tyler Davis, The Citadel
OL Terrell Bush, Furman
OL Matthew Schmidt, Furman
OL Zach Weeks, Western Carolina
OL Ross Demmel, Wofford
TE Andy Schumpert, Furman
WR Kelvin McKnight, Samford
WR Terryon Robinson, Western Carolina

First team defense
DL Isaiah Buehler, Mercer
DL Ahmad Gooden, Samford
DL Miles Brown, Wofford
DL Tyler Vaughn, Wofford
LB Lee Bennett, Mercer
LB Shaheed Salmon, Samford
LB Tahjai Watt, Western Carolina
DB Kailik Williams, The Citadel
DB Omari Williams, Samford
DB Lucas Webb, Chattanooga
DB Marvin Tillman, Western Carolina
DB Devin Watson, Wofford

First team special teams
PK Luke Carter, Wofford
P Ian Berryman, Western Carolina
RS Chandler Curtis, Mercer

Second team offense
QB Tyrie Adams, Western Carolina
RB Tee Mitchell, Mercer
RB Andre Stoddard, Wofford
OL Alex Rios, ETSU
OL Thomas Marchman, Mercer
OL Austin Sanders, Mercer
OL Nick Nixon, Samford
OL Josh Cardiello, Chattanooga
TE Bailey Lenoir, Chattanooga
WR Chris Shelling, Samford
WR Steffon Hill, Western Carolina

Second team defense
DL Jaylan Reid, Furman
DL Isaiah Mack, Chattanooga
DL Derek Mahaffey, Chattanooga
DL Mikel Horton, Wofford
LB Myles Pierce, The Citadel
LB LeMarkus Bailey, Mercer
LB Allan Cratsenberg, VMI
DB Aron Spann III, The Citadel
DB Aaquil Annoor, Furman
DB Darius Harvey, Samford
DB Greg Sanders, VMI

Second team special teams
PK JJ Jerman, ETSU
P Austin Barnard, Samford
RS Quan Harrison, ETSU

All-Freshman Offense
Jonathan Cole, The Citadel
Jon Barrett Lewis, The Citadel
Brandon Rainey, The Citadel
Reed Kroeber, Furman
Darius Morehead, Furman
Kaelan Riley, Mercer
Montrell Washington, Samford
Mike Williams, Samford
Cole Copeland, Chattanooga
Kris Thornton, VMI
Donnavan Spencer, Western Carolina

All-Freshman Defense
Blake Bockrath, ETSU
Reynard Ellis, Furman
Elijah McKoy, Furman
Malique Fleming, Mercer
Sidney Otiwu, Mercer
Koi Freeman, Samford
Brett Granger, Samford
Jerrell Lawson, Chattanooga
A.J. Smith, VMI
Michael Murphy, Western Carolina
Deon Priester, Wofford

All-Freshman Special Teams
Grayson Atkins, Furman
Brandon Dowdell, Chattanooga
Victor Ulmo, Chattanooga

Notes:

• Hodges, who was named the offensive player of the year for the second straight year, is the only Samford player to ever win the award from the coaches. With one more year of eligibility remaining, he now has a chance to match Chattanooga quarterback Jacob Huesman’s record three offensive player of the year awards.
• Hodges, a finalist for the FCS Walter Payton Award, leads the SoCon total offense (339.0 yards per game) and total touchdowns (33). In addition to moving into second in SoCon history this season with 78 career touchdown passes and third in passing yardage (9,905), Hodges threw for a career-best 516 yards at Western Carolina on Sept. 23, the third-best single-game mark in SoCon history. Hodges is the league’s record-holder with a career completion percentage of 69.0.
• Gooden becomes the first Samford player to earn defensive player of the year honors from the coaches. Gooden finished the regular season with 98 tackles, good for sixth in the league, and was second with 15.5 tackles for loss and tied for fourth with 5.5 sacks on the year. The Bulldogs allowed a league-low 133 points in SoCon play and share the league lead in overall scoring defense with Wofford (21.7 points per game).
• Samford’s sweep of the offensive and defensive player of the year awards was its first. This year marks ninth time a team has claimed both awards in the same season and the first since Chattanooga’s Jacob Huesman and Davis Tull were named offensive and defensive player of the year, respectively, in 2013.
• Riley, a redshirt freshman, is fourth in the SoCon in total offense (202.1 yards per game) and is tied for third with 17 total touchdowns, pacing all league freshmen in those categories. Riley threw for 2,030 yards and 13 touchdowns this season. He becomes the first Mercer player to win the award since the Bears joined the league in 2014 and the third quarterback in the last four years to earn the honor.
• Schmidt’s selection for the Jacobs Blocking Award is Furman’s 15th all-time and first since current New York Jet Dakota Dozier won it in 2013. Schmidt helped pave the way for the league’s top scoring offense (35.1 points per game) and the third-best rushing offense (241.1 yards per game), blocking for All-SoCon first-team running back Antonio Wilcox. Schmidt anchored an offensive line that yielded a league-low six sacks on the season.
• Hendrix, in his first year as the head coach at his alma mater, has led Furman to a 7-4 overall record, a spot in the national rankings and its first FCS playoff berth since 2013. The Paladins, who were picked sixth in the preseason SoCon poll by the media and seventh by the coaches, tied for second in the league standings with a 6-2 mark this season and entered the final game of the regular season with a chance to win a share of the SoCon title. After an 0-3 start, Hendrix directed the Paladins to a seven-game winning streak, its longest since 1999. He becomes the first Furman coach to win the award from the coaches since Bobby Johnson in 1999 and just the third overall.
• Samford had a league-high nine all-conference selections, while Western Carolina followed with eight and Mercer and Wofford had seven each. The Catamounts put a SoCon-best six players on the first teams. Western Carolina and Wofford had first-team selections on offense, defense and special teams.
• All nine teams had at least one all-freshman selection, led by Furman’s five. Samford and Chattanooga had four each. Furman and Chattanooga were the only two schools to have selections on offense, defense and special teams. 

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