SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Southern Conference’s nine football coaches have selected their annual all-conference teams and specialty awards for the 2018 season. Samford redshirt senior quarterback Devlin Hodges was named the Offensive Player of the Year for the third straight season, while Chattanooga defensive lineman Isaiah Mack was tabbed the defensive player of the year. ETSU claimed a trio of individual awards, as running back Quay Holmes was named the freshman of the year, senior offensive lineman Matt Pykes earned the Jacobs Blocking Award and Randy Sanders 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 ties in the voting, there were additional spots at defensive lineman and linebacker on the second team defense and an extra special teams player on the all-freshman squad.
2018 Coaches All-Southern Conference Football Team
Offensive Player of the Year – Devlin Hodges, Samford, R-Sr., QB
Defensive Player of the Year – Isaiah Mack, Chattanooga, Sr., DL
Freshman of the Year – Quay Holmes, ETSU, RB
Jacobs Blocking Award – Matt Pyke, ETSU, Sr., OL
Coach of the Year – Randy Sanders, ETSU
First team offense
QB Devlin Hodges, Samford
RB Quay Holmes, ETSU
RB Andre Stoddard, Wofford
OL Tyler Davis, The Citadel
OL Matt Pyke, ETSU
OL Bo Layton, Furman
OL Zach Weeks, Western Carolina
OL Justus Basinger, Wofford
TE Owen Cosenke, Western Carolina
WR Kelvin McKnight, Samford
WR Bryce Nunnelly, Chattanooga
First team defense
DL Nasir Player, ETSU
DL Ahmad Gooden, Samford
DL Isaiah Mack, Chattanooga
DL Miles Brown, Wofford
LB Noah Dawkins, The Citadel
LB Jared Folks, ETSU
LB Dylan Weigel, ETSU
DB Aron Spann III, The Citadel
DB Tyree Robinson, ETSU
DB Brandon Dowdell, Chattanooga
DB Kareem Orr, Chattanooga
First team special teams
PK Grayson Atkins, Furman
P Matthew Campbell, The Citadel
RS Dejuan Bell, Furman
Second team offense
QB Tyrie Adams, Western Carolina
RB Tee Mitchell, Mercer
RB Lennox McAfee, Wofford
OL Andy Godwin, Furman
OL Austin Sanders, Mercer
OL Antwan Johnson, Samford
OL Noah Ramsey, Chattanooga
OL Cole Strange, Chattanooga
TE Evan Wick, ETSU
WR Marquise Irvin, Mercer
WR Chris Shelling, Samford
Second team defense
DL Joseph Randolph II, The Citadel
DL Tremond Ferrell, ETSU
DL Jaylan Reid, Furman
DL Derek Mahaffey, Chattanooga
DL Thad Mangum, Wofford
LB Adrian Hope, Furman
LB LeMarkus Bailey, Mercer
LB Aaron Harris, Samford
LB Marshall Cooper, Chattanooga
DB Jeremy Lewis, ETSU
DB Aaquil Annoor, Furman
DB Marvin Tillman, Western Carolina
DB JoJo Tillery, Wofford
Second team special teams
PK JJ Jerman, ETSU
P Luke Carter, Wofford
RS Rohan Martin, VMI
All-Freshman Offense
Haden Haas, The Citadel
Clay Harris, The Citadel
Quay Holmes, ETSU
Jacob Saylors, ETSU
Tremond Shorts, ETSU
Corey Watkins, Furman
David Durden, Mercer
Robert Riddle, Mercer
DeMarcus Ware, Samford
Marshall Gill, VMI
Jakob Herres, VMI
All-Freshman Defense
Chris Beverly, The Citadel
Mason Kinsey, The Citadel
Adrian Hope, Furman
Nathan East, Samford
Nelson Jordan, Samford
Jordan Montgomery, Samford
Devonnsha Maxwell, Chattanooga
Ethan Caselberry, VMI
Brett Howell, VMI
Colin Loftis, VMI
Ronald Kent Jr., Western Carolina
All-Freshman Special Teams
Matthew Campbell, The Citadel
Quay Holmes, ETSU
Dejuan Bell, Furman
Mitchell Fineran, Samford
Notes:
- Hodges was named the offensive player of the year for the third straight year, joining former Chattanooga quarterback Jacob Huesman as the only players in league history to earn three offensive player of the year awards from the coaches.
- Hodges, a finalist for the STATS FCS Walter Payton Award for the second straight season, became the FCS career leader in passing yards, completions and attempts this season and finished his career second in total offense behind only Alcorn State great Steve McNair.
- Hodges surpassed his own SoCon records with 4,283 passing yards and 4,596 yards of total offense this season. He averaged 389.4 passing yards per game and 417.8 yards of total offense per game. Hodges accounted for 40 touchdowns this season, throwing for 32 and rushing for eight.
- Mack becomes the sixth different Chattanooga player to claim the defensive player of the year award, earning the Mocs’ eighth overall and fifth since 2012. Former Moc Davis Tull won the award three times from 2012-14 and current New England Patriot Keionta Davis earned it in 2016.
- Mack finished the season with 78 total tackles, an average of 7.1 per game. He was second in the league with 8.5 sacks and 0.77 sacks per game, both of which rank 19th in the FCS. Of his 78 tackles, 11.0 went for loss. He is a finalist for the STATS FCS Buck Buchanan Award.
- Holmes, a redshirt freshman, becomes ETSU’s fourth-ever SoCon Freshman of the Year and its first since 1997 (ETSU did not field a program from 2004-14), making him the Bucs’ first player to earn the distinction since their return to the league. Holmes leads the SoCon with 13 rushing touchdowns this season and is sixth in the league with 74.5 yards per game on the ground. He also amassed 242 receiving yards and a pair of touchdown catches. Also a kick returner, Holmes is second in the league with 120.4 all-purpose yards per game. In addition to earning first-team all-conference honors at running back, Holmes earned all-freshman honors on both offense and special teams. He is a finalist for the STATS FCS Jerry Rice Award.
- Pyke becomes the first ETSU player to ever win the Jacobs Blocking Award. Pyke helped pave the way for Holmes, helping him also become a first-team All-SoCon running back, and Jacob Saylors, another rookie running back for the Bucs who ran for 533 yards and four scores en route to earning SoCon All-Freshman honors. Pyke anchored an offensive line that helped ETSU average 149.0 yards per game on the ground and 202.0 per game through the air.
- Sanders becomes the second straight rookie head coach to earn coach of the year honors from his peers and just the second ETSU coach to ever earn the award, joining Mike Cavan, who did so in 1996. Perhaps not coincidentally, Sanders has his Bucs in the FCS playoffs for the first time since that 1996 campaign, as he has led ETSU to an 8-3 overall record and a 6-2 SoCon mark to claim a share of the school’s first-ever SoCon football title. The Bucs, who were picked eighth in the preseason SoCon polls, made their first appearance in the national rankings since 1999 and have been in the top 25 since Oct. 8. Sanders is a finalist for the FCS Eddie Robinson Award.
- ETSU had a league-best 14 selections, far surpassing its total of four from a year ago. The Bucs put a SoCon-high six players on the first teams, four on the second teams and four on the all-freshman teams. Samford was second with 11 selections, bolstered by five on the all-freshman teams and three each on the first and second teams.
- All nine teams had at least five total selections. Seven schools had at least one first-team pick, while all nine had at least one second-team selection. Eight squads had at least one all-freshman pick, with The Citadel and VMI sharing league-best honors with Samford with five each.
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