Four different teams garnered first-place votes in the 2022
Southern Conference preseason coaches’ poll.
That’s not surprising when one looks at all the one-possession conference games that were played a year ago.
Every team in the conference that finished behind league champion ETSU last season can point to a close loss or two that if a play or two had been different they might have finished in first place and participated in the FCS playoffs.
The Southern Conference appears to be as close as it’s ever been in 2022. But the team that the coaches believe is the team to beat is Rusty Wright’s Chattanooga Mocs. Chattanooga (6-5, 3-3) lost three league contests in 2021 by just 10 points. Anchored by the league’s best defense and by preseason Defensive Player of the Year Devonnsha Maxwell, the Mocs have an excellent opportunity to win their first championship in seven years. Chattanooga was tabbed as the favorite by the league’s coaches as the poll was announced at the SoCon Media Day held at the Omni Grove Park Inn and Resort.
But the Mocs will be challenged by a league that prides itself in parity. ETSU is coming off a championship season and returns most of its key players from that team. The Bucs are second in the poll. Mercer led the Bucs in the fourth quarter in the final regular-season game of the year but couldn’t hold on or the Bears would have won the championship. They’re picked to finish third.
Furman won its final two games of the season to finish 6-5 and is picked fourth this year. Western Carolina made impressive strides in Kerwin Bell’s first year as head coach as the Catamounts won four of their last five games. The Cats are a preseason pick for fifth.
Samford and VMI return key pieces from last year and will be heard from this season and have been selected sixth and seventh, respectively. The Citadel and Wofford round out the poll but both could be factors in the race for a title in 2022.
Following is a look at each team, ranked in order of predicted finish in the coaches’ poll.
Chattanooga Mocs
Head Coach: Rusty Wright (15-13 in three seasons with the Mocs)
Last Season: 6-5 (5-3, third in SoCon)
Starters Returning/Lost: Offense: 5/6; Defense: 7/4
Coaches Poll: First in the SoCon
Outlook: The Mocs are loaded on defense and have some rather good pieces on offense to get over the hump in 2022 and win a championship. Junior running back Ailym Ford is a first-team preseason all-conference performer who has rushed for more than 2,000 yards in his career. Sophomore tight end KeShawn Toney made the SoCon All-Freshman team a year ago. The Mocs graduated all-conference guard Cole Strange to the first round of the NFL Draft by the New England Patriots. However, Chattanooga returns a strong and experienced line. The defense is excellent throughout and will be tough for anyone to score on in 2022.
Coach’s Quote: “It’s been a great offseason. There’s been no drama. Our guys are excited to be around each other and have worked extremely hard to get better. The strength of our team will be our defense with the starters we have back. We just need to be a little more consistent on offense.”
ETSU Buccaneers
Head Coach: George Quarles (First season with the Bucs)
Last Season: 11-2 (7-1, first in SoCon)
Starters Returning: Offense: 7/4; Defense: 7/4
Coaches Poll: Second in the SoCon
Outlook: First-year head coach George Quarles returns home for his first head coaching job. The transition has been easy as Quarles came to Johnson City from Furman, so he was quite familiar with the Bucs’ program. He also retained half of Randy Sanders’ coaching staff from last year’s title-winning team. ETSU could be poised for a repeat as the Bucs return much of last year’s club. Start with preseason Offensive Player of the Year Jacob Saylors. The senior rushed for more than 1,000 yards last year despite sharing the backfield with Quay Holmes, the league’s Offensive Player of the Year. First-team preseason all-conference quarterback Tyler Riddell is back along with wide receiver Will Huzzie. ETSU returns seven starters on defense, including defensive lineman Jalen Porter, who made the league’s preseason all-conference team.
Coach’s Quote: “The past is the past. Our guys know last year was last year and this is a new season. We’ve got a target on our back but that’s where we want our program to be. These guys know what it takes to win and have worked for the upcoming season. It’s been a smooth transition for me as a first-year head coach. I was able to keep some of the assistants from last year, including our defensive coordination in Billy Taylor. We’re not going to change too much, especially on defense, but on offense we will try to throw the ball a little bit more and ask our quarterback to do more.”
Mercer Bears
Head Coach: Drew Cronic (59-15 in six years, 12-9 in two seasons with the Bears)
Last Season: 7-3 (6-2, second in the SoCon)
Starters Returning: Offense: 8/3; Defense: 7/4
Coaches Poll: Third in the SoCon
Outlook: The Bears were so close to winning a championship in 2021 but a late fourth-quarter rally by ETSU denied Mercer the title. For the Bears to take the next step, they’ll look to talented signal-caller Fred Payton, who can be one of the best in FCS. Cronic wants to see Payton just be a little more consistent throughout an entire game. Sophomore wide receiver Ty James will be one of Payton’s top options to throw to in 2022. An experienced line led by preseason first-team all-conference performer John Thomas should give Payton time to throw. The defense could be the league’s best this side of Chattanooga with linebacker Isaac Dowling back along with lineman Solomon Zubairu and linebacker Ken Standley.
Coach’s Quote: “It’s nice to be ranked in the preseason poll and picked toward the top in the preseason conference poll but that doesn’t win you any games. Our players understand it’s what you do on the field in 2022 that matters. We want to take the next step as we saw how close we were last year to winning a conference championship in 2021.”
Furman Paladins
Head Coach: Clay Hendrix (31-23 in five seasons with the Paladins)
Last Season: 6-5 (4-4, tied for fourth in the SoCon)
Starters Returning: Offense: 8/3; Defense: 7/4
Coaches Poll: Fourth in the SoCon
Outlook: Furman was one of four teams to receive a first-place vote in the coaches’ poll and should be among the teams chasing a championship in 2022. The Paladins will be led on offense by one of the best tight ends in college football in Ryan Miller. He scored 16 touchdowns in 2021. Junior running back Dominic Roberto will spark the running game. The big question for Furman is who will play quarterback. Coach Hendrix has some options in that area and if the Paladins get that right they could be very tough to beat. A solid defense returns with seven starters including senior lineman Cameron Coleman and senior defensive back Travis Blackshear. Both were preseason all-conference selections.
Coach’s Quote: “To be successful in this league, we must be better at winning close games. I like the way we finished last year by winning our final two games; both were close and we found a way to win. The momentum of those wins helped us in the offseason. I really like our group and the depth we have throughout the team. We’ll keep rotating our defensive players because that makes us stronger in the end. We’ve got some good receivers that no one knows about and Ryan Miller is an outstanding tight end that everyone knows about. We will need to have good quarterback play this season to get the ball to our playmakers.”
Western Carolina Catamounts
Head Coach: Kerwin Bell (97-49 in 13 years, 4-7 in one season with the Catamounts)
Last Season: 4-7 (4-4, tied for fourth in the SoCon)
Starters Returning: Offense: 8/3; Defense: 7/4
Coaches Poll: Fifth in the SoCon
Outlook: There’s a lot of excitement in Cullowhee after the way the Catamounts finished the 2021 season. WCU won four of its last five games and did it with a high-powered offense that could be even better in 2022. The Cats did this despite Kerwin Bell being hired after the spring season of 2021. But Bell worked hard to get some transfers in the program and WCU was a lot more competitive than anyone thought it would be. The second-year coach wants to build the program with freshmen and has brought in an impressive recruiting class. Bell has said that a lot of young players are going to have to play right away. Sophomore wide receiver Raphael Williams enjoyed a standout rookie season and was a first-team preseason all-conference selection. Bell expects quarterback Carlos Davis to take the next step in his performance in 2022. Senior Ty Jones will lead WCU in the backfield. The defense will be young and talented but will be bolstered by the return of senior lineman K.J. Milner. Sophomore Andreas Keaton heads up the secondary.
Coach’s Quote: “Our guys did a great job finishing the season so strong last year as we won four of our last five games. That momentum has really carried over to offseason workouts. I’m excited about the possibilities of this year’s team but we’re a young team. We think we’ve recruited well and brought in some great freshmen, but they’re still freshmen. We’re going to play a lot of those young guys, so they’re going to have to grow up in a hurry. But we believe we’ve made our program deeper and better across the board. This is a group that can someday win a championship.”
Samford Bulldogs
Head Coach: Chris Hatcher (161-93 in 22 seasons, 40-36 in seven years with the Bulldogs)
Last Season: 4-7 (3-5, tied for seventh in the SoCon)
Starters Returning: Offense: 8/3; Defense: 7/4
Coaches Poll: Sixth in the SoCon
Outlook: The Samford Bulldogs were another team that was a play or two away from having a great season. Samford lost five of its seven games in 2021 by a touchdown or less. The Bulldogs could score and should be able again this year, but the defense must get better. Samford scored 52 points at Florida late in the season but gave up 70 to the Gators. That was one of six games the Bulldogs gave up at least 41 points. A new defensive coordinator, Chris Boone, has been brought in and should improve the Samford defense. On offense, the Bulldogs have to find a new quarterback but return eight starters. Heading up the offense will be running back Jay Stanton. The defense returns preseason first-team All-SoCon linebacker Nathan East. Samford has a tough schedule to start the season as it hosts Kennesaw State and then plays at defending national champion Georgia.
Coach’s Quote: “We were in every game last year; now we just need to learn how to finish those games. We’ve got to get better on defense and I’m really excited about our new defensive coordinator, Chris Boone. He’s made us more aggressive and I like some of the new guys we’re going to put on the field this year. We just need to find a way to make one more play on offense or get that stop on defense to turn those close losses into wins.”
VMI Keydets
Head Coach: Scott Wachenheim (23-52 in seven years with the Keydets)
Last Season: 6-5 (4-4, tied for fifth in the SoCon)
Starters Returning: Offense: 7/5; Defense: 7/4
Coaches Poll: Seventh in the SoCon
Outlook: One of the great stories in the FCS over the past two seasons has been the emergence of VMI football. The Keydets won the SoCon title in the spring of 2021 and then finished with a winning season in the fall with a 6-5 record. Scott Wacheheim is determined to make sure the winning continues at VMI. There’s a good chance of more winning this year as the Keydets return key players on both sides of the ball. Wacheheim expects a big year from quarterback Seth Morgan, who threw for more than 2,000 yards a year ago. Senior running back Korey Bridy will be in the backfield. They Keydets return most of their receivers. VMI’s defense is led by two-time Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Year Stone Snyder.
Coach’s Quote: “We’ve built this program by hiring high-quality assistant coaches, getting the best players we can and creating an environment of winning football. I expect a breakout season from our quarterback Seth Morgan. He did a good job last year, but he’ll be better this season. We have a solid group of receivers and we’re as deep as we ever have been at running back. Linebacker Stone Snyder will anchor our defense. We’ve got a good and experienced defense back that Stone will lead.”
The Citadel Bulldogs
Head Coach: Brent Thompson (32-37 in six years with the Bulldogs)
Last Season: 4-7 (3-5, tied for seventh in the SoCon)
Starters Returning: Offense: 5/7; Defense: 10/3
Coaches Poll: Eighth in the SoCon
Outlook: The key for The Citadel to build on its late-season success is to find a quarterback. The Bulldogs have several options and if they can find the right QB, they could make an impact in the SoCon race in 2022. The Citadel lost seven starters on offense to graduation and the transfer portal but the cupboard isn’t bare. Junior running back Logan Billings returns and should build on more than 500 yards a year ago. Tyler Cherry leads the receiving corps who are back. On defense, the Bulldogs bring back 10 starters. Included in that list is senior defensive back Destin Mack, who was a preseason all-conference selection, as was defensive lineman Carson Hatchett.
Coach’s Quote: “Our players have played a lot of football over the past two years with the pandemic. I believe we’ve been on the football field 240 out of the last 420 days [as of the date of this interview]. Thankfully, this season we have more depth than we’ve had in a while. We’ve been able to get some help from the transfer portal and we’ve got some graduate transfers who we think will help us this year. We ended the season with two great wins, including a big road win at Chattanooga. Our defense really stepped up that day and we played four good quarters of football on both sides of the ball. We’ve got some key positions we must find answers for, but we have good options with our depth now.”
Wofford Terriers
Head Coach: Josh Conklin (19-22 in four years with the Terriers)
Last Season: 1-10 (0-8, ninth in the SoCon)
Starters Returning: Offense: 6/5; Defense: 8/3
Coaches Poll: Ninth in the SoCon
Outlook: The Wofford Terriers will be better and different in 2022. Wofford suffered through an uncharacteristic 1-10 season and head coach Josh Conklin decided to change things up on offense a little bit and on defense. Wofford will throw the ball a little more than in the past and have several options at QB. Bryce Corriston, Cade Rice, and Kyle Pinnix are all on the depth chart for the Terriers to be the starter behind center. Senior running back Nathan Walker brings valuable experience to the backfield. On defense, senior Micheal Mason made the league’s preseason all-conference team.
Coach’s Quote: “We will use last season as motivation to be better this year. At the end of last season, I realized I needed to change some things and take full ownership of the program. We just couldn’t do things the way we did them in the past. We have the culture of toughness that we’ve always had but now we needed to do a little more on offense. We need our quarterback to do a little more and give defenses something else to think about. We blew up the defense after last season and believe we should be better in this area this year.”