2025 Recruiting

[The Jackal]

Re: Stewart

1100 yards last year, 16 TD, and 2 kick returns for TD.

https://ncfootballnews.com/middle-creek ... es-furman/

[apaladin]

When is the last time we returned a ko for a td?

[Paul C]

Wayne Anderson in 2022

[FUBeAR]

Wayne Anderson in 2022

[The Jackal]

It would seem that Furman continues to hone in on its "prototype" players approach. Stewart is the next in line of guys that fit a mold and are well suited for what we are doing offensively.

Stewart is listed at 6'2 180. For the last 4 years, Furman has long physical pass catchers:

Joshua Harris (Sr.) - 6'2 195
Ethan Harris (R So.) - 6'2 192
Ja'Keith Hamilton (R Fr) - 6'3 198
Jon Holbrook (R Fr) - 6'4 200
Santonio Varvel (Fr) - 6'3 183

Furman also took in transfer Joshua Burrell (6'3 218), who is listed as a TE, but played WR at Florida State.

A lot of these guys are gaining 10-15 lbs in Furman's program before they start seeing extensive playing time.

[FUwolfpacker]

It would seem that Furman continues to hone in on its "prototype" players approach. Stewart is the next in line of guys that fit a mold and are well suited for what we are doing offensively.

Stewart is listed at 6'2 180. For the last 4 years, Furman has long physical pass catchers:

Joshua Harris (Sr.) - 6'2 195
Ethan Harris (R So.) - 6'2 192
Ja'Keith Hamilton (R Fr) - 6'3 198
Jon Holbrook (R Fr) - 6'4 200
Santonio Varvel (Fr) - 6'3 183

Furman also took in transfer Joshua Burrell (6'3 218), who is listed as a TE, but played WR at Florida State.

A lot of these guys are gaining 10-15 lbs in Furman's program before they start seeing extensive playing time.

A lot of guys in that group I'm excited to see on the field for the first time. On one of the videos Furman football did last year, practically every player picked Hamilton as the guy they'd pick when starting a basketball team. Combine that with Holbrook's film and I think we have two guys that are going to be able to go up and get the ball on deep passes (which I think/hope we'll see a bit more this year).

Hasn't come out yet, but I think Furman is getting a commitment from another WR is the Holton/Ferguson/Hester mold (just a guess). They definitely have their "type" in those positions. It's worked well so far in regards to Holton and Ferguson. We'll see with all the outside WRs this year.

Also, I think it's worth saying again, the coaches deserve a lot of credit for going out and finding Hinton on a primarily option running football team. It's not easy to crack the rotation as a freshman at Furman, much less a team with around 40 seniors.

[The Jackal]

Over the last 4 or 5 years, Furman has gotten in a rhythm of recruiting and signing "prototype" players.

Pretty much every class there is a big body, long WR. There is usually a shorter, speedier, shiftier slot type player (Hinton, Hester, Ferguson, etc.). This sort of approach applies to just about all of the positions - we know the type of player we are looking for and how they fit in what we want to do.

[The Jackal]

It would seem that Furman continues to hone in on its "prototype" players approach. Stewart is the next in line of guys that fit a mold and are well suited for what we are doing offensively.

Stewart is listed at 6'2 180. For the last 4 years, Furman has long physical pass catchers:

Joshua Harris (Sr.) - 6'2 195
Ethan Harris (R So.) - 6'2 192
Ja'Keith Hamilton (R Fr) - 6'3 198
Jon Holbrook (R Fr) - 6'4 200
Santonio Varvel (Fr) - 6'3 183

Furman also took in transfer Joshua Burrell (6'3 218), who is listed as a TE, but played WR at Florida State.

A lot of these guys are gaining 10-15 lbs in Furman's program before they start seeing extensive playing time.

A lot of guys in that group I'm excited to see on the field for the first time. On one of the videos Furman football did last year, practically every player picked Hamilton as the guy they'd pick when starting a basketball team. Combine that with Holbrook's film and I think we have two guys that are going to be able to go up and get the ball on deep passes (which I think/hope we'll see a bit more this year).

Hasn't come out yet, but I think Furman is getting a commitment from another WR is the Holton/Ferguson/Hester mold (just a guess). They definitely have their "type" in those positions. It's worked well so far in regards to Holton and Ferguson. We'll see with all the outside WRs this year.

Also, I think it's worth saying again, the coaches deserve a lot of credit for going out and finding Hinton on a primarily option running football team. It's not easy to crack the rotation as a freshman at Furman, much less a team with around 40 seniors.

I'm speculating, but I would guess we will see Ethan Harris start opposite Joshua Harris in the role formerly occupied by Dean and Shiflett last season.

It would not surprise me to start seeing Hamilton and Holbrook start getting snaps behind those two. Both are big bodies and will give us physical guys on the edge even with the second unit on the field.

Our slot guys are both returning - Hinton and Ferguson. They are going to be a problem for defenses.

I suspect Burrell will man the hybrid TE role formerly manned by Ryan Miller and then Mason Pline. Brock Chappell, a promising receiver in his own right, is probably going to keep handling that in-line type TE spot.

We'll see how things end up, but Bailor Hughes may also step in as that Wayne Anderson-type slash RB/WR player that gives Furman another passing option out of the backfield.

Whomever wins the QB job, they're going to have a lot of guys that can catch passes out there.

[AstroDin]

Hinton has proved he's a matchup problem against some athletic defenses, such as WCU and Montana.
I'm curious to see how we're going to use Gavin Hall. I know he's a tailback, but he would be wicked in the slot, too.

[FUwolfpacker]

I know not everyone cares about this stuff, but I had some free time so I was trying to go back and do some tweet decoding to determine how many more commits we might have right now.

Roper tweeted about multiple BIG additions on 7/1. The emojis and the pictures they use almost always mean something. He included 3 trees and a ladder. One of those was likely Bryce Rainwater who committed a couple of days later. As far as tall guys we have currently offered, the tallest are 2 DEs. Maddox Dykeman (6'8") and Saeed Moghaddem (6'6"). Other possibilities would be OLs Eli Dorton, Sam Browder, and Kyle Larkin who are all 6'5" or over and TE/DE Chase Evink (6'5"). Haven't seen anything hinting at a commit on any of their social media, but I feel like there is at least 1 commit coming from this group. As I will state repeatedly, this is all guess work and I am likely completely wrong. It's fun to speculate though!

Additionally, Mainsah posted about an addition with his #robberz hashtag which he only includes when it's a DB addition. Looking at the offers, I'm not sure about this one, but Connor Adams (MD) is maybe the best guess. He got an offer from Coach Mainsah on 6/27 and visited Furman this past weekend. Followed by a lot of the coaches as well.

Lastly, Colder and Roper both posted about the addition of a fast WR that is likely from Florida (palm tree emoji). The most likely options here are Luke Indorf or Evan James based on the known offers. If I had to guess, I feel like James is most likely. He was a top performer for his school in the 7 on 7 circuit, Roper included a Tyreek Hill gif (James is "smaller" and quick), and is followed by Roper and Colder. The only thing throwing me off about him is that he's not followed by Coach Hendrix. Most of these commits are usually followed by Hendrix prior to announcing.

Again, I'm probably wrong, but I'm going to guess that if we potentially have at least 3 (maybe more) unknown commits that they are Maddox Dykeman, Connor Adams, and Evan James.

Looking forward to seeing how right or wrong I am!

[FUwolfpacker]

Hinton has proved he's a matchup problem against some athletic defenses, such as WCU and Montana.
I'm curious to see how we're going to use Gavin Hall. I know he's a tailback, but he would be wicked in the slot, too.

I just want it to be known that Astro and I were founding members of the Gavin Hall fan club . Hall was super impressive at one of the best schools in one of the two highest classifications in GA. Feels like it's only a matter of when, not if, Hall becomes a star. He's different than Jayquan Smith, but I got those similar feelings watching his film. Hall doesn't have Wayne Anderson's speed, but Hall could definitely fill that role sooner than later.

[The Jackal]

Hinton has proved he's a matchup problem against some athletic defenses, such as WCU and Montana.
I'm curious to see how we're going to use Gavin Hall. I know he's a tailback, but he would be wicked in the slot, too.

I just want it to be known that Astro and I were founding members of the Gavin Hall fan club . Hall was super impressive at one of the best schools in one of the two highest classifications in GA. Feels like it's only a mater of when, not if, Hall becomes a star. He's different than Jayquan Smith, but I got those similar feelings watching his film. Hall doesn't have Wayne Anderson's speed, but Hall could definitely fill that role sooner than later.

I'm with you on Hall. He looks like he not only has the talent, but the work ethic. Some suggest that running back is the position with the smoothest transition to the college game.

I am interested to watch Hall develop. He's cut from a different cloth than what we've seen at Furman in recent years. He's not a big bruiser. He's not a speedster. He's just a tough guy to tackle with great change of direction and acceleration.

The comp that jumps to my mind is a little bit of Hank McCloud. Not a big guy, but a 1,000 yard rusher for Furman in 2013. He was a tough guy for defenses to square up on and was shifty and quick enough to make a guy miss and break a run for 20 or 30 yards. Defenses had to slow down to keep him in front.

[FUwolfpacker]

Well, I got one right! Connor Adams commits! He had offers from Kent State, UMass, VMI, Richmond, Morgan St, Stony Brook, and CCSU.

[FUwolfpacker]

A commitment list update for those that don't check the front page regularly.

Commits:

OL Brady Smith 6'2" 280, Christ Presbyterian Academy (TN)
Offers: Furman, Mercer, Samford, Central Arkansas, UNLV, Navy, Arkansas St, Elon, Lafayette, Penn, UT Martin, SEMO, Lindenwood, Air Force, Austin Peay, Cornell, Wofford, Missouri St, Army, ODU

OL Hunter Taylor 6'6" 295, Greenville HS (SC)
Offers: Furman, Wofford, The Citadel, Austin Peay, Elon, Dartmouth, Central Mich, Cornell, CCU, Charlotte

RB CJ Nettles 5'9" 180, Pensacola Catholic (FL)
Offers: Furman, Liberty, Mercer, FAU, Ark St, Austin Peay, App St, Florida A&M, Ga St, North Alabama, Miami (OH)

OL Bryce Rainwater 6'4" 305, Hillcrest HS (SC)
Offers: Furman, Wofford, The Citadel

LB Caleb Ellison 6’0” 220, Oakland HS (TN)
Offers: Furman, Bryant, Toledo, Tenn St, WKU, UTM, NM

WR Braylon Stewart 6'2" 180, Middle Creek HS (NC)
Offers: Furman, New Hampshire, Mercer, Wofford, Richmond, Cornell, Austin Peay, Chuck South, Campbell, Gardner Webb, Bryant, Bucknell

DB Connor Adams 5'11" 180, Old Mill HS (MD)
Offers: Furman, VMI, Richmond, Morgan St, UMass, Stony Brook, Kent St

WR Evan James 5'10" 160, The First Academy (FL)
Offers: Furman, Temple, Ole Miss, WKU, Pitt, WVU, Wofford, GA St, Delaware St, Marshall

K Bruce Brown 6’2” 200, Daniel HS (SC)

[FUwolfpacker]

That’s 2! Evan James commits! Reported offers from Temple, Ole Miss, WKU, Pitt, WVU, Wofford, Georgia St, Delaware St, and Marshall.