By Hunter Reid

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The outstanding achievement recorded by Furman University student-athletes has been celebrated over the decades, and the driving force behind the excellence has been — and continues to be — Paladin coaches, who last week were honored nationally for their positive, collective impact on so many lives.

With a championship groundwork laid by the likes of football's Dick Sheridan, Jimmy Satterfield, and Bobby Johnson; basketball's Lyles Alley, Joe Williams, and Sherry Carter; tennis' Paul Scarpa and Debbie Southern; golf's Doc Meredith, Mic Potter, and Willie Miller; soccer's John Tart and Brian Lee; cross country/track & field's Chuck Rohe, Bill Keesling, and Gene Mullin; baseball's Jack Powers, Tom Wall, and Ron Smith; and softball's Aileen Berkey, the current roster of Paladin head coaches, through their exemplary leadership and demonstrated success in recruiting and competitive performance, honors the great tradition of Paladin Athletics, thereby setting the course for future greatness for the purple and white.

"Furman Athletics is extremely proud of our successful history which has been led by outstanding coaches," said Furman director of athletics Jason Donnelly. "The accomplishments and leadership of the past has built a foundation for excellence amongst our current group of head coaches. We are inspired by the hard work, passion and talent of our entire coaching staff and are excited about the future of Furman Athletics."

One has to do very little research to appreciate the quality, depth, and experience that resides among Paladin head coaches.  Boasting an average age of 44 years, ranging from 33 to 56, Furman mentors are winners, evidenced in the fact that as Paladin players, assistant coaches, and head coaches, they've been part of 73 Southern Conference championships and 48 NCAA Tournament appearances, and been recognized as league coach of the year 33 times.

Mirroring the competitive success that has transpired under the collective watch of Paladin head coaches is the academic success of their student-athletes.  This past year, despite the challenge of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, Furman's 408 student-athletes combined to register a program-best 3.35 GPA for the spring term, with exactly half (204) earning Dean's List honors.  In addition, 281 student-athletes garnered Southern Conference Academic Honor Roll citations — another program standard.

Clay Hendrix '86, now in his fourth year as head coach at his alma mater and architect of Furman's 2018 SoCon championship and FCS playoff appearances in the last three years, embodies the legacy of winning that Paladin Football has come to represent for decades.  A three-year starter, he played a key role in three SoCon Championship teams under Furman Hall of Fame coach Dick Sheridan in the early-mid 1980s, and later served as an assistant coach for 19 years (1988-06), during which time the Paladins won six more league crowns and became the first FCS private school to win a national championship (1988).

Currently Furman's longest tenured head coach now in his 26th season, Doug Allison has racked up 309 victories with the Paladins, making him the winningest men's soccer coach in SoCon history.  An eight-time league coach of the year selection, he has directed Furman to 10 SoCon regular season titles and nine league tournament crowns, and recruited and coached the legendary Clint Dempsey, a three-time World Cup veteran performer and all-time scoring leader in the history of United States international competition.

Success has been a companion of Furman Athletic Hall of Famer Andrew Burr '91 over his career as a player and coach, the latter of which has seen him net three SoCon crowns and over 200 victories — the most in SoCon women's soccer history.  He tallied 50 goals as a player, helping key the Paladins to three SoCon titles while notching three all-conference scrolls.  After pacing the league in scoring in 1990 in soccer, he put on football shoulder pads and used his strong, accurate leg to register a conference-best 87 points, thereby becoming the only person in SoCon history to accomplish the scoring double in different sports in consecutive years.

Michelle Young, now in her 21st season as head volleyball coach, is the SoCon active wins leader with 364 victories.  Known for her intensity and winning results, the five-time league coach of the year selection has directed the Paladins to a pair of SoCon championships and NCAA Tournament appearances, all while making Furman's Alley Gym one of the program's biggest drawing cards and best home court environments in collegiate volleyball.

A two-time Olympian in the Steeplechase in 1996 and 2004, Robert Gary has led the Furman cross country teams to seven-consecutive SoCon titles on both the men's and women's sides.  Under his direction, the Paladin men have placed among the top 26 in three of the last five NCAA Cross Country Championships, including a 13th-place finish in 2015 and a 14th-place finish last season. The Furman women, meanwhile, entered the 2019 NCAA Championships ranked 15th but went on to score a ninth-place finish, marking the Paladins' second top-nine finish in three years.  He is established as a one of the nation's elite coaches through his involvement with USA Track and Field, where he most recently served as the head men's coach for Team USA at the 2019 IAAF World Championship.

In the span of just three years as head coach Bob Richey has firmly established himself as one of the nation's top young basketball mentors.  A 73-26 career record (.737) that ranks him ninth among Division I head coach coaches, back-to-back, school record 25-win seasons, and Furman's first appearance in the AP Top 25 already highlight his coaching tenure, as does a 12-0 start to the 2018-19 campaign that included wins over defending champion Villanova and NCAA Final Four participant Loyola-Chicago.

One of the greatest players in Paladin women's basketball history, Furman Hall of Famer Jackie Carson '00 over the last decade as head coach has positioned her program as a steady contender, underscored by two trips to the WNIT and three appearances in the WBI.  A two-time SoCon Player of the Year selection in a career that featured both regular season and league tournament titles, she is the only woman in league history to garner both player and coach of the year accolades.

Now in his fifth season as head coach of the Paladins, Jeff Hull has guided Furman's women's golf team back to a position of national prominence. Senior Natalie Srinivasan won the 2020 ANNIKA Award, becoming the first winner of the award from a non-Power Five school.  Hull, who has won the last three SoCon Coach of the Year Awards while leading th Paladins to three-consecutive league titles, has steered Furman to two top-12 finishes at the NCAA Championships, and under his direction, Furman players have twice won the Kim Moore Spirit Award and captured one Dinah Shore Trophy.

A 2018 Furman Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, Matt Davidson '04 is in his third year as the Furman men's golf head coach.  In his first season he directed the Paladins to the team title at the Wofford Invitational, marking the Paladins' first team championship since 2011.  During the shortened 2019-20 campaign, Furman recorded top-3 finishes and recorded a season-best round of 276 in the final round of the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate, the second-best round in Furman men's golf history.  Davidson played professionally for 13 years, splitting time between the PGA Tour and the Korn Ferry Tour.

During his five seasons at the helm of the Paladin women's tennis program, Adam Herendeen has amassed a 97-30 overall record and a perfect 29-0 mark in regular season SoCon matches.  He has guided the Paladins to four-straight SoCon regular season titles, three-consecutive league tournament crowns, and three NCAA Championship appearances.  During the shortened 2020 season, Herendeen directed the Paladins to a national ranking of 35th, the highest ranking program history, and the play of senior Katarina Kozarov, who became the second All-American in Paladin women's tennis history. 

Rachel Whitten, head coach of women's lacrosse, Furman's newest sport (2014), has already stamped her winning label on the program, evidenced in the Paladins' two SoCon Tournament championship game appearances and 13 All-SoCon selections.  Her early success, along with that experienced by softball's Wally King, who won 41 games in his first campaign (2017), and will most assuredly be tracked by new men's tennis coach J.J. Whitlinger, who stepped into the head coaching shoes in August of 2019.