2017 Furman Paladins football team

2017 Furman Paladins football
2017 Furman Paladins football
NCAA Division I Second Round, L 10–28 vs. Wofford
Conference	Southern Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 22
FCS Coaches	No. 25
Record	8–5 (6–2 SoCon)
Head coach	Clay Hendrix (1st season);
Offensive coordinator	Drew Cronic (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Chadd Staggs (1st season)
Captains	P. J. Blazejowski; Matthew Schmidt; Jaylan Reid; Dillon Woodruff;
Home stadium	Paladin Stadium

2017 Southern Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 6 Wofford $^	7	–	1	10	–	3
No. 18 Samford ^	6	–	2	8	–	4
No. 19 Furman ^	6	–	2	8	–	5
Western Carolina	5	–	3	7	–	5
Mercer	4	–	4	5	–	6
The Citadel	3	–	5	5	–	6
Chattanooga	3	–	5	3	–	8
East Tennessee State	2	–	6	4	–	7
VMI	0	–	8	0	–	11

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2017 Furman Paladins team represented Furman University as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon) during the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by first-year head coach Clay Hendrix, the Paladins compiled an overall record of 8–5 with a mark of 6–2 in conference play, tying for second-place in the SoCon. Furman received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs, where they defeated Elon in the first round before losing to the SoCon champion, Wofford, in the second round.^[1] The team played home games at Paladin Stadium in Greenville, South Carolina.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	6:00 p.m.	at No. 11 Wofford		Gibbs Stadium Spartanburg, SC (rivalry)	ESPN3	L 23–24	7,237
September 9	1:00 p.m.	Elon*		Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC	ESPN3	L 31–34	6,342
September 16	12:20 p.m.	at NC State*		Carter–Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC	ACCN	L 16–49	56,166
September 23	1:00 p.m.	at Colgate*		Crown Field at Andy Kerr Stadium Hamilton, NY	STADIUM	W 45–14	4,119
September 30	1:00 p.m.	East Tennessee State		Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC	ESPN3	W 56–35	7,104
October 7	4:00 p.m.	at Chattanooga		Finley Stadium Chattanooga, TN	ESPN3	W 41–17	9,651
October 14	1:00 p.m.	VMI		Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC	ESPN3	W 42–10	7,216
October 21	1:30 p.m.	Mercer		Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC	7C/ESPN3	W 28–21	8,108
October 28	3:30 p.m.	at No. 18 Western Carolina		Bob Waters Field at E. J. Whitmire Stadium Cullowhee, NC	ESPN3	W 28–6	9,973
November 11	2:00 p.m.	The Citadel	No. 21	Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC (rivalry)	7C/ESPN3	W 56–20	10,105
November 18	3:00 p.m.	at No. 17 Samford	No. 20	Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL	STADIUM	L 20–26	4,673
November 25	2:00 p.m.	at No. 15 Elon*	No. 22	Rhodes Stadium Elon, NC (NCAA Division I First Round)	ESPN3	W 28–27	2,934
December 2	2:00 p.m.	at No. 8 Wofford*	No. 22	Gibbs Stadium Spartanburg, SC (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN3	L 10–28	5,153
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

	1	2	3	4	Total
Paladins	3	7	7	6	23
No. 11 Terriers	7	3	0	14	24

	1	2	3	4	Total
Phoenix	21	0	3	10	34
Paladins	0	10	21	0	31

	1	2	3	4	Total
Paladins	3	10	0	3	16
Wolfpack	14	14	21	0	49

	1	2	3	4	Total
Paladins	21	17	7	0	45
Raiders	0	7	7	0	14

	1	2	3	4	Total
Buccaneers	7	10	0	18	35
Paladins	14	14	14	14	56

	1	2	3	4	Total
Paladins	7	20	7	7	41
Mocs	3	7	0	7	17

	1	2	3	4	Total
Keydets	0	10	0	0	10
Paladins	7	7	14	14	42

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	7	0	14	0	21
Paladins	0	14	7	7	28

	1	2	3	4	Total
Paladins	0	7	14	7	28
No. 18 Catamounts	0	0	0	6	6

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	0	0	14	6	20
No. 21 Paladins	14	21	14	7	56

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 20 Paladins	7	10	0	3	20
No. 17 Bulldogs	7	10	6	3	26

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 22 Paladins	0	14	7	7	28
No. 15 Phoenix	7	0	14	6	27

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 22 Paladins	0	10	0	0	10
No. 8 Terriers	7	7	7	7	28

^ "2024 Furman Paladins Record Book" (PDF). Furman University Athletics. p. 163. Retrieved November 3, 2025.

Furman Paladins football
Venues	Manly Field (1919–1936) Sirrine Stadium (1936–1980) Paladin Stadium (1981–present)
Bowls & rivalries	The Citadel Wofford
Culture & lore	Marching Band Miracle on the Mountain
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897–1899 1900 1901 1902 1903–1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943–1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
National championship seasons in bold