We’re going to preview the Division I Conferences based on the lesser-known players of all the Division I teams. Let’s have some fun and give some attention to the players you likely don’t know or talk about too much, unless something goes wrong or you say, "Hey, look at that number."

Basically, we’re going to give you each team’s (we hope their starting) Long Snapper, Punter and #69. Then we’ll give you their longest road trip of the season, last conference title, playoff appearance, and a simple Yes or No if they have a new Head Coach. I’m sure I’ll question my choice for doing season previews this way this year, but I’m limited on time due to a myriad of factors. I’ll keep dreaming of being able to do this full time. Maybe one day. If you know of any sponsors, please let us know.

Chattanooga

• Where: Can you believe it, Chattanooga, TN

• Last Year's Record: 7–5 (5–3 SoCon)

• Longsnapper: #44 Grant Reid - Senior, they do have two other long snappers listed though.

• Punter: #99 Heath Jehu - Redshirt - Sophomore. They also have another punter with the number #61. Weird numbers for punters and we love it.

• #69: Aidan Donald - Redshirt Sophmore

• Longest Road Trip: 892.5 miles to Stephensville, TX to play Tarleton State

• Last Conference Title: 2015

• Last Playoff Appearance: 2023

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): No

The Citadel

• Where: Charleston, South Carolina

• Last Year's Record: 5–7 (3–5 SoCon)

• Longsnapper: #0 - Jack McCall - Senior - Never thought we’d get a longsnapper with the number 0. 

• Punter: #90 - James Platte - Graduate Senior - We got some interesting numbers here.

• #69: None

• Longest Road Trip: 629 miles to Oxford to take on Ole Miss

• Last Conference Title: 2016

• Last Playoff Appearance: 2016

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): No

East Tennessee State

• Where: Johnson City, Tennessee

• Last Year's Record: 7–5 (5–3 SoCon)

• Longsnapper: #38 Brock Winstead

• Punter: #16 Nate Brackett - Redshirt Senior

• #69: None

• Longest Road Trip: 365 Miles to Samford in Homewood, Alabama

• Last Conference Title: 2021

• Last Playoff Appearance: 2021

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): Yes - Will Healy, former Charlotte Coach takes over for Tre Lamb who left for the Tulsa Head Coaching job.

Furman

• Where: Greenville, SC

• Last Year's Record: 3–8 (2–5 SoCon)

• Longsnapper: #29 Riley Smith - Sophomore - Had 3 tackles last year!

• Punter: Furman has 5 punters listed. You can guess who is starting.

• #69: Johnny Okolo - Freshman DL

• Longest Road Trip: 296 miles to Samford in Homewood, AL

• Last Conference Title: 2023

• Last Playoff Appearance: 2023

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): No

Mercer

• Where: Macon, Georgia

• Last Year's Record: 11–3 (7–1 SoCon)

• Longsnapper: #56 Jaiden Hamilton - Junior

• Punter: #19 John McConnell - Redshirt Senior

• #69: Blake Martin - Redshirt Senior OL

• Longest Road Trip: 854.3 miles to Princeton to play an Ivy League team??? Interesting. Very interesting.

• Last Conference Title: 2024

• Last Playoff Appearance: 2024

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): No

Samford

• Where: Homewood, AL

• Last Year's Record: 4–7 (3–4 SoCon)

• Longsnapper: #61 Alex Applefield - his twitter is Snapplefield37, WE LOVE IT ALEX.

• Punter: #59 Will Thorley from Torquay Australia and appears to have a mullet too. Samford has some A+ specialists.

• #69: Russell Watts - Freshman DL

• Longest Road Trip: 689 miles to Baylor and 685 miles to Texas A&M, both having to travel I-20 through Monroe, Louisiana. ULM MENTIONED

• Last Conference Title: 2022

• Last Playoff Appearance: 2022

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): No

VMI

• Where: Lexington, Virginia

• Last Year's Record: 1–11 (1–7 SoCon)

• Longsnapper: 27 Austin Fletcher - Sophomore

• Punter: VMI has enlisted the Top Secret method of listing all their punters as kickers too. We guess Ben Shrewsbury is the starter.

• #69: None

• Longest Road Trip: 522 miles to Macon to play Mercer

• Last Conference Title: 2020

• Last Playoff Appearance: 2020

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): No

Western Carolina

• Where: Cullowhee, North Carolina

• Last Year's Record: 7–5 (6–2 SoCon)

• Longsnapper: #56 Mabry Bumgarner - Redshirt Sophomore

• Punter: #95 Stephen Brantley

• #69: Cole Cooke - OL - a 6 FOOT 8 Offensive lineman.

• Longest Road Trip: 335 to VMI

• Last Conference Title: Never, 1983 they were behind Furman at 5-0-1 in Conference, but Furman was 6-0-1 in conference and got the Conference title. They got an at large berth and defeated Furman 14-7 in the Semifinals before falling in the Championship game to Southern Illinois.

• Last Playoff Appearance: 1983

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): No

Wofford

• Where: Spartanburg, South Carolina

• Last Year's Record: 5–7 (3–5 SoCon)

• Longsnapper: 45 Blake Shirley - Junior

• Punter: They’ve got two punters who have not punted in College. Their numbers are right next to each other. Both of their names could each be flipped to be Penn Morris/Morris Penn, Maddox Cowart/Cowart Maddox. They’re the same height. Good luck choosing a punter, coach.

• #69: None

• Longest Road Trip: 307 miles to play VMI in Lexington, VA

• Last Conference Title: 2019

• Last Playoff Appearance: 2019

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): No

Thank you for reading! Many more to come!

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