Overnight Furman football camp teaches teens life lessons – Selambe

GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) – Last weekend, Furman Head Coach Clay Hendrix’s Football Camp brought together 150 teenagers and taught them much more than route running and pass protection.

The players got a chance to learn from Furman football’s own coaching staff.

“Some of them, I’m sure won’t play football after high school. But man, they’re a lot better players now,” Hendrix said. “There’s a lot of things they could be doing these last couple days, but they’re here with us and it’s fun to be with them.”

It was not only fun for the coaches, but also for the players like eighth grade quarterback Braylon Brown nicknamed ‘Wiggles.’

“Wiggles on me, wiggles on three. One, two, three, wiggles!” Brown and a group of players yelled.

The camp helped players, like Brown, develop their vocal leadership.

“This is the best FCS coach I know, Coach Clay,” Brown said to the head coach of the Paladins’ program.

“Haha, I think I have a quarter in my pocket. Can I pay you off for saying that?” Hendrix said.

“Yes, sir!” Brown said.

When the football ends, the life learning begins. Overnight stays in the Furman dorm brought complete strangers together.

“Not having a TV, we can learn more about each other by asking questions,” Brown said.

“It’s cool you know,” Easley Freshman Lavonte Henderson said. “I didn’t even know my roommate before coming here and now we’re like twins. That’s my boy, we’re best friends.”

Wren junior lineman Will Fish appreciated his new buddies on a walk around campus before lights out at 10:30 p.m.

“We’re going to the bell tower, apparently it’s really beautiful lit up at night,” Fish said. “It was a great, great experience,. I’m definitely tired and ready to get back home. But I’m going to miss all the friends I’ve made here. It’s almost like a new family away from your own family.”

A new family forged by Furman football.

“I got the biscuits and gravy this morning, they were so good,” Fish said while walking back from the bell tower.

Several players from rival Upstate schools said they now have new friends they never expected through the Furman football camp.