July 31, 2000

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Samford University football coach Pete Hurt was in good spirits as he talked about the upcoming football season at his annual Media Day/Golf Tournament at the Pine Tree Country Club on Monday.

He began by saying, "You can be a Samford fan and everyone will like you. You can't be an Auburn fan, because the Alabama people won't like you. You can't be an Alabama fan, because the Auburn people won't like you, but you can be a Samford fan and not upset anyone."

To support those words Samford will play six games on Thursday nights this fall so Samford fans do not have to decide which Saturday afternoon game they want to attend. "One thing we found was that our students and fans like the Thursday night games plus we don't have to compete with Auburn and Alabama for media coverage." said Hurt.

Samford is coming off of its fifth-straight winning season after posting a 7-4 record in 1999. In 2000, coach Hurt expects his team to be led by its offense. "It doesn't take long to look through the press guide to see that our depth is on offense." says Hurt, "We return nine starters and an offensive line that if it can stay healthy will be one of the best lines I have had at Samford." Last season the Bulldogs rushed for 312 yards per game behind a line that returns all five starters including all-star candidates Jim Dudley and Philip Duplantis.

At Quarterback, Josh Kellett played in every game last season as a red-shirt freshman. He will return as the team's top returning rusher gaining 762 yards last season. "Josh did an outstanding job for us last season. He wears No. 4 and is a Brett Farve type of competitor. He is not the fastest player but competes very hard." said Hurt. Kellett's back-up will be red-shirt freshman Thomas Brown. "Thomas could very well be the best athlete we have ever had at the quarterback position, we will find a place for him to play this season." said Hurt. When asked if having two quarterbacks was a problem Hurt said, "We do not have a controversy, it just means that we can rest one player and not have to worry about a drop off in talent. We run the ball a lot so we may need fresh legs from time to time."

Rashad Brewer and Kadell Wright will try to make up the 1,180 yards lost by the graduation of Samford's all-time leading rusher Jerome Russell. Brewer rushed for 591 yards and added 450 yards in kick returns a year ago. Fullback Wright, had 350 yards rushing and led the team with 13 touchdowns.

On the defensive side, the Bulldogs only return three starters but coach Hurt feels he has talent on that side of the ball. "We have a number of co-starters who played a good deal last year. We have good young talent defensively, just not much game experience. We know we will be tested early. Chattanooga throws the ball 75-80 times a game, so we will have to come out of the gate early." said Hurt.

The Samford freshmen will report for practice one week from today as two-a-days start Tuesday Aug. 8, and the varsity reports Thursday Aug. 10. Photo Day is Sunday Aug. 20, and the first game is Thursday Aug. 31, at Chattanooga at 7 p.m. EST