SPARTANBURG, S.C. – To headline the All-Southern Conference selections for the Samford football team, freshman wide receiver Brendan Jenkins was named Freshman of the Year by the media and Co-Freshman of the Year by the coaches. 
 
In total, seven Bulldogs were scattered across the All-Conference teams with three on the first team, two on the second team and two on the all-freshman squad. 
 
Running back Jay Stanton, offensive lineman Jabari Brooks and linebacker Noah Martin each landed on the coaches and media first teams. Quarterback Michael Hiers and wideout Chandler Smith were placed on the second team by the coaches while defensive lineman Makhi Gilbert joined Jenkins on the all-freshman team. 
 
In his debut campaign, Jenkins caught 41 passes for 312 yards and scored four touchdowns. His four trips to the end zone are tied for the second most receiving touchdowns in the country by a freshman.
 
In a season where he rewrote the Samford record books, Stanton became the first Bulldog in the Chris Hatcher era to lead the SoCon in rushing yards with 971 on 147 carries and 11 touchdowns. Stanton also caught 23 passes for 130 yards and a pair of scores out of the backfield. 
 
Brooks anchored an offensive line that was part of a unit that ranked 17th in the country for total offense and sixth in first downs with 259. 
 
On the defensive side of the ball, Martin led the SoCon with 107 and became the first Bulldog defender to eclipse 100 tackles since John Staton had 115 in 2019. Martin's 107 tackles were good enough to rank him 13th nationally. 
 
On the second team, Hiers threw for 3,056 yards on 315-of-442 passing and 18 touchdowns. With 205 yards through the air in the season finale against No. 19 UT Martin, Hiers surpassed the 3,000-yard passing plateau for the season to become the first Samford quarterback to reach that mark in a back-to-back season since Devlin Hodges in 2016-18. 
  
At the end of the FCS regular season, Hiers ranked Top 10 nationally in completion percentage (72%/3rd), completions per game (28.55/1st), passing yards (3,056/4th) and passing yards per game (277.8/7th).
 
To conclude his storied Samford career, Smith hauled in a SoCon-best 73 passes for 880 yards and five touchdowns through the air. Smith's 880 receiving yards rank the graduate student third in the SoCon and 16th in the nation. 
 
Gilbert paced all Bulldog freshman defenders with 12 tackles on the season along with a pair of tackles for loss, four quarterback hurries and half a sack. 
 
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