Mercer football team takes on a new look for 2017 season

John Russ and Kirby Southard are the only players to start every game for the Mercer Bears since they started play in 2013.

They’re no longer with the team.

Neither are standouts like Tyler Ward, Zach Jackson, Bret Niederreither or Tosin Aguebor.

“We had 30 young men who stayed the course and will be remembered for years to come,” Mercer head coach Bobby Lamb said Tuesday at the Southern Conference Football Media Day. “They were there from the beginning and started this program from scratch. We’ll miss those guys.”

That’s a lot for a team to replace, for sure, but Lamb likes what he has seen from his 2017 group. Mercer, which finished 6-5 overall and 4-4 in the Southern Conference in 2016, opens its season Aug. 31 against Jacksonville.

The Bears play their first conference game Sept. 9 against Wofford.

“We feel it,” senior offensive lineman Thomas Marchman said of the pressure of leadership. “We were always the younger guys in the program even with some of us being three-year starters as juniors, and we looked up to those guys ahead of us. We learned a lot from them. It is an honor to carry on that legacy of toughness — you mentioned Kirby Southard and John Russ — who played every game of their careers. Those guys were great players and leaders.”

There were great players and leaders who also have moved on for the defense, where players like linebacker Lee Bennett and defensive linemen Isaiah Buehler and Dorian Kithcart are ready to step into that leadership role.

“It is going to be pretty tough to fill the shoes of some guys who came before me and my class,” said Bennett, who is a senior. “They were tough guys who had a different mindset about the game. I feel like the guys we have coming in along with our talent, we should be good.”

Russ will be the most high-profile player to be replaced after his successful run for four years as the Bears’ signal-caller. Mercer has three quarterbacks on its roster: junior Tanner Brumby, redshirt freshman Kaelan Riley and true freshman Robert Riddle.

“The bad news is we lose John Russ, who took every significant snap over a four-year period for this program,” Lamb said. “The good news is we have Tanner Brumby, who has been on campus for three years, and Kaelan Riley, who has been on campus for one year, battling for the position. They both took every snap in spring practice; they were the only ones we let take snaps. That will continue through fall practice, and we’ll probably name a starter during the week leading up to our season opener.”

The offense has plenty of weapons around whoever wins that quarterback battle. Marchman was named to the All-Southern Conference preseason first team, along with tight end Sam Walker. Offensive lineman Caleb Yates, wide receiver Marquise Irvin and Chandler Curtis (returner) were picked for the second team.

The backfield is deep with Alex Lakes, the program’s leading rusher, back for his senior season while Tee Michell, who did not play during the 2016 season, is also back with the program. And former Georgia Tech running back CJ Leggett joined the Bears during the spring as a transfer.

“CJ is 5-9, 220 pounds and runs low to the ground, not because of his height. He got many carries is spring practice — maybe more than usual for a new guy — and didn’t get nicked up,” Lamb said. “That is what I am excited about, his durability.”

This story was originally published July 20, 2017 at 2:01 PM with the headline "Mercer football team takes on a new look for 2017 season."