Bobby Lamb readies for return to Furman

Bobby Lamb knows the home sideline at Paladin Stadium as well as anyone who has been a part of the Furman program.

But on Saturday, Lamb will have a new view of the stadium -- from the visitors' sideline.

In his third season as Mercer's head coach, Lamb, who played and coached for Furman, will return to Paladin Stadium for the first time when the Bears and Paladins meet Saturday afternoon.

"Going back, it is going to be different being on the other sideline," Lamb said. "But at the end of the day, it's a football game, and we're going to try to win. The good thing is there will be a lot of family and friends there in Greenville. We still have a lot of ties there; my in-laws still live in Greenville.

"So there are a lot of ties that are still there, a lot of friends that we have. But it's just going to be different being on the other side."

Lamb played for the Paladins from 1982 to 1985 and was their starting quarterback when they won the 1985 Southern Conference title only to lose to Georgia Southern in an epic national championship game.

He began working as a Furman assistant in 1986 and was the defensive backs coach on the 1988 team that won the national title. Lamb took over as the Paladins' head coach in 2002 and led the program to a 67-40 record before stepping down in 2010. He was hired by Mercer early in 2011 to start its program from scratch.

But he's not the only Mercer player or coach with ties to Furman. Running backs coach Carter Barfield and Justin Brown, the team chaplain and former defensive line coach, played for Lamb at Furman. Junior linebacker Tripp Patterson and senior offensive lineman Wilson Heres are sons of former Furman players, while safety Mike Gray's grandfather also played for Furman.

The two teams met last year at Mercer in the Bears' first Southern Conference game with Furman winning 25-20.

"Last year, it was such a big deal because it was our first SoCon game ever in the history of our school," Lamb said. "That made it a big, big deal. But I think going back there for me, personally, you spend 29 years on a sideline, and you have never been on the other sideline, it's just a little bit different being over there and looking back at the home stands. But we've got to block that out and play football."

The Bears played well last week earning their first Southern Conference win of the season with a 17-14 decision over Chattanooga to improve to 4-5 overall and 1-4 in the conference. The Paladins are also 4-5, but they are 2-3 in conference play.

Bruce Fowler replaced Lamb as the Paladins' head coach and has led the team to a 24-33 record.

"It will be a great challenge for us," Fowler said. "They're scoring about 30 points per game and playing really good defense. They have one of the top defenses in the league when it comes to scoring defense. They're very balanced and do a good job on special teams and have some outstanding players."

This story was originally published November 13, 2015 at 5:33 PM with the headline "Bobby Lamb readies for return to Furman ."