Bears picked in middle of Southern Conference pack
The preseason polls are out in the Southern Conference, and the media members and coaches have a pretty similar thought about the Mercer Bears.
Mercer was picked to finish fourth in the conference by the media members and fifth by the coaches. Chattanooga was picked to win the conference in both polls.
The Bears are entering their third season in the Southern Conference. They finished 1-6 in conference play in 2014 and 2-5 in 2015 with eight of those 11 losses coming by single digits.
Mercer opens its season Sept. 1 against The Citadel.
“It’s about where I expected, middle of the pack,” Mercer head coach Bobby Lamb said. “We’ve done enough where people kind of respect us a little bit. Obviously the preseason polls all relate to what happened last year. ... I think our guys will be focused and ready to go.
“We know we’ve got some hurdles to get through to get to the top of this league. So it’s going to take a lot of work and a lot of great play this year.”
Offensive lineman Brett Niederreither was the Bears’ only first-team pick on the all-conference teams, which were selected by the coaches. Tight end Sam Walker, defensive linemen Tosin Aguebor and Isaiah Buehler and returner Chandler Curtis were second-team picks.
Southern Conference Preseason Media Poll Team (First-place votes) Points
1. Chattanooga (26) 250
2. The Citadel (2) 208
3. Western Carolina 179
4. Mercer 148
5. Samford 147
6. Wofford 136
7. Furman 102
8. VMI 62
9. ETSU 28
Southern Conference Preseason Coaches Poll Team (First-place votes) Points
1. Chattanooga (7) 63
2. The Citadel (1) 52
3. Samford (1) 50
4. Western Carolina 41
5. Mercer 38
6. Wofford 33
7. Furman 24
8. VMI 14
9. ETSU 9
Preseason All-Conference Teams
Offensive Player of the Year: Detrez Newsome, Jr., RB, Western Carolina
Defensive Players of the Year: Keionta Davis, Sr., DL, Chattanooga
First Team Offense
QB Al Cobb, Jr., VMI
RB Derrick Craine, Sr., Chattanooga
RB Detrez Newsome, Jr., Western Carolina
OL Isaiah Pinson, Jr. The Citadel
OL Brett Niederreither, Sr., Mercer
OL Armando Bonheur, Sr., Samford
OL Corey Levin, Sr., Chattanooga
OL Jacob Revis, Jr., Chattanooga
(tie) OL Anton Wahrby, Sr., Wofford
TE Tyler Sexton, Sr., Western Carolina
WR Karel Hamilton, Sr., Samford
WR Aaron Sanders, Sr., VMI
First Team Defense
DL Joe Crochet, Sr., The Citadel
DL Ahmad Gooden, So., Samford
DL Keionta Davis, Sr., Chattanooga
DL Miles Brown, So., Wofford
LB Tevin Floyd, Sr., The Citadel
LB Nakevion Leslie, Sr., Chattanooga
LB Tyson Dickson, Sr., Western Carolina
(tie) LB Daniel Riddle, Jr., Western Carolina
DB Dee Delaney, Jr., The Citadel
DB Trey Robinson, Sr., Furman
DB Jamerson Blount, Sr., Samford
DB Lucas Webb, Jr., Chattanooga
First Team Specialists
PK Henrique Ribeiro, Sr., Chattanooga
P Ian Berryman, So., Western Carolina
RS Dane Forlines, Sr., VMI
Second Team Offense
QB Devlin Hodges, So., Samford
RB Tyler Renew, Sr., The Citadel
RB Lorenzo Long, Sr., Wofford
OL Ryan Bednar, Sr., The Citadel
OL Josh Cardiello, Jr., Chattanooga
OL Andrew Lewis, Sr., VMI
OL Nathan Dalton, So., Western Carolina
OL Dequan Miller, Sr., Wofford
TE Sam Walker, So., Mercer
WR Kelvin McKnight, So., Samford
WR Spearman Robinson, Sr., Western Carolina
Second Team Defense DL Tosin Aguebor, Sr., Mercer DL Isaiah Buehler, So., Mercer
DL Xavier Forrest, Jr., Samford
DL Vantrel McMillan, Sr., Chattanooga
LB Carl Rider, Sr., Furman
LB Ryan Francis, Jr., VMI
LB Dylan Weigel, So., ETSU
DB Cedric Nettles, Sr., Chattanooga
DB Fred Payne, Sr., Western Carolina
DB Malik Diggs, Sr., The Citadel
DB Trey Morgan, Sr., Western Carolina
Second Team Specialists
PK Logan Howard, So., Western Carolina
P Austin Barnard, Jr., Samford
RS Chandler Curtis, Jr., Mercer
NOTE: Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players.
This story was originally published July 27, 2016 at 2:06 PM with the headline "Bears picked in middle of Southern Conference pack."