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| Captains Jeremiah Jackson (0) and Luke Clark (44) hold the jersey of Bryce Stanfield prior to Furman's season opener. Photos courtesy of Furman |
Clay Hendrix had one of the worst experiences of his coaching career during Furman's rough loss to open the season at Ole Miss last Saturday. After the game, Hendrix wasn't exactly pleased with the amount of time it was taking for the Paladins to load the buses for a road trip that saw them end up back on campus about 8:30 a.m. Sunday morning.
So Hendrix exited his assigned bus and waited outside. Outside of running into some former players who had made the trip, there weren't too many others where Hendrix was waiting. As he turned away after talking with them, he looked up and was greeted by the familiar smiles of Bryce Stanfield's parents, Fred and Teri.
"As bad as I felt about that whole night, seeing them just kind of changed everything," Hendrix said.
Hendrix said the Stanfields told him of their appreciation for what took place prior to the game. While captains Joshua Harris, Luke Petit and Evan DiMaggio went to midfield for the coin toss, the rest of the captains who would've lined up near each other on Furman's defensive front that night were seen in between the sideline and midfield. That's where Luke Clark and Jeremiah Jackson held Stanfield's jersey. Stanfield was the only unanimous choice for captain this season.
"(Seeing them) was perspective, and I've kind of learned a lot about that," Hendrix said. "Is Saturday the worst thing that ever happened to this football team? Nope, not even close."
While it may have been a needed dose of perspective in that moment for Hendrix, it was hardly a surprise that the Stanfields were in attendance that night. They've been with the team seemingly all spring and summer, ever since that tragic week in February. The week in which Bryce suffered a medical emergency while simply looking on at a Wednesday morning workout before passing away two days later. The Stanfields have been around supporting his teammates and coaches while mourning and remembering their son with them.
They'll be at Paladin Stadium Saturday when Furman hosts Charleston Southern at 6 p.m. Bryce's memory will be honored in a pregame ceremony on Sept. 7 of all days. Somehow Furman didn't open the season at home for the first time since 2018 this year. As if it was meant to be that No. 97 is honored on 9/7.
But Bryce Stanfield will be remembered long after Saturday. And long after this season in which his teammates will wear "Stanfield Strong" decals on the back of their helmets. From conversations I've had with coaches and players, he will live on in the hearts and minds of the "Furman family" forever.
The Player
Stanfield came to Furman in 2021 from Newnan, Ga. As a junior in 2019, he helped Harrison High School go 15-0 and had 10 tackles in its Class 6A state championship victory. He committed to the Paladins out of 25 offers, including schools such as Wake Forest, Coastal Carolina and Appalachian State.
As a freshman at Furman in 2021, Stanfield was second on the team with three sacks before a foot injury against Chattanooga ended his season. He continued to be a major part of the rotation for dominant defenses the past two seasons without making a start.
"He was just the epitome of a Furman man. He could've started anywhere else in the SoCon and he just sums up what we want guys to be about," Furman defensive coordinator Duane Vaughn said. "He was a team first guy - big we, little me.
"We look at old film and we see what a player he was. ... It's so cliche, but man it's the truth: what an even better person."
Former teammate and position mentor Matt Sochovka is confident Stanfield would've been a pick for captain if he was still here. Sochovka said Stanfield's experience at Furman shows the kind of character and team first mentality Stanfield had.
"Think about this. You're a freshman coming to Furman out of some really good offers. He trained with great people. He comes in here and he's got this fifth-year senior (Sochovka) in front of him, so he's probably thinking he's going to start the next year," Sochovka said. "Then that freaking fifth-year comes back for two more years and you've got to sit behind his old ass. You're probably going to have a mindset of, 'can this guy just leave already?'
"It was never like that with Bryce. I was learning from him as a seventh-year senior. I was like, 'Bryce let's go watch some film on pass rush,' because he was a heck of a pass rusher. He was always so open and would tell me what he saw as we watched film."
The fact that this was finally going to be Stanfield's season to be a starter is something that Sochovka still has trouble reconciling.
"I did seven years here so I got to see young Bryce and old Bryce. Man, you talk about a pleasure to be able to see that kid grow and develop," Sochovka said. "Truthfully it was 1A and 1B for us. It wasn't first and second string.
"Yeah, we lost him and that sucks but also what hurts me the most is that he waited his turn and this was his year. ... The old man was gone and it was going to be Bryce's show. I was so excited to see him start this season and I'm heartbroken I don't get to see it."
The Teammate
Sochovka recalls Stanfield's first day with the team well. Coaches had informed him that Stanfield was "going to be a good player," and since they played the same position they wanted Sochovka to mentor him.
"On that first day of practice, I was like 'this kid knows more than me!' I was learning stuff from him because he's really talented," Sochovka said. "Four weeks later, I tear my MCL (knee ligament) in the first game and Bryce Stanfield is put out there as a true freshman. He makes a tackle-for-loss on that first drive. ... He got up and pointed right to his mom and dad. That's exactly who Bryce was.
"He was a baller, he loved his mom and dad and he loved everybody around him. So he was just a special kid from the beginning."
Stanfield could also be quite a "jokester" according to Sochovka. He said Stanfield would say something crazy in a meeting room that would get everybody rolling. That is, until it was time to go do work.
"Then it was no play, all business," Sochovka said. "That's who he was, but he knew how to keep it light."
While Furman delayed the start of spring practice following Stanfield's death, there's no textbook to guide you on when to resume some kind of normal schedule after something that traumatic. Clark was confident that Stanfield would've wanted the Paladins to get back to work as soon as possible.
"Everything we do is for him. If anything he gives us motivation to come out here and realize how blessed we are to be here," Clark said following the spring game. "It will never be normal. It will never be the same, but in honor of Bryce we're going to come out here and do work.
"I've never met someone more passionate or caring, and just enthusiastic to be here."
All Southern Conference championships are special. Carson Jones coming off the bench to rally Furman to a win at Chattanooga to clinch last season's was a special story itself. With the loss of Stanfield, memories from that day really stick out for Sochovka, who revealed that he was so banged up at the time he wasn't sure how much he'd play if at all. He said every time he hit the ground, Stanfield "had his back" and was ready to go in for him.
"It was very gloomy at one point, but we come back and win and after the game Bryce comes up to me and says 'Matt, I love you so much. Thank you for always being a big brother. I appreciate everything you've done for me.' And in the moment, I was like 'Bryce, shut up. I love you too,' " Sochovka said. "But now it's like man, I cherish that. Who would've known?"
The Legacy
One reason the Stanfields have been around the team so much this year is that defensive coordinator Duane Vaughn would not have it any other way.
"We're going to keep them a part of the family as long as I'm the defensive coordinator here at Furman," Vaughn said.
That bond started long before Stanfield's passing. Bryce's mother Teri and Vaughn's wife Christie connected through their support of the team. Christie Vaughn created the "Big Din Energy" sign that's been seen in Furman crowd shots quite a bit over the last couple of years.
"Mrs. Stanfield loved it so much that she went out and got Big Din Energy sweatshirts made for her family and then gave Christie one," Duane Vaughn said. "I told my wife, 'That's not normal for (the mother of) your backup defensive tackle - that could probably be starting - to be best friends with the defensive coordinator's wife.
"At a lot of places, they'd be giving my wife dirty looks and glares, not even wanting to speak to her because they think I'm holding their son back. That just speaks to the uniqueness here."
Christie Vaughn's slogan has a new twist this season. Now Furman is all about "Big Bryce Energy," which along with "Stanfield Strong" has been emblazoned on custom wristbands that Teri Stanfield handed out at Furman's Fan Day in August.
A story like Vaughn's reveals why Stanfield was successful at Furman and why he and his family are so beloved there. In addition to his on-field work, Stanfield was a member of the All-Southern Conference Honor Roll every year.
Hours before Stanfield passed, Furman President Dr. Elizabeth Davis visited his hospital room for a ceremony where Stanfield was accorded his Bachelor of Science degree, magna cum laude, in health sciences.
"That was one of the greatest things I've ever seen," Hendrix said. "It was also one of the hardest."
Stanfield's off-field legacy will live on with events such as the children's book drive Furman has planned for Saturday. Celebrating Stanfield's love of reading to children in the community, "Bryce's Book Buddies Donation Drive" has a goal of providing picture books and beginning children's chapter books to students who may not otherwise have access to their own. Donation bins can be located at the Champions, Defenders and Pearce Horton Suite gates of Paladin Stadium Saturday.
"That dude is still serving the community," Sochovka said of the book drive. "He was a special kid from the beginning, including just seeing him develop outside of football. ... He was running like a boys club for at-risk youth, where he'd come talk to them, read to them, play basketball with them. He was just being around and showing them a positive influence. He had that contagious energy and smile.
"He always had that smile."
Sochovka believes Stanfield's legacy was already submitted well before he passed. He said that's just from the positive impact he made on the community and how he went about making that impact.
"He wasn't looking for validation. He did it in silence. A lot of people weren't aware of his efforts of outreach and giving back until his passed," Sochovka said. "I think that's what a lot of people want to be remembered for. They don't want to be remembered for a play they made on the football field. They want to be remembered for what they did for others. When you think of Bryce, you think about everything he did for the people around him, about the energy he brought and you think about the kind of guy he was.
"A helmet sticker and a plaque and everything they're doing to honor him is cool, but Bryce Stanfield being Bryce is enough for his legacy to be remembered forever."
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