It’s Back... By Susan Tanner


overnight. Coach Shap Boyd was hired in 2018 as the first football coach since 1951. He has a back- ground as defensive coordinator


A


fter 70 years, football has returned to Erskine College’s campus. This didn’t happen


State University. “I don’t expect to win every game,


but I expect to show up and com- pete,” Boyd told the Index Journal.


The Flying Fleet In 1915, Erskine College played Coach Shap Boyd


and safeties coach at the University of Virginia at Wise and as the special teams coordinator and defensive back coach for Southeastern Univer- sity. Before that he was the assistant head coach and defensive coordi- nator at Muskingum University of Ohio. He is a 1985 graduate of the University of the South, where he was a member of the football team, and he earned his master’s degree in 1987 from Middle Tennessee


its first intercollegiate game. The “Seceders” gained Erskine state rec- ognition, even claiming a 13-0 win over Clemson University. In 1929, Erskine’s wide-open attack earned the team a new name, “The Flying Fleet.” During World War II, Erskine suspended its season. Without much success on the field after the war and because of the lack of available coaches during the Korean War, the Board of Trustees decided to drop the football program in 1952.


It’s Back Coach Boyd’s vision for the team


is simple. “I plan to build a Christ- centered program. If all we do is win championships, we would fail. We have to grow the team up as leaders. It isn’t just a football program but building blocks and life lessons to grow these boys into men and lead- ers,” Boyd said. Starting a program from scratch


requires more than just coaching. Coach Boyd said he has to educate everyone. Boyd said, “I had to edu- cate the custodial staff that there will be more trash after each practice. The cafeteria staff had to know, vol- ume-wise, that football players eat more than basketball players, and the list goes on.” The process is evolving. The


school is excited about the idea of a team, and football is becoming part


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of the school culture again. Erskine is a young team without upperclass- men players for the younger ones to look up to as leaders. The team is working on the “building blocks for the right steps forward,” Boyd said. As a team they learn and move forward.


Team Support Game days begin with a devotion


from Chaplain Josh Chiles. During the week, there is a player-led Bible Study that started last year with 7-10 players attending. This year, 30 players attend. Each practice and meeting begins with prayer. Players are offered supplemental


classroom instruction from other students, and they are required to attend study sessions. “Coaches emphasize school work. My de- gree comes first, then football,” said Kevon Catoe. Catoe is a red shirted freshman from Blythewood, SC.


Kevon Catoe “We have something special in


Due West,” Catoe said. “The coaches help us be accountable, but it’s our team and we look to player leader- ship. It’s about what we do next af- ter mistakes that counts.”


The Associate Reformed Presbyterian


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