GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Furman football coaching great Dick Sheridan has been elected to the Southern Conference Athletic Hall of Fame, the league announced today.

Sheridan, who passed away on July 6, 2023, is part of the SoCon's five-member Class of 2024 being announced this week.  He is the ninth Furman representative to join the league's hall of fame, which began in 2010.  Furman has been a SoCon member since 1936, joining The Citadel as the conference's two oldest member institutions.

Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2020 and inducted on Dec. 7, 2021, in ceremonies in Las Vegas, Nevada, Sheridan began his collegiate head-coaching career at Furman in 1978 and won 69 games over eight seasons, posting a 74.4 winning percentage that remains the best in school history. During his first season in Greenville, he guided the Paladins to the program's first of a now SoCon  leading 15 football championships while earning his first of three league coach of the year scrolls. 

Sheridan's Furman teams would win six SoCon titles under his direction, becoming just the second program in league history to win four in a row (1980-83). After overseeing the Paladins' transition from NCAA I-A (FBS) to the NCAA I-AA (FCS) in 1982, he directed Furman to a first-round playoff appearance that year followed by a 10-2-1 season in 1983 that culminated with a trip to the FCS semifinals. 

Sheridan's final year at Furman was his best, as the Paladins won a then-school record 12 games in 1985 and finished as national runner-up.

He coached the Paladins to four consecutive wins over NCAA I-A (now FBS) opponents from 1982-85, defeating South Carolina (1982), Georgia Tech (1983), and N.C. State (1984 & '85) — a run not since equaled by any league school.

The 1985 AFCA FCS National and Region II Coach of the Year earned multiple South Carolina Coach of the Year accolades during his career from the S.C. Sportswriters Association, Columbia Touchdown Club and Charleston-Palmetto Touchdown Club.

While leading the Paladins, Sheridan coached eight first team All-Americans, 75 all-conference players, and five SoCon Players of the Year, including the league's first three-time selection Stanford Jennings. 

Sheridan also served as Furman's athletics director from 1983-85.

His success followed him to N.C. State, where he helped spark a turnaround as head coach from 1986-92. During his first year in Raleigh, Sheridan would be named the Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year and ACC Coach of the Year after leading N.C. State to an 8-3-1 record and a berth in the Peach Bowl. 

He would guide the Wolfpack to five more bowl games, including wins in the 1988 Peach Bowl and 1990 All-American Bowl, as well as national rankings in 1991 (No. 24) and 1992 (No. 17). Boasting a winning record in all but one of his seven seasons at N.C. State, he would finish with the second-most wins in school history (52) while coaching four All-Americans and 31 all-conference players. 
 
A native of North Augusta, S.C., Sheridan graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1964. He began his coaching career at the high school level, compiling a 37-8-1 record and leading Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School to a South Carolina state title in 1971. 

Two years later, Sheridan joined the staff at Furman as an assistant under Art Baker before becoming head coach in 1978.

His election to the Southern Conference Hall of Fame follows previous inductions into the Furman Athletic and South Carolina Athletic Halls of Fame, as well as enshrinement into both the South Carolina and College Football Halls of Fame.

Student-athletes who competed for a minimum of two seasons in the SoCon are eligible for consideration, along with coaches and administrators who spent at least five years in the league.

2024 SoCon Hall Of Fame Induction Class
Paul Chelimo, UNCG Cross Country/ Track & Field
Terry Holland, Davidson Men's Basketball/Admin
Ali Lord, UNCG Women's Soccer
Dick Sheridan, Furman Football
TBA

Furman SoCon Hall of Fame Inductees (Year)
Megan Dunigan, Women's Tennis (2009)
Frank Selvy, Men's Basketball (2009)
Paul Scarpa, Men's Tennis (2012)
Clint Dempsey, Men's Soccer (2014)
Rushia Brown, Women's Basketball (2014)
Brad Faxon, Men's Golf (2016)
Debbie Southern, Women's Tennis (2018)
Clyde Mayes, Men's Basketball (2022)
Dick Sheridan, Football (2024)