One of the top defensive players in Furman football history and a 2001 inductee into the school's athletic hall-of-fame, Allen Edwards begins his seventh season as an assistant coach in the Paladin program.

After an inaugural season as assistant defensive line coach, Edwards assumed full responsibility of the front in 1999 and proceeded to help direct the Paladins to a 9-3 record, Southern Conference title, and No. 12 final national ranking. Included in Furman's season was a 28-3 win over North Carolina.

In 2000 the excellence continued due to the strong play of a line that helped the Paladins pace the league in rushing and scoring defense. Furman, which went 9-3 for the second consecutive season, finished the season ranked No. 10 nationally.

In 2001 Edwards' unit came through with another strong effort, keying thePaladins to a 12-3 record, league title, and national runner-up finish behind the solid play of a pair of all-conference performers Ryan Spencer and LeBryan Sperling. This past year Furman's line, led by All-SoCon nose guard Michael Burant, spearheaded a Paladin defensive unit that paced the league in four major defensive categories.

Prior to joining the Furman staff, Edwards served as defensive line coach under Doc Davis at Spartanburg (S.C.) High School, where he once starred as a player. During his tenure there as an assistant coach, Spartanburg won "Big 16" state 4-A championships in 1994, '95, and '96, posting a 43-2 record along the way.

That Edwards is highly regarded as a coach stems in large measure to the respect he gained as an All-American nose guard for the Paladins in the late 1980s and early 1990s. As a freshman in 1988, he moved into the starting lineup late in the season and helped lead Furman to a 13-2 record and NCAA I-AA national championship. In the Paladins' 17-12 championship game win over Georgia Southern, Edwards took the measure of Eagle All-America center Dennis Franklin to help throttle the Eagles' vaunted running game on the way to victory.

His impressive play as a freshman continued as he earned consensus All-Southern Conference honors three straight years and in 1991 became the third consecutive Paladin to earn league defensive player-of-the-year honors. In addition, Edwards, who played on a pair of league championship teams, was named Associated Press All-America and completed his career having played in the school record 53 games.

The Spartanburg, S.C., native graduated from Furman in 1993 with a B.A. degree in history and later earned his M.A.T. in social studies from Converse (S.C.) College.