Big, productive Fla. QB Trey Hedden headed to play at Furman

The summer is commitment season in college football recruiting. Prospects want to claim their spot while also turning the page to their final high school campaigns.

The goal is to be comfortable with the fit in the process, something Trey Hedden doubled back on before committed to Furman University on Wednesday morning. The Tampa (Fla.) Catholic quarterback chose to end the process after back-to-back trips to see the Paladin program, doing so despite recent offers from Appalachian State, Toledo and many others.

"For me, it was more like I wanted to go to a place that really valued me," Hedden told Rivals. "They're gonna build the class around me, build the team around me. It was more like, 'we really want this kid' than, 'we're willing to take this kid.'

"So I made the decision to go to Furman."

*****

CLASS OF 2023 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State

CLASS OF 2024 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State

CLASS OF 2025 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State

*****

Hedden broke out in 2022, throwing for 2,110 yards and 30 touchdowns while helping Tampa Catholic to nine wins in averaging better than 40 points per game in the process. Power Five programs remain in contact through the month of June, but the rising-senior wanted to wrap things up sooner rather than later.

When he delivered the news to Clay Hendrix's staff, he got even more decision confirmation.

"The whole staff was freaking out, it was a pretty cool reaction," he said. "It was immediately the right decision, no regrets whatsoever.

"Coach Hendrix spent all day with my family and made us all feel special. It's a smaller school, in a small town, just a beautiful place. And it's a great education as well, which had value for me."

Hedden expects to hit the ground running once in Greenville for good.

"They're adamant on me playing early, they see me starting as a freshman, which is huge for me," he said. "From an offensive perspective, they do a lot of RPO stuff, which I love. I love being able to manipulate defenses and have the right answer no matter what they do. I believe in coach (Justin) Roper, the offensive coordinator, I feel like he's going to develop me well. His system is incredible. He put together multiple presentations on how he was going to develop me...it just seems like they had a lot of intent in how they're going to use me."

In the meantime, the newest Furman pledge will have his recruiting hat on for the Paladins, who have been recruiting the Sunshine State consistently and have more than a dozen Floridians on the roster.

"I feel like I can help recruit and build the class around me," Hedden said. "I'm the first commit in 2024 and I think that I'm gonna get three or four more in the next week. I want to get the ball rolling so we can get this thing started.

"It is just different there. It's not always about chasing the logo."

In between recruiting new Paladin prospects, of course the goal for the fall is to win it all for head coach Jeris McIntyre and the Tampa Catholic Crusaders.

"I've been big on wanting to bring a state championship to TC," he said. "So now that recruiting is complete, I want to turn my focus towards a state championship. We have a lot of really talented players, so I look forward to the season we can possibly have.

"I don't think expectations should be anything short of a state championship."