The Bulldogs have won 48 conference championships since joining the Southern Conference in 2008.[1] In the last 20 years, 28 Samford baseball players have been selected in the Major League Baseball Draft, and 19 Bulldog football players have been chosen in the National Football League Draft.[57] Past student-athletes include national-championship football coaches Bobby Bowden[59] and Jimbo Fisher[60] All-Pro defensive back Cortland Finnegan,[61] NFL standouts include James Bradberry (Carolina Panthers), Michael Pierce (Baltimore Ravens) and Jaquiski Tartt (San Francisco 49ers), and baseball’s Phillip Ervin, who has had success with the Cincinnati Reds.