Under Conque, SFA nearing the end of a long term identity crisis

Santa Clara County, California is one of the most naturally beautiful corners of the continental United States. It's the center of Silicon Valley, the genesis of modern technology and a tribute to the future of humanity. It's where I was born, long before the piney woods of East Texas had my heart.

If you ever visit, be sure to jump in a car and drive thirty minutes west. You'll discover a very different world on the shores of Santa Cruz. There, beaching isn't a fun family outing or an afternoon of relaxation. Those sandy banks and rolling waves are a way of life.

A not-so-small percentage of Santa Cruz beach goers look like they practically live in the sun - a lot of them actually might. Tanning, jogging, swimming and most importantly, surfing, is the pastime of choice.

Well, California roots be damned, I've never successfully ridden a wave. I'm not sure I have the patience for it. Sitting, waiting, falling, battling, all for a euphoric rush that lasts only seconds - surfing just seems a little crazy to be honest. Maybe that's why I ended up in Texas.

To many, though, it's enough. For those people, I in no way intend to knock your hobby. The surfing strategy is not, however, an effective way to build a college athletics program.

Unfortunately, for many years, that's how it seems Stephen F. Austin football was operated; endure the valleys of the Southland Conference basement with just enough hope to hold out for the occasional peak year of wave riding.

It's how rosters were built and schemes ever evolved. It hasn't been an uncommon practice in the league, either - few teams have sustained long-term and consistent success. The two exceptions, McNeese and Central Arkansas have something in common.

"They've been true to what they are for years," explained a former athletics staffer in the Southland Conference when I asked him about it. "They aren't flashy, just fundamentally sound. SFA has never been that. Each coach has tried to bring a different identity - [J.C.] Harper with the air raid, [Robert] McFarland with the run and gun."

The programs in Lake Charles and Conway in a lot of ways are the antithesis of the Stephen F. Austin way of the last couple decades. Not so different than SFA of the last four seasons, though.

When head coach Clint Conque arrived in Nacogdoches prior to the 2014 season, the Lumberjacks were in the midst of one of the all-time low points in program history. Besides win-loss records, SFA had a roster in less than fortunate condition. Program academics left much to be desired, dismal recruiting in the recent seasons had created a top-heavy team with little depth, and the 'Jacks had been defeated in eleven-straight road games over three seasons. They weren't built to win in the future and they certainly weren't winning at the time.

SFA was waiting for nature, another wave, an almost random combination of exceptional Jeremy Moses-esque talent, to appear and lead them back to the Promised Land. Without a practical plan and lacking a fundamental identity, it felt like a hopeless situation - a far cry from the optimism flowing through Homer Bryce Stadium after back-to-back league titles in 2009 and 2010.

Even today, the consequences of roster management in those final seasons under J.C. Harper are still being felt. As one of many examples, three redshirt sophomores lead a linebacker unit in 2017 after a couple years of stopgap transfers in their positions. Four seniors graduated there in one class after 2014 leaving virtually nothing behind. "Management of roster takes vision and you have to work at it hard at this level," Conque told The Sawmill when asked about it for this piece. "But [the sophomores starting] are getting better with every rep and play and, with a couple true freshmen as reserves, we're getting back to proper spacing."

That vision, spreading out talent between classes, creating a foundation of consistency rather than a wave to ride for a year or two, was a major weakness in the early part of SFA's 2010s decade. Without top-tier facilities and battling the disadvantages of location, player character and academic success far from a program strength, the SFA recruiting appeal went fast in a southern direction.

Since those days, the on-the-field results have been a little better, albeit still largely disappointing for a fan base craving the recent success of SFA's rival to the southwest, Sam Houston State. Conque won eight games in his debut season, in many ways riding the talent of senior holdovers like linebacker Collin Garrett and running back Gus Johnson. Rebuilding that roster in the years since, though, has proven challenging. 

With an overall record of 21-23 under Conque, the biggest difference for SFA in 2017 might be who is playing and not necessarily how - even during a year where the quality of play has been notably improved.

The days of Band-Aid transfers are over. "The next few years of kids are here," Conque tells us. "We're being very selective because we can be. Finally."

By all accounts, the quality of people playing for the program has been a symptom of that growth. Senior safety Marlon Walls, a STEM major with a 4.0 GPA and a member of Conque's inaugural class, is a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy - the Heisman of academic accolades in college football. All 32 NFL franchises have made trips to Nacogdoches to visit with defensive end John Franklin, another member of that class, in the past year. Despite the youthful makeup of SFA's team, leadership on the roster, once a scarce trait is becoming a prerequisite.

If you ask Clint Conque in year four, he'll tell you that SFA's elusive foundation is in place. Not choosing to buy into the 40+ transfers per year philosophy of a fellow Southland Conference team in the southeastern part of a neighboring state (a strategy that works for them), this is the methodical identity that Conque believes can lead to long term consistency in Nacogdoches.

If he is successful, a constant presence in the top quarter of the Southland Conference would be unprecedented in SFA's last 20 years of football. To Conque, the assurance he will be comes from 14 years of the same process in Conway, Arkansas (albeit under a very different set of circumstances). If Central Arkansas, one of the two aforementioned exceptions to surfing in this league (Sam Houston State in recent years could be called the third), is considered, fans should have a reason to buy into the process for SFA too.

Stephen F. Austin will welcome #17 Nicholls into Homer Bryce Stadium this weekend. They may win or they may lose. Fans may remain frustrated and call for another change. After all, the optimism of 2014 has mostly subsided.

You can trust, though, to decision makers and those close to the program, despite the disappointments along the way, the promise of sunny skies ahead never left.

"Conque is trying to establish that identity SFA has never had," Rand Champion, SFA's former SID, now an assistant athletics director at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock told me earlier this season. "It doesn't happen in a year or two."

With the sometimes unremarkable but always wildly consistent prototype of UCA guiding the way, surfing can remain the way of life in Santa Cruz - because the Lumberjacks want none of it in Nacogdoches.