Please tell me the search has already started to look for the next Head FB coach. This is never a easy thing to do for a lot of reasons but its the reality of college sports. If SFA wants to move back into the upper tier of the Southland conference we have to bring top tier athletes to the program from Texas.
The recruiting as of late has dropped to an all time low. Our coaches are from everywhere but Texas and nobody has any ties to Division 1 teams in the state so the level of players we get are far behind others in our own conference, Don't get me wrong, the kids we have recruited are probably pretty good HS players across the state, but to be a successful college program you have to go after the best players, not the kids other programs aren't recruiting. There is a reason for that !
I would hope the AD is satisfied with being in the lower tier of the conference, at this point I'm not sure. If the search has not already begun have assume he is. Heard about a lot of discord among the players that point back to no confidence in the coaching direction starting at the top.
SFA needs to get back to being able to compete for the conference title every season. Didn't say WIN, that is a tall order for any team in the Southland. Right now we are struggling to stay out of the cellar.
Guess time will tell, but if no change happens get ready for the same old thing as this year.
"We have to play better offense. We need to play better Defense, We need to play better overall"

Same old line after all the loses!

Good points but no one's looking. Maybe keeping their eyes open, but Conque is getting a solid year to get it right. No mid-season fires. A whole year. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they sit on him after a 5-6 year too. No one's spending cash right now.

Yep. It's tough dollar wise out there. I can't imagine that athletic donations are up given the state of our football program. I agree with the previous post about recruiting. I said much the same in another thread. The sad truth is that even if we could just recruit an exceptional offensive line the rest could be average. Nicholls St has proved this. Sadder than recruiting an entire o line is that if two or three of them where above average we could work around it from a play calling perspective. Fact is until we recruit an offensive line we won't win more than 4-5 games.

Let's cut to the chase. The whole offensive staff needs to cleaned out. The play calling was so predictable it looked like a middle school football coach was calling the plays. Crowton should be the first to go if not then Conque is going down the tubes with him. Sorry that several lineman ( designated starters) were dismissed prior to the first game for team rules violations ( let you guess what it was for...) but life goes on. Glad to see young lineman like Jimmy Price getting reps as several of the starters were not definitely stellar in any fashion.

Totally agree on recruiting that you need ties to the region and especially the fraternity that is Texas high school football. Not sure that is happening with this staff.

Mack Brown says he's got one more good run in him. I guarantee you we could make him fall in love with Nac.

Sad to hear they are giving him another full year, but it doesn't surprise me. The AD hired him so getting rid of him now would make him look bad. Sorry, but he made a mistake and in hiring a guy that brought his son with him that played QB. You see how that worked out. Tried showcasing him for NFL but not everyone can play QB at that level.
Getting the right recruits is the most important part of rebuilding the program at SFA. Kids considering coming in have to see a light at the end of the tunnel when your in the rebuilding mode. Right now it looks pretty dark with no change in sight.
Read some previous post on another thread that talked about the O-line. Look around at any team and at all levels, No O-line , no consistent offense. Just because your 6'4" doesn't mean you can block anyone. Some of the best lineman SFA has ever had played guys smaller, but had the heart of a lion and wound find ways to block you. Don't mean to upset anyone, but don't see that with the present O-line .
Our win loss record supports that need.

Would like to believe when AD and Head coach sit down at the end of the year to discuss last seasons performance one of the speaking points have to be the need for improvement. Not looking to win the conference
Championship, but SFA needs to be in top 4 in our conference . Not sure with present leadership if that is possible in the foreseeable future.

Not gonna lie, the coaching carousel is making me less & less excited about next season. Everyone is getting new coaches and we're hoping our coach finally figures it out in year 5.

I keep looking over to Louisiana and seeing that Les Miles is available and pretty much begging someone to let him coach. Chad Morris isnt getting the A&M job which means Traylor isn't getting the SMU job. Sonny Dykes is an analyst at TCU. So many great potential candidates out there.

SFA_03 said:

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Looks like Texas A&M outbid us for Jimbo Fisher. Shame. He would've loved Nacogdoches but I guess he didn't want to come to a real college.

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It's crazy to think that A&M just spent more on a head football coach than our entire endowment. Texas Lege needs to do some redistributing when it comes to funding.

Best candidate is a former SFA player. Curtis Luper is presently at TCU and is what SFA needs. Curtis knows SFA and has those Texas ties we so desperately need to get the right recruits.

OldSchool said:

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Best candidate is a former SFA player. Curtis Luper is presently at TCU and is what SFA needs. Curtis knows SFA and has those Texas ties we so desperately need to get the right recruits.

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We interviewed Luper last time & I still think he'd be a decent hire. My personal favorite in the line of reasonable targets is Jeff Traylor. Dude can coach & knows East Texas football like nobody else.

Wouldn't do a coaching search with talking to Miles & Mack though, just to see how bad they want to get back into coaching. It'd be worth giving Mack a bigger FCS contract 750k per year, because with his ties to Texas boosters you'd likely get a 10x return in fundraising per year. I know that seems low for a coach of Mack's caliber, but he also wants to be AD at Texas & that job currently pays around 750 to 1 mill. He seems like a coach you could pitch on the vision of what the entire university could do with his help, all the while having fun being a football coach without the pressure. Just my two cents.

Either way though, we're still stuck on the Conque train until next November at the earliest. We'll see what kind of coach he is.

If Mack Brown came to SFA could we get a Home Home against UT? I think even we could beat them at this point!

Hear what your saying, but there's a reason those Louisiana coaches are available. Any success they had came from highly paid assistants, not from their savvy skills. Miles would sell tickets and Louisiana would finally know what an 'SFA' is, but Miles eats grass and our field is turf, so...

Louisiana coaches are successful because they grow D1 recruits like Nebraska grows corn. That's why anyone can win at LSU, but Miles experience with HS head coaches would go a long way to opening us up to Louisiana recruiting & boost our recruiting overall. Provided nobody else hires him or others first.

And provided we need a coach next year.

Just wanted to say that SMU ended up hiring Sonny Dykes over Traylor.

Man I'm really hoping we can land him as our new HC next year.

TallTexan said:

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Just wanted to say that SMU ended up hiring Sonny Dykes over Traylor.

Man I'm really hoping we can land him as our new HC next year.

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Looks like he is going to Arkansas with Morris.

SFA88 said:

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TallTexan said:

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Just wanted to say that SMU ended up hiring Sonny Dykes over Traylor.

Man I'm really hoping we can land him as our new HC next year.

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Looks like he is going to Arkansas with Morris.

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If he doesn't take an OC job, there's a chance we could get him next year as HC. That dude can recruit East Texas like a mad man.

Traylor has joined Morris at Arkansas...

I'm good with another year of Conque but this is do-or-die for him. Anything less than a playoff appearance is a failure in my book. Youth will not be an issue. Depth shouldn't be an issue. Next year comes down to coaching and execution.

PurpleOut said:

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I'd say there's less than a 1% chance he ever comes here. He'll have bigger opportunities.

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It gets more & more slim the more promotions he gets. Next year is likely our last chance, it'll be his 3rd or 4th year in Major college football. Also some other great options out there but Traylor is a top notch option. Who knows what SMU was thinking by hiring Dykes instead.

Hopefully we see significant improvement under Conque next year, because it aint easy finding our version of Fritz or Keeler. Although TBH, I'm pretty sure we screwed up the hire 4 years ago.

Hello all,

First I would like to say "It's great to be a new Lumberjack". I know in times like the current everyone wants a new direction with new coach or new OC. As a Baylor alumni, I am all to familiar with needing change. The right kind of change.

Since coach Conque is going to be here another year I thought I would share about the dinner I had with him and his wife the other night. I asked him how the team would be shaping up next year. He spent time in replying with what went wrong this year, injuries, youth (not ready to play at the Southland conference level yet) and how when those cards are dealt they had to cut way back on schemes and play book. They wanted too and expected to much out of the youth that it was clear they had to adjust to even stay in some of the games this year.

Then he talked about next year and the team will still have youth to it with the addition of returning some of the injured key positions to the team. To make a long story short, I do not believe there will be a conference championship next year. If team stays healthy then probably will be in the top 3. Realistically, we are probably looking at a 5-6 or 6-5 record.

Either way, I am bought in and will support, show up, and loose my voice yelling ax'em jacks. Look forward to the next year.

ax'em

HitSomeBody said:

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Hello all,

First I would like to say "It's great to be a new Lumberjack". I know in times like the current everyone wants a new direction with new coach or new OC. As a Baylor alumni, I am all to familiar with needing change. The right kind of change.

Since coach Conque is going to be here another year I thought I would share about the dinner I had with him and his wife the other night. I asked him how the team would be shaping up next year. He spent time in replying with what went wrong this year, injuries, youth (not ready to play at the Southland conference level yet) and how when those cards are dealt they had to cut way back on schemes and play book. They wanted too and expected to much out of the youth that it was clear they had to adjust to even stay in some of the games this year.

Then he talked about next year and the team will still have youth to it with the addition of returning some of the injured key positions to the team. To make a long story short, I do not believe there will be a conference championship next year. If team stays healthy then probably will be in the top 3. Realistically, we are probably looking at a 5-6 or 6-5 record.

Either way, I am bought in and will support, show up, and loose my voice yelling ax'em jacks. Look forward to the next year.

ax'em

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Your dinner tells me everything I already know. Sad but true the "realistic "expectation is a losing season

On paper

QB:#12 Foster Sawyer 6-5; 230 (Sr.) **** #13 QB Nation

RB:#25 Juan Day 6-2; 228 (Sr.) *** #46 RB Nation

WR:#2 Frank Iheanacho 6-6; 225 (Sr.) **** #11 WR Nation
WR:#5 Terian Goree 6-3; 175 (Sr.) *** #165 WR Nation
WR:#80 Tamrick Pace 6-3; 200 (Jr.) *** (2X All-SLC)

OL:#75 Josiah Hunter 6-4; 317 (Sr.) **
OL:#52 A.J. Brown 6-2; 300 (Jr.)
OL:#64 Travis Lock 6-3; 290 (Jr.)
OL:#78 Jimmy Price 6-4; 285 (So.) **
OL:#71 Devonte Jones 6-3; 310 (Jr.) *** #68 OG (All-SLC)

TE:#87 Allen Arclies III 6-4; 235 (So.)

K:#36 Storm Ruiz 5-10; 170 (Jr.) (ALL-SLC)

LS:#51 Chris Wilkerson 6-2; 244 (Sr.)

DE:#94 Demetrion Amie 6-4; 272 (Sr.)
DT:#93 Lamont Alexander 6-3; 305 (Sr.) (ALL-SLC)
DT:#77 Rayshad Nichols 6-3; 300 (So.)

LB:#42 Teddy Britton 5-11; 226 (Jr.)
LB:#54 Spencer Choka 6-0; 228 (Jr.) *** #71 ILB
LB:#50 Ryan Woods 6-1; 220 (Sr.)

S:#33 Alize Ward 5-10; 195 (Jr.) ** (2X All-SLC)

CB:#21 Davelle Fox 5-11; 185 (Sr.)
S:#3 Lawrence Ghansah 6-0; 195 (Sr.)
S:#38 Trenton Gordon 5-11; 195 (So.)
CB:#26 Eli Jones 5-11; 170 (So.)

P:#45 Caleb Lewallen 5-10; 190 (Sr.)

HitSomeBody said:

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Hello all,

First I would like to say "It's great to be a new Lumberjack". I know in times like the current everyone wants a new direction with new coach or new OC. As a Baylor alumni, I am all to familiar with needing change. The right kind of change.

Since coach Conque is going to be here another year I thought I would share about the dinner I had with him and his wife the other night. I asked him how the team would be shaping up next year. He spent time in replying with what went wrong this year, injuries, youth (not ready to play at the Southland conference level yet) and how when those cards are dealt they had to cut way back on schemes and play book. They wanted too and expected to much out of the youth that it was clear they had to adjust to even stay in some of the games this year.

Then he talked about next year and the team will still have youth to it with the addition of returning some of the injured key positions to the team. To make a long story short, I do not believe there will be a conference championship next year. If team stays healthy then probably will be in the top 3. Realistically, we are probably looking at a 5-6 or 6-5 record.

Either way, I am bought in and will support, show up, and loose my voice yelling ax'em jacks. Look forward to the next year.

ax'em

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Always glad to hear an inside perspective. Let's hope we are all pleasantly surprised or hire the next great Southland coach. Win/Win.

And I'm still holding out hope for Jeff Traylor. Willing it to happen.

Sounds like you had really nice dinner with the football coach. Did you really believe he was going to tell you anything different than he says after every game. Lots of excuses and blames everyone and everything but himself.
At the end of the day we are getting beat because we don't have the same level of players that the top guys in the conference have. The recruits of late are great kids and play to best of their abilities but just come up short against better athletes being recruited to other teams in our conference.

Really cant say much about the overall coaching expertise of our present staff. In looking at bios most of them have been several places and should know how to make sure we don't get out coached.
The assistant coaches are responsible for going out in the state and finding the right kids based in needs of the team. Problem right now is they don't have the high school contacts to find those kids, Even when they find one, how do you convince him that SFA is where he needs to go ?

We have great facilities, great campus, outstanding academic selection choices, but many others in our conference have that too. Kids want to go to a program that is successful and building, right now we don't have either.

If coach Conque doesn't start thinking outside the box and find ways to find those special kids and have a plan he can share with them why they need to come to SFA he will end up with the same level of players he has brought in to this point.

Maybe he needs to really step out there and bring in some former SFA players who have played on successful teams in years past to help formulate that plan.

HitSomeBody said:

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All very solid points. As for dinner, I wanted to just state what was said with no addition comments. I do not believe he when I asked I would get the real issues discussed. After all, it was a recruiting weekend so we only heard the best, saw the best, and talked to the best players that are/were on the team.

I sure pray the coaches turn the corner because my son loves SFA. I can't figure it out myself, he loves it. Since he loves it I in return will bleed purple and white. He was number one on the UCA board for his position and Steve Campbell and his position coach recruited very hard and are still trying as of last night. He called and asked my son to go to Southern Alabama. However, my son once he makes his mind up he is a rock hard stubborn kid that will not change it.

My son comes from a team in Texas Division I 6A ball that went 36-5 while he was on varsity, so winning is something he knows. SFA has not had the same success, but my son loves it and when I try compare the 10-2 UCA record he interrupts me every time and says "Dad I got this, I will show the team how to win". When we left he told us SFA was where he wanted to be the next 4 to 5 years. So, he will be signing on next week.

Ax'em

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When you're home, you're home. That's what I felt like when I walked onto the SFA campus, it just feels right. That was the advice I used to give our high school kids at church when they were looking at colleges. Pick the place that feels right, not where your friends are going.

That said, glad your son is choosing to come to SFA. We could use more great men in the trenches & whether it's Conque or someone else, we'll get back to winning. The team is fairly talented at most skill positions, we just need to put it together.

The more I read "hitsomebody" s comments the more I'm convinced that Conque doesn't have a clue that his biggest issue is his offensive line. They are just awful. If the O-Line was to improve 25%-30% we'd win 3-4 more games right there. It really triggers the whole game,,,, Ball control anybody. Maybe he realizes it but jusy cant find the talent

You can try and put the blame on the offensive line, but in reality our offensive line actually played very well this season. When a QB holds on to the call for almost 4 to 5 seconds every time he drops back there's going to be sacks. The offense as a whole was just horr-awful. The lies on the shoulders of the person who threw 8 TD passes while starting what 10 games and a 56 completion percentage. Sorry, that guy needs to not see the field ever again.

HitsomeBody----I admire your son and his winning attitude, I hope some of that can rub off on his teammates and give them that winning desire.

Imbalum---Considering all their injuries and having to move to different OL spots then I suppose they did the best they could last year but to say played very well is a stretch....and to try and place the blame for failure all on the QB is way off the mark.

As for Conque----the youth excuse will not fly again this next season. All those kids have a year under their belt many playing full time and should have a grasp on the system at this point. Injuries are always a factor of course and we have had our share plus recently however you must march on and fill the gaps.
My main fear for 2018 is that we will finish 6-5 and that the higher ups will consider that "progress" and we will remain status quo

Is it way off the mark though really when he couldn't move the ball at all most football games? Putting failures solely on the QB is what the majority of this forum did for 3 years that Zach Conque was QB. Do you honestly want to go into next year with Blumrick under center as the starting QB?

Couldn't pass up the opportunity to chime in on the O-line. So goes the O-line is how the offense goes, passing and running. Don't think I will get much push back on the present state of the offense needing to make mark improvements. I have seen our present line and looking at them they are quite impressive, but that does mean you can block anyone. Looks don't make blocks. They are very soft and from what I have watched just don't seem to have the right attitude to be an effective O-line. Go back and look at SFA teams of the past that have had success and all of them had had great O-lines. O-linemen need to be some of best athletes on the field, not a D-lineman that got fat and slow. Hope that doesn't offend anyone.
Improving our O-line is just another piece of the puzzle to bring SFA back to the top of the Southland conference and start playing in the post season again for a change.

I made some comments on another thread about expectations for 2018. I think we are beyond the timeframe to look for tactile improvement in this area or another. To me it's all wins and losses. 6-5 should not keep Conque at SFA. 7-4 maybe. 8-3 he stays. 9-2 with a win over Sammie and I might sign up for an extension. At any rate you get my point. Suppose we go 6-5 and the offense is significantly better but we have a couple of bad breaks. That BS doesn't fly in the 5th season.

BigJack85 said:

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I made some comments on another thread about expectations for 2018. I think we are beyond the timeframe to look for tactile improvement in this area or another. To me it's all wins and losses. 6-5 should not keep Conque at SFA. 7-4 maybe. 8-3 he stays. 9-2 with a win over Sammie and I might sign up for an extension. At any rate you get my point. Suppose we go 6-5 and the offense is significantly better but we have a couple of bad breaks. That BS doesn't fly in the 5th season.

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I agree with you there. While I have defended Clint and still think he is a good coach, we should never have a goal of just having a winning season. The SLC is a weak conference. I know Clint Conque knows how to win, but next year is his final year to figure out how to do it in Nacogdoches. For me its playoffs or bust.
Oh, and Sam Houston State is a fireable game next year regardless of the lead-up.