LITTLE ROCK — Noting his university is on the cusp of taking a giant leap and reaching a key benchmark professionally, University of Central Arkansas coach Clint Conque talked about baby steps Monday to the Little Rock Touchdown Club.
This spring, UCA is expected to have the transition chains removed and become a fully certified member of NCAA Football Championship Subdivision.
During his third year to speak before what has become one of the strongest “touchdown clubs” in the South, Conque said a key element in UCA’s immediate success on the FCS level was a slow and steady progression in scheduling upper-level teams, something all teams of the former NCAA Division I-AA level have to do. He said the Bears’ first Football Bowl Subdivision opponent was Louisiana Tech two years ago. Then, it was Tulsa last year. This year, the Bears have played the University of Hawaii and Western Kentucky, two teams on the lower end of the FBS food chain. Next year, the Bears will play Tulsa again, then on consecutive years after that, it’s Oklahoma State, Ole Miss and Colorado.
“This has come about because our administration has understood doing things the right way, and we have tried to make this transition in the right way,” Conque said. “We’re waiting until our program will have four, five six years of maturity before we’re playing teams from the major conferences like the SEC and Big 12. We didn’t play teams like LSU and Texas A&M right out of the gate for the sake of a big payout. In that way, you end up, in my opinion, prostituting your players for money.” Conque, in his 10th year at UCA, is one win away from tying Harold Horton for the most victories by a UCA coach.
He said one of the keys that the UCA program has been the most successful in Arkansas for a decade is player development.
“I think that’s one of the things we have done best,” he said. “We don’t win many pregames. When Texas State takes the field Saturday, they will be larger, have more length and more athletic than we are, like most of our opponents are. But we have continued to win. Our staff has done more with less than any place I’ve ever been. We’ve got a sound program, and our players are playing at a high level — and they are graduating.”
During his tenure at UCA, Conque said he has served under three presidents, two interim president and six athletic directors.
“But every one of them has understood the importance of athletics,” Conque said. “I’m grateful for that and that has allowed us to build and sustain our program.”
He said recruiting, naturally, is a key element but, like other programs in Arkansas, UCA has expanded its tentacles to other states.
“We have to start in Arkansas, but the University of Arkansas will give five or six top recruits from the state every year,” he said. “We’ll battle Arkansas State on about 10 kids. Then, have to deal with Memphis, Louisiana Tech, Tulsa and Louisiana Monroe on an occasional athlete in the state. We’re got to cherry pick Texas, the Memphis area, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and we’re trying to expand our recruiting into Georgia. In a state of 2.1 million, there are not enough players in the state to sustain a Division I program.”
He gave two reasons.
One is Arkansas has only 10 days for spring football.
“Every high school in adjacent states have 15 days of spring practice,” Conque said. “Over the course of a high school career, it’s almost like a redshirt year for a lot of players.”
He said NCAA academic requirements, which involved the measuring stick of APR (Academic Progress Rate, which has accountability standards of graduation rates and progress to a degree) form another major issue.
“We have a lot of Division I athletes in the state, but so many don’t academically qualify for the Division I level with the increasing rules to remain eligible, which are much more stringent than the Division II level. That is probably the toughest challenge we have in sustaining our program,” Conque said.
Conque also made a plug for UCA’s partnership with the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau and the War Memorial Stadium Commission to bring the NCAA FCS championship game to Little Rock in 2011.
“War Memorial is not used like it used to be,” he said. “In 2011, the FCS game will be the night before the BCS national championship game. This would be exciting for our economy in central Arkansas and for football in this area and bring to a greater light FCS football. It will be great for the entire city to bring a game of that magnitude here.”
Conque noted that during his appearance last year before the club, he made a passionate pitch for in-state schools, including the University of Arkansas, to play each other.
“That (UCA playing the UA) will not happen on my watch or probably on your watch,” Conque told club members. “But it will eventually happen. I’m not going to make a crusade about this. But LSU has now scheduled games with Northwestern State and McNeese State, two teams in our conference. When LSU is doing it, it gets you to thinking.”
