After nine seasons with Clint Ashcraft as head football coach, a new person will be roaming the sidelines this fall to lead the Conway Wampus Cats.
Keith Fimple, 47, an assistant at Springdale Har-Ber, was hired as Ashcraft’s replacement April 23.
Ashcraft is now the athletic director for the Conway School District, replacing Steve Daniels, who retired. Ashcraft was hired as athletic director in March.
Ashcraft said he wanted to become an athletic director during his teaching and coaching career.
“It is something I wanted to do on the tail end of my career,” he said. “This is the longest we’ve ever lived in one place. We’ve got some roots here, and we like it here. I like the school and the people I work for and with.”
Ashcraft said he would ideally liked to have coached a few more years.
“I’m not a person that says timing isn’t the right deal. … You can’t control timing,” he said. “I knew whoever they hired would be here a long time as athletic director. If I didn’t try for it, then it may not roll back around before the end of my career. I applied for it and went through the process and was fortunate enough to get it.”
During his coaching career, Ashcraft has worked as an assistant at Greenbrier, Arkansas Tech University in Russellville,
Watson Chapel in Pine Bluff and Newport. He was head coach at Siloam Springs before coming to Conway, where he had a record of 68-37.
“It’s going to be tough when the fall rolls around,” Ashcraft said of not coaching football. “It was just one of those deals that if you didn’t jump then, you probably weren’t going to be able to jump.”
Ashcraft, a 1993 graduate of Watson Chapel High School, and his wife, Alissa, have three children: Caden, 14; Caleigh Jo, 12; and Coleson, 10.
Conway is Fimple’s first head-coaching job, but he’s no stranger to the people in Conway. He’s previously been an assistant at El Dorado, Fort Smith Southside, Fayetteville and Springdale Har-Ber. He’s coached against the Wampus Cats on numerous occasions.
“I’ve known Coach Fimple a long time,” Ashcraft said. “He’s somebody that during the season, we’d talk often, ask questions, share ideas. He was somebody I wanted to spend time with outside of clinics, just visiting and talking football. So I knew how good of a coach he was. For me, it was an easy decision.”
Fimple was one of 18 applicants for the position.
“A lot of people called and felt things out without putting their name out there, which is kind of how it is these days,” Ashcraft said. “We talked to a bunch of guys.”
Fimple is a 1990 graduate of Alma High School. He played football at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia. He was a graduate assistant, then a full-time assistant in 1997 and 1998 before going to work at El Dorado.
The past four years, Fimple has coached at Springdale Har-Ber, where he’s been both the offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator.
“I haven’t had much problem as an assistant finding a job,” he said. “Those are really good places that were or are in the largest classification in the state of Arkansas. To get to coach great kids and be at great places with traditions is something to hang your hat on.”
Fimple said he had been interested in becoming a head coach for a while but never found the right fit.
“I didn’t want to move my family nine or 10 times, going over here to get this job and coming back somewhere,” he said. “I have a daughter who is 14 and a son who is 8. I always take those people into consideration in anything I wanted to do.”
Fimple and his wife, D’Ann, have daughter Leah Grace and son Brock.
Fimple said he believed leaving Southside and going to Northwest Arkansas might be good for him to find the right head-coaching spot.
“I just never quite found that fit that I was looking for,” he said. “I did turn down a job. The Lord always has a path. That is a motto that I keep. We don’t usually know, but it will come to you out of nowhere.”
When the Conway job came open, Fimple said, he was interested but dragged his feet.
“One day, my wife and I were up early, drinking coffee,” he said. “She told me straight to my face, ‘You’ve been able to accomplish what you’ve wanted to as an assistant. The only thing you haven’t been able to do is be a head coach.’ The next day, I got a phone call from Conway about the job itself. It doesn’t take many people to figure out that there’s a path there.”
After Fimple was hired at Conway, he said, it was a whirlwind for him.
“You’re going to meet people. … You’re going to see people,” he said. “You’re going to figure out the kids that you have, which we have 140.”
He said he went home back to Northwest Arkansas and sat down with his family and “just concentrated.”
“Everything slowed down,” he said, figuring out what he wanted to do the first few weeks in Conway.
“The first week was the coaches and the staff and the kids,” Fimple said. “I wanted to make sure I got them back into spring ball, because when you’re out there on the football field, transitions happen a lot quicker. They were back at home.”
The second week was meeting the community.
“I’ve had coffee with coaches in the mornings, and what I mean by that is, I’ve had certain groups come in and drink coffee with me,” Fimple said. “I’d introduce myself to them.”
The third week was focusing on the culture and what can be done in Conway.
“You’ll find that Conway has a really strong tradition, and you’re going to find that a lot of people were born here, went to school here and went to UCA (the University of Central Arkansas) and work here,” Fimple said. “That’s what I’ve run into quite a bit.”
Since Fimple has a defensive-coaching background, he said, there will be some things different on that side of the ball.
“Realistically, we’re transitioning a little bit on defense,” he said. “That’s kind of been my background for 20 years. We’re going to do some different things on defense that our personnel feel can give us a little bit of an edge because of who we have.”
Offensively, Fimple said, not much will change with offensive coordinator Brian Raney, who came to Conway with Ashcraft.
“I’ve always had to defend those guys … it’s been difficult,” Fimple said of coaching defense against Conway. “Coaches Scott Schwartz and Marquis Rogers are still on offense, and they are a solid unit.
“I’ve pretty much put what he wants and what he does in his hands,” Fimple said of Raney.
Staff writer Mark Buffalo can be reached at (501) 399-3676 or mbuffalo@arkansasonline.com.