The newest football coaching staff at the University of Central Arkansas isn't unfamiliar.
Nearly the entire offensive staff used to play quarterback for the Bears.
Ken Collums, the offensive coordinator, led UCA to the 1991 NAIA national championship as a freshman. Ryan Howard, the wide receivers and special teams coach, ranks fifth in career passing touchdowns at UCA in 2012-2014. Taylor Reed, the running backs coach, was Howard's backup.
The only exceptions are tight ends coach Brooks Hollingsworth, a UCA Sports Hall of Fame offensive lineman in 1977-1980, and offensive line coach Gunnar Boykin.
"I think there is something to be said for it," said first-year UCA head coach Nathan Brown, a three-time All-American quarterback for the Bears in 2005-2008. "They put a lot of extra passion and energy to the job, because this is their home. This is where they went to class, shed the blood, sweat and tears and all that. They're going to recruit to that program. They're wearing that across their chest."
The new staff is following one of the most successful UCA seasons since the program jumped to the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision in 2006.
In 2017, the Bears won its first undefeated Southland Conference championship and entered the FCS playoffs 10-1, having only lost 55-19 to Big 12 opponent Kansas State. UCA was ranked as high as No. 3 in the FCS polls, and the program earned its first national seed at No. 4 overall in the playoffs.
After a 21-15 loss to New Hampshire in the second round, former head coach Steve Campbell left to coach South Alabama and took six assistant coaches with him.
Brown, who had been the offensive coordinator for four seasons, was named UCA's head coach Dec. 9.
"When I had the opportunity to try and get this job," Brown said, "one thing I wanted to make sure was I never wanted to be the convenient coach. I wanted to be the right choice. I gave them my vision, the things we've done great here. Recruiting. I also gave what my vision is for the future, taking us to the next level. It needs to be a national championship football team. I believe we've got the pieces in place."
UCA was picked to finish third in the conference's preseason poll, and the Bears return 8 starters (3 on offense, 5 on defense). The team will have to replace former quarterback Hayden Hildebrand, last season's Southland Conference Player of the Year.
Brown said Conway-native Breylin Smith is the frontrunner.
Smith, a 6-3, 210-pound sophomore, was 3-of-7 passing for 78 yards and a touchdown in 6 games last season, and Brown said the coaching staff had to pinch itself watching Smith during spring practice because the former Wampus Cat "looked like a two- to three-year starter."
"Players gravitate toward him," Brown said. "What I consider him to have is the 'it factor.' You're just born with it. Braylin Smith has that. He wants the ball in his hands in tight situations."
So confident is the UCA coaching staff in Smith, they ignored "numerous" calls about transfer quarterbacks who wanted to play for the Bears.
"We did not field those calls," Brown said. "We felt like we did a good job recruiting, where we feel like we have quality depth."
Junior Kirk Baugh and true freshman BeSean McCray -- an Orlando, Fla., native with "true 4.4" speed -- are also in the quarterback competition.
The Bears return one starter on the offensive line, and the team lost All-Southland tackle John Cook, who used his final year of eligibility as a graduate transfer to South Alabama.
There is more experience in the run game.
Junior running back Carlos Blackman was named preseason first-team all-conference after rushing for 787 yards and 9 touchdowns in 2017.
Blackman said Brown recruited him at Gosnell High School, winning him over with persistence by showing up to his high school basketball game.
"I had talked to him on the phone, and he told me he was going to come watch me play," Blackman said. "Sure enough, he was in the stands."
Blackman, 6-1, 228, said the connection helped during the coaching transition.
"Not much is changing for me," he said. "I'm still comfortable with Coach Brown and what he does."
Brown said he is maintaining the 3-4 defensive scheme with first-year defensive coordinator Max Thurmond, who coached linebackers at Austin Peay the past two seasons.
"We're able to keep a lot of the same terminology, vision that we've had here that's been so successful," said Brown.
In 2017, UCA ranked 14th in the FCS in scoring defense (17.5 points allowed per game) and 24th in total defense (318.8 yards allowed per game).
The defensive line "is as good as anybody in the country," Brown said.
All-Southland junior defensive end Chris Terrell led the conference with 20 tackles for loss in 2017, when he ranked second with 11 sacks and fourth with 3 forced fumbles.
The other end spot will be filled by senior Cardell Best, who earned a medical redshirt after missing all of last season with a foot injury.
All together, Blackman said he believes the team can build on last year, and "we can possibly win a championship."
It would be the first championship since 1991, and Brown believes the program can get there.
This coaching staff would know. They know the program better than anyone else.
Sports on 08/26/2018