ASU still courting central Arkansas


Kevin Crass, Chairman of the War Memorial Stadium Commission, left, talks with ASU football coach Bryan Harsin during an ASU athletics department press conference at the stadium Wednesday afternoon.
Kevin Crass, Chairman of the War Memorial Stadium Commission, left, talks with ASU football coach Bryan Harsin during an ASU athletics department press conference at the stadium Wednesday afternoon.

— Gus Malzahn spent much of his 12 months as Arkansas State’s football coach trying to spread the Red Wolves’ brand into central Arkansas and other parts of the state.

Malzahn may be gone, having taken over at Auburn in December after his only season in Jonesboro resulted in ASU’s second consecutive Sun Belt Conference championship, but the vision remains the same.

“That model, that wouldn’t change,” said Bryan Harsin, ASU’s new football coach.

Harsin, Athletic Director Terry Mohajir and other ASU officials spent Wednesday in Little Rock, being recognized at the state capitol for the team’s achievements last season and speaking at a news conference at War Memorial Stadium.

The Red Wolves were honored by the state Legislature for their 10-3 season that ended with the school’s first bowl victory as an FBS member.

Later, in a second-floor suite at War Memorial, Harsin spoke about his first recruiting class - a group of 20 players was finalized two weeks ago - as well as a coaching staff that he completed a day after signing day and spring practice, which begins March 11.

“The vision, the direction, we feel very good about,” Harsin said. “We’re excited about our future and are excited about where we’re headed.”

Mohajir praised Harsin’s handling of the recruiting process and the hiring of his staff, which includes “up-andcomers” like quarterbacks coach Bush Hamdan, who is just 27, and veterans such as defensive line coach Steve Caldwell, the former University of Arkansas assistant who has been coaching in collegesince 1978.

“If you get around these guys in the spring, you’re going to really be thrilled and you’re going to see we’ve got a good, quality bunch of guys,” Mohajir said. “Pretty impressive.”

The two also touched on how ASU wants to build on the momentum gained from back-to-back 10 victory seasons. Mohajir’s strategy includes building a “statewide presence, not just Little Rock” that will attract fans to Jonesboro for nonconference games against premier opponents.

ASU announced earlier this month a home-and-home series with Missouri. ASU will play in Columbia, Mo., this season with the Tigers scheduled to play in Jonesboro in 2015, but Mohajir has said that game could be moved to 2014 depending on Sun Belt Conference scheduling.

It’s a blueprint that Mohajir said allowed midmajor programs Boise State and TCU to evolve into teams regularly ranked among the top 25 and in line for BCS bowl games.

“When coaches in the South talk about the next Boise of the South, I don’t think they realized what they meant,” Mohajir said. “They just wanted to be good, but they don’t look at the blueprint of how they got good. ... They went and beat people at places they weren’t supposed to win.”

Mohajir also was asked about ASU’s future in theSun Belt, a league that is losing football members North Texas, Middle Tennessee, Florida Atlantic and Florida International to Conference USA on July 1. Georgia State, Texas State and non-football member Texas-Arlington will join the league the same day.

“We have to look at what conference is best for us, to give us the opportunity to play in one of the BCS games, and that’s our goal,” he said. “We’re in the competition business. ... We’re looking at everything. When it comes to conference alignment, what makes the most sense for us, we’re evaluating it on a daily basis.”

Wednesday’s appearance was Harsin’s first trip to Little Rock, and he echoed Mohajir’s comments that Little Rock and the rest of the state are important parts of ASU’s future.

ASU’s football team last played in Little Rock in 2006. The Red Wolves don’t have any games scheduled there, but Harsin and Mohajir said that possibility will be evaluated yearly and that ASU’s presence can grow even without games in central Arkansas.

“That’s the one thing we’ve got to do is provide faces and provide a vision and a direction of what your plans are so people understand what you’re trying to get done and trying to accomplish,” Harsin said. “The best way to do that is in person. The will happen in recruiting, do some speaking engagements. All those things will fit into our model.”

Sports, Pages 17 on 02/21/2013

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