New day, coach and era at ASU

Interim Arkansas State coach John Thompson (center) celebrates the Red Wolves’ victory in the GoDaddy.com Bowl on Sunday with Kyle Coleman (12) and others. Thompson now returns to his duties as defensive coordinator for new coach Bryan Harsin.
Interim Arkansas State coach John Thompson (center) celebrates the Red Wolves’ victory in the GoDaddy.com Bowl on Sunday with Kyle Coleman (12) and others. Thompson now returns to his duties as defensive coordinator for new coach Bryan Harsin.

— John Thompson stepped to the podium inside Ladd-Peebles Stadium late Sunday night amid applause from a few Arkansas State supporters with about 30 minutes remaining in his stint as ASU’s interim coach.

The 10 minutes or so Thompson spent in front of reporters marked the end of a month-long journey that included keeping the team and staff together following the departure of Gus Malzahn and culminated with a 17-13 victory over Kent State in Sunday night’s GoDaddy. com Bowl.

Thompson, whose only other stint as a college head coach was during the 2003-2004 seasons at East Carolina, spent part of his final moments as ASU’s coach talking about a defense that delivered the bowl victory and his appreciation for the opportunity. Then he spoke glowingly about ASU’s future, one that seems about as bright now as it has been since moving back to the Football Bowl Subdivision in 1992.

“This is a good thing,” said Thompson, who was named ASU’s interim coach Dec. 5 after Malzahn left for Auburn. “I’m proud to be an Arkansan, and I’m proud to be an Arkansas State man. ... We’re going to keep rolling. This is going to help us looking forward to the next chapter.”

Now Thompson willingly slides back into his role as defensive coordinator. Bryan Harsin officially took over as ASU’s coach Monday, becoming the fourth non-interim coach to lead the Red Wolves since November 2010.

Unlike Malzahn, who took over following a surprising 10-3 season in 2011, or Hugh Freeze, who was promoted from offensive coordinator following a 4-8 season in 2010, Harsin will take over a program at its apex. ASU is 15-1 in Sun Belt Conference games over the past two seasons and just completed a season in which it beat three teams that played in bowl games. ASU also finished just outside of the top 25, earning points in The Associated Press’ final poll.

“Our guys have a lot of belief in what we’re doing,” Thompson said. “We’ve got a lot of momentum.”

Harsin’s challenge will be restocking a team that loses a senior class that pushed ASU to sights not seen in more than two decades in Jonesboro. Eleven seniors started their final game Sunday.

What ASU has, though, is a two-year pattern of winning that started in Freeze’s year as coach and carried over into 2012, when the Red Wolves repeated as Sun Belt champion.

“They know how to win,” senior quarterback Ryan Aplin said. “That was something that took a couple of years to find out what it took. Once we found out, we rolled with it.”

Aplin’s departure leaves the biggest void. He holds 25 single-game, season or career school records and is the Sun Belt’s all-time leader in total offense (12,514), passing yards (10,758) and completions (909).

ASU has f ive returning quarterbacks, including freshman Fredi Knighten, who played the most among the group this season and completed 3 of 5 passes for 44 yards in 8 games.

Running back David Oku returns after running for 1,061 yards and 16 touchdowns this season, along receiver with J.D. McKissic (103 receptions) and three starters on the offensive line.

Oku perked up Sunday night when asked what the victory, the school’s first over a top 25 team, can do for next season.

“That’s momentum you can use rolling forward,” he said. “It’s also going to help this school with recruiting and things like that, too.”

Oku should be a focal point again for an offense that will have its fourth coordinator in five seasons.

Harsin, who was co-offensive coordinator the past two seasons at Texas, has not named an offensive coordinator and has two positions on his staff left to fill. Harsin said Friday that he’ll round out a staff that includes a mix of ASU holdovers and coaches he’s worked with at Texas and Boise State “when the time is right.”

Harsin said he still hasn’t gotten to know his returning personnel, but he learned quite a bit this weekend while taking in practices and Sunday’s game from the sideline.

“What they’ve done has been good,” he said. “They’ve been successful, and we can do some things to make that better.”

Sports, Pages 19 on 01/09/2013

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