Conaway Named New Shiloh Coach

SPRINGDALE -- Jeff Conaway will assume a lot of the same duties Josh Floyd had at Shiloh Christian.

However, there are a few things the Saints' new head football coach and athletic director won't be tasked with.

"Everything but giving his kids a bath," Conaway joked Tuesday en route to his first official day at Shiloh Christian.

Conaway was named Tuesday to replace Floyd, who resigned earlier this month to accept a similar position at Hewitt-Trussville, Ala. Conaway, who served as the offensive coordinator under Floyd before taking over as the head coach at Greene County Tech in 2008, will start his new job immediately.

"I'll get started in about 30 minutes," Conaway said as he drove up I-49 to Springdale from Paragould early Tuesday afternoon.

Floyd and Conaway were teammates and roommates at Ouachita Baptist University. When Floyd was named the head coach at Shiloh Christian in 2004 at the age of 24, Conaway was among his first hires.

He admitted that replacing a coach that won four state championships would be a daunting task.

"Josh is one of my best friends," Conaway said. "He's like a brother to me. He's a guy I admire and love to death. The foundation he laid here at Shiloh is enormous. No question he will be a very, very difficult guy to follow."

Conaway, who compiled a 26-37 record in six seasons at Greene County Tech, inherits a program that earned a playoff berth in the 5A-West Conference last season, and will move down to the 4A-1 Conference this season. The Saints return a number of skill position players from last year's team including standout receivers Reed Lowe and Adler Goode. He plans to continue to run the same, wide-open, no-huddle offensive attack that he and Floyd used together.

Greene County Tech was a playoff team twice under Conaway, but has experienced little football success historically. Conaway's 2009 team finished the season 8-4 and posted the school's only playoff win in program history.

Still, leaving his alma mater was difficult, Conaway said.

"That is the bitter part of this bitter-sweet decision," he said. "We have a lot of friends and family there. But we feel like the foundation we are leaving made this move a little easier."

Shiloh Christian president Ben Mayes said in a news release that Conaway was the perfect choice to replace the highly successful Floyd, who won 99 games in 10 seasons.

"After an exhaustive search, the leaders at Shiloh are convinced that Jeff Conaway is the right fit and has come to us at just the right time to lead Shiloh Christian Football and the Shiloh athletic programs as a whole," Mayes said. "Jeff knows our Shiloh culture and he loves the Shiloh family."

Conaway was scheduled to meet the team and the Shiloh Christian community Tuesday night. This year's seniors were sixth graders when he was an assistant coach at the school.

He will immediately be tasked with replacing both the offensive and defensive coordinators at the school. Austin Tucker and Adam Caine announced on Monday they would be joining Floyd's staff in Alabama. Conaway said he will begin the interview process to fill those two key positions this week.

"I got to coach Austin and I know Adam," Conaway said. "To lose them is difficult. I'm going to bring in a couple of guys I feel confident about. We've begun the interview process, but we've got some work to do before we finalize both of those titles."

The Saints will move into their inactive period after this week, and will host the annual Southwest Elite 7-on-7 tournament July 11-12. Shiloh Christian opens the football season against defending Class 3A state champion Charleston and 4-star quarterback Ty Storey on Sept. 4 at Mayo-Thompson Stadium in Fort Smith.

Sports on 06/18/2014