Huckeba's final bow quite a run

SEARCY -- The last football link to the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference greeted a visitor with a wide smile while grasping a cup of coffee as his day was getting started earlier this week.

Harding Coach Ronnie Huckeba had planned to get to his office on the Searcy campus at 8:30 that morning, but with the biggest game in school history looming, the veteran coach arrived early.

"You sure you know what you're getting into?" he cracked to a curious visitor who wanted a peek inside the process that has produced the best season of any of Arkansas' six Division II teams.

Huckeba is in his final days in the only profession he's known since his playing career as an offensive lineman at Harding ended in 1976. He announced before the season he would leave coaching and move into the university's fundraising arm when it concluded, which will end a 40-year coaching career.

Huckeba -- who has coached in the AIC, the Lone Star, Gulf South and Great American conferences -- had a hunch this year would be special before he announced his retirement. Turns out, he was right.

The Bisons, ranked fifth nationally, are 13-0 and in the Division II quarterfinals for the first time. They play No. 1 and defending national champion Northwest Missouri State at 1 p.m. Saturday.

If Harding wins, it could host a Division II semifinal game. If it loses, it'll be Huckeba's final game as Harding head coach -- a position he's held for 10 seasons -- and on the Harding staff -- of which he's been a part for 31 years.

But imminent change is hard to detect inside the Ganus Activities Complex, the command center for a consistent football progression over the past seven seasons.

Huckeba lets his assistants -- most of whom are devoted Harding alumni -- do their work, rarely even popping in to disrupt a meeting. He takes care of administrative duties -- finalizing a bus itinerary was first up Wednesday -- then stoically watches over practice.

"To say Coach Huck is a not a micro-manager is a huge understatement," co-offensive coordinator Matt Underwood said.

But it's a process that works for the Bisons, who for the first time since leaving the NAIA 22 years ago have become a player on the Division II stage.

Coaches say they got there because of a switch to the Flexbone triple-option offense, more focused recruiting strategies and a dedication to a general message in which the entire staff believes.

"We look for really good people, and we have high expectations," Huckeba said. "Good people that are talented, that are well-coached have got a great chance to win."

The success hasn't caused Huckeba to second guess his retirement. There's been no emotional reactions when the topic comes up, which he said has been almost daily since August.

"It may hit me with a sledgehammer when it's over with," he said. "But, right now, it's just been business as usual."

His departure will come almost seven years after a philosophical change allowed Harding to become what he's always wanted it to be.

Huckeba had finished his second full season as head coach in December 2009 when he flipped on a bowl game and saw Navy play Missouri.

The Bisons had finished 5-6 that year, somewhat better than the 2-9 they were the year before. Huckeba knew he wanted to make changes, but specifics weren't clear.

Then he watched Navy run its triple-option offense for 385 yards against a Big 12 team in a 35-13 victory.

"There is not a guy on Navy's team that can start for Missouri," Huckeba said. "And I'm like, 'That's Harding. That's what we need to do.' "

Huckeba had coached the triple option in his early years as a high school coach in Louisiana, but passing offenses gained popularity in the mid-80s. When he took over at Harding in 2007, the Bisons were a multiple offense. In 2008-09, they were "air raid," ranking second in Division II in passing in 2008 during the 2-9 season.

"We couldn't run the ball when we needed to," he said.

So Huckeba had Kenny Wheaton, an old coaching friend, teach his coaches the Flexbone triple option and installed it the next spring. Wheaton, who lives in Bismarck and makes the four-hour round trip three times each week, stayed on as a volunteer coach and play-caller.

They won six games in 2010. Injuries and turnovers led to a 4-7 finish in 2011. They went 9-2 in 2012 and reached the playoffs for the first time. They won nine more in 2013 and 2014, with 2014 ending in another playoff appearance. The Bisons were 7-4 last season.

With only one player even invited to an NFL camp, they've finished fourth or better in rushing each season since the transition, including a school-record and Division II-best 381.5 yards per game this year.

Huckeba acknowledges that life at Harding, a liberal arts college affiliated with the Church of Christ, isn't comparable to life at a military academy. But there are similarities in that neither school recruits from the same pool as most state schools.

Huckeba acknowledges the differences between Harding and other places, due to midnight curfews during the week and mandatory daily chapel attendance. That's not to say Harding doesn't have a "knucklehead or two," as defensive coordinator Paul Simmons puts it.

"The focus of the university is very clear," he said. "We are able to recruit a lot of people who are looking for what we have."

It's helped in assembling his coaching staff, too.

Wheaton is the only coach at Harding who didn't play for the Bisons. Simmons, who will become head coach as soon as this season is over, played defensive end from 1991-94. Underwood finished as a quarterback in 2002, when the team went 9-2 but missed the Division II playoffs.

Luke Cullins, wide receivers coach, was a quarterback in the late 1990s; Luke Tribble, who coaches defensive backs, was a defensive back and finished in 2010; Roddy Motte, who directs special teams, was a quarterback in the 1980s; and Kevin Chism, a volunteer who coaches the offensive line, was a defensive end who finished in 2000.

"The winning just affirms all the things that we preach," Simmons said. "Be selfless, put your teammates first, commit, buy in, be a warrior in your spirit. Those lessons hit home a lot more when it ends up with good results."

On Nov. 12, a few hours after a 42-7 victory over Arkansas Tech wrapped up an undefeated regular season, Harding hosted a reception for Huckeba that was attended by about 300 former players, coaches and supporters. Underwood, who grew up in Searcy and attended Harding Academy, called it one of the "most special moments that we've ever had here."

"To know that this team has made a lot of people happy, that gives us a lot of joy," Underwood said. "It's really special for us as alums and guys who love this program, who never got to experience this."

To Huckeba and his assistants, Harding is their ceiling.

"This is our big time," Underwood said.

"This is our destination job," Simmons said. "I want to be buried in this town. I want to die right here. I want to work here the rest of my life."

Simmons said he turned down a job not long ago that would have increased his salary by $200,000.

Huckeba, in 2003, weighed an offer to be on John Thompson's staff at East Carolina.

"As much as I loved him, it was not a good fit for us," Huckeba said.

So Huckeba stayed, took over early in the 2007 season and eventually led the Bisons to where he insists has always been the goal, despite years of coming up short against better-funded programs in the Gulf South.

"We had no doubt we would get to this point," he said.

Now that Harding is there, Huckeba is leaving, turning over his program to one of his closest assistants. Huckeba was Simmons' position coach and also preached at his wedding.

Before the change, Harding will play a football game in December for just the fifth time in school history, which is a testament to the philosophies that they lived as players and instill as coaches.

"I've said it many times before: We don't believe that God cares about the outcome of a football game," Huckeba said. "But He does care about people, and we've been very blessed with all the things that have happened this year."

Sports on 12/02/2016