Arkansas State: A Brief History

  

Arkansas State Red Wolves:

Starting in 1911, the Arkansas State Red Wolves have been very successful on several occasions and are the two-time defending Sun Belt Champions. The Red Wolves have an interesting and storied history.

First Season: 1911

Head Coach: Bryan Harsin

All-Time Record: 426-455-37

Bowl Record: 1-2 (New Orleans Bowl, GoDaddy.com Bowl 2X)

                   Playing Field: Liberty Bank Stadium (Capacity of 30,964)

Conference Affiliations:

• Independent (1911-1929, 1951-1963, 1987-1992, 1996-1998)
• Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference (1930-1950)
• Southland Conference (1964-1986)
• Big West Conference (1993-1995, 1999-2000)
• Sun Belt Conference (2001-Current)

Attendance: 20,768 (5-year average)

National Titles: None

Conference Titles:(9)

• 1968 Southland Conference Champions
• 1969 Southland Conference Champions
• 1970 Southland Conference Champions
• 1975 Southland Conference Champions
• 1978 Southland Conference Champions
• 1985 Southland Conference Champions
• 1986 Southland Conference Champions
• 2005 Sun Belt Conference Co-Champions
• 2011 Sun Belt Conference Champions
• 2012 Sun Belt Conference Champions

Trophy Games

• Paint Bucket Bowl (Versus Memphis): 23-29-5 Record
• Trail of Tears Classic (Versus ULM): 20-14 Record

Record Versus Rivals (20+ meetings):

• Louisiana: 21-23-2
• Louisiana-Monroe: 19-15
• Louisiana Tech: 12-26
• Memphis: 23-31-6
• Mississippi: 1-20-2
• North Texas: 14-8

Year-By-Year Record (Since 2001, Division I FBS Era, Joining the Sun Belt)

• 2001    2-9
• 2002    6-7
• 2003    5-7
• 2004    3-8
• 2005    6-6
• 2006    6-6
• 2007    5-7 
• 2008    6-6
• 2009    4-8
• 2010    4-8
• 2011    10-3
• 2012    10-3

Coaching/Team History:

Before getting into the FBS era, Arkansas State played 90 years of football. Arkansas State started its football program in 1911 with P.T. Parks being the inaugural head coach. Parks coached for two years winning 4 of his 6 total games during that time period. From the time Parks left after the 1912 season, the Red Wolves had 17 different coaches in the following 50 years. Of those coaches, only Herbert Schwartz (6 seasons, 18-20-6) and Forrest W. England (8 seasons, 48-22-9) stayed longer than four seasons with the program.

In 1963, Bennie Ellender took over the program for 8 years compiling a 52-20-4 overall record including Southland Conference titles in 1968, 1969, and 1970 with three straight trips to the Pecan Bowl. 1970 was the best of his seasons with a perfect 11-0 record on the season capped by a 38-21 win over Central Missouri State in the Pecan Bowl. Ellender then left for his alma mater, Tulane, where he never quite saw the success of his Arkansas State years.

Ellender was then replaced by Bill Davidson who also coached the Red Wolves for 8 seasons. Inheriting a talented team from Ellender, Davidson was able to win two more Southland Conference titles in 1975 and 1978. Davidson led the Red Wolves to an 11-0 record in 1975 but no postseason. Davidson retired following the 1978 season due to health problems on the heels of a conference title and Southland Coach of the Year award.

Following the retirement of Davidson, Arkansas State hired former Oklahoma defensive coordinator and 1978 volunteer assistant Larry Lacewell as head coach. Lacewell struggled during his first 5 seasons with a 6-5 season being his best effort. In 1984 things changed as the Red Wolves sprinted to an 8-4-1 record and the second round of the I-AA playoffs finishing #10 nationally. Lacewell followed that season up with a 9-4 record and another trip to the second round before breaking through with a 12-2-1 1986 season that ended with a 48-21 loss to Georgia Southern in the National Championship game. Lacewell again got the Red Wolves to the second round of the playoffs in 1987 followed by two subpar seasons in 1988 and 1989 before leaving to take the defensive coordinator job at Tennessee.

The next 12 seasons were very lean for the Red Wolves as Al Kincaid (2 seasons, 4-17-1), Ray Perkins (1 season, 2-9), John Bobo (4 seasons, 13-30-1), and Joe Hollis (5 seasons, 13-43) all struggled under the expectations of the previous years. There were major changes in the program as the Red Wolves went from I-AA independent to I-A independent to Big Sky Conference member to I-A independent again to Big Sky Conference again and finally to the Sun Belt in 2001. Hollis was not retained after a 2-9 first season in the Sun Belt.

After those rough years, the Red Wolves finally had some stability with a solid but new conference (Sun Belt) and a solid coach in Steve Roberts. Roberts was lured away from I-AA Northwestern State. Roberts had 9 solid seasons with the Red Wolves even winning the Sun Belt in 2005 (6-6, 5-2) before succumbing to Southern Mississippi in the New Orleans Bowl. Roberts resigned after the 2010 season saw the Red Wolves go 4-8 for the second consecutive season. Roberts compiled a 92-98-1 overall record with Arkansas State.

Looking to go in a different route, Arkansas State hired San Jose State offensive coordinator Hugh Freeze. Freeze was an immediately successful hire that led the Red Wolves to a 10-2 record and a trip to the GoDaddy.com bowl where they lost to Northern Illinois 38-20. Freeze did not coach in the bowl game instead taking the Ole Miss job.

With Freeze leaving after one season, the Red Wolves looked to make another splash and hired former Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn. The payoff was successful as Arkansas State won a second consecutive Sun Belt crown playing again in the GoDaddy.com bowl. This time they won, 17-13, over Kent State but again the head coach was already gone to the SEC as Malzahn took the Auburn job before the bowl game.

After losing head coaches in consecutive seasons, the Red Wolves hired former Boise State quarterback and 2011-2012 Texas co-offensive coordinator Brian Harsin as the 29th overall head coach. This is Harsin's first head coaching job.

All-Americans:

• Randy Barnhill, OG, 1986 (I-AA) AP, AFCA, FN
• Bill Bergey, LB, 1968. . . . . . . . . AP, AFCA
• Ray Brown, OT, 1985 (I-AA) . . . . . . . . FN
• Dan Buckley, C, 1969. . . . . . . . . . . . . . AP
• Carter Ray Crawford, NG, 1985 (I-AA) AP, AFCA, FN
• Carter Ray Crawford, NG, 1984 (I-AA) AP, AFCA, FN
• Wayne Dorton, OG, 1971. . . . . . . . . . . AP
• Frank Farella, OG, 1957. . . . . . . . . . NAIA
• Charlie Fredrick, DT, 1987 . AP, AFCA, FN
• Richie Woit, RB, 1953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . AP
• Tommy Spiers, QB, 1955 . . . . . . . . . NAIA
• Dan Summers, LB, 1965 . . . . . . . . . . . AP
• Dan Summers, LB, 1964 . . . . . . . . . . . AP
• Clovis Swinney, DT, 1969 . . . . . AP, AFCA
• Calvin Harrell, RB, 1970 . . . . . . . . . AFCA
• Calvin Harrell, RB, 1971 . . . . . . . . . AFCA
• T.J. Humphreys, OG, 1976 (Div. I) . . . . AP
• Garry Johnson, OT, 2002 . . . . . . . . . CFN
• Tyrell Johnson, S, 2007. . . . . . . . . . . CFN
• Ken Jones, OG, 1975 (Div. I) FWAA, TM, SN
• Doug Lowrey, OG, 1973 . . . . . . . . . AFCA
• Dennis Meyer, DB, 1971 . . . . . . AP, AFCA
• Bill Phillips, OG, 1970 . . . . . . . . . . . . . AP
• Jim Wiseman, C, 1987. . . . . . . . . . AP, FN

NFL Players:

• Alex Carrington, Defensive Tackle, Buffalo Bills
• Demario Davis, Linebacker, New York Jets
• Bryan Hall, Nose Tackle, Baltimore Ravens
• M. D. Jennings, Safety, Green Bay Packers
• David Johnson, Tight End, Pittsburgh Steelers
• Kelcie McCray, Safety, Miami Dolphins
• Derek Newton, Offensive Tackle, Houston Texans
• Corey Williams, Defensive Tackle, Detroit Lions
• Reggie Arnold, Running Back
• Fred Barnett, Wide Receiver
• Bill Bergey, Linebacker
• Maurice Carthon, Running Back
• Carlos Emmons, Linebacker
• Leroy Harris, Running Back
• Kyle Richardson, Punter
• Elbert Shelley, Defensive Back
• Bill Johnson, Running Back
• Cleo Lemon, Quarterback