In a summer that has seen plenty of changes throughout collegiate conferences, with more on the horizon, the Lone Star Conference experienced its first set of changes on Tuesday.
The simple fact that LSC Football Media Days were held in San Antonio is a change in itself, and one that seemed to be warmly accepted around the conference.
The addition of the University of the Incarnate Word to the LSC highlighted Tuesday’s event, which was held on the UIW campus and also featured all 14 head coaches as they addressed the media and colleagues.
LSC Commissioner Stan Wagnon said the addition of Incarnate Word, and the presence of San Antonio will immediately bring a positive impact to the conference.
“San Antonio is obviously a big part of the state of Texas and in higher education, that holds true because there are more high school students coming out of San Antonio than any other part of the country,” Wagnon said. “It helps not only Incarnate Word, but the other schools in our conference. It will help all of our schools get more exposure in this market. Also with the population down here, there are a lot of alumni that live down here in San Antonio or in this part of the state. It’s going to give all of our schools a chance to reconnect with our alumni. So we’re just really excited about having them on board.”
After finishing 5-5 in its first season since adding football, UIW is looking for even more success, but second-year head coach Mike Santiago knows it won’t be easy.
“It’s a little unnerving right now to think that two years ago we didn’t have helmets or jerseys and now we’re getting ready to line up against the best conference in the nation,” Santiago said. “But we’re not there yet. We’re getting there. It’s a process and we’re not going to cheat the process.”
While many of the head coaches around the league echoed the sentiments of expecting to compete and win with every game, Santiago says – with a team full of mainly sophomores – he must take a different approach.
“Honestly, we don’t even talk about it,” Santiago said. “What we talk about is getting better every time we come out. If I start talking to these guys about winning and losing . . . I don’t know what’s going to happen. I know we’re going in with nothing but sophomores and guys with just one year of experience. So we know it’s going to be tough. But I’m as excited as I can be because I know we’re going in the right direction.”
Last year, UIW was an independent team but still played three games against LSC opponents, finishing 1-2, including a win over East Central and a heartbreaking loss to Eastern New Mexico in a game the Cardinals led in the final minutes.
But ask both Santiago, and UIW athletic director Mark Papich which game stands out the most, and they both pointed towards a 48-7 loss to Midwestern State, which ended up in a three-way tie for the LSC title and advanced to the NCAA playoffs.
“Against Midwestern, that opening drive, we were right there in position to score had we not lost the ball,” Papich said. “Now that might have woken them up a little. But that game showed our guys that we can hang in there for a while with one of our best teams.”
In fact, Santiago said he knew by the third quarter when MSU pulled away to a 28-7 lead, that his team had nothing left.
“I told one of our assistant coaches, ‘we’re done.’” Santiago said. “These were freshman. They’re young kids and they were spent. They gave all they had and it showed.”
But despite the lopsided final score, Santiago said he saw progress. It carried over into a different attitude the next week in practice and then eventually into the games.
After losing to MSU, the Cardinals lost a tough road game to Langston (Okla.) 17-14, but then went on a roll, winning four straight games, including a dramatic 38-35 overtime finish over Oklahoma Panhandle after trailing 35-7 late in the third quarter.
“Our kids never gave up last year,” Santiago said. “And that’s why I’m very excited about what we’re doing here this year. We’ve got a good group of kids and we’re still learning. We’ve got a ways to go but we’ll keep fighting.”
In his press conference Tuesday, Santiago even joked about his team’s youth, stating the football budget was approved to buy razors for his players, suggesting his young guys are finally “old enough to shave.”
Certainly, the Cardinals have a ways to go before they can fully compete with the top teams in the LSC.
“I hear a lot of these coaches here today talk about rebuilding. Well, we’re still building. And that’s an exciting thing for us. We know last year we played with young kids, but we competed. We got beat up a few times, but we got beat up mostly at the end of games. I’m excited about seeing us improve this year.”