Scott Conley (born December 24, 1947) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach. He is the director for football operations at

Arkansas State University Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage la ...

, a position he has held since 2021. Conley served as the head football coach at Trinity Valley Community College in

Athens, Texas Athens is a city and the county seat of Henderson County, Texas, Henderson County, Texas, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population was 12,857. The city has called itself the "black-eyed pea, Blac ...

from 1996 to 1999 and Texas A&M University–Commerce from 2004 to 2008. At Trinity Valley he won a NJCAA National Football Championship and was named NJCAA National Coach of the Year in 1997. From 2009 to 2017, Conley was assistant athletic director for football operations and on-campus recruiting coordinator at University of North Texas, working under three head coaches, Todd Dodge, Dan McCarney, and Seth Littrell.

Early life

Conley was a standout athlete at

Winnsboro High School Winnsboro High School is a public high school located in the city of Winnsboro, Texas, United States and classified as a 3A school by the University Interscholastic League (UIL). It is a part of the Winnsboro Independent School District located i ...

and accepted a scholarship from the

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

College Station, Texas College Station is a city in Brazos County, Texas, situated in East-Central Texas in the heart of the Brazos Valley, towards the eastern edge of the region known as the Texas Triangle. It is northwest of Houston and east-northeast of Austin. ...

, where he played on the freshmen varsity in 1966 before transferring to East Texas State (now Texas A&M University–Commerce). He graduated from East Texas State with a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1970 and later a master's degree in higher education. He then became assistant coach at the high school level. In 1977, he served as

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

on the Plano Senior High School squad that won a 4A state championship.

Early college coaching career

Conley moved up to the collegiate ranks, becoming running backs coach under Tom Wilson at Texas A&M in 1980, coaching three future

NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

picks over two seasons. After Wilson was fired in 1982, Conley moved on to coach the running backs at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

under coach

Fred Akers Fred Akers (March 17, 1938 – December 7, 2020) was an American college football player and coach. He served as head football coach at the University of Wyoming (1975–1976), the University of Texas at Austin (1977–1986), and Purdue Universit ...

. During his five-year tenure with the Longhorns, the team won the

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...

championship in 1983, and Conley's linebackers featured two All-Americans and five NFL Draft picks. After successive one-year stints the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

in 1987, the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

in 1988, and

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

in 1989, Conley spent three seasons, from 1990 to 1992 as an assistant the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

. Following three seasons as an assistant at Howard Payne University, Conley got his first head coaching position at Trinity Valley Community College in

in 1996. In 1997, he guided the Cardinals to a perfect 12–0 season, including a

Red River Bowl The Red River Bowl is an annual NJCAA college football bowl game played in Bedford, Texas. Trinity Valley Community College (TVCC) defeated Coffeyville Community College Coffeyville Community College (CCC) is a community college located in C ...

victory over Garden City Community College. He was named the NJCAA National Coach of the Year and ''American Football Quarterly'' Junior College Coach of the Year. Conley left Trinity Valley in 2000 for the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

, where he coached the special teams for two years before moving into private business.

Texas A&M–Commerce

In December 2003, Conley was introduced at his alma mater, Texas A&M University–Commerce, as the school's 17th head football coach after former coach, Eddie Brister announced his retirement. Conley had a tall order as the Lions were coming off their one of their worst seasons in school history and a stagnant offense. Conley brought Valdosta State transfer quarterback Buster Faulkner to Commerce and he led the Lone Star Conference in passing. Conley fielded competitive teams during his tenure in Commerce, but in his five years worked for four athletic directors and had three teams that went 5–5, with the only championship of any kind coming in 2007 as the Lions won the North Division of the Lone Star Conference. After finishing 5–5 again in 2008, Conley was relieved of his duties and replaced by former

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

coach Guy Morriss.

North Texas

Conley was named the director of football operations at the University of North Texas in the spring of 2009.

Head coaching record

Junior college

College

References

External links

Utah State profile

Arkansas State profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conley, Scott 1947 births Living people Arkansas Razorbacks football coaches Arkansas State Red Wolves football coaches Howard Payne Yellow Jackets football coaches Kansas Jayhawks football coaches Navy Midshipmen football coaches North Texas Mean Green football coaches Rice Owls football coaches Tennessee Volunteers football coaches Texas A&M Aggies football coaches Texas A&M Aggies football players Texas A&M–Commerce Lions football coaches Texas Longhorns football coaches Trinity Valley Cardinals football coaches Utah State Aggies football coaches High school football coaches in Texas People from Winnsboro, Texas Coaches of American football from Texas Players of American football from Texas