WKU has been in the Sun Belt for a long, long time. In all that time WKU has numerous conference championships, and records, but none in football. In 2001 the Sun Belt became an all sports league by adding football. Seven teams forged a new alliance, but their old partner WKU was not a member choosing to remain a 1AA independent. Over the last six seasons there have been additions and subtractions in the league and now WKU, a Sun Belt favorite, has made a commitment to move into the league as a 1A competitor for the 2008 season. With the addition of WKU the Sun Belt secures a 9th team, and an eight game conference schedule. Western gets a home, and an opportunity for a bowl game.Cajunredzone had an opportunity to speak with WKU head coach David Elson. Coach Elson has been with WKU for eleven seasons in one capacity or another and has some interesting views on 1A football, along with McNeese, and UL memories.
CRZ: Coach Elson Western Kentucky has been a member of the Sun Belt for quite a long time, how long have you been WKU?
Elson: I have been at WKU for eleven years, four as head coach. I am entering my fifth year as head coach here.
CRZ: Did you start your coaching career at WKU?
Elson: No, I was a graduate assistant at Southern Illinois University for two years and then moved to Western, and have been here ever since, except for a two month stay at West Virginia after which I came back to WKU as head coach.
CRZ: So you were on the coaching staff the year Western won the 1AA National Championship?
Elson: Yes I was the defensive coordinator in 2001 and 2002, and we won the championship in 2002.
CRZ: There was a Louisiana team named McNeese that wanted that championship I believe? And you beat them for that championship, didn't you?
Elson: That's right, exactly right, I remember it well. We had come down to McNeese earlier that year and they had put a real whipping on us during the regular season. Thirty eight to twelve or something like that? It was a real wake up call for us and we had to really turn things around. We knew what we were going to be in for during that championship game. And you know they say it is hard to beat a good team twice in one year, and luckily for us it worked out that way.
CRZ: Coach WKU has made a commitment to 1A football. Can you tell the Cajunredzone readers what went into that decision?
Elson: Well it really started with the conference re-alignment. The ACC and all that movement. The MAC lost a couple of schools, and they sent out feelers to some schools, and we were one of them. That information got out into the media, and it got the ball rolling, and people talking and of course us being in the Sun Belt in all other sports we started researching it. Our administration did a phenomenal job of really being through and patient. Finding out about schools that made this move, how they made it, and about the good things and the bad things. Ultimately President Ransdell made the final decision to take it to the board of regents. It just made sense, WKU wants to do everything at the highest level, and competing in 1A football is the highest level, it just made sense with the universities vision, and philosophy, We are excited about it.
CRZ: Was part of the reason to hold off on the decision to make sure WKU basketball had all of it's facilities completely up to par so to speak? The football stadium needed a complete refurbishment I understand?
Elson: Yes, we have gone though an unbelievable transformation with all of our athletic facilities, and the football stadium is the final piece of that puzzle. We did it though tuition increases and state funding, and so that is underway. Really that was going to be done regardless, our president and athletic director had a commitment to rebuilding the campus and our facilities, and being in the Sun Belt just made sense. We are going to have what I think is one of the nicest facilities in the league and It will be completely done prior to the start of the 2008 season.
CRZ: Coach you have a unique point of reference moving from 1AA to 1A football. Has it made a difference in the way you are viewed by student-athlete recruits?
Elson: No question, they are much more open to us. It has opened a lot more doors to us that we have been battling to get though. We have been on the other side of that fence. The kids grow up wanting to play 1A football, play at the highest level they possibly can, so it has made a big difference they can see the changes taking place literally before their eyes. It made a difference in the homes letting us in and when we talk to coaches wanting to place their kids in 1A programs at a good school like Western. Now we get to walk in and say we are moving to 1A, building those facilities and again happening before their very eyes.
CRZ: Coach Elson the NCAA has gotten real serious with the APR, what has Western done to make sure that the student-athletes have every chance to take advantage of college and make it?
Elson: I think it all starts with recruiting, it is on recruiting the right kind of young men. I really impress upon my coaches that they only go after young men who are serious about getting their education and taking care of the class work that goes with that. On campus we have a lot of the same things as other schools, and we also go after them to make sure they are taking care of business in the class. But ultimately it is about recruiting the right kind of kids, if you get those kids the other things such as APR will pretty much take care of themselves.
CRZ: Coach as you may know the Cajuns and the Hilltoppers have had a lot of exciting basketball games, do you recall if they ever played each other in football?
Elson: Absolutely I remember playing the Cajuns one really horrible night in November, 1998. We did not expect the cold and rain and did not come prepared for it. It was the most miserable football night in my life. . That night was Coach Stokely's last game, Brandon Stokely's last game andhe needed a hundred and something yards and eight or nine receptions to set every record y'all had. I was the secondary coach. I was determined he would not get that record, we double covered him every way you can, and he got the record anyway, and we lost that game.
CRZ: Coach when the Cajun fans come to Bowling Green can you recommend some good bar-b-que place?
Elson: I can tell you that you will not want for good bar b que in Bowling green. We got Smokey Bones, all kinds of great little places, trust me you will not be disappointed when you come up.
CRZ: Good luck coach!
Elson: Thanks see you at Western.
|