Mules football gets new offensive coordinator

 From 1993 to 1996, Blinn College in Brenham, Texas posted a record of 39-5-1and won a pair of national championships under the direction of current Central Missouri State head coach Willie Fritz. Much of the reason for the Buccaneers success was due to the efforts of their offensive coordinator, Jeff Conway.

Fritz and Conway have been reunited in hopes of enjoying similar success with the Mules, as Conway has been named offensive coordinator at Central Missouri State. He replaces Chris Klenakis, who left the Central program to become offensive coordinator at the University of Nevada.

The pair also were graduate assistant coaches together while at Sam Houston State University.

“Jeff and I have a long history together, and have shared in the excitement of some outstanding football teams,” Fritz says. “I’m excited to have the opportunity to coach with him again. Jeff is an extremely talented coach, and he is going to really help us continue the kind of success we’ve enjoyed the past several years.”

“I’m excited to be back with Willie, but this is a different situation than it was at Blinn,” Conway adds. “Central Missouri is already headed in the right direction. My job is to continue that.”

Conway spent the past six seasons with the University of New Mexico Lobos, serving as the coordinator of special teams and recruiting. He also coached wide receivers. He tutored the receivers in his first year of 1998, handled tight ends in 1999 and 2000, then running backs in 2001. He moved back to receivers after 2002 spring workouts.

Conway went to UNM from Blinn, where he was a first-year head coach in 1997. Conway led the Buccaneers to an 8-3 record, a No. 14 national ranking in the NJCAA Top-20 final poll and a berth in the Southwest Conference championship game. Prior to becoming head coach at Blinn, Conway was the Buccaneers’’ offensive coordinator for four years, as they won back-to-back national championships in 1995 and 1996. Overall, Blinn posted a 47-8-1 record, including 26 straight wins, during Conway’’s five years at the junior college. Prior to Blinn, Conway was offensive coordinator at Missouri Western in 1991 and 1992, when the Griffons broke more than 40 individual and team offensive records.

Conway also served at Purdue, where he worked under head coach Fred Akers in 1989, then went on to become offensive coordinator at Houston's Northshore High School in 1990. Before Purdue, Conway was at Lamar University for four years, 1986-89, where he was the quarterbacks and receivers coach. The Cardinals broke eight team and 17 individual records during his stint there, including standards for total offense, passing yardage and team scoring.His first coaching job was an assistant at his alma mater, Northwest Missouri State in 1984, and he soon moved to Sam Houston State while pursuing his master’s degree. He was wide receivers coach for Sam Houston State in 1985-86, as the Bearcats went 8-3 both years.

Conway graduated from Northwest Missouri State in 1981 with a bachelor’s degree in Finance. He played for the Bearcats for four years (1978-81) as a free safety, and was named all-conference as a senior in 1981.

Conway is a native of Ames, Iowa. He and his wife, Jolene, have three daughters: Callie, 7, Patsy, 4, and Bobbi, 2.

CONTACT: JOE MOORE, (660) 543-4312