A Conversation with former Central Arkansas head coach Steve Campbell about the Bears’ upcoming game with Ole Miss
OXFORD, Miss. — I recently spoke with former University of Central Arkansas head football coach Steve Campbell to get his thoughts on this week’s matchup between the Bears and the Rebels.
Campbell is one of my best friends. We played high school football together and were in each other’s weddings. He is well known among Mississippi football circles for having coached Delta State to the 2000 NCAA Division II national championship and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College to the 2007 NJCAA national championship.
In total, Campbell spent twenty years coaching college football at various Mississippi colleges. But this will be his first time attending an Ole Miss game in Oxford.
His Saturday’s have been full for most of the last 38 years between his own college career (He also won an NCAA Division II national championship as a player at Troy). I like to think that I contributed to his future success as a coach with all the Monday Night Talking Football games we played against each other at my house in the early 80’s—though that is probably wildly inaccurate.
Although this will be his first time to witness a game in Oxford, he has attended Ole Miss games in the past. In fact, the first college game he ever attended was an Ole Miss-Arkansas one in Jackson when my father took us along with another friend to witness Billy Brewer’s first big win as Rebel head coach.
Campbell’s son Steven (current athletic director at Mississippi Gulf Coast CC) graduated from Ole Miss and received a master’s degree from Central Arkansas. His daughter Tate is a senior in high school in Mobile and currently lists Ole Miss and UCA as her top two college choices. But Campbell still has plenty of ties among the Bears athletic department and he’ll be sitting in the UCA section this Saturday.
While Campbell was the head coach at Central Arkansas, his team always scheduled at least one FBS program per season. The matchups they had during his tenure included ones against Oklahoma State, Kansas State, Texas Tech and Arkansas State. They fell to Texas Tech by a touchdown, and in his final season as head coach, they defeated an Arkansas State team in Jonesboro who had won a bowl game the previous season.
I asked Campbell about how a head coach of an FCS team approaches a game against an FBS school and what his approach was in such situations.
“You understood it was a chance for your team to maybe garner some national/regional attention if you were able to pull the upset. But you realized you were playing a school that had 20% more scholarships…that their D line coach probably made more than your whole staff. You realized that there were some things that you were competing against, but as far as the preparation for the game, you went into every one thinking we’re going to win…there are no moral victories.“
Former coach Steve Campbell on how an FCS team approaches an FBS opponent
Campbell went on to say that the ultimate goal for the FCS schools is to win a national championship and that games with the ‘big boys” help them prepare for their own playoffs. They help serve as a measuring stick of where they are and where they need to be in order to achieve that goal.
I also asked Campbell what he expects to see this Saturday.
“I expect to see a really good game… [on UCA] they’ve got backs who can run the football. Number 4 [Darius Hale] can play at any level. He has a chance to be an NFL guy. UCA’s defensive line, I think… needs to give Ole Miss fits. Hopefully they play really well because the strength of their team to me is in their defensive line and their running backs. I think they give them a chance to compete against a lot of people.”
Coach Steve Campbell
Campbell also added that he thinks highly of the Bears’ quarterback, Will McElvain, who transferred from Northern Iowa. Though he struggled some against Missouri State last week, he believes that with a week under his belt, he’ll be better prepared to succeed.
Finally, I wanted to know what he was looking forward to about his visit Saturday.
“I’m just really looking forward to the gameday experience and spending time in the Grove. I’ve been all over the state of Mississippi… and Ole Miss fans have always told me what it is like, but I’ve never had a chance to see it for myself.
“I’ve been to Oxford plenty of times and visited with Ole Miss coaching staffs from Tuberville’s to David Cutcliffe’s to Houston Nutt’s, but never on a gameday. Of course, I’ve seen what it’s like on television and my running joke with my son whenever he is in Oxford is to ask him whether he ran into Rece Davis and Katy Perry in Ajax. So, my expectations are high.”
Coach Campbell on visiting Oxford for Saturday’s game
I’m looking forward to entertaining my friend of forty-plus years, his wife Shellie, and daughter Tate on Saturday. I can’t promise a Katy Perry sighting, but I can promise a good time. Maybe we can even work in some Monday Night Talking football.
Clint Crockett
Clint is a native of Pensacola, Florida with a BA and MBA from Ole Miss. He's a season ticket holder for football, baseball and basketball who has made countless road trips to watch the Rebels play over the years. He's witnessed the highs (2016 Sugar Bowl), the lows (Bryce Drew), and everything in between. He has three grown children (Will, Wes, and Reagan) and currently resides in Oxford with his wonderful wife Janna.
