Exclusive News, Notes From Conference USA Media Days

(C) Tony Thomas/College Football Dawgs

Conference USA held its annual Media Days in Frisco, Texas, on Tuesday with 10 teams addressing the media in a 1-day event.

Quarterback will be the position to watch in the league with Kaidon Salter (Liberty), TJ Finley (Western Kentucky) and Nicholas Vattiato (Middle Tennessee State). CUSA has star power in the coaching ranks with Jamey Chadwell (Liberty), Rich Rodriguez (Jacksonville State), KC Keeler (Sam Houston) and Derrick Mason (MTSU) patrolling the sidelines on Saturdays this fall.

Kennesaw State Owls

2024 will be the Kennesaw State Owls' first season in the FBS and CUSA after spending time in the FCS ranks since their first college football season in 2015. Kennesaw State won 3 Big South Conference titles and made 4 FCS playoff appearances. Coach Brian Bohannon is excited for his team as they kick off this season.

Florida International Panthers

Coach Mike MacIntyre is excited to get started on the 2024 college football season. MacIntyre will have a stable of talented running backs, including to who combined for more than 1,000 yards rushing and 9 touchdowns in 2023.

Liberty Flames

As the mantra goes throughout CUSA Media Days, there is Liberty and then there is everybody else. The Flames were the CUSA standard-bearer in 2023, posting a 13-1 record and a Fiesta Bowl berth. Coach Jamey Chadwell welcomes back quarterback Kaidon Salter and running back Quinton Cooley, the nucleus of a rushing attack that was ranked No. 1 in the country last season.

Jacksonville State Gamecocks

The Gamecocks have 8 quarterbacks on the team, and Rodriguez has not yet settled on a starter.

In addition, Jacksonville State returns 2 of their top rushers from last season who combined for 13 rushing touchdowns. Offensive lineman Clay Webb, the only CUSA player to be named as a 2024 Walter Camp Preseason All-American, will make big holes for that rushing attack.

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

The Hilltoppers will return 14 starters this season, and coach Tyson Helton is excited about the matchups on their schedule. That goes along with the upward trajectory of the conference. The well-traveled TJ Finley (LSU, Auburn and Texas State) will compete for the starting job at quarterback.

Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders

Middle Tennessee State will be a little thin on experience in coach Derrick Mason’s first year at MTSU. They only return 7 starters. However, they return experience and production at quarterback. Nicholas Vattiato threw for 3,092 yards and completed 67 percent of his passes last season. Vattiato threw at least 1 TD pass in 10 out of 12 games.

New Mexico State Aggies

New Mexico State lost coach Jerry Kill, offensive coordinator Tim Beck and quarterback Diego Pavia to the Vanderbilt Commodores. New Mexico State will start a new QB, have new coaches on both sides of the ball, and return only 8 starters.

UTEP Miners

Coach Scotty Waldren welcomes back 9 starters, including Austin Peay wide receiver Trey Goodman, who caught 34 passes for 721 yards and 7 touchdowns for the Governors. In addition, defensive end Maurice Westmoreland also returns from a 2023 season that saw him earn first-team All-CUSA honors.

Lousiana Tech Bulldogs

Louisiana Tech returns 10 starters from a season ago. Coach Sonny Cumbie is going into his third season leading Louisiana Tech. Cumbie played for and coached under the late Mike Leach. Cumbie stated that Leach, Gary Patterson and Matt Wells have impacted him greatly as a young coach. He said that the Bulldogs are “hungry to win and show up and go to work every day.”

Sam Houston Bearkats

The Bearkats are led by 2-time national champion coach KC Keeler, who enters his 31st year as a football coach. Keeler brought wide receiver Noah Smith and linebacker Kavian Gaither to CUSA Media Days. Keeler will count on those 2 players heavily in 2024. Competing for the starting quarterback job is Hunter Watson. Keeler had high praise for Watson, a 2023 second-team NJCAA All-American who led Iowa Western to the National Junior College National Championship last season.

Conference USA Commissioner Judy MacLeod

MacLeod addressed the media as the day's final speaker. MacLeod talked about the addition of Kennesaw State to the membership roster. It's a campus located in in Atlanta, Ga., with 45,000 students. CUSA had its highest graduation rate of 90 percent in 2023, with 70 percent of players carrying a 3.0 grade-point average or higher. MacLeod said that information gets lost in the discussion of college athletics. In addition, the conference’s football teams return 50 percent of its starters.

Last season, Liberty was the first CUSA team to play in a New Year's Day bowl when they took on Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl.

CUSA had some growing pains last season with mid-week games, but it was a golden opportunity to show the college football world what the conference was all about.

When asked about divisions in conference play, MacLeod stated that “the focus is on the College Football Playoff spot—taking the top 2 teams and putting them in the CUSA championship game." However, she said that "divisions will continue to be discussed going forward.”

Jacksonville State will kick off the 2024 Conference USA season on Aug. 29 against Coastal Carolina.