Former Conway head football coach, AD Clint Ashcraft hired as Vilonia coach
Clint Ashcraft knew he would be a head football coach again, he just didn’t know where.
Clint Ashcraft is the new head football coach at Vilonia after serving six years as the athletic director at Conway High School. (Photo courtesy of Conway High School)
Monday night, the Vilonia School Board announced his hiring to replace Todd Langrell, who was recently hired by nearby Southiside Bee Branch to start its new eight-man football program.
Ashcraft took the Conway athletic director job six years ago after a nine-year stint as the head coach of the Wampus Cats. Ashcraft came to Conway after compiling a 68-37 record at Siloam Springs.
“It was hard for me when I took (the athletic director job),” he said. “I told my wife when I took it I would be a head football coach again. I was getting that itch, and when the Vilonia job came open with its proximity to where I currently live, I couldn’t pass it up.
“It is really exciting. After talking to the administration at Vilonia, I knew being a head coach was something I wanted to do at this time."
Ashcraft, a Watson Chapel alum, has plenty of experience as a football coach. In addition to leading Siloam Springs and Conway, he was an assistant at Greenbrier, Arkansas Tech, Watson Chapel and Newport.
“I wanted to get back to doing what I got into this profession for, and that is being around kids and coaching,” he said.
One of the players he will coach next year is his rising sophomore son, Coleson, who started at middle linebacker in junior high last season.
“My older son was starting high school when I took the AD job, and I kind of regretted not coaching him,” Aschcraft said. “Being able to coach (Coleson) was one of the reasons I wanted to get back into [coaching].”
Vilonia lost its first six games last season before finishing 3-7, winning three of its final four games, including beating Little Rock Mills, which knocked them from the No. 3 seed in the playoffs.
“I talked to some of my buddies that coached against them, and they said they have good kids, good coaches and play hard,” Ashcraft said. “I want to be a part of that process of getting better in the future.”
Conway will now be tasked with replacing an administrator who pulled off one of the biggest hires in Arkansas prep history when he lured ultra-successful Bryant football coach Buck James to rival Conway. James credited Ashcraft, a fellow Pine Bluff native and friend, as to why he left Bryant for its rival.
--Nate Olson | nate@scorebooklive.com | @ndosports
