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NACOGDOCHES, Texas — Former BYU head coach Gary Crowton, who most recently held positions at Southern Utah and Oregon State, has been named the new offensive coordinator at Stephen F. Austin.
Crowton previously worked with SFA head coach Clint Conque at Louisiana Tech, where the ex-BYU coach was head coach from 1996 to 1998. Conque was Crowton's offensive coordinator.
"I'm very pleased to add Gary to our staff, bringing a wealth of credibility to our program," Conque said in a statement released Monday. "With this position, I was looking for an individual who shares a like-minded philsophy of offensive schemes, a true teacher with a proven history of quarterback development and the experience needed to enhance our already proven offensive production. Gary fits the bill."
Crowton was the offensive coordinator under current BYU assistant head coach Ed Lamb at Southern Utah, joining the staff in 2014 before stepping down midway through the past season to take an offensive consultant job at Oregon State. Under Crowton, the Thunderbirds averaged 35 points and 445 yards per game and eventually went on to win their first Big Sky championship and second FCS Playoff berth in three years.
Following his three-year career as BYU head coach in which he went just 26-23, Crowton spent time as the offensive coordinator at Oregon from 2005 to 2006, Louisiana State from 2007 to 2010, Maryland in 2011 and the CFL's Winnipeg Blue Bombers from 2012 to 2013. He won a BCS championship with LSU in 2007 under head coach Les Miles, helping the Tigers to a 40-13 record in his four seasons in Baton Rouge.
After beginning his coaching career as a grduate assistant at BYU in 1982, Crowton went on to coach the defensive backs at Snow College in 1983 and eventually stepped into the role of offensive coordinator of the Badgers until 1986, including during the 1985 NJCAA national championship game.
The Orem native earned a bachelor's degree in physical education from BYU in 1983. He also played at Snow College.
Crowton inherits a Lumberjacks offense that averaged 30.9 points and 445.7 yards per game during Conque's two-year tenure, ranking among the leaders in the FCS Southland Conference, and that also returns senior quarterback Zach Conque and seven other starters from 2015.
