COLLEGE FOOTBALL: UTPB’s Softley ready to coach at the collegiate level

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UTPB head football coach Chris Softley speaks at his introductory press conference Monday at the Kirk Auditorium. Michael Bauer|Odessa American

UTPB’s newest head coach Chris Softley knows about the challenges that are ahead of him as he makes the move from coaching high school to college football.

He’s also excited about taking over a program that’s in a much better spot than where his predecessor found it.

Softley was introduced as the third head football coach in UTPB program history during a press conference Monday at the Kirk Auditorium.

Softley was named the school’s next head coach last week on New Year’s Eve.

UTPB head football coach Chris Softley, right, speaks to the audience at his introductory press conference Monday at the Kirk Auditorium. Michael Bauer|Odessa American

He replaces Kris McCullough who, in just three seasons, became the most succesful head coach in program history at UTPB, leading the Falcons to two NCAA Division II playoffs and a bowl game last year.

McCullough, who finished with a record of 28-10 over the last three seasons, left to become the head coach at the Division I level at Gardner-Webb last month.

The Falcons are coming off a season that saw them make it to the quarterfinals in the playoffs, coming up just short against Harding.

Softley knows how imperative it is to continue with the recent success the Falcons have seen.

“Well, I think you want to ride that wave for sure,” Softley said. “And, and you want to let recruits know that this is not a program to just come and play average division two football. This is a program where we want to compete for championships. Period. End of story. And when you set big expectations like that, well you better put in the work. But the truth is that the type of athlete we want to attract is somebody that wants to be around high achievers and who wants to be held accountable.”

Softley comes in having previously served as the head coach and athletic director at Lubbock Christian School for the last nine seasons where he was a stat champion and named the Texas Coach of the Year.

UTPB head football coach Chris Softley, left, and UTPB vice president of athletics Scott Larson pose for a photo during the introductory press conference for Softley Monday at the Kirk Auditorium. Michael Bauer|Odessa American

His record at Lubbock Christian was 101-22.

Softley talked about what made him want to come out to UTPB.

“It was the opportunity,” Softley said. “I believe in this place. I believe in the leadership, being aligned on your leadership. You know, I go from being in charge, to now being, I don’t even, you know, 45th on the depth chart right now, in terms of the charge, you know? And so, you got to have trust in those people above you. And, and I am, am very excited to hitch my wagon to these people, because these are elite leaders.”

He also talked more about what the transition from McCullough would be like and trying to continue build off the success from the offensive side of the ball.

“We want to capitalize on the strengths that (McCullough) built which was an explosive offensive,” Softley said. “They led the nation in passing. We want to continue to have playoff success. We want to take advantage of the strengths that he left us. I hope what you’ll see is a tough football team. a team that plays the right way. A team that can handle their business and adversity and prosperity. A team that can handle the injuries that comes along with a really tough Lone Star Conference schedule.”

He said that he hopes that on game days, fans will see a team that plays with passion.

“… When you play smart, tough football with a whole lot of passion, you know the score’s going to take care of itself. You’re going to put yourself in a lot of fourth quarters that you can go win the game.”

With the transfer portal opening up just recently, Softley talked about what these last few days have been like for him and his staff.

“You know, there’s a, there’s a myriad of ways to attack the transfer portal,” Softley said. “And, everybody’s a genius at it until it all shakes out and then you wait two years and you’re like, ‘okay, I missed a year.’ Or, you know, ‘if you’re a bigger program, we invest a lot of money here,’ and, uh, I think the truth of the matter is you get beat by the guys you get, not the guys you miss. And so we want to take it really slow. We want to do our vetting process. We want to make sure that the people we’re bringing into this locker room are the right culture fit and that they’re going to take the coaching, and that they want to be maximized physically, mentally, spiritually, day-in and day-out … We’re looking for impact transfers that can come into play right away.”

While he has experience of being a graduate assistant at Abilene Christian from 2008-10, Softley is not afraid of the ever-changing landscape in college football.

“The truth of the matter is, everybody’s having to fight the changes,” Softley said. “Anybody that’s been in the college game for the last five years, they’ve been fighting changes … The truth is that the laws and the rules change so fast, we’ve all got five minutes of experience. I think it’s to our advantage a little bit because we’ve been able to stand by the road and kind of watch how things play and think ‘how would we do it?’

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