Gameday Extra

11.6.2021 KEYS TO VICTORY This is not real advice for Sam Pittman on how to find a pass rush specialist in time for this afternoon's date with Mississippi State, but it wouldn't be a mistake. If the Arkansas football coach knows of a great athlete on campus who tried both track and basketball and is ready to skip a trip to Maui, sign him up to play against the Bulldogs. Steve Conley didn't do exactly that just ahead of making the key plays for the Razorbacks as they clinched their first trip to the SEC Championship in 1995. But all of that was in his background before he became the sack man for Joe Lee Dunn's defense that beat MSU's Bulldogs 26-21 to clinch the SEC West for head coach Danny Ford. The idea for this column came during the open date when I got a call from Jim Washburn, heart broken that his close friend, Dunn, had died. Washburn was defensive line coach for the one season Dunn coordinated the Arkansas defense. They also worked together at New Mexico and South Carolina. Retired now near Nashville, Tenn., Washburn said Dunn wasn't just the best coach he'd ever worked for, but a pure genius. Conley, owner of Conley Fitness in Fayetteville and getting started in boxing promotions, didn't argue when reached by phone this week. Just like Washburn, Conley raved about both the way Dunn conditioned the defense, then strategized with amazing blitzes and coverages. Conley had sacks on back- to-back plays, the last for a safety to help the Hogs rally past the Bulldogs in 1995. Conley led the SEC with 14 sacks, not counting a 15th in a bowl game when those stats didn't count toward season records. Conley also had a school- record 23.5 tackles for lost yardage that year. His 14 sacks are tied with Wayne Martin for the single-season record at Arkansas. "Joe Lee was the best," Washburn said. "Just so aggressive with everything he did. "When we were at New Mexico, we played BYU with Jim McMahon. We sacked him 14 times. (BYU coach) LaVell Edwards went crazy. "What he did worked against anybody. If you could run it, but not throw, you were screwed. If you could throw it, but not run, he killed you. Wishbone teams, West Coast offenses — it didn't matter. He wrecked them all. "I'm telling you, Joe Lee was badass and the players loved him." Conley said they learned to love his insane conditioning drills called "Packer Days," along with the unorthodox blitzes. "What you had with Joe Lee was a dominant personality that you would follow," Conley said. "We had great leaders on that '95 team on both sides of the ball, but Joe Lee was perfect for us." Packer Days were named for Vince Lombardi, the legendary Green Bay coach who loved "up-down drills" where players hit their bellies, then bounced back into a jogging position. But Dunn took it to the next level. "We built up over a 14-day period in August," Conley said. "The first day, you did it for one minute. Eventually, you'd do it for 20 minutes on the whistle. The mental part is what gets you." Conley was a team captain. The tough part that August for him was a broken hand sustained early in practices. Trainers thought he might be unable to do the up downs. "I was going to get out of them, even the coaches said OK," Conley said. "There was no way I was going to stand and watch my teammates do it when I was a captain. So I did them with a cast. Joe Lee kept telling me, 'Steve be careful,' but I did them." The benefits of Packer Days returned great dividends. "It instilled toughness," Conley said. "We knew the teams we played had not done anything like that. "I'm not saying any one of us wanted to do them, but we all knew what we'd become. We were all nervous when we'd heard about Joe Lee. But it was so great to play for him. It was tough. It's like they say, 'It was the worst of times, but the best of times.' "To say we'd been through some tough times is true. But it was incredible what we did in '95. I don't think we knew what we could be on defense until maybe the Alabama game (a 20-19 Arkansas victory), but after that we knew what we had." For Conley, what he saw was the genius that Washburn described. "He called the defenses from the sideline with no head phones, no play sheet," Conley said. "We didn't have a lot of calls, but he knew when and where to use them. "Joe Lee was a man's man. He was somebody who was prepared, straightforward, knew how to game plan and could explain it all where it made sense. He taught us not to be shy of hard work. He was not wishy washy." Conley's favorite call put Marcus Adair, the tight side end, to his side, the wide side. Adair had five sacks, so they combined for 20 counting the bowl. "Mad was the strong side, bad was the weakside," Conley said. "If the call was 'Mad Bad,' we were together. When that was called, I loved it. One of us was going to get a sack. We were going through the same gap." Washburn said that was the Dunn genius. "No one was doing that, two to the same gap," Washburn said. "Joe Lee was far, far ahead of everyone at that time. "I never coached with anyone in the NFL who was that good. The offensive coaches saw us overload one side and they thought it was a free path to the strong side, but it wasn't. "Joe Lee was incredibly smart. I saw him fill out the income tax form in 15 minutes. Coaching with him was so much fun." Some of it was difficult. "I felt like I did Packer Days with the players," Washburn said. "The linemen would struggle. I'd be grabbing them off the ground and throwing them down so they would finish. I was exhausted. "The deal is that you wanted the players to graduate at the end of the 14 days. It was almost unbearable." Washburn convinced Kim Helton, then head coach at Houston, to try Packer Days during his one year with the Cougars in 1998. "We did them and it worked, but Kim told me, 'You got to stop this,' and I'm sure that you couldn't get away with anything like this now," Washburn said. "Joe Lee could get the players to do it. It was just outrageous conditioning." The old heads around the Arkansas program thought it reminded of the tough drills Wilson Matthews ran in the early days of the Frank Broyles era. They loved them, too, and most were disappointed Dunn left for Mississippi State after just one year. That was before the NCAA allowed summer scholarships and continuous out of season conditioning in the weight room. "A lot of people left for the summer, but if you stayed, you got a job," Conley said. "I painted the stadium one summer, but that was after I went on scholarship." Conley followed his older brother, Mike, John McDonnell's all-time best, to Arkansas as a track man. He moved to basketball as a walk- on for Nolan Richardson. "I had played football in high school (in Chicago) and was recruited by Barry Alvarez to Wisconsin, but didn't think that was my best sport," Conley said. "I was trying basketball that winter with Coach Richardson and the team was about to go to Maui and I told him that I'd like to try football. I probably should have gone to Maui and told him the next week. "I finally realized that what Coach Alvarez told me was right and that football was always in my blood." Conley made the right choice. He lettered four years in football, earning a scholarship as a junior. The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted him in the third round of the 1996 NFL draft. "Steve was a good player, but Joe Lee made him a great player," Washburn said. "I saw him do that everywhere he coached. He knew how to utilize the talent and he'd condition the best players so they could stay on the field." Conley said there was no defensive line rotation. "Most of our defensive line — and Mark Smith at linebacker — never left the field," Conley said. "That was Marcus, me, Geno Bell and Junior Soli." COMMENTARY ADVICE FOR HOGS: FIND A CONLEY CLAY HENRY Defensive line coach Jim Washburn puts Steve Conley through his paces in practice in a 1995 practice. Photo by Stephen B. Thornton Thanks for voting us the Best of the Best! $ 65 NOW HIRING QUALIFIED THERAPISTS & ESTHETICIANS FAYETTEVILLE 3557 North Shiloh Drive 479-571-3689 ROGERS 2603 W Pleasant Grove Rd 479-633-8340 Mon-Fri 8 am-9 pm | Sat 8 am-9 pm | Sun 10 am-8 pm *Offer valid for first-time guests only. All session times include a total of 10 minutes of time for consultation and dressing, which occurs pre and post-service. Additional taxes and fees may apply. Each location is independently owned and operated. ©2021 ME SPE Franchising, LLC. All rights reserved. ME-DNLD-1969-00-002-8.5X3.625 479-521-6611 479-636-2200 www.lindsey.com www.lindsey.com Our Team Proudly Supports The Arkansas Razorbacks! LINDSEY.COM HOG FANS With over 40 years experience in the Northwest Arkansas real estate business, 2 convenient locations and 200+ agents, Lindsey & Associates is the leading real estate company in Northwest Arkansas. "We Bring Great Together" All Properties Professionally Managed by Lindsey Management Co., Inc. Amenities Vary by Property | Equal Housing Opportunity A p a r t m e n t s, E xe c u t i ve S u i t e s, & G o l f Co u r s e s ! www.LindseyMgmt.com Lindsey Management Co., Inc. in Arkansas! Go Hogs! Where LOVE LIVE! You On game day, call the Hogs. If you need plumbing, electrical, or AC repair, call Bud Anderson! 479-323-1358 Protect your home with a razorback ® Shield of Protection • Guaranteed appointments within 48 hours of service request • 2 FREE precision tune-ups • FREE plumbing inspection • 20% discount on all repairs • FREE diagnostic fee • $100/year loyalty credit towards purchase of a new system, up to $800 Visit us in Hogtown to receive special offers and promotions! Visit our tent to receive free giveaways, prizes and enter for a chance to win tickets to future Razorback ® games.

• Cover