Colby Carthel will be officially introduced as the SFA football coach on Tuesday.SFA/Photo

Colby Carthel, who led Texas A&M-Commerce to the 2017 NCAA Division II national football championship, will be the new Stephen F. Austin head coach, Ryan Ivey, SFA Director of Athletics, announced on Sunday.

SFA athletics will officially introduce Carthel — who has spent the last six seasons as the head coach at NCAA Division II Texas A&M-Commerce — as the Lumberjack football program’s 20th head coach at 2 p.m. Tuesday inside the Baker Pattillo Student Center Movie Theatre (second floor) on the SFA campus in Nacogdoches.

“It is a great day when you can hire a national championship winning coach to lead our program,” Ivey said in a statement. “We are excited to welcome Colby, Sarah, Major and Bear to Nac.”

The announcement comes a couple of days after former Gilmer High School and current University of Arkansas assistant Jeff Traylor said he was withdrawing his name from consideration for the position.

Before he became head coach in Commerce, Carthel was the defensive coordinator for his father and former West Texas A&M head coach, Don Carthel, from 2006 to 2012. He played college football at Angelo State University where he was an all-conference linebacker.

Carthel, 42, will fill the vacancy left by Clint Conque, who resigned earlier this season after the university began investigating him for a unknown violation of school policy.

Jeff Byrd served as interim head coach for the Lumberjacks for the 2018 season.

A&M-Commerce said the school will begin a national search for a new coach.

One year removed from winning the 2017 NCAA National Championship, Lion football is coming off a successful 10-3 season that featured an NCAA regional semifinal playoff berth. 

A&M-Commerce is one of only four scholarship programs in Texas to post three consecutive 10-win seasons over the last decade (Baylor, TCU, and Sam Houston State). 

The Lions are one of only three Division II programs to have an active streak of four consecutive NCAA playoff appearances. 

“We are already well into the process of vetting quality candidates to be our next head coach,” A&M-Commerce Director of Athletics Tim McMurray noted.  “Our interest from a variety of diverse backgrounds is invigorating, and it is a priority to hire someone who understands our Best in Class standard for our student-athletes, our football program and our community.” 

“As an institution of distinction serving the Northeast Texas region, we have an outstanding opportunity to find our next successful leader for Lion Football,” A&M-Commerce President Dr. Mark Rudin said. “Our mission is to find a person whose priority is the success of our student-athletes — both in the classroom and on the field.  We look forward to seamlessly transitioning our new head coach into our loyal A&M-Commerce extended family.”