There are many reasons behind Sam Houston head coach K.C. Keeler’s success during his career. Certainly, Keeler has had to adapt to societal changes throughout the years. One look at his two national titles, 259-100-1 overall record, including an 85-27 record at SHSU, and it’s obvious he knows how to adapt.

However, Keeler and the Bearkats are heading into unchartered waters with a transition to FBS and Conference USA competition on the horizon. There will be areas where Keeler and his staff need to adjust against better competition, but the foundation of the Bearkats will never change while Keeler is the head coach.

“When we did our research, we found that 71 percent of our team that won the national championship were players that we signed out of Texas high schools. So, it became very evident to us that's what needs to be our building block going forward,” Keeler said. “What's helping us is that many high school kids are being missed because so many guys are focusing on the portal. We're finding the move to FBS and Conference USA, along with our real focus on recruiting the high schools, is paying tremendous dividends. So that's our building block.”

Texas high school football players will be the foundation of Sam Houston’s 2023 class, with the Bearkats expecting to sign 15 high school players from Texas and one from Oklahoma on National Signing Day.

While Texas high school athletes are the foundation of SHSU’s success, every team needs a few players from the transfer portal or junior colleges to fill pressing needs. Keeler decided to use a late schedule change last year to his advantage.

“We see every obstacle is an opportunity, so when we dropped to nine games last year, that was a huge obstacle because all of a sudden, how do you keep your team motivated for a season where they can't play for anything,” Keeler said. “We also saw it as an opportunity to do a deep dive into the junior colleges, so we can decide who's above the line and who's below the line. When the portal opened up, we had a good foundation with many junior college players we had been recruiting for a long time.”

Once again, Keeler’s strategy is paying off, with eight junior college players and four from the transfer portal expected in the final class on Wednesday. But the Bearkats heading into FBS provides Keeler and his staff with an opportunity to expand their recruiting base.

“We want to be a team that's foundation is the high school players in Texas, but we are becoming more attractive now with the move to FBS,” Keeler said. “So, we will dip our toe into Louisiana, Oklahoma,  Kansas City, you know, those places where it has really good high school football. But Texas high school guys will be 99 percent of who we recruit out of high school.”

Some teams are building their team each year through the transfer portal. Thanks to their ability to make the base of their program through the Texas high school football ranks, Keeler and his staff can be selective when using the transfer portal.

“I always try to give the Joe Flacco example, and I could probably give you 50 more over the years. Joe Flacco could not get on the field at Pitt. Three years later, he's the 18th overall pick in the first round of the NFL Draft. I would always joke that Joe Flacco came to Delaware as a lefty, and I made him a righty,” Keeler said. “People wouldn't laugh because they couldn't believe that you could go from being a backup at Pitt to being a first-round pick. 

“What we gave Joe Flacco at Delaware was an opportunity to play. The guys that we relate so well to in the transfer portal are guys that believe in their ability. We see where there's a major need, and we hope to sign a guy that will make an impact there. I am all about culture, I am all about chemistry, and I'm all about our locker room. If they don't get on the field, that's a miss in our evaluation.”

One of the best examples of Keeler’s transfer portal strategy is BJ Foster, who entered the portal following four years at Texas. Foster was a First-Team All-WAC member last year for the Bearkats and is being scouted by nearly all NFL scouts.

“I don't know if I could recommend a player higher than BJ Foster,” Keeler said. “I always tell our kids, watch how he practices. That's how an NFL safety practices. Watch how he's locked into meetings. That's how an NFL safety focuses in a meeting. He was phenomenal for us, just phenomenal. He fit right into our culture, and I couldn't have asked for anything more from BJ Foster.

“Every NFL Scout who's come through here has seen that he is like living up to the ability he had coming out of high school, so that was a win-win for us. We got a great player who fit into our culture and even helped our culture. And he got an opportunity to grow as a player here.”

Another example of Keeler’s belief in every obstacle being an opportunity was redshirting many of his better players last year. One unknown strategy employed at Sam Houston last year was when they would use the added scholarships during the transition to FBS.

“Some people, including my good friend over at SFA, would mention how we had 85 scholarships, and we weren't even close to 85. We saved a lot of money for mid-year guys because we knew we couldn't play for anything last year,” Keeler said. “I'd bet we played a lot of games in the range of 45 scholarship players. We saved so much money for mid-year guys. Then we redshirted so many guys that it was like taking 30 guys off our scholarship count in those games.”

Anyone doubting whether Keeler’s strategy will work just needs to look at his career coaching record and understand that he and the university will make the transition to FBS look seamless. It’ll be another chapter to his Hall of Fame career.