David Flores was named the third Commissioner in the history of the American Southwest Conference on June 21. He arrives at the ASC after spending his entire career at FBS institutions and, most recently, a 12-year stint with the Big 12 Conference.

Flores is an alum and former quarterback at UTEP. He began his career in athletics administration with the Miners in 1997 and made stops at New Mexico, Kansas State, and Texas State before joining the Big 12.

Flores has served as a Student-Athlete Academic Advisor, Director of Compliance Services, Director of Student-Athlete Support Services, Associate Commissioner for Compliance and Governance, and Vice President for Governance during his 25 years of intercollegiate athletics service.

He assumes the role of Commissioner at a difficult time for the ASC. The conference will lose Sul Ross State to NCAA Division II and the Lone Star Conference, with Austin College and McMurry set to move to the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference after this season.  Texas Lutheran will join the SCAC following the 2024 campaign.

Add in the loss of Belhaven before the 2022 season, Southwestern before the 2023 season, and non-football members Ozarks and Concordia Texas in 2024, and you have a conference left with six total institutions and only four that sponsor football.

Recently, Flores was kind enough to answer my questions after spending two weeks as Commissioner.

Q: Thank you for taking my questions. Do you have any initial thoughts?

David Flores: I’m only two weeks in, so I don’t have a lot of answers yet. I’ll ask you if you have some answers because I’m in the business of getting answers. I will always accept answers to difficult questions.

Q: You enter at a very challenging time for the ASC. What attracted you to the position?

Flores: It was a couple of things. First, the conference’s history and its success on a national stage are very attractive. The other thing that I think is most important throughout all three divisions of the NCAA is regionality. That’s a principle you will hear from me a lot, and the American Southwest Conference has that right now. I believe it has the framework and the tools to be more solidified and more successful.

Q: One of the first concerns I heard from people in the D3 world was your need for more experience at a D3 institution. How do you plan to mitigate the learning curve?

Flores: I plan to engage extensively with our athletic directors, who are on the front lines and living and breathing this every day. I will be mouth closed and ears open to understand them, and that’s critical. I plan to visit campuses in the late summer and early fall to meet with the athletic directors in person, along with the administrators, Faculty Athletic Representatives, presidents, students, and coaches, to understand what they face daily. Having a commonality is important, but I know I need to learn the nuances of Division III.

Q: Some have questioned whether the ASC brought you in to move the conference away from D3 and into a conference that provides scholarships. Is there any discussion about a move to D2 or NAIA?

Flores: The answer is no. Not in the two weeks since I’ve been here. We’re a Division III conference and a historically strong one, and we intend to continue to move in that direction.

Q: How much did you learn from the realignment issues the Big 12 endured during your tenure?

Flores: The most important thing is for the membership to remain calm, not listen to the outside voices, and make hasty decisions. We also need to send a message about the strength of our conference at all times. There’s undoubtedly some uncertainty right now. I need to address those things with our members, and the members can help attempt to calm the waters.

Q: Speculation has circulated about the possibility that two of the remaining four football members and at least one non-football sponsoring member could soon move to another conference. What commitment have you seen from the remaining members to the ASC?

Flores: The remaining members have messaged me their commitment. I understand that some might be disingenuous, and I’d be foolish to think everything everyone says to the Commissioner is true. If it were, then the membership would never have changed. However, we need to have honest discussions and trust that each person is committed to moving forward. If something is to change, then we’ll have to address it at that point. I don’t want to go into this thinking everyone is being dishonest and ready to jump out of the ship.

Q: The ASC is in danger of losing its automatic qualification to the D3 football playoffs. Is expansion a possibility, or is an alliance with another conference more likely at this time?

Flores: Each of those things you mentioned is not only on the table, but they’re in my mind every day. I’ll be thoroughly discussing it with our athletic directors and presidents soon. Solidifying our membership has to be a central part of our message as we go through the options. We have to remember that we’re in this for the student-athlete. Should we be a conference where we’re sending our students eight to 10 hours away for a road game? I don’t think so. 

Q: What do you say we revisit some of these topics around mid-December after the Stagg Bowl?

Flores: Absolutely. There will be a lot of water under the bridge between now and then. The time will help me serve the members of the American Southwest Conference. I work for them, and I want them to succeed.