CONWAY, Ark. _ If there is anyone out there that doesn't think the University of Central Arkansas' 2020 football season was a huge success, head coach Nathan Brown would like a word with you.

    "If anyone doubts that this season was a success, I would love to sit down with them for 15 or 20 minutes,' said Brown, who finished up his third season as head coach of his alma mater. "And actually it would probably take longer than that to talk about all that we accomplished this season. If you could just spend a day watching what our student-athletes, what our athletic trainers, what our strength and conditioning folks, seeing our mitigation tactics within the stadium and our facilities and on our road trips. It was a success, because none of that was easy.

    "Our players bought in, our coaching staff bought in, our support staff bought in, and we made it work. And we came out winners.'

    In more ways than one.

    The Bears opened the football season _ the entire football season _  with a win over Austin Peay in the first college football game of the season on Aug. 29 on ESPN. They finished up on Nov. 14th with a home victory over Eastern Kentucky on "The Stripes" at First Security Field at Estes Stadium. Their final game of the season, at FBS Louisiana, was canceled due to covid-19 issues within the Ragin' Cajuns' program, leaving the Bears with a 5-4 overall record in arguably the most unique and demanding football season in school history.

    "That's what we talked about when we started this season,' said Brown. "We knew this 2020 season was going to be something totally different. It was probably going to get crazier before it got normal. And I think our players bought into that, I think they understood that, I think they trusted our coaching staff through the process that was put in place.

    "Obviously they saw that our administration, with Dr. (Brad) Teague and President Houston Davis believed in them and wanted to play a football season that was really going against the grain at the time. We were one of the lone teams, maybe even the first team, to say we want to play a fall season, especially at the FCS level.

    "So I think our players appreciated that, and in turn, they did right and they got us to this point, they got us through a full season. And not only did they get us through a full season, they did it with a lot of success and with a lot of high moments throughout the year.'

    Had the Bears not won a single game this season,  it would have still been a success for the sheer fact that it was played during a pandemic. But the fact the Bears got to play nine of their 10 games, and won five of them against a highly competitive slate of opponents, including two FBS programs, made it a huge success.
 

    Brown said he would have taken nine total games and a 5-4 record if it was offered to him back in August.

    "I really think I would have,' he said. "You always want to bet on yourself, and we go into every game expecting to win. But looking at the schedule we had, and to get in nine games, and to have played the caliber of schedule we were able to play, is a feat in inself. It's something special. I think we're still in the shock stage of it ending abruptly at this point, but when you sit back and take some time to really reflect on what we accomplished this year as a program, I think you'll say this was one of the great years in UCA football.

    "When you talk about the circumstances with the covid situation, the ability to put together a full, competitive schedule in a short amount of time, and then to actually play a full schedule without any hiccups on our end. That was huge. It was a special year.'

    The day-to-day grind of a covid-influenced season was considerably more than a regular football season, according to Brown.

    "I think the biggest challenge was the emotional toll that this year took on not only us as coaches but for the players,' he said. "Just the unknown of what this virus was. Obviously you test every week, obviously you get into a routine of what it takes to play a game week in and week out. But just the emotions, whether it be positive emotions, negative emotions, just all of the unknown. That was definitely the most difficult thing.

    "And really the non-football part of the emotions. Football is an emotional game as it is, the ups and downs, the wins and losses. And that all factored in as well. But I'm talking about the emotions throughout the week of not knowing _ and really hoping I guess you could say _ that your players are going to be available. That they're going to pass their test, that they're going to be healthy. And hoping that they don't get contact traced from maybe a teammate or even from a classroom. So there are so many factors that went into playing this season. It was just almost like an emotional rollercoaster.'
 
    
    Brown said the cost was obvious to him as the season progressed.

    "By the end of the year, and I'm talking the middle of November or late November, you could just see the fatigue in our players,' he said. "Their body language, they were tired. They want to play football and they were excited every Saturday to compete and represent their school, because that's what we brought these guys here to do. To get a degree from UCA and obviously to play some big-time football.
    
    "They love that and they did a great job of that. But you could just see the emotional toll that this season had on not only them, but our coaching staff, our support staff, our athletic training staff, equipment staff. It's just been an unbelievable effort to get to the point where we could play a full season.'

    UCA was one of just 18 FCS teams that competed at least once this fall. The rest will attempt to play a spring season, a daunting task that Brown said was not in the best interest of his Bears.

    "Playing this fall was important for the development of our program,' Brown said. "I think when Dr. Teague, President Davis and I started visiting about the decision to play in the 2020 fall season, the decision wasn't just made for 2020. I think it was made for the future of the program. I think it's important for the development of your players, it's important for the safety of your players. You decide to play a season in the spring of '21, the turn around and play again in the fall of '21... I've got injured guys right now that I for sure wouldn't get back in two or three months.

    "So I think the overall decision to play in the fall was made because it was in the best interest of the future of the UCA football program. It wasn't made just to get some highlights or just to get some attention. I think it was made in the right manner, the right mindset. Hey, this is for the future, this is for the future of the program and for our athletic department.'
 

    The local and national attention was an added bonus.

    "And what came with that was a lot of positive press on a national level, a lot of positivity from our players' parents about playing this season. A lot of thank you notes, a lot of thank you emails for us really setting the tempo and the tone for the 2020 college football season, at any level. To go out and play on national TV, Week 0 before any other team in the country has played.

    "For lack of a better term, we kind of kicked off the covid era of college football. And then turn around and play nine games over basically 12 straight weeks, and not have a hiccup on our end along the way to cause a postponement or a cancellation. That's just amazing to me. That just shows that it was worth every minute and every decision we made to play in 2020.'

    Brown said the credit goes to the UCA players, who had to completely change their day-to-day activities of a college student-athlete.

    "A lot of thanks and gratitude goes to our student-athletes, our players,' said Brown, "and just their ability to do right, and socially distance and make good decisions through this tough time. And then obviously our medical staff, (head athletic trainer) David Strickland, (Dr.) Thad Hardin and Dr. Randy Pastor. Those gentlemen are to be commended immensely for the season that we had and for finishing this season.

    "You talk about playing nine games, two of those against FBS teams, going and playing the defending national champion at the FCS level in North Dakota State, and playing them tough. Playing two home and home series, that's not easy. And then of the nine games, you only get three at home. So there were a lot of cards stacked against our guys, but they made the most of it.

    "There are just so many things throughout the year that you can look at and say this was a special team. Maybe they didn't have a chance to play for a conference championship or a playoff berth, but they played for so much more. They played for each other. And I think this team is truly a trailblazing team as UCA moves forward as an athletic program.'
    
    The Bears finished with their 13th winning season in 15 years at the FCS level, no small feat considering the circumstances of 2020.

    "That's pretty amazing. I don't know how many programs can say that,' said Brown. "So to have another winning season, especially in a year like this, is pretty special.

    "Hey, there's going to be an asterisk on this year no matter what level of football you're playing. And there are going to be a lot of football programs that don't even touch the field at all this year. So we consider ourselves very blessed to be playing at all, but then to also get a winning season. That's a  huge accomplishment.

    "I don't think we realize, just coming out of this season, how special it was. But we won the season by playing a full season. We took it very seriously and that's the only way we were able to get through an entire season. How serious we took it as a university, how serious we took it as a football program, and really how seriously our football players took it.

    "And I think that's what makes this so special.'