RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) announced Monday that
Chasse Conque, senior vice president and director of athletics at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), is a 2025-26 NACDA Athletics Director of the Year.
"Chasse is one of the most impactful athletics directors I have had the privilege to work with in my career, and this recognition is richly deserved," UTRGV President
Guy Bailey said. "He has helped build an athletics program that is ambitious, student-centered, and deeply connected to the Rio Grande Valley. From overseeing historic success, growth, and engagement across the department to guiding us through one of the most successful inaugural football seasons in the history of a first-year program, Chasse continues to impress me with what he continues to achieve. We are proud to have him at UTRGV, grateful for all he means to our university, and excited about the future he is helping create."
During his first six and a half years as at UTRGV, Conque has led the department through a period of exponential growth. Among his accomplishments are nearly doubling attendance across all sports, generating over $38 million in external revenue, including an unprecedented $24.5 million during fiscal year 2024, and nearly tripling the department's budget.
Fiscal year 2024 included a $20 million dollar gift from Robert and Janet Vackar that is believed to be one of the 40 largest in the history of college athletics.
Since 2022, Conque has presided over $180 million in facilities enhancements across 13 capital projects touching all 18 athletic programs at UTRGV, most of which are complete.
The remarkable support during Conque's tenure allowed UTRGV to move forward with starting football in 2025 and women's swimming & diving in 2024-25 while making a move to the Southland Conference as full-time members in 2024-25.
Part of the drive for program expansion became personal, as Chasse and his wife, Lisa, were among the first members of the Football Founders Society and endowed UTRGV's first marching band scholarship, the Conque Family Marching Band Scholarship.
"While I am honored to be recognized by NACDA, this recognition clearly speaks more broadly to what is transpiring at UTRGV," Conque said. "I am blessed to work for the greatest president in the country, partner with the best leadership team in higher education, and work alongside the most incredibly talented and loyal group of coaches, staff, and administrators. We are starting to experience broad based success with so many of our programs and building remarkable support across the Rio Grande Valley, all while maintaining the student-athlete experience as our guiding light in every decision we make.
"It is an extraordinary and special time at UTRGV. The entire Valley is helping us build strong Division I athletics in south Texas. Together, we have created a winning formula that has proven to work. If nurtured and supported, this formula will both withstand the test of time and flourish. My family and I are truly blessed beyond measure to be part of one of the greatest stories in college athletics and in a community that we absolutely love. I am humbled by this honor and truly believe the best is yet to come for UTRGV Athletics and the Rio Grande Valley."
In recognition of his impact on UTRGV and the Rio Grande Valley, Conque was promoted to senior vice president in June 2025. He was also named the 2024 Edinburg Chamber of Commerce Man of the Year.
The 2025-26 academic year has been historic for UTRGV, as under Conque's leadership, the Vaqueros have excelled athletically, academically, and in the community while opening brand new and renovated facilities.
Inaugural Season of UTRGV Football
UTRGV made history in the Rio Grande Valley on August 30, 2025, as 12,726 fans packed Robert & Janet Vackar Stadium to root on the Valley's first Division I college football team. In their inaugural game, the Vaqueros cruised to a 66-0 win over Sul Ross State.
Under Conque's leadership, the Valley rallied behind the Vaqueros in a special way, as UTRGV ranked 11
th in the FCS in total attendance (87,774), 16
th in average attendance (12,539), and sixth in percentage of capacity (104.49%).
UTRGV sold out all seven home games to create an impressive home field advantage, going 7-0, the first first-year FCS program to go undefeated at home. UTRGV also had the winningest season of any inaugural FCS or DI-AA team ever, finishing 9-3 while receiving votes in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) FCS Coaches Poll in 10 out of 14 weeks. UTRGV's only losses were to ranked teams on the road that made the FCS Playoffs.
Robert & Janet Vackar Stadium
The stadium in which UTRGV football excelled was acquired in March 2024, Conque and his team invested over $30 million in upgrades to Robert & Janet Vackar Stadium, increasing capacity to 12,000, including 40 field level seats, 19 loge boxes, and 74 club seats, enhancing the three tailgating areas, including an amphitheater with a capacity of 2,000, upgrading the press box to handle ESPN broadcasts, and installing brand new video and ribbon boards and an artificial surface (FieldTurf).
Vaqueros Performance Center
The football team also needed a home operations center, and in August 2025, UTRGV Athletics opened the $45 million Vaqueros Performance Center (VPC), a 45,000+ square foot facility that houses the football program and features state-of-the-art weight training, academic, and sports medicine facilities for use by multiple teams. The VPC also features two practice fields, one of which is the same synthetic turf used at Robert & Janet Vackar Stadium and one of which is natural grass. The turf field is striped for both football and soccer.
The VPC features a 4,973-square foot locker room area for the football team with 120 lockers and a players lounge. The Vaqueros can take advantage of a 1,674-square foot team room with 143 seats and large screen for watching film as well as six position meeting rooms.
The VPC is home to a 3,837-square foot sport medicine area, primarily used by the football and swimming & diving teams, that includes an on-site x-ray machine, a rare luxury in college athletics, a state-of-the-art hydrotherapy room, zero-gravity treadmill, 12 training tables, and six additional taping stations.
The weight room, which measures 7,542 square feet, and Val LaMantia & Dr. Guy Bailey Academic Success Center, which measures 1,581 square feet, are used by football and various athletic programs. The VPC also features a nutrition center to keep UTRGV student-athletes fueled.
UTRGV Fieldhouse
During 2025, UTRGV completed three capital projects, including Robert & Janet Vackar Stadium, the VPC, and the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
UTRGV celebrated the grand opening of the fieldhouse atrium on Oct. 15, 2025, capping off two years of major renovations. The latest enhancements include the Lew Hill Memorial Plaza and a new atrium that features ticket booths, a lobby, Hall of Fame and Hall of Honor area, team store, concessions, restrooms, and a new, unique way to watch games via the baseline club.
Competitive Excellence
The volleyball and women's indoor track & field teams both won Southland Conference Championships while
Nayla Harris earned the individual gold in the women's 60-meter dash and
Antonie Warren took gold in the men's high jump. Harris became just the second student-athlete in program history to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, finish fifth in the nation to earn All-American First Team honors.
The basketball teams are coming off berths in the Southland Conference Tournament semifinals, as the women's team won a program record 20 games while the men's basketball team has enjoyed back-to-back winning seasons. Additionally, the baseball team entered the 2026 season as defending Southland Conference Champions.
Academic Prowess
The Vaqueros currently sport a cumulative department grade point average of 3.35, with 16 sport programs recording a fall GPA of 3.10 or higher.
#RallyTheValley
During his introductory press conference in Aug. 2019, Conque stated his intention to "Rally the Valley" behind UTRGV Athletics. #RallyTheValley has become both a rallying cry and a hashtag for not only athletics, but the university, as its meaning has grown to mean both rallying the Valley behind UTRGV and UTRGV rallying in support of the Rio Grande Valley.
UTRGV Athletics has rallied behind the Valley in a big way during Conque's tenure, ranking 10
th in NCAA Division I in community service hours in the fall of 2025 after ranking 16
th in 2024-25, sixth in 2023-24, seventh in 2022-23, eighth in 2021-22, and 20
th in 2019-20.
Conque has placed an emphasis on bringing UTRGV Athletics to both campuses, spearheading a Cameron County initiative that has seen the soccer and tennis teams play competitions, including the 2024 conference tennis tournaments, and multiple teams host youth clinics in Brownsville and Harlingen. Additionally, both basketball teams played on South Padre Island in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
The Valley has responded in a meaningful way, breaking single-season and single-game attendance records for multiple sports while providing record financial support.
NACDA AD of the Year Award
Conque is one of 28 winners of the 2025-26 NACDA AD of the Year Award and one of four at the NCAA Division I FCS level. The award spans seven divisions (NCAA FBS, FCS, Division I-AAA, II, III, NAIA/Other Four-Year Institutions and Junior College/Community Colleges). Winners will be recognized in conjunction with the 61
st Annual NACDA & Affiliates Convention at Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas at the beginning of the association-wide featured session on June 9 at 4 p.m.
The AD of the Year Award highlights the efforts of athletics directors at all levels for their commitment and positive contributions to student-athletes, campuses, and their surrounding communities.
"NACDA is once again proud to recognize an impressive class of Athletics Directors of the Year who are strong, inspiring and innovative in the way they lead and serve others," said
Pat Manak, NACDA chief executive officer. "For an award that spans almost three decades, we continue to honor both rising stars and industry veterans who make an impact across an ever-changing industry."
The AD of the Year Award program is in its 28
th year and has recognized a total of 633 deserving athletics directors to date.
Winners of the 2025-26 NACDA AD of the Year Awards are:
All NACDA-member directors of athletics in the United States, Canada and Mexico who met the criteria were eligible for the award. Among the criteria were service as an AD for a minimum of five academic years; demonstration of commitment to higher education and student-athletes; continuous teamwork, loyalty and excellence; and the ability to inspire individuals or groups to high levels of accomplishments. Additionally, each AD's institution must have passed a compliance check through its appropriate governing body (i.e., NCAA, NAIA, etc.), in which the institution could not have been on probation or cited for a lack of institutional control during the tenure of the current athletics director.
Nominators were NACDA-member directors of athletics, institutional presidents and conference commissioners, as well as other respected intercollegiate athletics administrators. Special Divisional Selection Committees composed of current directors of athletics voted on nominees for the award. Additional history surrounding the ADOY award, including a list of past winners, can be found
here.
Hotel and Convention registration for #NACDA26 is now live. Visit
nacda.com/convention for more information.
About NACDA
Now in its 61st year, NACDA is the professional and educational Association for more than 24,000 college athletics administrators at more than 2,300 institutions throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. NACDA manages 19 professional associations and four foundations. In addition to virtual programming, NACDA hosts and/or has a presence at seven major professional development events in-person annually. The NACDA & Affiliates Convention is the largest gathering of collegiate athletics administrators in the country. For more information, visit www.nacda.com.