Josh Conklin was part of some elite defenses with Pat Narduzzi at Pittsburgh and even prior to that had garnered acclaim as a Broyles Award candidate.
After a several-years-run atop the Wofford Terriers program ended amidst the 2022 season, Conklin now is back in Football Bowls Subdivision coaching.
Conklin is joining the staff of Butch Jones at Arkansas State, sources tell FootballScoop.
In an interesting twist, both Jones and Conklin have past stints at the University of Tennessee; Jones led the Vols to three-straight bowl wins from 2014-16 after he replaced Derek Dooley before the 2013 season.
Conklin coached in the secondary on Dooley's final Tennessee staff in 2012.
At Wofford, Conklin guided the program to back-to-back Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs appearances in 2018-19 but the program never quite maintained that level of success after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now at Arkansas State, the veteran Conklin is expected to work with special teams and as an defensive assistant for Jones, who is entering Year 3 atop the A-State program and throughout his coaching career has tended to find success in that crucial year of rebuilding.