ATHENS, Ga. – Soon after Will Healy took over as the coach at Austin Peay University three years ago, one of his first directives was commissioning a new logo. The urgency came more for logistic sensibilities than aesthetic preferences. He wanted the state of Tennessee on the logo so people stopped asking if the school, which is in Clarksville, Tennessee, was in the Texas capital.

Until Healy arrived to author one of the most impressive turnarounds in recent college football history, Austin Peay’s only football notoriety came from the depths of its futility. Since 2000, the school has held the nation’s longest losing streak (29 games), lost 47 of 48 and dipped more than 100 games under .500 for the century.

The only thing more unlikely than Austin Peay becoming a relevant FCS program is the coach who got them there. Austin Peay hired Healy at age 30, and he’s often mistaken for a team manager and looks young enough to be Brad Stevens’ nephew. He joked to the interviewing committee he was, actually, old enough to drink coffee and shave when they hired him in December of 2015. During his first speech to his new team, Healy felt a distinct vibe: “Who is this 12-year-old?”

“Everybody around this place was little bit skeptical,” Healy told Yahoo Sports. “There’s a 30-year-old who’s never been head coach, never called a play and is now taking over the worst program in college football. The overwhelming odds say this is a terrible job to take, and you have no chance of being successful.”

What’s made Healy, now 33, successful is the most intriguing part. His style focuses on energy, encouragement and engagement, a sharp contrast to the generations of coaches who’ve subsided on berating, yelling and intimidating.

What’s different? There are cameras at practice solely focused on players’ body language. There’s mandatory exuberance after big plays captured by an end zone celebration camera. And overall, there’s a coaching philosophy more focused on the person than the player, as Healy preaches etiquette more than execution. Healy is such a stickler for manners that he makes his 3-year-old son, Eli, say please to the family’s Amazon Alexa device. “I don’t mind being different,” Healy said. “I think we hold our players accountable, but you don’t have to cuss ’em up one leg and down the other to do it.”

View photos Austin Peay head coach Will Healy speaks to Austin Peay wide receiver DeAngelo Wilson (11) during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 1, 2018, in Athens, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart) More

Healy, now 33, arrived at a school with so few resources that they had just one football in the equipment room. Austin Peay dropped scholarships between 1997 and 2006, and the residual institutional apathy showed. Dog feces routinely littered the practice field and the weight room was so primitive it had a gravel surface. The results reflected the investment, as the school hadn’t won a league title since 1977, had a winning season since 2007 and never earned an FCS playoff bid. In other words, no one would have complained if they’d exported the football program to Texas. “The expectation was so low,” Healy said, “you couldn’t fail.”

Healy tempted his theory by finishing 0-11 in 2016 and opposing fans taunted their top recruit by chanting the school’s name. Two seasons later, people are asking the same question – “Who is the 12-year-old?” – in a completely different tone.

Healy’s unconventional methods have, well, put Austin Peay on the map.

Healy’s focus on recruiting and engagement over X’s and O’s paid off when Austin Peay lured the nation’s No. 1 FCS recruiting class after going 0-11 in 2016. They improved to 8-4 in 2017, including 8-1 against FCS competition, and were the last team left out of the FCS playoffs. Healy won the Eddie Robinson award as the top coach in the FCS. (Austin Peay is 2-2 this year with a showcase game at No. 8 Jacksonville State this week.)

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