Southland Conference commissioner Chris Grant entered the room where a few media and coaches were gathered the day before the Media Day festivities began inside the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio. He wore a black suit with the SLC compass logo on the jacket's lapel. His shirt, pants, and shoes were black, as were his cowboy hat. The only part of the ensemble that was not wholly black was the pocket square, which had white dots throughout.

His mission was to conduct interviews with FCS Nation’s Dustin Helton and Zach McKinnell before spending a few minutes with me. It was clear from the start that he was here to send a message. 

“Let’s go back three years ago when I first came aboard, and we were looking at six members in our league,” Grant said. “Now, we’ve doubled our membership to 12 (teams), and we have some foundational members. I told (Stephen F. Austin director of athletics) Michael McBroom and (football head coach) Colby Carthel that it’s not the same Southland they left.”

SFA joined Sam Houston, Abilene Christian, and Lamar, who departed the SLC for the Western Athletic Conference in 2021. Two of the famed ‘Texas Four’ have returned to the SLC, and one (Sam Houston) has moved to FBS.

Grant stabilized the SLC by convincing UIW to remain in the conference a few days before they were expected to join the WAC. This year’s Southland Conference looks drastically different from one year ago. 

“To get here took some tough conversations and a lot of transparent stuff that I wasn’t responsible for, but I had to take it on,” Grant said. “The credit goes to our membership – the ones that stuck in there remained loyal and allowed me to go to work. It started with the rebrand, and my team has done a phenomenal job of bringing our brand to life and making sure we became more organized in the sense that we’re doing things the fundamental way a conference office should. We’re amplifying efforts of our membership.”

Last year, the conference held a virtual Media Day in Houston, which led to an edition of The Blitz where I wrote, “At a time when some non-FBS conferences are discussing whether a virtual media day is the best way forward, those thoughts should be placed on pause after this week. The fact is a virtual interview misses the human element that makes for great television.”

Grant read those words. He also heard the other critics of the Southland Conference on social media. While it was uncomfortable for Grant to read and hear negative things about his conference, he turned the mirror inward to ensure he saw the truth. This year, SLC’s Media Day is being held in the same conference center as the Texas High School Coaches Association convention, and it’s clear to all in attendance this is a big day for the conference.

“It’s important for us to be here in the sense that Texas is home, and we haven’t celebrated Texas enough. We celebrate Louisiana a heck of a lot, and we’re not going to stop doing that,” Grant said. “We were missing out on a lot of opportunities by missing out on Dave Campbell’s (coverage) and missed out on some other national media initiatives. Teaming with the Texas High School Coaches Association was important for us, and it allowed our coaches to interact with the high school coaches who are our lifeblood.”

Grant also expressed that his look today was intentional.

“We’ve been accomplishing so much on campus, but it’s been hidden. It’s been bottled up,” Grant said. “Now it’s time to take it to the market. I’m embracing the Texas theme with the hat. I’m a big Yellowstone fan, so thank you, Kevin Costner, for giving me the style with the Johnny Cash look.”

The Southland Conference is in a position of strength heading into the 2024 campaign, and Grant readily admits that the current members are happy to remain at 12. However, that doesn’t mean expansion is off the table, with ACU and Tarleton continually finding themselves in the rumor mill with the WAC on unstable footing.

“We want to expand, and we want to go to divisions,” Grant said. “We have 12 valuable members, but if we can make our resources go further by creating more regional matchups and rivalries while selling more tickets at the gate, then we want to do it because that’s the ultimate goal. But it has to be a good fit, and what I care about are the scheduling opportunities to create regional rivalries. If they decide one day the Southland is a destination they want to be in, then we need to have that conversation.”