When he was one of the biggest faces in athletics at Overland High School, Austin Conway never saw coaching coming.

A star guard who helped the Trailblazers win the first of back-to-back then-Class 5A boys state basketball championships in 2015 and a dual-threat quarterback for a team that held its own in the Centennial League, Conway’s thoughts were only on his own competition.

Fast forward to adulthood and the now 29-year-old is smack dab where he never expected: a coach at his alma mater. Not in basketball or football, however, but girls flag football.

“It’s completely different, it doesn’t look like the high school I went to,” Conway said. “There have been so many changes and upgrades. It’s still home, but there are different decorations.”

When Conway was at Overland, the current softball field was a football practice field, while the newly built swimming pool was also a field used by soccer teams.

Conway got acquainted with the new-look campus and school when a Career and Technical Education (CTE) business job came open at Overland. It leaned perfectly into his previous professional experience as as a private financial planner and allows him the chance to impact crucial knowledge to teens about how to budget and make wise financial decisions.

In a confluence of perfect timing, the flag football coaching job came open. He’s glad things fell together the way they did.

“No way this wasn’t fate,” Conway said. “I got this teaching job that allows me to use my experience and then the flag job popped open a short time later. It’s all weird blessings in disguise that all lined up.”

Conway certainly has plenty of experience to add to the mix.

A tackle football player for much of his life — at Overland and then at the University of Wyoming, where he caught passes from current Buffalo Bills star quarterback Josh Allen — he found flag at the urging of a friend.

At first, he thought it would just be a good workout that could use his football skills and acumen, but he found it much more serious.

“I was just doing nothing but working, then I had an old friend hit me up and ask me to play flag,” Conway said. “I was like sure, I’ll give it a try. I had no idea how big it was. It was full on seriousness.”

Conway quickly took to the game with the added benefit that because of its non-contact nature, he didn’t feel “like I got hit by a train” as he had the day after he played tackle football games. He plays quarterback and can use his speed and athleticism to his advantage.

It was through playing flag that he got connected to somebody who eventually enlisted him to help coach with Laces Up, an elite program that has trained some of Colorado’s best girls players and helped them get exposure on the national level.

So with an understanding of the; game as a player and with some coaching experience under his belt, Conway was perfectly set up when the Overland job came open.

Conway is the third coach in as many seasons and will try to helped the Trailblazers take a step forward after they went a combined 13-13 in the two seasons since the Colorado High School Activities Association officially sanctioned the sport in 2024.

Overland graduated its most established talent in Sahniya Vaughn, an All-Centennial League first team offensive player last season (as well as an all-league second teamer on defense), but returns key players such as senior Jalena Flores and junior Joy Jamison.

Senior Michaela Halton — a basketball star at Overland — is an intriguing addition after choosing flag over softball, which she played the past three seasons.

“We have some players who played before, so the advantage of that is that you don’t have to teach the basics as much and you can start teaching them the advanced stuff,” Conway said.

Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at [email protected]. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports

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