The Dodge City football team heads into the future looking to continue to build under the guidance of a new head coach as Ryan Lusby has been tabbed as the 24th Head Coach of the Conquistador football program. Lusby takes over the program after the resignation of former coach, Terry Karg. 

Lusby comes to Dodge City eager to take the Conquistador football program to the highest level and comes in with plenty of football knowledge and passion coming in with over 10 years of coaching experience. 

"After a quick, but thorough search, I am very excited to bring Coach Lusby into our football program. We had a very quality pool of candidates, especially for the time of year that this opening happened, and Coach Lusby truly distinguished himself from that quality group. I felt like every time I talked to him, I learned something new about him that made him a better and better fit for Dodge City," said Athletic Director, Jake Ripple on the hiring of Lusby. "Coach Lusby is going to bring an exciting brand of offense with him that has been proven to work at a couple of different stops along the way. Last year at UTPB, they had unprecedented success in their football program and the offense that he oversaw was a big piece of that. They will be an exciting product to watch on the field," said Ripple.

He comes to Dodge City after most recently serving as the Offensive Coordinator and Assistant Head Coach at the University of Texas-Permian Basin during the 2023 season. Helped the team to a 10-2 record overall and 8-0 in Lone Star Conference play winning the conference for the first in program history. The season was the first winning season in program history as he led the Falcon's offense to lead the LSC in scoring at 42.4 points per game and total offense with 475.8 yards per game. The team ranked eighth in the NCAA Division II in scoring and sixth in total offense. He coached a quarterback who earned LSC Offensive Player of the Year and a wide receiver who was selected as LSC Wide Receiver of the Year. He coached 11 LSC All-Conference honorees on offense along with a NCAA DII honorable mention All-American.

"I hope to bring the Dodge City Community College football program to the highest level and compete for Jayhawk conference championships year in and year out while striving towards winning the NJCAA national championship. My goal for our student-athletes at Dodge City is to graduate with an associate degree, grow as men in the community, and leave Dodge City champions both on the field and off," said Lusby about what he hopes to achieve leading the Conqs football program. 

Before UTPB, Lusby served as the Offensive Coordinator at the University of Arkansas-Monticello where he coached a three-time NCAA DII All-American, a conference Freshman of the Year, and seven All-conference honorees. Prior to making his way to Monticello, he worked as the Offensive Coordinator at Coffeyville Community College for one season where he mentored seven All-KJCCC conference honorees. 

He started his coaching career at his alma mater the Texas A&M University-Commerce where he coached wide receivers for two seasons. He had four All-Conference wideouts at Commerce, including a two-time LSC Wide Receiver of the Year while helping the program win the Lone Star Conference in 2014. After his time at Commerce, he served as Quarterbacks coach and Recruiting Coordinator at Henderson State University from 2015-17. During his time with Reddies, the team was 25-10, while they made an NCAA DII Sweet 16 appearance in 2015 and won a Great American Conference championship. He coached three All-Conference selections at Henderson State. 

Lusby's playing career saw him at quarterback a position that he led his high school – Lovejoy to a state semifinalist finish and he would go on to play collegiately at Texas A&M University-Commerce. 

"I'm most excited so far about the people of Dodge City. The community and the people of Dodge City Community College have been extremely supportive! The resources and people here allow us to push to new heights as a football program," said Lusby. 

"I think Coach Lusby's connections will allow us to continue to have a very high-level coaching staff as well. He surrounds himself with quality coaches and challenges them to become better coaches and better people daily," said Ripple.