During his first six years as at UTRGV, Chasse Conque (pronounced Chase Konk), now the Senior Vice President and Director of Athletics, has led the department through a period of exponential growth. Among his accomplishments are nearly doubling attendance across all sports, generating over $38 million in external revenue, including an unprecedented $24.5 million during fiscal year 2024, and nearly tripling the department’s budget.
Conque is currently presiding over $180 million in facilities enhancements across 13 capital projects taking place from 2022-26 touching all 18 athletic programs at UTRGV.
The remarkable support during Conque’s tenure allowed UTRGV to move forward with starting football in 2025 and women’s swimming & diving in 2024-25 while making a move to the Southland Conference as full-time members in 2024-25.
UTRGV made history in the Rio Grande Valley on August 30, 2025, as 12,746 fans packed Robert & Janet Vackar Stadium to root on the Valley’s first Division I college football team. In their inaugural game, the Vaqueros cruised to a 66-0 win over Sul Ross State.
In recognition of his impact on UTRGV and the Rio Grande Valley, Conque was promoted to senior vice president in June 2025. He was also named the 2024 Edinburg Chamber of Commerce Man of the Year.
During his introductory press conference in August 2019, Conque stated his intention to “Rally the Valley” behind UTRGV Athletics. Rally the Valley has become both a rallying cry and a hashtag for not only athletics, but the university, as its meaning has grown to mean both rallying the Valley behind UTRGV and UTRGV rallying in support of the Rio Grande Valley.
UTRGV Athletics has rallied behind the Valley in a big way during Conque’s tenure, ranking 16th in NCAA Division I in community service hours in 2024-25 (4,475) after ranking sixth in 2023-24 (5,042) seventh in 2022-23 (3,706), eighth in 2021-22 (2,433), and 20th in 2019-20 (1,526).
The Valley has rallied around UTRGV Athletics most recently contributing to the department record 147,569 fans welcomed during in 2024-25. In addition, UTRGV Athletics generated nearly $7.7 million with a department record $872,395 in corporate sponsorship revenue and a department record $630,010 in ticket sales.
Academically, UTRGV student-athletes have thrived, achieving a department record 3.35 cumulative grade point average and a department record 993 Academic Progress Rate in 2024-25.
UTRGV athletic programs have experienced significant competitive success during Conque’s first six years. Some of the recent highlights include the baseball team earning the UTRGV’s first team Southland Conference Championship in 2025, the volleyball team winning the 2022 Western Athletic Conference Championship, and the department earning the 2022-23 South Texas Showdown Championship.
Thanks to Conque’s efforts, the UTRGV Vaqueros can now be found in stores, banks and restaurants across the Valley, as UTRGV Athletics has partnered with 5x5 Brewing Co. in Mission to create the first branded beer in the UT System – Los Vaqueros, Tio Pelon’s, whose founders are from McAllen, to create Vaqueros Especial Salsita, Texas Regional Bank to launch the UTRGV debit card, The Jank, whose founder lives in Weslaco, to create Vaqueros Gourmet Barbecue Sauce, and Reserva Coffee to launch Vaqueros Roast, an organic UTRGV-branded coffee meticulously curated by both organizations.
Additionally, UTRGV is one of just 28 college football teams in the nation to have a branded Bud Light can during the 2025 season.
Conque and his wife, Lisa, have three daughters: twins Julianna and Sydney, who are 13, and Adeline, who is 11.
