On his first trip to Lake Charles, Aaron Ingram drove around town alone.

Before he took the job as the newly created Chief of Football Operations at McNeese State, Ingram wanted to get a feel for the city he might be calling home.

He found more than enough to sell the 51-year-old football lifer on a move to the Bayou.

“You see life starting to grow back,” said Ingram. “You can feel it. There is an energy in the city and how do you not want to be a part of it.”

So despite a counteroffer from Ball State, a Football Championship Subdivision school from the Mid-America Conference, Ingram packed his bags for McNeese.

Now, in his second official week of work, Ingram has begun the process of being the first head of football recruiting in McNeese history. The Cowboys are now just the third Southland Conference program to have a separate recruiting division, a growing trend on the FCS level.

“This is a big step in the right direction for us,” McNeese head coach Gary Goff said when Ingram was hired. “This is a pivotal position and a really big addition to our program.

“This will really benefit how we go about recruiting. It will free up our coaches and now we will have somebody who will be in the transfer portal 24 hours a day. That is very important now.”

Despite going just 1-10 last season, Goff had a good early signing period already, inking 19 players in December, 16 of whom starting Monday.

“This class we have signed here, I’m very pleased with what I have seen,” said Ingram.

And that was before Ingram came on board. Now he hopes to finish off the full class with a few key additions.

McNeese did lose a total of 17 through the transfer portal, which includes a combination of players who left the team early and graduate students. They did not lose All-American linebacker Micah Davey, who remains on the roster.

Ingram thinks McNeese is in a perfect position for a quick turnaround.

“Everything is here built to win,” said Ingram. “This place is ready to win and that is what we are going to do. That is first and foremost.”

Before spending the last two seasons running the Ball State recruiting department, Ingram served as the general manager of USA Football from 2015 to 2021.

“That created a big networking web,” Ingram said. “I treated it like a college. We had 14 teams and I had to hire 1,600 coaches. You understand the magnitude of scouting and recruiting when you do that.”

He is counting on that network now to help build back the Cowboys. Ingram also wants to win the state and mend old fences that have been lost over the years.

“We are going to have relentless relationships,” Ingram said. “We are going to have a tour of Louisiana state of mind and go meet all the high school coaches. We want to get back to where we were.”

Ingram was brought in as the latest big investment McNeese is making in football.

“Aaron has a very good reputation as a recruiter and we are excited to bring him on board,” said McNeese Athletic Director Heath Schroyer. “The times have changed in college football with everything that is happening and we need to stay ahead of the game.

“With all the investments we are making in football, we have to be relevant in our conference. We have not been good enough, there is no other way around it. I believe this is a move that gives us a better chance at competing now and in the future.”

McNeese is counting on Ingram to help bring back to life the struggling program.