Sometimes one does not know just what person someone has had in his or her life who will have a hand in leading someone to a decision that he or she wasn’t planning on making. That was the case for Muldrow Bulldogs assistant football coach Gary Hixon.
Hixon was not necessarily looking to stay in coaching, when a former player, Gans High School Human Resources Officer Randy Taylor called him. In the end, it led to Hixon applying for and ultimately getting hired as the new Gans Grizzlies football coach, taking over for Brian Morton — who is still going to coach the other boys sports.
“There’s a school resources officer (Taylor) here that I coached at Gore when he was a kid,” Hixon said. “He’s also been helping with football. He just flat asked me, ‘Coach, do you want to come coach 8-man at Gans?’ He said they were needing a coach. I told him, ‘I don’t know. Let me think about it.’ Things came around, and there were some things I wanted to do. I was applying for some other administration jobs. My wife goes, ‘Why don’t you go apply and just be a coach.’ She told me that I’d benefit the kids more by coaching than if I were in administration. So, I started texting (Taylor) again. I go, ‘If it’s open, give my number to the (Gans) athletic director (Morton),’ which I met during powerlifting. (Morton) called me, and it was just a whirlwind. He called me on a Wednesday (May 10), we met on (that next) Friday (May 12), I was offered the job on Monday (May 15). It just went really fast.”
Hixon said a big thing right now is to try to get his assistants lined up.
“I need to address assistant coaches because I’m it right now,” he said. “I would like to get our human resources officer back. He helped Coach Morton a lot. So, I would like to get him back. I know (Gans Public Schools Superintendent) Ms. (Regina) Brannon and the school board are looking to hire more coaches to help. I don’t have anyone in particular in mind. Whoever they get me, we’ll work with them.”
In the meantime, Hixon’s other key focus will be the evaluation of his players.
“Another is the strength and quickness of these kids, finding out where they are and see what we can build on,” the new Gans football coach said. “Then, we can implement the offense and defense, and get ready for the (2024) season.”
The world of 8-man football is nothing new to Hixon.
“Before Muldrow, I was at Cave Springs, so I got a taste of it there,” he said. “It’s still football. You still have to tackle, block, run the ball and throw the ball. Just because we have three less players, it’s still football.”
Right now, the new coach just wants to see his Grizzlies show signs of getting better with each day and each game.
“I just want to see improvement,” Hixon said. “We open up with Keota, and I know traditionally they’re very tough. I think we have some winnable ball games in our non-district. Then, with reclassification and everything else, our new district is tough, but not as traditionally tough as it has been. If we can win a district ball game or two, that would be great. I know they say Arkoma has had our number. If we can get past Arkoma, that will be big. Just to see us be more competitive will be big. I told the seniors they are laying a foundation. Just like (former Muldrow and current Gore) Coach (Brandon) Ellis told those kids at Muldrow, you’re laying a foundation, whether it’s a pebble or a slab of concrete. How big a foundation do you want to lay? We’ll see how it goes this year.”
So far, the players have taken to Hixon.
“I’ve been pleasantly surprised,” he said. “I helped Coach (Logan) Coatney and the coaches at Muldrow do Summer Pride. They told me something at the beginning that you may not have a whole lot for Summer Pride. (Last Wednesday), we had 13 show up. This has been the first week. We had like seven the first day and 13 (last Wednesday). (On Thursday), they had basketball camp, so we probably weren’t going to have a whole bunch. Just kids showing up and wanting to get better is a plus for me.
Unlike his predecessor, Hixon only will coach football, whereas Morton coached all the boys sports at Gans High School.
“Coach Morton is still here,” Hixon siad. “He’s been great. He’s still going to do basketball and baseball. His big deal was he told me he thought he was a better basketball and baseball coach than he was a football coach. He wanted another coach to coach football. I worked with his uncle at Roland. He was my principal when I worked there. He’s been nothing but super.”
Hixon is anxious to see just what this new venture has in store.
“I’m looking forward to everything,” Hixon said. “The kids have been open and absorbing everything. I know we’ll have times when we’ll butt heads, but as of right now, they’re receptive to me. They’re very energetic about it. They want change. They want to get back to where they were when (current Webbers Falls) Coach (Trent) Holt was here, competing in the playoffs. To me, he’s a legend in Gans football. He’s the one to get it started and made it to where they got that silver ball in the trophy case. That’s the aspirations we need to get back to.”
