Owasso Football Coach Bill Blankenship Announces Retirement; New HC Named

Owasso Head Coach Bill Blankenship is retiring after nearly 40 years on the sideline.

Blankenship announced his decision during a news conference on Thursday.

"I want you to know that people will talk about a lot of wins and a lot of successes and a lot of that stuff and I'm glad, that's been fun. But when I laid my head down nearly every night, nearly every night, I can't thank God enough for the incredible, incredible journey of coaching that I've got to be on for the last 40 years," said Blankenship.

He also thanked the coaches that he as worked with over the years and hopes they have left the right impression on students.

"Relationships matter. And that's what I hope, you know, we've helped to teach our players," said Blankenship. "I've been blessed to have worked with some great men, many of them are standing back here"

Defensive coordinator Antonio Graham will take over as the head coach next season. Graham was a member of the Union Redskins where he was an All-State linebacker in 2005. Blankenship coached Graham at Union and later brought him onto his staff at TU.

Coach Graham addressed whether or not he feels pressure after being tasked with following Coach Blankenship as Owasso's Head Coach.

"I don't look at it as pressure," said Graham because I've been going through pressure my whole life, and I did it so. And that's just how I feel about that. I look at it as a challenge. I look at it as a blessing. And I thank God that I'm able to be in a situation where I can be a mentor for young men and others and my buddies in the back that I've coached with and others in the past."

Blankeship's coaching career began in 1986 in his hometown of Spiro, Oklahoma. He has been a fixture in the Tulsa football world since the early 90s when he took over as head coach for Union. He led Union to several winning seasons, multiple state championships, and won 56 straight games between 1997 and 2005. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2009.

In 2007, he became the wide receiver coach at the University of Tulsa which eventually led to him being named head coach of the Golden Hurricane in 2011. Blankenship led TU to an 11-3 record, a Conference USA title, and a Liberty Bowl Victory over Iowa State in 2012.

After a season at Fayetteville High School, Blankenship returned to the Tulsa area and accepted the head coaching job at Owasso High School in 2017. In his first year at Owasso, Blankenship led the Rams to a 6A-I State Championship over his former school, Union.

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As a head coach, Blankenship went 71-18 at Owasso and brought home state championships in 2017 and 2019.