Broken Arrow High School’s new head football coach is Oklahoma and California high school coaching legend Ron Lancaster.  The man who has coached high school football teams to six state championships and 21 district championships over the last three decades takes over for Brent Whitson, who resigned.

“This is a great day to be a Tiger!” exclaimed Broken Arrow Athletic Director, Ken Ellett who announced the hiring of Lancaster.  “Ron’s experience and success speak for themselves.  I have no doubt that Coach Lancaster will get Broken Arrow to where we want to go and that is the State Championship.”

Lancaster, who was inducted into the California Football Hall of Fame for his coaching success at Rancho Cordova High School in the Sacramento area, also coached Enid to the 1983 Oklahoma State Championship and led Jenks to the 1993 State Championship.  Lancaster is credited by most with restoring Jenks back to football dominance posting a record of 54 and 8 during five seasons at the helm of the Trojans.  His 278 career wins include two state finalist teams with Sallisaw and a state semifinalist squad in his final year at Muskogee where he rebuilt the Rougher program into one of the best in Oklahoma. He’s been District Coach of Year 17 times in his career.

“In addition to his coaching abilities, Ron’s connections with college and professional coaches are unmatched,” Ellett said.  “He knows everyone who is anyone in the football world and will be an incredible asset to our players attempting to play at the next level.”

In accepting the position, Lancaster also announced that former Michigan State University and NFL assistant coach Morris Watts will be Broken Arrow’s offensive coordinator while former Union High School assistant coach Steve Spavital will be Broken Arrow’s defensive coordinator.

“What a remarkable opportunity that our football players will have to be coached by this amazing coaching staff,” Ellett said.  “I can assure you that there is not another high school coaching staff in Oklahoma with the proven track record of accomplishments and success that Coach Lancaster and his two coordinators bring to our program.”

Watts, who played college football with Lancaster at the University of Tulsa, has an impressive coaching resume which includes stops as offensive coordinator at Michigan State (where he served as interim head coach for three games in 2002), LSU, Indiana, Louisville, Drake and Mississippi State.  He also was quarterbacks coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL in 1991 and was on the USFL Birmingham coaching staff for two seasons (1984-1985).  In 2001, Watts as Michigan State offensive coordinator was nominated for the Broyles Award, given annually to the nation’s top college football assistant coach.

“It is incredible to think that our Broken Arrow quarterbacks will be tutored and coached by a guy who helped coach such quarterbacks as Pro Bowler Vinny Testaverde and Michigan State record setting quarterback Jeff Smoker (as of 2006 season, held six career MSU passing records, five MSU season passing records, and two single game MSU passing records),” Ellett said.

Watts coached with new Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban at Michigan State.

“He (Watts) and his wife and their children are just good friends of our family,” Saban said to the LSU Daily Reveille Newspaper in September, 2003.  “We’ve done a lot of stuff together for a long time and we just feel like they’re life-long friends.  And I have a tremendous amount of respect for him as a coach and as a person.”

Spavital served as Union High School defensive coordinator for the entire 14 seasons of Bill Blankenship’s tenure as Redskin head coach.  Spavital’s defenses helped Union win three of the last five 6A State Championships.  Coaching is literally in his blood as his father Jim was an Oklahoma State assistant as well as a head coach in the Canadian and World Football Leagues while Steve’s son Zac is a member of the OU coaching staff.

Known affectionately as “Spav”, Steve Spavital (who will also serve as Broken Arrow’s Assistant Athletic Director) is widely regarded for his coaching abilities, especially on defense.

“I think Spav is one the best defensive coaches in America,” Muskogee Head Coach Matt Hennesy told the Tulsa World before the start of the 2006 season.

“Coach Spavital does a great job teaching those kids defense and concepts,” OU Defensive Coordinator Brent Venables told the Tulsa World before the start of the 2005 season.  “Their structure is very similar to ours.”

Since retiring from Muskogee following the 2005 season, Lancaster has been working for Velocity Sports as director of Public Relations contemplating a return to the coaching sidelines.  Interestingly, all three of Lancaster’s former Class 6A teams made the semifinals in the 2006 season as Jenks beat Muskogee while Enid defeated Owasso.

Lancaster’s hiring as head coach of the Tigers (at an annual salary of $30,000) was approved by the Broken Arrow Board of Education at a special meeting held January 23.