Bartlesville Football Team Hires New Head Coach

Newson6.com

BARTLESVILLE, Oklahoma – Bartlesville High School promoted defensive coordinator John McKee to head football coach Friday. McKee will take over for Ron Smith after the coaching veteran resigned his position with the Bruins earlier in July.

Smith will be an assistant with Victory Christian this fall.

"It's going to be a big challenge for us, but we're looking forward to it," McKee said in an interview with Bartlesvilleradio.com. "I'm excited. The kids are excited about it. So, we're just looking forward to hitting the ground running."

McKee spent the past three seasons as the defensive coordinator for the Bruins and helped Bartlesville to a 22-11 record. The Bruins have made the playoffs in each of the past two seasons. McKee plans to keep a lot of the current team structure intact because of that recent success.

"I know these kids. They're great kids and they work hard," he told the radio station. "We don't have time to put in a whole new system. Practice starts in two weeks. It will pretty much look the same."

McKee has spent over a decade on the sidelines as a high school coach at Bartlesville, Bridge Creek, Western Heights, Edmond North and Moore.