Cole Named Oklahoma Football Coach Of The Year

Sulphur Mentor Credits Team, Father, Family, And The Late Coach Jim Dixon For Program Success

Sulphur head football coach and athletic director Corey Cole is pictured with his three sons, Carter (11), Caden (65), and Casten, front, along with his wife, Carrie, following a game last season. Corey Cole was recently named as Oklahoma Football Coach of the Year by the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame.

Only three short years ago, the Bulldog’s Corey Cole was the lead assistant to a Hall of Fame coach and enjoying his role in helping shape the team as they entered the 2022 season.

The Dogs opened the season that year hoping to pull off an upset of the state’s top Class 2A team, Washington, but lost in a wild one, 27-25, as quarterback Bridge Barrett suffered a knee injury while dropping back to pass on a two-point, winning conversion attempt.

The loss became the least of the team’s worries, however, as word began to spread later that weekend that head coach Jim Dixon had suffered a health emergency after the game and was fighting for his life in an Oklahoma City hospital.

Sadly, the iconic team leader for Sulphur football for 50 years, died several days later, devastating the team and community.

Against that backdrop, administrators and school board members then turned to Cole to lead the team in those trying times, naming his as interim coach.

The next year, in 2023, he was named head coach and this past week, two years into his tenure, he was named Oklahoma Football Coach of the Year. The award was presented to him by the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame in ceremonies in Oklahoma City.

This week, a humble Cole thanked a number of people for helping him continue a tradition of success begun years ago.

“This award is truly an award that is only possible by the hard work of the whole football program here at Sulphur,” Cole said. “We are blessed with the hardest working kids who believe in our culture and are willing to do anything we ask for them to be successful. We had an extraordinary group of seniors last year who did an amazing job leading our program and by doing it the right way.

“The run to the state championship last season was such a great achievement and this award is a direct reflection of what our guys were able to achieve. We also have one of the best coaching staffs you could ask for.”

Cole said he is blessed that Superintendent of Schools Matt Holder and the board of education allowed him the opportunity to find coaches and teachers who “pour into our kids as student/ athletes and also preparing them to become young men in this world.”

Among the many people Cole thanked for helping him was his staff of coaches (Keith Garrett, David Gilliam, Linn Marshall, Aury Barrett, Clete Cole, and former assistant, Channing Hickman). “They are a group of men that went above and beyond to make sure our kids are prepared mentally and physically every day and push these kids to become the best that they can be. I am so grateful and thankful for the players and coaches and I am honored to be a part of Sulphur football.”

Cole said his dream of becoming a coach began years ago as he watched his father coach at Konawa.

“My dream of becoming a coach came a long time ago watching my dad (Rendell Cole), my hero, coach at Konawa and then moving to Sulphur to play for Coach Dixon.

Cole got his first start in his coaching with another former Sulphur Bulldog, Todd Dilbeck.

“I learned so much from him in the four years we were together and he helped shape my coaching style. I am so thankful for these three guys who shaped me into the Coach and man that I am.”

Above all, Cole is a proud Bulldog.

“I love being a Sulphur Bulldog, always have and always will, and I have to thank Coach Dixon for that. I got to play for him for four years and was an assistant on his staff for 18 years as well. The culture and the foundation that he built here at Sulphur is second to none. I am thankful that he trusted and believed in me for so long. I feel that it is my duty and calling to protect and keep building upon this incredible football program that Coach Dixon built.”

Cole said he also relished in coaching his two sons, Caden and Cater, in the state championship game last December, while his youngest, Casten, was on the sidelines doing ball-boy duty.

“I am very lucky that I have a family that loves and supports the Sulphur Bulldogs as much as I do,” he said. “Definitely the funnest year of my coaching career. My wife, Carrie, is the absolute rock of this family and I am so lucky to have her keeping me in line and always being there for me.”

Cole and the 2024 Dogs had an incredible run to the state title game, but he said the team is not yet satisfied until they can put the gold ball in the trophy case.

“2024 is in the books and we are ready for 2025, our kids and new coaching staff have been putting in the time and work. We came up just a little short last year and this group is determined to do everything in our power to finish the 2025 season on Dec 13, 2025 at UCO.”

The Bulldogs will open the season against old foe Washington on Friday, Sept. 5.