New football coach expects Diamonds to return to ‘elite 4A program’

If history does, indeed, repeat itself and new Sallisaw football coach Brandon Tyler replicates the success he enjoyed at Vian and Gore, then go ahead and make hotel reservations for the Class 4A state championship game the first weekend in December 2028.

“I’ve been to the state championship game twice now, and lost by a combined five points. Hopefully [that kind of success] happens here, and hopefully it’s goin’ to. I told our kids, ‘hopefully’ and ‘can’ are cuss words around me,” Tyler told the Sallisaw Lions Club on Tuesday at its membership meeting at the Olde Feed Barn.

“We’re gonna do it, we’re gonna get the job done. Every six years I’ve been able to be in the finals. I was at Vian, my sixth year we went to the finals and played for one, and six years at Gore we played for one. It’s gonna happen, and I’m excited about the opportunity.”

Tyler spent 15 seasons at Vian beginning in 2001, the final 12 as head coach, and suffered a heart-breaking 21-20 loss to Millwood in the championship game. Then, after a season as an assistant at Van Buren, Tyler resurrected a Gore program that prior to his arrival won four games in four seasons, two of those campaigns without a win at all, and was in the playoffs every year from 2017 to 2022. In 2022, Gore and Fairview both entered the finals with 14-0 records, but the Yellowjackets held on for a 32-28 win.

Hired for the Sallisaw job in February, Tyler inherits a program much like those floundering Gore teams he turned into instant winners. The Black Diamonds were 1-19 the past two years, including an 0-10 record in Coach Mark Hutson’s only season.

“I know you guys have always been proud of this program. I’ve always been proud of it, growing up watching it, all the way through my coaching career as well,” Tyler said. “We wanna get back to being that elite 4A program in Oklahoma, and we’re gonna work to get there.”

Sallisaw won back-to-back state championships in 198081, and was state runner-up in 2000 and 2001. Before the past two disheartening years, the Black Diamonds had been to the playoffs 34 times in 41 seasons.

“I’m very excited, very blessed to have the opportunity to come and coach here. This has always been kind of a dream job for me. Now I’ve finally gotten the opportunity and things have lined up perfect.

“I’ve been here for a week and a half now being around our kids. I love every one of ’em, and I tell ’em that every day. When they’re in the locker room, I think their attitude, their jive and their mojo’s starting to come around, and picking up what we wanna do, and that’s 99% of the battle, and seeing those guys going to battle for us,” he said.

Although his coaching career has taken him to Warner and Velma-Alma in addition to his stops in Vian, Gore and Van Buren, Tyler is no stranger to Sallisaw.

“I’m kind of an outsider, but I’m not. My grandfather (Richard Mosely Sr.) was superintendent here back in the ’70s (1972-77),” and if his grandfather hadn’t died prematurely, “there’s no doubt in my mind I would have been a Black Diamond.” His mother, Janice Mosely Tyler, graduated from Sallisaw in 1969, and his uncle, Richard Mosely Jr., was a football All-Stater in 1972. “Our family has a little bit of history here in Sallisaw, so it’s not like I’m an outsider not knowing anything about the history and culture of this program.

“It’s a great place to be. I’m excited about this program and thankful for the opportunity to be here to do this.”

He said his daughter enrolled in school at Sallisaw on Monday, his wife is finishing the year at Gore where she’s a first-grade teacher and his son will be in the third grade. They’ll all be in Sallisaw for the 2023-24 school year. His son plays football, and his daughter is a cheerleader.

“We’re fully invested in it.” And that’s the way he wants his players to be.

At Gore, his Pirates won back-to-back state championships in powerlifting, so once the football season’s over, he wants his players to participate in powerlifting or wrestling. “Go somewhere, just go compete and do something and just keep making everybody else’s programs better,” he tells his players.

So what should the Black Diamond faithful expect when the season begins in August?

“I’ve always believed in running the football. You’ve gotta be able to run the football in November and December when it’s snowing sideways,” Tyler told the Lions Club. “I just gotta see what kids we got. I know everybody’s got a certain philosophy on what they gotta do. In college, you can recruit to that. In high school, you’re dealt with what you got. I think, as coaches, we gotta mold and change our philosophy sometimes to meet the needs of the kids and try to get them the best spot to go in. I’m more of a run it downhill kind of guy, and play-action off of that.”

Defensively, he expects to run a 4-2-5 alignment.

Then he harkened back to his roots.

“Special teams, they kinda always get left out. Back when I was about 210 pounds, I punted at Northeastern for four years, so I know the importance of having great special teams. So I wanna be solid in all three phases.”

A 1991 graduate of Gore, Tyler played at Northeastern State University, then was an assistant at Gore, Velma-Alma, Warner and Vian. As a head coach, he owns a 188-36 record (128-25 at Vian and 60-11 at Gore).

“I’m excited about it. You got kids playin’ for me, I’m gonna treat them like they’re my own, ’cause they are. We’re around those kids more than their parents are. I enjoy it, and I just wanna be a great role model with an emphasis on them,” he said.

“Things are gonna change, and we’ll get it goin’ in the right direction.”