Sallisaw football coach says he’s ready to get the program to ‘strike it rich’

Black Diamonds open season at 8 p.m. tonight at home against Stigler

New Sallisaw football coach, and Sequoyah County raised, Brandon Tyler told those in attendance Wednesday at the Sallisaw Chamber of Commerce’s monthly membership luncheon held at Indian Capital Technology Center, that he is ready to bring the Black Diamonds football program back to prominence.

“We open up (at 8 p.m. tonight at Perry F. Lattimore Stadium). We have Stigler coming in. We’ve had great practices up to this point. Our kids have bought in. We’re looking forward to this season. It’s going to take all of us — everybody in this room, in this whole community — to get behind these kids, and believing again. We’ve got the athletic ability. It’s all in their minds right now. We just have to get that mindset changed, and they’re doing a great job of it. We’re looking forward to getting Sallisaw Black Diamonds football back to where it was in the late 1990s and 1980s. I’m excited about it. We hope everyone shows up (tonight). Let’s get win No. 1, and we’ll go from there.”

Becoming the Black Diamonds football coach has always been a desire, since there is SHS ties within his family. Tyler’s grandfather, Dick Moseley, was the Sallisaw High School principal and Sallisaw Public Schools superintendent from 1968-77. Tyler’s mother, Janice Tyler, graduated in the Class of 1969 at SHS. Tyler’s uncle, Richard Moseley, was an All-State football player and a 1972 Sallisaw High School graduate.

“It’s always been a goal of mine to come back here and become the (football) coach at Sallisaw,” Tyler said. “It’s truly an honor for me. This job came open again. I always wanted to be here. I’m proud to be here. I’m very fortunate to be here. I want to get football going back in high gear. I know what it’s like here. We had a great summer. I’ve been here since March. I got some new (assistant) coaches hired, and they’ve done a tremendous job in the weight room with our kids. It’s our job as coaches to put them in the most successful places where we can be successful.”

Tyler’s coaching career pretty much has been spent in Sequoyah County.

“My first head (football) coaching job was at Vian,” he said. “What a lot of people don’t realize is that Vian had hard times as well up to that point. They were coming off an 0-10 season. Two years after taking over, we were in the state championship game. I lost (the state finals) 21-20. I was there for 12 years. I went to Van Buren (Ark.) to try to move up in the coaching ranks. For some reason, it’s just like anything else. In small school football, everybody thinks they have to go to (Class) 6A and 7A, and be a head coach at a smaller school. Then, the Gore job opened up. They were on terrible times. They were 5-35 the previous four years. Once I got over there, I got some good assistants hired. We went 8-3 our first year. Six years later, we were in the state championship (losing 32-28 to Fairview last December at Wantland Stadium at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond). It was the first time the school had ever made it past the third round of the playoffs in school history. We had a bad break there. Our running back breaks his arm. I think if we have him in the game, we win it last year.”

Tyler also grew up in Sequoyah County.

“I’ve been here for a long time,” he said. “I grew up over here in the apartments behind Walmart when me and mom was here. She got remarried. Grandma and grandpa lived on Redwood. So, I’ve been familiar with this area for a long time. I’ve been in Sequoyah County my whole life. I’m looking forward to retiring here.”