Bobeck Named UCO Football Coach

1/4/2012 3:29:00 PM

Nick Bobeck

EDMOND, Okla. (Jan. 4) -- Nick Bobeck is coming home.

The University of Central Oklahoma announced during a Wednesday afternoon press conference that Bobeck -- a former player and graduate assistant coach for the Bronchos -- has been named as the school's 13th head football coach.

A native of Beaver, the 31-year-old Bobeck returns to UCO after a sparkling four-year stint as head coach at junior college powerhouse Navarro (Texas) College.

He compiled a sensational 42-5 record at Navarro, winning the 2010 national championship along with three regular-season Southwest Junior College Football Conference (SWJCFC) titles.

“I'm extremely excited about the new chapter about to begin here at the University of Central Oklahoma,” Bobeck said. “I'm very proud to be here because not many people get the chance to come back to their alma mater. I have two degrees from here and they hang on my wall every day.”

Bobeck will start assembling a staff immediately and will meet with the current team Sunday evening before the spring semester starts next Monday.

“What I'm looking forward to most is getting to meet the players and getting started in the process of rebuilding the wonderful tradition that is the University of Central Oklahoma football,” Bobeck said. “What we're going to be about here at UCO is we're going to build everything we do on effort. Effort is running to the football. Effort is sticking on blocks, understanding your fundamentals. It takes zero talent to be able to do those things and we're going to stress it every day.”

The Bronchos have been without a head coach since Dec. 1, with athletic director Joe Muller shifting through an impressive list of applications before settling on Bobeck.

“Nick is a proven leader and motivator and he's rising star in the college football world,” Muller said. “He's the type of coach I would want my sons playing for and certainly someone our student-athletes, our student body, faculty, staff and alumni can rally around.

“His connection to UCO as a former player and coach make him uniquely qualified to lead his program. I look forward to Nick restoring the great winning tradition so many UCO fans have come to expect and I'm thrilled to have him back.”

UCO President Don Betz welcomed the former Central athlete and graduate back to his alma mater.

"I'm delighted that Nick will be joining the UCO family,” Betz said. “It is a homecoming for him as he returns to lead a program where he once was recognized as an outstanding player. Nick has the experience, vitality and discipline to motivate our athletes and to prepare UCO for its connection with the MIAA and our new conference partners. I wish him unqualified success and a long and successful tenure as the Bronchos head football coach."

Betz said it is UCO's goal is to create a highly competitive athletic experience throughout the university's athletic programs with a primary focus on success and graduation.

Bobeck was a four-year letterman and two-year starter at fullback for UCO from 1999-02, earning first-team All-Lone Star Conference North Division honors as a senior.

He stayed on with the Bronchos as a graduate assistant coach the next three seasons, helping UCO go 20-12 during that stint while making the NCAA Division II playoffs in 2003.

Bobeck went to Texas A&M as an offensive line coach in 2006 when the Aggies finished 9-4 and earned a berth in the Holiday Bowl. He moved on to Navarro the following season and served as offensive coordinator in 2007 when the Bulldogs went 9-3 and won the conference crown.

Nick took over as head coach the next year, with his first squad finishing 10-1 and ranked fourth in the final poll. An 11-1 campaign and No. 3 ranking followed in 2009.

Bobeck and the Bulldogs put it all together in 2010, following a season-opening loss with 11 consecutive wins to finish 11-1 and capture the NJCAA national championship. Navarro was 10-2 this past season, finishing fifth in the final ranking.

UCO ranks among the Division II leaders in all-time wins with 593 and the two-time national champion Bronchos will begin play in the rugged Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association in 2012 after playing last season as an independent. MIAA member Pittsburg State won the Division II national title in 2011.

Nick and his wife, Keely, are expecting their first child (a boy) in April.

Click here for Oklahoman story.
Click here for Edmond Sun story.
Click here for the Broncho Blog.

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