Pryor hires Jason Freeman as new football coach
BY BARRY LEWIS World Sports Writer
Wednesday, February 08, 2012
2/08/12 at 4:18 AM
Pryor has named former University of Oklahoma and Muskogee High School tight end Jason Freeman as head football coach.
Freeman succeeds J.R. Winton, who retired after five seasons at Pryor, which went 9-3 and reached the Class 5A quarterfinals in 2011. Winton remains at Pryor as an assistant principal.
"I am glad to be back on the East side of the state," Freeman said on Tuesday before being introduced as coach during Pryor's basketball games against Bishop Kelley. "I know the area well and I like being at a school where the program is backed by a true community."
Freeman spent last year as a co-offensive coordinator at Jones, which was the 2A state runner-up. He also has been an assistant at Southmoore and Hinton, where he spent one season as head coach before moving to Jones.
Pryor will likely pass more under Freeman, son of former Muskogee coach Ron Freeman."You look at OU, OSU and Oregon, and how they use their speed on offense," Freeman said. "I try to mimic that and use a no-huddle offense. I like to spread it out and use two backs."
After playing for OU from 1995-98, Freeman was signed as an undrafted free agent by the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers and spent time on their practice squad in 1999. In 2000, he played for NFL Europe's Berlin Thunder, and over the 2000 and '01 seasons spent time in the training camps of Tampa Bay, Green Bay and the New York Jets.
"After the Jets released me, I figured it was time to hang it up, finish my degree and get into coaching which had always been my plan when I was through playing," Freeman said. "I had watched my dad coach and that's what I had always wanted to do. And being married with three kids, I want to coach at the high school level so I'm able to be home with my family."
Original Print Headline: Freeman hired as new Pryor coach
Barry Lewis 918-581-8393
barry.lewis@tulsaworld.com
