New Westmoore Coach Thrilled For Opportunity

New Westmoore High School head football coach Adam Gaylor says he's thrilled about his new opportunity.

"From a football standpoint, this is one of the premiere jobs in the state. I couldn't be in a better situation as a first-time head coach," Gaylor said.

When the Moore Board of Education approved his hiring late Monday night, it capped off an emotional few months for Gaylor and his family. He spent six seasons at Broken Arrow, most recently as defensive coordinator under head coach Steve Spavital. After Spavital resigned following the 2013 season, Gaylor was not retained.

"It's always a shock to your ego as a competitor," Gaylor explained. "I think we've been fairly successful when you look at the stats: six years, 15 points per game, and making some deep runs to the playoffs. It wasn't all me, it was players and the other coaches, but we've been pretty good on defense."

However, Gaylor says he would have been interested in the Westmoore job even if Spavital remained at Broken Arrow.

"Whether he was going to be the head coach or not, I was going to look. I've been defensive coordinator for six years, as a competitor, you want to coach at the highest level in the state of Oklahoma. This opportunity came open and I sought after it."

Westmoore and Broken Arrow are in the same district in Class 6A-1, and will meet this year in week 7 in Moore.

"The main thing will be seeing those kids and competing against those kids, and kind of the catch-22," Gaylor said. "I want [Broken Arrow defensive lineman] Gage Kaiser to have eight sacks, but if he has eight sacks against Westmoore, we're probably not going to win."

"Now, I've got 75 new sons that I have to look after and take care of, and I want them to be successful, but there's the other side of it where I've got guys that I've coached for years and seen them come up through the program for years. I want our kids at Westmoore to be successful, and I'll get joy from them being successful, but I won't get joy from having to beat friends, and kids that I care about."

Ultimately, Gaylor's goal at Westmoore remains the same as it was at Broken Arrow: break the stranglehold Jenks and Union have on the state championship.

"It starts with how we work and how we do things on a day-to-day basis. There's no magic formula or magic words. You hear Nick Saban talk about the process, and that's what it is. We've got to be better than those guys, not just the east side, but Edmond Santa Fe and everyone (on our schedule)," Gaylor said.

Gaylor says he isn't wasting any time getting started. He plans to commute from Broken Arrow to Moore after his middle school teaching duties a few times per week until the end of spring football.