COACHING EVOLUTION: FROM A HUSKIE TO A BRUIN, MATT HENNESY TO GUIDE BHS GRID DESTINY
Matt Hennesy, who spent eight years as Pawhuska Huskies head coach, was named Bartlesville Bruins head coach on Tuesday.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
By Mike Tupa
Dec. 10, 2025
BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS REPORT
Bartlesville High School didn’t have to go far to find its new head football coach.
He was just in the backyard.
Matt Hennesy — who the past eight seasons coached the Pawhuska Huskies to an average of nine wins a year and three Class A state semifinal appearances — has been tabbed to lead a struggling Bruin program that hasn’t posted a winning record in 10 seasons.
“We are excited to welcome Coach Hennesy and his family to Bartlesville,” said Bartlesville High School Director of Athletics Thad Dilbeck. “His track record of excellence, player development, and program-building speaks for itself, and we look forward to the positive impact he will make on our students, athletes, and community.”
Hennesy felt the time was right to take this step.
“They called and I had interest,” he said during a phone interview Tuesday. “I think it’s the right timing. I think Bartlesville is hungry and I think they want to win and I think they want to do the right things. … I think God’s put me here. I have zero negative things to say about Pawhuska. … I felt it was time for a new challenge for me.”
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GLOW OF A WINNING TRADITION
Hennesy’s resume of success on both big and smaller levels is extensive, including a 289-98 record in 22 seasons as a head coach.
In Class 6A he navigated the Muskogee Roughers to multiple state semifinal appearances.
He took charge of a Locust Grove program that had been 2-28 prior to his arrival and helped guide it to multiple unbeaten regular seasons.
Earlier in his 33-year coaching career, Hennesy also served as an assistant for six seasons at Jenks, during which time it won three Class 6A state titles.
Pawhuska had gone winless (0-10) in 2017, the year prior to Hennesy’s arrival. During his eight seasons (2018-25) in charge, Pawhuska compiled a 72-25 record in 97 games and qualified each year for the playoffs. The Huskies advanced to the state semifinals in 2020, 2021 and 2025.
During his playing days, Hennesy suited up for Kansas State and earned Academic All-Big 8 linebacker recognition. He also played on a state championship team at Enid High School.
In addition, he has served as a defensive coordinator and head coach in USA Football competition.
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CHALLENGE IS THERE
Hennesy takes charge of a Bruin program coming off a 3-8 season, including its fourth-straight year of qualifying for the playoffs. But in fairness to past Bruin teams, at least two of those playoff appearances wouldn’t have taken place prior to 2022 according to the former playoff qualification rules.
Some of Bartlesville noteworthy players from 2025 eligible to return in 2026 are starting quarterback Michael Kent, receiver/TE Boden Roberts, lineman Sonji Ketiku, defensive back Christian Ketiku, linebacker Davin Carter, linebacker Wyatt Mathis, receiver Matthew Sears, lineman Landry Holmes, defensive back Adrian Jones, defensive back Landen Shaw, receiver Gavin Thomas, receiver Evan Goad and others.
Hennesy first met with the players on Tuesday afternoon.
Prior to the meeting, he said his plan was “To get them excited to play and to tell them how we do things. We want to lay out a structure for them and take a little leadership quiz to get their feelings.”
Hennesy pointed to five areas that are crucial to building a successful football program.
The list includes: 1) good players, 2) the right coaches, 3) a supportive administration and teaching staff, 4) supportive parents, and 5) community support.
“You’ve got to have parents who are willing to jump in and help,” he explained. “You’ve got to have the community behind you. It’s expensive to win football games. … The formula says the same. It’s all about the process. It doesn’t happen overnight, but I think it’s going to happen faster than people think it will.”
Hennesy’s most important team is his wife Tara and their five children: Taylor, Payton, Jeremy, Daegen, and Maida.
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Matt Hennesy, who spent eight years as Pawhuska Huskies head coach, was named Bartlesville Bruins head coach on Tuesday.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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PAWHUSKA CONNECTIONS
Hennesy becomes the 12th Bruin football head coach since the school opened in 1982. He fills the void left by the departure of Harry Wright, who recently resigned after coaching the team for four seasons (2022-25).
Hennesy is at least the second Bruin head football coach with a strong Pawhuska connection. Rich McGuire (2000-03) was a Pawhuska High product.
In addition, current Bruin head basketball coach Jake Christenson is a Pawhuska High graduate as well as a former Pawhuska head basketball coach.
Bo Atterberry — currently the Southwestern Oklahoma State head football coach and former Bartlesville head track coach — also hailed from Pawhuska.
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DUE FOR A TURNAROUND
Since finishing 10-2 and playing in the 6A-II state semifinals in 2015, the Bruin program has sputtered through a tough decade in terms of Friday night success.
From the 2016 through 2025 seasons the cumulative record has been 28-67, with no winning campaigns.
The Bruins advanced to the playoffs five times during those years.Once was in 2020 when, due to COVID protocol, several playoff-eligible teams were unable to play and the state invited every available team to the postseason.
Prior to the 2022 season, Class 6A-II expanded its playoffs to include the top six teams in the district standings. Prior to that — and still today in smaller classes — only the top four teams per district qualified for the playoffs. Under the former rules, Bartlesville would not have qualified in 2024 or 2025.
But Bartlesville did win first-round playoff games in back-to-back seasons (2022 and 2023) for the first time in school history.
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WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE
As mentioned, Hennesy should enjoy a strong nucleus on which to build next season’s potential.
In addition to offseason conditioning and preparation, he might be focused on increasing the numbers, which will rely largely on how many players will be moving up from the middle school team.
He’ll also need to rebuild or retool the running back rotation for more consistent production and develop more quality depth at multiple position groups.
The impact of potential incoming or outgoing transfers will be an unknown factor until the late spring or early summer.
If perhaps one word could summarize the root of Bartlesville’s struggles over the past several years, that word would be consistency. The Bruins have looked fantastic at times, very, very good at other times, and mediocre to not very good at other times.
As one philosopher says, good talent plus good consistency almost always equals great outcomes.
Creating more consistent high-level performance might be one of Hennesy’s biggest challenges.
Meanwhile, Bartlesville fans are likely energized, excited and eager to welcome the new coach with a proven track record of success, or turnarounds and vision.