When the Harrah Panthers take the field this fall, their football team will have part of the Henryetta Knights with them.
Chris Bliek, a 2008 HHS graduate, has been named head coach at Harrah this week. He was named Monday night by the Harrah school board replacing former Henryetta football coach Kenny Speer. Speer retired after one season. Prior to that, Speer had been the Antlers head coach for six years.
Bliek has spent the past seven years as defensive coordinator for the Antlers Bearcats and Harrah this past year. He is also the Panther powerlifting team coach.
During those seven years, his teams have posted 43 wins and 36 losses and, at Antlers, part of the 2016 district championship team.
Following high school, he received an associates degree in science from OSUIT then a bachelors degree in elementary education from Northeastern State Univeristy and his Masters degree in educational leadership in 2017.
He will be leading a 4A team that had a 1-9 season last year.
Despite that, he said the new job, “is a dream come true. I am blessed to be given this opportunity and excited to lead these kids to be better men through the experiences they face on the football field and in the classroom.”
Bliek and his wife, Kelsey, are the parents of a son, Ricky.