Coach leaves Bulldogs

Blankenship going back to Oklahoma

FAYETTEVILLE — Bill Blankenship is one and done at Fayetteville.

Blankenship, who guided Fayetteville to the Class 7A state football championship in the 2016 season, resigned from his position as football coach on Wednesday, it was announced in news release issued by the school.

Blankenship has accepted a similar position at Owasso, Okla., which is expected to be finalized on Friday.

“This past season has been a blessing for my wife, Angie, and for me. We were welcomed with open arms by the school, the faculty and the Fayetteville community,” Blankenship said in the release. “And, we have had such a special relationship with our players and the coaching staff. Everyone in the district, especially athletic director Steve Janski and (superintendent) Dr. Matthew Wendt, made this seem like a destination job for us.

“Over the holidays we became especially aware of how much we have missed being near our kids and grandkids. This decision to return to the Tulsa area was hard, but the right thing for our family.”

Fayetteville won a share of the 7A-West Conference championship in Blankenship’s only season as coach, the school’s first conference title since 2003. The Bulldogs finished the season with eight consecutive wins after a Week 4 loss to

Bentonville, including a convincing 53-19 victory against North Little Rock in the Class 7A finals.

Blankenship, this season’s Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Division I Coach of the Year, was hired by Fayetteville on June 8 after the sudden resignation in May of previous coach Daryl Patton, who at the time cited personal reasons for his own departure.

Patton later admitted to an improper affair.

Blankenship, who won three state championships while at Tulsa Union from 1992 to 2005 and was head coach for four seasons at Tulsa University from 201114, inherited a state title Fayetteville team from the season before. And with the veteran Blankenship at the helm, the Purple’Dogs didn’t skip a beat.

“Coach Blankenship’s wealth of experience at the high school and collegiate level were the perfect fit for our program during a time of transition,” Janski said. “His time here in Fayetteville benefited our students, district, and community.”

Fayetteville is now in the process of a hiring its third head coach in the last nine months. Wendt indicated in the news release the search for the next coach would begin immediately.