Roland Public Schools announced on April 17 on its Facebook page that it had hired former Vian Wolverine and Oklahoma State Cowboy Kenyatta Wright as its new football coach.
Wright got to meet his new fan base at last Wednesday night’s meet and greet that took place at the high school commons.
The new Roland football coach said the timing was just “Wright” to take the district’s offer.
“It was perfect timing for me,” Wright said. “I really wasn’t looking or coach next year — or any year. Just the stories and the things I feel like that a lot of these kids have gone through here, I wanted to be a part of helping them get better in life and be the men they all desire to be when I was in high school.”
Another factor that entered the picture is that his cousin, Roland Lady Rangers cross country and track coach Tina Ramos, persuaded him to take the job. Also, Roland Public Schools Superintendent Lori Wiggins said some things near and dear to Wright’s heart that made the job offer one he could not turn down.
“I’ve been high school football coaching for 17 years (a a volunteer coach at his alma mater, Vian High School),” he said. “Then, I got out and I’ve been at Oklahoma State for the last couple of years (as Director of Football Business). My cousin Tina and Albis Ramos (fastpitch softball coach and assistant baseball coach) are here. They talked about how great a (athletic) program it is, and that it’s a great school. Tina has been trying to get over here and coach for a while. I’m a Sequoyah County kid. I’ve always known about Roland and how they support their athletes, kids and people here. I talked to Lori a little bit. She talked about what she wanted for not just the athletes here, but for every student. That kind of got my heart. I’m a coach at heart. You hear about the challenges that kids are facing, and the challenges of the (football) program. When you talk to a linebacker about that, that’s really challenging in my heart. I really wanted to help her, this school and this community, and achieve the goal they want for their kids here. Football is a great part of that because it’s a developmental tool and a platform we can use to make kids better men. I want them to have that experience.”
Wright believes for the current time, the most important thing is to have his new players get to know him, and vice versa.
“I think the first thing is they need to know who I am,” Wright said. “I told them from day 1, ‘I love you. I’m going to always fight for you.’ I’m never going to judge a kid. All of our coaches are going to be fighters for them. We have one mission in mind, and that’s for our players to be the best they possibly can be. We’re using football to develop that.”
Wright, who played five seasons in the National Football League with the Buffalo Bills (2000-01) and the New York Jets (2003-05), is just as excited to get to help his new players become better athletes and gentlemen.
“We’ve got a lot of good kids here,” the new Roland football coach said. “I’m really excited because I think they’re hungry for success in life. We’re going to get to work, and work hard. We’ll have some adversity. We’re going to put them in situations to where they have to battle out of. I’m excited about the future.”
Wright would like to see one major change rather quickly — making sure the Rangers are wearing orange uniforms.
“Orange looks so good on me,” Wright said. “It looks so good on this school. I’m going to wear it every single day. We don’t have any orange uniforms, so I’m, going to ask our superintendent (Wiggins) if we can get some orange jerseys. We’ve got to wear orange.”
Wright said he’s got a plan in place to get the Rangers ready for football practice for the 2026 season, which is slated on Aug. 10.
“The coaches will come together after graduation (on May 8),” he said. “We’ll do the things we need to do. We’re going to be building up to that May 11 date (start of spring practice) where we’ll have all of our equipment for spring football. We’re going to call it ‘Football School.’ That’s what I’m accustomed to. That’s what we did in the NFL and what we do in college. We’re going to go through ‘Football School’ for 10 days. Then, we’ll see what we got. Then, we’ll get here in June (for Summer Pride), and we’ll really get after it to get us ready for training camp in August.”
Wright said that his whole family has become part of the Roland family now.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Wright said. “My whole family was engaged here (on Wednesday night at the meetand- greet at the high school commons), and they will be engaged throughout the season. This is a family affair for us. This is family at Roland now. We’re all excited.”
