Gaskamp to coach at Southwestern Oklahoma State

The Southwestern Oklahoma State University football team has hired hometown product and former Texas all-conference lineman Russell Gaskamp as the school's new offensive coordinator. Gaskamp replaces Brett Hauser, who left SWOSU after two seasons.

Gaskamp, 30, has five years of coaching experience at the high school, college and professional level and was most recently with Texas A&M-Commerce as the offensive line coach from 2005-06. Before going to Commerce, Gaskamp was a graduate assistant at NCAA Division I-AA Sam Houston State where he was the tight ends coach on the Bearkats 2004 national semi-finals team.

"Russell will be a tremendous addition to our staff and most certainly will help make us a better football team," head coach Ryan Held said. "His history as a player and a coach speak for themselves. He has been a success in every stop of his career. We believe he can teach a winning attitude to the players we have here now and the ones in the future."

Gaskamp played three seasons at Weatherford High School under longtime coach Woody Roof where the Eagles won back-to-back state titles in 1991 and 1992. Gaskamp was an all-state performer in both wrestling and football and was named to the USA Today High School All-American squad in 1993.

"Weatherford has always had a special place in my heart," Gaskamp said. "This is where I want to be. I believe it is a great community and Southwestern has enjoyed long tradition of support from it."

"Coach Held and I had some lengthy talks and we believe in the same things about how to play winning football, especially the importance of a strong running game," Gaskamp said. "Southwestern football is going to move in the right direction and I want to be a part of it."

As a decorated high school player, Gaskamp had his pick of any college in the nation and selected the University of Texas. His signing with the Longhorns was at the time considered historic as he became the first player to graduate from an Oklahoma high school to sign with UT in 17 years.

He participated on three conference championship teams and played in the Sun, Sugar, Fiesta and Cotton Bowls. He started all 13 games at center for the `Horns in 1998 and was part of an offensive line that paved the way for Ricky Williams in his Heisman Trophy winning year. He was named to the Longhorn All-Decade Team of the 1990's.

Gaskamp's first coaching assignment was with the Austin Rattlers minor league football team where he was the team's head coach in 2002 after serving as the offensive coordinator the previous two seasons. As the Rattler's head coach, Gaskamp led the squad to a 13-1 record and a national runner-up finish in the North American Football League (NAFL) in 2002.

He later then taught and coached at Austin's Johnston High School for two years before joining the college ranks at Sam Houston State and later Texas A&M-Commerce.

Gaskamp owns a 1999 bachelor's degree in management from Texas and later obtained his master's of Education from Sam Houston in 2005.

He is married to the former Justine Forshage of New Braunfels, Texas.

The University of Texas at Austin Athletics