GOODWELL, OKLAHOMA -- Oklahoma Panhandle State University president Dr. Dave Bryant announced today that Jon Lyles has accepted the position of head football coach. Lyles, 34, has coached for 11 years and has enjoyed success at the high school, collegiate and arena league levels. Lyles replaces Mike Wyatt who passed away in December, shortly after completing his fourth season as the head coach of the Aggies. A Texan from Arp (near Tyler), Lyles is a 1999 graduate of OPSU where he received his BS degree in Health, Physical Education and Recreation and he also completed his Masters degree at West Texas A&M University in Canyon in 2004. Lyles began his coaching career at OPSU in 1999 and served two years as an assistant before moving on to coach the wide receivers at Guymon High School for a year. He then moved on to West Texas A&M to do his graduate work while also serving as a graduate assistant there, handling the wide receivers in 2002 and 2003. For the next several years, Lyles succe tball, and in 2008 was named Arena Football 2 Assistant Coach of the Year. In 2010 as the head coach of the Amarillo Venom, he guided the team to a 12-4 record and a berth in the conference semi-finals. Prior to accepting the position with OPSU, Lyles was serving as the Associate Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator and Director of Football Operations for the New Orleans VooDoo arena football team. An excellent athlete, Lyles starred in both football and baseball at Arp High School as well as with the Aggies. At OPSU as a wide receiver, he had career numbers of over 170 receptions, 2,400 receiving yards, and 20 touchdowns. Performing on the baseball diamond for th st Valuable Player as a senior in 1999 when he led the team in batting average, stolen bases, and on-base percentage. Lyles also played professional football with the Shreveport-Bossier City Battlewings (in 2001), and the Louisiana Rangers (2002) of the Indoor Football League. Bryant said, "Jon Lyles has the coaching experience, maturity, and familiarity with OPSU to continue to enhance the positive football program developed by the late Mike Wyatt." The Aggies were 6-5 in the 2010 campai ill be returning from that squad. At present, the team members are working on conditioning in preparation for spring football drills. Lyles said, "I'm overwhelmed with emotion right now and I'm very glad to be coming back to OPSU. I'm getting everything into perspective and very much looking forward to it." The appointment of Lyles is contingent upon the approval of the Oklahoma A&M Board of Regents. On Friday, February 11, Lyles will be on the OPSU campus for a "Meet the Coach&q will be held at 6:00 p.m. in the OPSU Ballroom located inside the Student Union Building.
