CPHS Football: Bobby Klinck hired as Sand Springs Head Coach
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Fast Facts:
3-year starter, 3-time State Champion at Jenks High School.
2 years at OU, 2 years at TU. Conference USA Champion, Liberty Bowl Champion.
Assistant Coach at Owasso, Muskogee, Broken Arrow, Southlake Carroll.
13-12 as Head Coach at East Central. District Champion and State Runner-Up. 2012 District Coach of the Year.
The Sand Springs Board of Education approved the hiring of Bobby Klinck as the new Head Football Coach at Charles Page High School Monday evening. Klinck will be the 18th Head Coach in CPHS history, inheriting a program that went 63-68 in thirteen seasons under Dustin Kinard. The Sandites wrapped up 2019 with their third-straight losing record, while Klinck won his second State Title as Defensive Coordinator at Owasso High School.
Klinck began making a name for himself at a young age as a three-year starter and All-State selection at Jenks. He rushed for over 2,500 yards and 33 touchdowns, and recorded 73 tackles in his senior season. The Trojans captured State Titles every year he played during their historic run from 1996-2001. In his senior State Championship game he recorded seven tackles, a fumble recovery, and an interception.
As the No. 14 ranked safety in the nation, Klinck was recruited by dozens of NCAA Division 1 schools, and ultimately settled on the University of Oklahoma, as part of the Sooners’ No. 1 ranked recruiting class in 2001. After wearing a redshirt for one season and seeing only limited special teams action, he transferred to the University of Tulsa in the Spring of 2004 to try and get more playing time.
His first season with the Hurricane was lackluster following a shoulder surgery, but he did start one game and saw minutes as a backup at free safety. In the 2005 season he earned a starting position and helped the Hurricane to its first Conference USA Championship since 1985, and a Liberty Bowl victory. He recorded a 19-yard scoop and score against Rice, and was named Conference USA’s Defensive Player of the Week after a three-turnover effort against SMU.
In his two years with TU, Klinck had one interception, two forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries with one touchdown, 32 solo tackles, 26 assisted tackles, 58 total, one tackle for loss, and three pass breakups.
After his playing career came to an end, Klinck spent three years as a graduate assistant at the University of Central Missouri before returning to TU in 2009. After one year with Tulsa he took up coaching receivers at Owasso during an 8-5 State Semifinals campaign. In 2011 he got his first Defensive Coordinator gig at Muskogee. The Roughers had a 4-6 record, but one of those losses came in overtime and his defense also pitched a 48-0 shutout.
In 2012 he was named the Head Coach at East Central High School in Tulsa at only 29 years of age. He had to rebuild the entire coaching staff, that returned only one assistant from the previous year. Inheriting a team that went 10-2 the season prior, he guided them to a 9-5 record that was really 13-1 before the first four wins were forfeited. After starting the year 4-0, they had to forfeit three non-district games and one district game after playing an ineligible transfer student.
The team didn’t let that adversity get them down, and they rolled to a district title with 5A playoff wins against Shawnee, Guthrie, and McAlester before falling 24-8 to the juggernaut Carl Albert in the Championship finals. The Cardinals won their games by an average score of 31-16, including two shutouts.
After graduating 24 seniors, including 21 starters and Gatorade Player of the Year Stanvon Taylor, Klinck went 4-7 in his sophomore campaign and was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
In 2014 Klinck joined the Broken Arrow coaching staff as Defensive Coordinator. Despite replacing seven starters that season, his defense pitched two shutouts and held its foes to an average of 16.2 points per game in a 7-4 campaign. According to MaxPreps, his team made 42 sacks on the season, and came away with ten interceptions, seven fumble recoveries, and three blocked punts.
In 2015 the Tigers improved to 11-2 and were State Runners-Up, falling 35-14 to Jenks. They shut out two more teams and held their foes to 18.7 points per game.
In 2016 Klinck moved to Carroll High School in Southlake, Texas, helping the national powerhouse to a 10-2 record and Playoff Quarterfinals appearance. His defense made 20 sacks, 12 interceptions, and 8 fumble recoveries.
One season in Texas was enough, and he returned to Owasso as the first hire of Bill Blankenship. That year saw the Rams’ first-ever State Championship in a 12-1 campaign that featured a 21-0 shutout of Jenks in the State Semifinals and a 21-14 Finals win over Union. The defense also got a shutout against Southmoore, 48-2, with the Sabercats’ lone points coming on a safety. Owasso gave up only 17.4 points per game.
The Rams went 7-5 in 2018, losing their semifinal match to undefeated State Champion Broken Arrow by only a field goal. His defense came away with 13 interceptions, 9 forced fumbles, 6 recoveries, 2 blocked kicks, and 32 sacks. They also recorded one shutout.
Finally, the 2019 Rams went undefeated at 13-0 for their second goal ball. This year’s defense pitched one shutout while allowing only 13.5 points per game. They made 13 picks with 10 forced fumbles and 10 recoveries, a blocked field goal, and 39 sacks.
Klinck will have big shoes to fill following Coach Kinard’s ouster. Despite holding a losing overall record, Kinard was hugely popular and was the second-longest tenured coach in town history. Although the program has been trending downward in recent years, it wasn’t long ago that Kinard guided the Sandites to a school-record six consecutive playoff appearances from 2012 to 2017 with a Runner-Up finish in 2015.
