After coaching as East Hickman’s head football coach for 7 years, Coach Chris Austin has decided to pursue other opportunities closer to his home. In his place, Coach Billy Sawyer, the previous offensive coordinator, has stepped up to take over. Sawyer says, “It is a true honor to be able to take over this program.” Coach Austin and Sawyer have worked to build this football program for the past 7 years when they came to East Hickman together, so to take over where Coach Austin left off is a continuation of what they have worked on together.

Coach Sawyer is excited to make his own mark as head coach and continue building on the foundation and determination of the football team. It is also exciting for him to further his career in the community he grew up in and played for. Coach Sawyer is very proud to be from East Hickman, and since they built this school, he has always wanted to be a part of EHHS and help the athletes on this side of the county a chance to prove themselves, “We’ve seen glimpses of what this program is capable of, and I’m excited to push us towards the next evolution.”

Starting as head coach, Sawyer, as former offensive coordinator, plans to make some slight changes to offense, but for the most part stay the same. Coach Sawyer was also a defensive coordinator for 13 years before he came to East Hickman to be the offensive coordinator, so he has some ideas for changes defensively.

While Coach Sawyer is excited to take over, he also is expecting some challenges when it comes to being head coach. He says, “Continuing the success that was brought to this program by Coach Austin. He did a wonderful job of building and mentoring these players.” His job is to keep building on the momentum Coach Austin has brought to the team. Some more of Sawyer’s goals, his main one being to have fun, and be a team everyone wants to be a part of. His second being, “Hard Nosed and technically sound. We want to be a team that doesn’t beat itself.” Lastly, Coach Sawyer says he wants the team to be competitive. “Every time we step on the field— it’s an opportunity to win.” 

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