By Cade Kennedy, Sports Editor
After nearly 20 years of coaching in eastern Oklahoma, Jason Medrano has made his way to the west side of the state.
That is not the only change, as he jumped from the high school level back to the collegiate ranks.
Medrano got his coaching start at West Texas A&M under head coach Ronnie Jones. Medrano was a student assistant for one season before becoming the offensive line coach.
In 2004, Medrano made the move to Muskogee to become an assistant coach at Muskogee High School.
Medrano stayed with the Roughers for 14 years before making the move to Catoosa to take his first head coaching job. Two years later, Medrano took an assistant coaching position at Sand Springs.
During his time at these high schools, Medrano worked with coaches that have influence across Oklahoma, from Ron Lancaster in Muskogee to Matt Hennessey in Pawhuska. By working with these coaches, Medrano learned what he needed to do to succeed, he said.
“At the high school level, as a coach, you learn patience and you learn relationship building, so it’s going to make the transition for me easy,” Medrano said.
Jones, now the head coach at Northwestern, brought Medrano on his staff to be the offensive coordinator in addition to being the offensive line coach.
Within a few days, Medrano hit the recruiting trail to bring students to Northwestern.
“Being on the high school level, I’ve seen so many kids get passed over in eastern Oklahoma,” Medrano said. “I’ve seen a lot of kids leave the state of Oklahoma, so my goal was to have eastern Oklahoma.
“I wanted to reach out to all the schools, not only in the Tulsa metro area, but the smaller schools out in the rural areas because there are some good, quality football players in Oklahoma that get completely overlooked.”
Medrano’s work paid off, as several athletes from across the eastern part of Oklahoma committed to Northwestern on National Signing Day. Whether it be a running back from Gore or a wide receiver from Sand Springs, Medrano is finishing what he started.