New OHS Coach Hartman calls for community support on new facilities

ODESSA, Texas (KMID/KPEJ) – Odessa High School formally introduced new Campus Coordinator and head football coach Erik Hartman Wednesday evening at the Bronchos’ Performing Arts Center. Hartman discussed many of his plans for the Broncho football program, one of which being an indoor practice facility.

Hartman, a 1993 Odessa graduate and former quarterback, said to a few dozen players and their families that he feels Odessa is not on the same playing field as the rest of its district opponents.

He expressed disappointment over Proposition C failing last November at the ballot box, a bond proposition that would have funded the Bronchos’ dreams of an indoor practice facility.

“If we have any kind of weather and we’re going to be inside practicing in our flats in the gym and everybody else is going to be in their indoor [facilities] having full practices and I just feel, right now, that’s not an even playing field,” Hartman said.

In light of the failing bond proposition, Hartman called on the Broncho family– parents, boosters and local businesses– to help fund the project, similar to what he said Permian did to build their facility.

Hartman not only played for Odessa in high school, he also coached there as an assistant in the early 2000s. He acknowledged that the program had a ways to go to consistently compete in District 2-6A and compete for playoff spots.

Hartman has seen what success looks like in his past, spending 16 years at Glen Rose and shaping that program into the perennial 4A playoff program that it is today.

He said bluntly, he expects results in year one.

The Bronchos open the season against Amarillo on Aug. 29 at Ratliff Stadium.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Yourbasin.