MEET THE COACH (YouTube Video)
Recruiting Area: Texas Panhandle/Central Texas
Hometown
-Weatherford, OK
-Graduated from Weatherford HS, 1994
Education
-B.B.A. in Management from University of Texas (Austin, TX), 1999
-M.E. in Instructional Leadership from Sam Houston State University (Huntsville, TX), 2005
Playing Career
-University of Texas (Austin, TX), 1994-1998
Coaching and Work
-Sam Houston State University, 2003-2004
-Assistant Football
-Texas A&M University – Commerce, 2005
-Assistant Football
-Southwestern Oklahoma State University, 2006-2008
-Assistant Football
-Angelo State University, 2009-2011
-Assistant Football
-Oklahoma Panhandle State University, 2012-present
-Head Football
Russell Gaskamp has been the head football coach at Oklahoma Panhandle State University since the Fall of 2012, compiling a 29-33 record since coming to Goodwell. In 2017, OPSU joined the NAIA Division and the Aggies reveled in a 7-3 winning season in their Sooner Athletic Conference debut. Gaskamp and his staff accrued a four-game winning streak in the inaugural NAIA season, including a huge win on the road against No. 16 Arizona Christian University, and secured four SAC top-ten rankings, including a No. 1 spot in Opp. 4th Down Conversions and a No. 5 ranking in Pass Defense Efficiency, landing the Aggies at No. 24 in the nation overall.
Gaskamp also led the Aggies to a 7-3 season in 2014 including a six-game winning streak; their best record in almost 30 years. The Aggies were the only DII team to finish the season ranked in the top five nationally in both total offense and total defense. Defensively they led the nation in team passing efficiency, while topping single-season school records for total yards and scoring on the offensive side of the ball.
Prior to taking over the Aggie football program, Gaskamp spent the previous seven years coaching in the Lone Star Conference, most recently at Angelo State Univ. where he was offensive line coach for three years and took over the offensive coordinator position in January of 2011. In his first season in San Angelo, the Rams increased their offensive production nearly 1,500 yards over the previous season and in the second year helped produce the second most prolific offense in school history. Before coaching in San Angelo, he was offensive coordinator and assistant head coach at Southwestern Oklahoma State and also had stops at Texas A&M Univ.-Commerce and Sam Houston State Univ. Gaskamp’s overall head coaching record is 32-23, with a national runner-up finish with the Austin Rattlers (NAFL) in 2002.
The Weatherford, Okla. native played center on the Univ. of Texas offensive line that paved the way for Ricky Williams to win the Heisman Trophy in 1998. Gaskamp holds a bachelor’s in management from UT and a master’s in educational leadership from Sam Houston State Univ. He has been married to Justine Gaskamp of New Braunfels, TX since 2001.
