The following is part one of a two-part conversation with new Texas A&M-Kingsville head football coach Bo Atterberry. The 32-year old Atterberry was named head coach of the Javelinas on June 1st after joining the staff in January as the team’s defensive coordinator.
Your dad is a football coach so what was it like growing up in that environment?
“I was always around football. I was a ball boy since when I could remember. I had a couple of moves, but I was fortunate that my dad found a job he really liked in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, and we stayed there for a while and I got to graduate from there. It was a great environment to grow up in.”
What was it like playing for your dad?
“It was good. He was the head coach up until my sophomore year and then he decided he just wanted to be a position coach and be able to see me play. That worked out real well. We did a good job of balancing family and football. When we went home we left it at the locker room.”
What about the rest of your family?
“I have two sisters and a brother. I’m the second one. I have an older sister (Dodi Jackson) who is a stay at home mom. I have a brother (Josh) who is a fireman in Tulsa and a younger (Lauren) sister in Pawhuska and she has a five year old. My older sister has three kids and my brother has two kids so I’m behind.”
What was your mom’s role in a football family?
“She (Marilyn) took care of us. She is the backbone of the family like most mothers are. She works at a bank now, but she stayed home with us growing up. I can’t say enough about her.”
Did you and your dad ever talk about football at home?
“We would talk about it. What we left at the locker room where the things I wasn’t doing right. I was the quarterback in high school so there were some situations where I didn’t make the right decision. He would let me initiate the conversations at home so there would be a good balance. We were a smaller school so he coached sides of the ball, but he didn’t directly coach me on either side of the ball, but he was there to critique me.”
Did you always want to be a football coach?
“I’ve wanted to be a football coach for as long as I could remember. I saw the impact my dad make on others growing up and that meant a lot to me and that’s why I’m in this profession.”
Where is Pawhuska and what kind of town is it?
“It’s up north of Tulsa and west of Bartlesville. It’s between Bartlesville and Ponca City. It’s a town of between three and four thousand. It’s a football town. It’s the kind of town that shut down on Friday nights. It was a good environment to play football in and I played for some really good coaches.”
What made you decide to attend Southeastern Oklahoma?
“There were some interest from some lower-level Division I schools, some preferred walk-on situations. At the time, with my dad being a coach and my mom staying at home, I wanted to find a place where financially it was feasible for me to go. Southeastern Oklahoma ended up offering me the most scholarship money so that was a good fit. I wouldn’t change that for the world. Southeastern means a lot to me. It’s my alma mater and I had a good time there.”
What will it feel like when you face your alma mater on September 22nd?
“I’m a Javelina now and I make no bones about that. It’s my alma mater and it will always have a place in my heart, but I’m moving forward and I’m a Javelina. At that point it’s all business.”
