Coaching Change: Buckner Ready To Breathe New Life Into Rebel Football
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by Janice Penix
When the Westside Rebels begin a new era of eight-man football this fall, they will have an old hand to guide them.
But he’s an old hand with a new outlook.
A graduate of Clarksville High School, Khris Buckner led the Panthers to a 26-10-1 record in three seasons at quarterback. After high school, he spent two seasons at the University of Central Arkansas on a football scholarship before beginning a coaching career that spanned two decades and four states.
He returned to his alma mater in 2016 and was head coach of the Clarksville Panthers for eight seasons. When he left coaching in 2023, Buckner said he never thought he’d return.
“When I got the call from Westside, I just knew it was the perfect fit for me,” Buckner said. “I feel very thankful for the opportunity to be able to try to help kids and to be in such a good community.”
Becoming A Coach
Buckner grew up in Knoxville and attended school at Clarksville from first grade through graduation. After two years at UCA, he joined his former CHS coach, Bryan Law, in Farmington, where he began to learn the ropes of coaching football.
He met his wife, Nikki, during that period, and the couple returned to her hometown of Auburn, Neb., where she had a job opportunity and he finished his education. Buckner worked at Auburn until 2010, when he took a job in Eklhart, Kan., as athletic director and head coach. After five years, he left Eklhart for Wilburton, Okla., where he coached for a year before getting a call from his alma mater.
“When I got the call from Clarksville, from Coach Banning, I was very thankful,” Buckner said. “I spent eight years there, and I am very thankful for those years. It taught me a lot. It taught me that things don’t always go the way you want them to go, and you’ve got to keep battling through no matter what.
“I think Clarksville kids embody that and show how much resiliency they had during those times. The same with our coaches, and so I’m very thankful for all the relationships and all the time that I got to spend there.”
Buckner said having the opportunity to coach in his hometown was especially meaningful because he got to coach his three sons, Nicholas, Bryce and Jacob, as Clarksville Panthers.
“It was fantastic to come home,” he said. “It was an experience that I wouldn’t take back in a million years. Coaching is not an easy thing. It’s hard for a coach to stay at a place for a long time. The messages start becoming not heard as well after awhile. But, it was something I never planned I’d get to do. I just knew I wanted to be a coach, wherever it took me. I always looked to better myself in the coaching ranks.
“When I left Clarksville, it was just time for me to go and, I’m not going to lie. I seriously thought I was completely done. Westside was not on my radar whatsoever. But I think sometimes, God has different things for you.”
Walking Away
After Buckner left Clarksville, he took a job at Scranton as a custodian. It was a needed change, he said, from the pressures of coaching. But the physical demands turned out to be a challenge for his body.
“I loved working at Scranton,” he said. “I loved working under Lakaen (Schluterman) and Toby (Cook), and having Coach (Doyle) Watkins over there was amazing. All the teachers were great. I just don’t think I’m meant for manual labor, I guess.
“I came home from work one evening and went to play with my dogs, and something just happened in my back. I lost all feeling in my left leg. That went on for about five months, and I ended up losing about 80% of my quad muscle.”
After a procedure to repair his back, Buckner found himself back at work – and then injured again. His sacroiliac joint was the culprit this time, and another surgery scheduled. However, he said he felt a divine power working through all of the circumstances.
“This time, I was going to have my right hip fused to my spine,” he said. “I had rededicated my life to the Lord, and so before I went in, I got baptized.”
He is thankful for a successful and quick recovery following his procedure.
“After that surgery, I was not even supposed to be cleared until March, but you know, it was amazing,” he said. “I was supposed to have the surgery on the left side too, and there’s no pain there, whatsoever. So this was only supposed to be the first surgery, and I have no pain on the other side. I’m extremely thankful for that.”
Buckner said stepping away from coaching and refocusing on his faith impacted both his personal life and his coaching philosophy.
“I got into reading the Bible again, but it was more than that,” he said. “The big thing was my pride that I carried around. I was very prideful. And Clarksville humbled me, because, you know, I’d never lost like that. I was fortunate enough to play on great teams in school, all the way up through school in Clarksville. I was fortunate to play on really good teams at UCA, and fortunate enough to coach really good teams at Farmington, and in Nebraska and Kansas.
“I had just been blessed that we’d won everywhere, and then, you know I let that, the pressure of winning here overtake my joy of coaching.
“I’m not afraid to admit it. I became a prideful man, that could carry grudges, and it just became a situation I knew I needed to get out of. And again, I’m thankful that I did, and I think Coach Powers was the right guy. I think he’s leading them in the right way, and that was definitely what was best for Clarksville, and it was what was best for me at that time.”
Taking Another Chance
While Buckner admits a coach’s salary is appealing, he said what drew him back into the profession was a chance to make a positive impact on young players.
“I’m not doing this for a title,” he said. “I don’t care about being head coach, I just want to do what’s right for these kids, to start trying to share a little bit with them of the things I’ve learned in my experience.”
Buckner said his faith journey began when he was young, but he allowed success to interfere with his convictions.
“I got saved early, but I was so young, you know,” he said. “It was at a Free Will Baptist church. It was hellfire and damnation, it was almost like I was scared. But I was really strong in my beliefs. I went back and read some of my journals in ninth grade. I was constantly getting made fun of for carrying a Bible.
“But then throughout high school, it was, ‘Hey, you’re so great. You’re so great.’ And then I got to college, and it was ‘You’re so great.’ And then coaching. I go to Nebraska, and I’m the first one to introduce spread concepts and, they’re like, ‘You’re so great,’ again. So it just became all about me. And you know, that’s when the devil sneaks in.
“It was more about, ‘What can I do for me in this coaching thing?’ And it was all about wins and losses. I never treated the kids bad or any of that stuff, but I was very ambitious.”
This time around, though, he said his coaching will be fueled by a completely different outlook.
“Now I have a whole different perspective,” Buckner said. “It’s about how can I serve these young men and create servants out of them. That’s what our big goal is. We’ve already had our meetings and talks with the kids and, I’m enthused with how they are reacting to all the changes and the work that we’re throwing at them.”
Buckner said he is optimistic about the work ethics of his players.
“I think they’re really eager right now,” he said. “They are definitely getting in the weight room. They’ve been really eager to get in there and learn, and I’ve been really pleased with my first two weeks. It’s been a really easy transition, and Mr. Kent and Mr. Fisher have done an amazing job at transitioning. I’ve gotten to meet some of the teachers, and they’re fantastic, and I’ve been really pleased so far. I love the school and community involvement.”
Writing A New Chapter
Starting a new style of football will give the Rebels a chance to reset, and to put the challenges of previous seasons behind them, Buckner said.
“Going to eight-man kind of wipes the slate clean,” he said. “It creates new opportunities, and we’re going to take full advantage of it. You know, we’re going to get new uniforms, we’re going to get new weight equipment, something to get the kids excited.”
With his coaching experience in Oklahoma and Nebraska, Buckner has had some exposure to the eight-man system, although he has never coached it.
“It’s new to me, too, but it’s still football,” he said. “One thing I’m finding out is, we’re going to have a blast on offense and we’re going to pull our hair out on defense. That’s what I hear.”
Buckner said he has spent a good deal of time already watching game film to learn the specifics of eight-man football.
“I think I’m already on hour 11 watching Hudl film,” he said. “But I’ve been thankful as well that we have a good group of coaches, and my time in Oklahoma created connections to establish some of our early season games. Eight-man in Oklahoma is really good, it’s established. They have 80-something teams and they’ve been playing it awhile. So we really wanted to get some Oklahoma nonconference games, to get over there and learn how they play it, and hopefully that will translate well to our conference and get us ready.”
Although Buckner acknowledges learning a new style of game will take time, he is confident he can lead the team through the transition.
“There will be a lot of growing pains, but we’ll all grow together and learn,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s still football. It’s just a faster-paced football game, but you’ve still got to block, tackle and run.”
Learning Through Change
Although football has taught him much about life, Buckner said experience has taught him there is more to life than the game.
“If I knew then what I know now, things would have been different,” he said. “If I could go back with the mindset I have now, I wouldn’t have let it tear me down.
“Football is such a comparison to real life for me, and it brings out real life things. I think the personal relationships, through coaching and through athletics, are so vital. Getting people involved together who have the same cause you do, that’s what it’s all about.
“I’ve felt rejuvenated in there, being around the kids. They’re eager to learn. I’m in the honeymoon phase, I know that. But I’m trying to build this up from the bottom. Not just that we’re gonna win, win, win, but so we can handle adversity.
“It’s just a whole new perspective of how I look at things. I know God’s been watching out for me, and I’m super thankful for my wife and my family who have been behind me through it all. I couldn’t be doing this without them.”
Khris Buckner
Read this story and others in the Jan. 28 issue of The Graphic, available online and at businesses throughout Franklin and Johnson counties. Subscribe or donate here to support more hometown journalism.
