Braylin Presley Expected to Fuel Spartans Again

By Mike Moguin
GTR Sports Writer

The dynamic speed of Braylin Presley is a major part of the Bixby Spartans’ football success. After playing out his senior season this fall, Presley looks forward to joining older brother Brennan at Oklahoma State. 

The younger Presley made the announcement to become a Cowboy back in April. He chose OSU over Texas Tech, Memphis and Nebraska. 

However, the fact that his brother is already there didn’t impact his decision at all, he said. 

“What made me decide to go there is I already have a great relationship with (associate head coach/offensive coordinator/receivers) Coach (Kasey) Dunn. He is one of the best receiving coaches in the nation. Also, I chose (OSU) because I felt like they could help me develop my game to where I can succeed on the collegiate end and on the next level. I trust what (head) Coach (Mike) Gundy and Coach Dunn were telling me. I’ve been around OSU for a long time. Coach Dunn said he could not only help prepare me to be a better player, but prepare me to be a better man.”

Because of COVID-19, Presley was only able to attend one game in Stillwater last year. He does expect the Cowboys to do better than they did last year. 

“You have a lot of returning players and then you have a lot of people who got playing time and know what it’s like to be on the field,” Presley said, adding that it has been exciting watching Brennan making such success and how he looks forward to working with him. 

Braylin said, “Brennan had no impact on my decision (to attend OSU) whatsoever. I’m definitely excited to be on the field with him, whether it’s the return game, from a receivers’ standpoint or from a running back standpoint. It is just something that I’m excited to do and excited to get back on the same field with him. It will definitely be something I won’t forget for the rest of my life.”

With all the preseason publicity Presley has been getting, the temptation to be distracted is there. He said, “The key to overcoming (the publicity) has been just staying focused and keeping my head on straight.”

“It’s a blessing to receive some of the awards that I’ve been nominated for and the social media attention is a huge accomplishment,” Presley said. “But there are bigger goals I want to accomplish myself. I’m really tuned in on making my senior year my most memorable year.”

When the Spartans won the Class 6AII state championship last year over Choctaw, they had to hang on for dear life in what ended up being a scoreless second half. The game looked like it was going to be an offensive shootout with Bixby up 17-14 at halftime. The score held as Bixby captured its sixth title in seven years. 

“It was very intense,” Presley said. “Besides the Stillwater game the year before (a 40-36 win in the 2019 final), the Choctaw game was probably one of the most nerve-wracking games I ever played in. With a minute left and they were driving, trying to score. It started to kick in that we could lose the ball game. That game was among the most competitive games I ever played in just because of the rollercoaster it was on. The coaches kept focused and kept us focused.”

Presley believes that this season will be a statement year for Bixby.  “We’ve won six of the last seven state titles in our class and we’re going for our seventh,” he said. “I think there is still a lot we have to prove to people. We can have 17 or 18 championships, but there are always going to be doubters out there and people that don’t think we can do it again since we lost a lot of people like Mason Williams (last year’s quarterback who has graduated). But this is a statement year, in which no matter who we lost or what happens, it’s the culture that makes us good, not the players.”