Southwestern Oklahoma State Athletics

Paul Sharp is the winningest coach in SWOSU Football history, having led the Bulldogs to 93 victories in a 19-year stint at the school from 1986-2004. Sharp helped the Bulldogs to eight winning seasons, two Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference championships and one Lone Star North divisional championship crown. He coached SWOSU in four postseason games, more than any other coach in program history, including the 1991 Aztec Bowl in Mexico City against a team of Mexico All-Stars and he guided 15 players who reached All-American status for the Bulldogs. His 1992 team finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in the NAIA and earned SWOSU's first trip to the NAIA Playoffs since 1977, earning him OIC Coach of the Year honors. The banner season of Sharp's career came in 1996 as he helped the Bulldogs overcome a team tragedy on their way to the only National Championship in program history. SWOSU's top receiver and team leader, Alvin Milton, was killed along with three other student-athletes in a car wreck during the season, but the grieving Bulldogs rallied to win their final five games and win the 1996 NAIA National Championship with a 33-31 victory over Montana Tech on December 7th at Milam Stadium in Weatherford. For his efforts, Sharp was named the NAIA National Coach of the Year in 1996 by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA). He had previously served as the President of the NAIA Coaches Association from 1993-94 and was a member of the AFCA and Oklahoma Coaches Association throughout his career. Sharp came to SWOSU from Lamar University, where he was the Defensive Coordinator from 1983-85 after starting his career as an assistant coach at the University of Central Arkansas and Ouachita Baptist, his alma mater. He earned two degrees from Ouachita Baptist, receiving a bachelor's of science in 1975 and a master of science in Education in 1977. Paul Sharp is inducted into the SWOSU Athletics Hall of Fame posthumously, having passed away in October 2012. In 2013, the Great American Conference rivalry between SWOSU and Ouachita Baptist became known as the Paul Sharp Cup in honor of the former Bulldogs head coach and OBU alum. That same year, SWOSU dedicated the renovated 'Paul Sharp Locker Room' which houses the team inside Rankin Williams Fieldhouse.