Childress will have one of its own leading its football program this fall after it promoted defensive coordinator and Class of 2008 graduate Bo Helm to head coach on Monday.
Helm takes over for Jason Sims, who was reassigned after nine seasons as the head coach at the school and has since taken a job as the assistant coach at Mount Pleasant.
For Helm, who has been on the Childress staff for the past seven years, Monday was an extremely special day.
“It means the world to me,” Helm said. “Being from Childress and having the hometown pride makes this even more special. There is not another place I would rather be coaching than right here.”
Helm was a star player back in his heyday on the gridiron for Childress, a town of just over 6,000 located in the Panhandle about 150 miles north of Abilene. In 2006, he was a first all-district selection at both defensive back and running back. He followed that up by earning third-team all-state at running back during the 2007 season.
Helm went on to play defensive back at South Dakota State from 2008-2012, totaling 131 total tackles and 14 passes defended during his time as a Jackrabbit.
Now back in Childress, Helm will be leading a team that will be looking to bounce back after a stunning first-round exit to Stanton in the 2021 3A Division II playoffs following a 9-0 regular season and the team’s first district title since 2007.
Helm is excited about a number of returning players that the Bobcats have this season as his Childress team will be looking to make the playoffs for the tenth year in a row.
Wide receiver Lamont Nickleberry, a three-sport athlete for Childress, is coming off a big 2021 season where he caught 59 passes for 984 yards and 21 touchdowns. Up front on the offensive line, Helm said he is looking for Isaiah Spier and Zach Etheredge to anchor the team in the trenches.
Childress goes up 20-3 41 seconds in half.
Bishop to Nickelberry from 24 yards on 4th and 4.@SportsDrive3 @NewsChannel10 @dctf pic.twitter.com/1JBlc9iEh1— Lance Lahnert (@lancelahnert) November 6, 2021
Defensively, Helm expects safety Nick McMinn and linebacker Seth Taylor to be the leaders of a unit that gave up just 19.4 points per game last year.
And despite realignment this offseason, the Bobcats will face familiar foes in District 3-3A Division II as Amarillo Highland Park dropping down to 2A Division I will be the only change in the district. That means that if Childress wants to repeat as district champs, it will have to fend off perennial contender Canadian again, which had its streak of eight-straight district titles snapped a year ago,
But six months after his team’s heartbreaking defeat to Stanton, Helm is ready to build off the foundation established from last year’s district title as he and the Bobcats go in search of a successful 2022 season.
“We had a great season last year that unfortunately ended way too soon,” Helm said. “We are going to pick up right where we left off and keep moving forward.”
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