Bowie Independent School District officially announced on Thursday the Jackrabbit’s new athletic director/football coach.
Hugh Farmer comes to Bowie after eight years at Seymour which included a 55-38 record, three district titles and seven playoff appearances. Before that he spent time heading Olney for one season.
Farmer made his name leading good offenses, being offensive coordinator at Frederick High School in Oklahoma for five years to great acclaim before getting his first head coaching job.
He beat out 60 applicants for the job according to Superintendent Blake Enlow.
“During a thorough and intense interview process, Coach Farmer stood out as someone who not only has had success on the field as a coach, but focuses on setting high expectations for all athletes, places a high value on academics, and desires to create an athletic program kids want to be a part of,” Enlow said.
After eight years at Seymour, Farmer felt like all of the things started adding up to move on and Bowie seemed like the perfect spot.
“We love the location,” Farmer said. “We went in and fell in love with the administration and all the people we got to talk to and it just felt really right. We are super excited to make that change and get going.”
Farmer takes over a Bowie football program that last made the playoffs in 2017 and is graduating 13 seniors.
He also takes over as the program moves from one tough district to another, moving from state-runner-up Brock to fellow state power Jim Ned. The district also features several programs with playoff appearances.
Farmer is not worried about those particulars, concentrating on the work to maximize the athletes he will have at Bowie.
“As a veteran coach you just work hard every day and try to make the kids better,” Farmer said. “I am super excited. I think we can do some great things. I think there are some kids who can do well in our system. It is going to be really exciting to see how they do and how they progress.”
Without giving specifics, Farmer has the experience and confidence that his offensive and defensive systems are versatile enough to suit the athletes he will have, with that showing in his success running smaller 2A programs with fewer athletes to work with usually.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.