By Kylian Galtier / Staff Writer

Missouri Valley College hired Gray Gochenour as a new assistant football coach in summer 2025. Football has been part of Gochenour’s life since he was 8 years old, when he started playing flag football in first grade before moving to tackle football in third grade. Playing was always a passion, but that passion has shifted toward coaching, where he quickly found his purpose.

“What I really came to realize when I started coaching is that it is not so much about winning,” Gochenour said. “It is about the people, the ability to see guys grow and get better, and find themselves becoming something they never thought they could be. Once I found that out, I was hooked.”

Gochenour was not destined to become an assistant coach. After high school, he earned a preferred walk-on spot at North Dakota State University, where he played for one year before leaving the team. He then attended the University of Iowa but admits that he “partied too hard” and flunked out. After taking time off, he enrolled at Iowa Western Community College and earned a degree in aviation maintenance. Later, he worked at a small flight school in Omaha before returning to Oklahoma City, where he spent three years helping manage his family’s restaurants.

Coaching entered his life in 2023 when longtime Oklahoma coach Ron Arndt invited him to help at Mount St. Mary High School. Despite the team’s struggles, he fell in love with the role. After two more years coaching at larger programs in Oklahoma, he attended a camp in San Antonio, where he met MVC defensive coordinator David Calloway and offensive coordinator Jacoby Ballard. They saw his potential and invited him to join the Missouri Valley staff.

At MVC, Gochenour coaches the defensive backs — cornerbacks and safeties — while also working with linebackers on both the varsity and junior varsity teams. With around 120 athletes on the roster and only half of them traveling for games, his role is an important one.

“Every day here has not felt like work. Not once,” he said. “Even in class, at practice, in 95-degree heat, or when I lost my voice, every day feels like a gift.”

Gochenour has worked in many areas and said he draws lessons from each. Working in restaurants and aviation taught him leadership and organization. But as a newer coach, he said he still has much to learn from other members of MVC’s staff. He takes notes during meetings and practices, later analyzing and applying them.

“Information is valuable, but you have to use it,” he said. “If my head coach says he wants guys to sprint to the football every play, then I have to push my players to live that standard.”

Looking ahead, Gochenour has both team and personal goals. For the team, he wants to focus on steady daily improvement, believing that “small steps lead to big victories.” Personally, he aims to grow as a coach and bring lasting lessons to his players. One of those lessons comes from a previous mentor who encouraged players to openly appreciate their teammates. He hopes to carry that practice of recognition and trust into every program he is part of.

Gochenour also has individual career goals. He said he would like to stay in football and live his passion as a coach.

“If I stay who I am today, I’d want to coach at the highest level possible, and eventually go back to a struggling program to turn it around,” he said. “That is where I think I could make the most difference.”

With his energy, resilience and people-first approach, Missouri Valley College gains a coach who is not only focused on football but also on shaping young men into better athletes and individuals.