Houston Christian didn’t have to look too far or too long for its next head coach. The Huskies promoted offensive coordinator Jason Bachtel to run the football program following the departure of Braxton Harris to Campbell.
Bachtel was the offensive coordinator at HCU for the 2023 season under Harris. The Huskies went from 18 points and 307 yards per game in 2022 to 26 points and 368 yards per game in 2023. Before joining HCU, Bachtel was the head coach of NCAA Division III Howard Payne from 2020 through 2022. He went 16-9 overall in his three seasons. The back-to-back 7-3 campaigns in 2021 and 2022 were the first back-to-back winning seasons for Howard Payne in 2004 and 2005 when the Yellow Jackets had the same 7-3 mark in both seasons.
As if that wasn’t enough repetition, Bachtel took over for Harris at Howard Payne after he left for Campbell to become an assistant coach. In 2024, Bachtel will take over for Harris again… as Harris heads to Campbell. The Huskies went 5-5 in 2023, which was the school’s best record in a season by win percentage.
Bachtel was previously the offensive coordinator at D-III school East Texas Baptist in 2018 and 2019 and spent numerous years as an assistant and head coach at the high school level. He played quarterback at Howard Payne from 1999 through 2001.
Photo Credit to Houston Christian University Athletics
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