Inducted 2026

In three decades as a high school football coach in Kern County, Bryan Nixon cemented himself as one of the best in the profession, joining Bob Elias Hall of Famers Dwight “Goldie” Griffith, Ned Permenter, Paul Briggs and Steve Denman as the only coaches in county history with at least 200 career wins.

His coaching career began in 1995 at Frazier Mountain, before the Shafter native and former General quarterback took over at his alma mater for four seasons from 1996-2000.

The next year, Nixon took over the Centennial program and was an instant success, advancing to three consecutive Central Section championships from 2001-03 and once again in 2009 for the Golden Hawks.
In 2013, Nixon took over the football program at Liberty and began one of the greatest decade runs for a high school football coach in county history.

Nixon won his first section Division I title in 2015 with future Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love leading the charge at Clovis.

In his 11 years at Liberty, the Patriots won three Central Section D-I titles in 2015 and consecutive titles in 2021 and 2022.

In 2022, the Patriots defeated San Joaquin Memorial for the section D-I title and two weeks later defeated Pittsburg, 48-20, for the CIF State Division 1-A championship.

Nixon was named the 2022 Cal-Hi Sports Football Coach of the Year and coached four future NFL and two future CFL players during his coaching career that spanned four decades and finished with a career record of 213-94-1.