Newest Warrior
Jayme Comer takes over as new head football coach at Danville High School
By Mike Beas
Jayme Comer has never made a habit of questioning his own potential.
This especially applies to the sport of football. Comer will coach at Danville High School after the district recently named the Warriors new head coach.
Comer succeeds K.C. Woods, who left after four seasons to become head coach at Cincinnati (Ohio) Hills Christian Academy.
“I would say I’m pretty confident in coaching football and running a program because of the experiences I’ve had,” said Comer, a 2008 graduate of Brownsburg High School and the son of former Bulldogs football coach Brett Comer. “I’ve had other coaching opportunities, and have always been selective about where I coach.
“I think Danville is one of the premier programs in the state because of the success they’ve had.”
Comer spent the past seven years as an assistant football coach at Class 2A powerhouse Western Boone. The Stars captured the last two 2A state championships with Comer as offensive coordinator and were 67-20 in his time there.
Comer, a former linebacker who played three seasons of football at Illinois State University before transferring to the University of Indianapolis, participated in a question and answer with the ICON:
Q: The first thing some skeptics might point to is your age. How do you respond to that?
A: This is something I’ve been building up to my entire life. I had the opportunity to learn from a lot of good coaches. At Western Boone, we’ve had a large amount of success, and I’ve taken on a number of leadership roles always with the mindset of preparing for that head coaching opportunity.
Q: What will a Jayme Comer-coached Danville football team look like offensively and defensively?
A: Overall, as a program we want to play with relentless effort. From an offensive standpoint, we want to be able to establish the run, but we have players coming back who can air it out and make plays in space. On defense, we want our kids to play like their hair is on fire and play with reckless abandon. We want to have fun, but we have to establish a culture of intensity.
Q: You played for your dad, Brett, your final two football seasons at Brownsburg. What have you learned most from him that you will apply to the Danville program?
A: I was able to watch him build the program up, and the day in, day out grind it takes, putting kids first. If you do that, they play hard for you and want to be successful for you. I understand the grind that they go through.
Q: Tell me about your family and balancing it with your coaching and teaching responsibilities.
A: I’ve been married for four years this summer to Kristina, who was a volleyball player at the University of Indianapolis when I played football there. We just had a baby boy, K.J., who is four-months-old. You have to be able to prioritize and balance between teaching and coaching and home life. It’s been a transition, but it’s been great.
Q: How does being a husband and father make you a better coach?
A: I think it’s given me balance and given me the perspective that football is not the end all, be all. Now that I’m married with a kid, it helps me be more balanced, and that helps me interact better with all sorts of kids.
The successful Danville football program named Jayme Comer as its new head coach. (Photo by Rick Myers)
