Franklin High School’s Track and Field team is losing a fixture.
During his time as a coach and athletic director of FHS, Jay Brooks has led the track team to multiple conference championships and coached individual state champions, as well as helping the football team’s offense run as coach of the offensive line. Now after two decades of consistent excellence, Brooks is stepping down from his longtime role.
In the past 21 years, Brooks has worked in a few different roles for FHS athletics. Since 1999 he has coached the football team’s offensive line, and in 2001 was named head track and field coach. In addition, Brooks served as athletic director for nine years, during which he stepped down as track coach for two years. In 21 years as a teacher and coach for FHS, Brooks mentored a generation of students and athletes, including one of his replacements as head track and field coach.
“I coached Kyle and taught him in class,” said Brooks of Kyle Brown, one of FHS’s current cross-country coaches, along with Melissa Ward. “Melissa was the middle school track coach and did a really good job working with those kids, and Kyle has been around the track program as an athlete and then as a helper for quite some time.”
After serving as assistants under Brooks and being named head boys’ and girls’ cross-country coaches earlier this year, Brown and Ward take over a team that could be a real contender this year. The boys’ squad will enter the season as reigning back-to-back Mountain Six Conference champions and retain the services of Ethan and Nathan Stamey, who finished first and second at last year’s MSC championship and spent the summer training at elevation in Flagstaff, Arizona.
For the girls, NCAA Division 1 prospects Hannah Angel and Dylan Garcia return with three school records between them, giving Ward and Brown more than enough talent to work with.
“I think we stand a pretty good chance,” Ward said. “We were killing it last year before COVID hit. With track, we’re better in numbers. We have so many people out there who can really excel in their events, whereas with cross-country it’s kind of all or nothing. What’s kind of fun about track is you’re not just focusing on one single race, you’re focusing on so many.”
In taking over from Brooks as co-track and field coach, Ward admitted it will be strange not to have the longtime coach calling the shots, and said she has learned a fair bit from Brooks herself in her time coaching Macon Middle School and FHS. Although he is stepping down as head coach to devote more time to his lawn care business, Brooks plans to continue helping both track and field and football as an assistant this season. After taking over the track team from FHS Hall of Famer David Morgan, Brooks’ career has now come full circle.
“I look forward to continuing to be a part of the track program, and I know that Melissa and Kyle will do a great job in the leadership role,” he said. “I’m very proud of what our program has done from those guys all the way back with David Morgan. He taught me everything I know and got me started in this.”