Jordan-Matthews hired Reggie “Kermit” Carter as its new head football coach early last week.
Carter, a 1996 graduate of J-M, will return to the football field after being an assistant coach for the Jets from 2002-13. He is currently an assistant coach for the Jets’ boys basketball team, a role he will continue while coaching on the gridiron.
“I’m completely honored to have an opportunity to coach where I played at, have some success while doing it and try to do the best and be a small piece of trying to get something turned around,” Carter said.
Carter was hired just weeks following the sudden firing of former head coach Ryan Johnson in February. The Jets won three games in three seasons under Johnson, including an improved two-win season in 2023.
However, the Jets’ struggles on the football field didn’t start in that time frame. Jordan-Matthews hasn’t had a winning season since 2011, leaving Carter a program that’s starving for better days.
“I saw the teams in the 80s and the early 90s, and they had double-digit winning seasons consecutively,” Carter said. “(Football) is a big part of the community, and I’m just trying to do my part to get that back in place.”
Carter was a part of J-M’s brighter times as a student-athlete. He was a dual-sport star for the Jets’ basketball and football teams, and he still holds the program’s touchdown record from his days as a tight end.
Being new to the head coaching position, he still needs to evaluate his personnel to determine exactly what the team’s schematic identity will be, but Carter knows he wants his team to play hard and to be able to establish a solid run game.
Another important aspect he will hope to instill in his group is discipline.
In an interview with the Chatham News and Record, Carter recalled a memory that stuck with him from the 1995 season. Then assistant coach John Phillips caused the Jets to arrive late to the pregame before a state semifinal while trying to get to the bottom of a conduct issue with some of the players.
Prioritizing the issue and the discipline of the players ahead of winning the playoff game may have resulted in the loss according to Carter, but it was an action he plans to reference as the current football coach.
“That’s what I want to instill,” Carter said. “Being respectful, being a good teammate and classmate around the school, the community. That’s all I want to do.”
Said Carter, “I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel. I’m just trying to take the little bit I know and apply it to the kids because at the end of the day, it’s going to be up to the kids to get it done, and my job is to instill in them toughness, being respectful and fundamentals. I think if you do those things, a lot of stuff will take care of itself.”
