PORT ST. LUCIE PEOPLE
JAMAR CHANEY
Age: 30
Hometown: Port St. Lucie
Occupation: High school football
coach and physical education
teacher
Family: Wife, Shamira; daughter,
Rhaelyn, 2; son, Eli, 1
What inspires me: “To give back
to the community. I am a Christian. I am passionate about
football and helping impact young lives and I get to do both.”
Something most people don’t know about me. “I am a
member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity from Mississippi State
University.”
he wanted to play in the NFL,” Parker said. “He was a fine
young man, a competitor, a leader on the field and a leader in
the classroom. He was always a good student with no referrals.
He made his teammates better. He was like a sponge and
always knew he wanted to be a coach. It’s a learning process,
but he will be a good role model. He is finding out that some
kids can be real knuckleheads.”
Jake Padrick is a middle school teacher who played with
Chaney at Centennial and against him in college as a center
for Middle Tennessee State. “Our paths have crossed over the
years,” Padrick said. “Before he even knew he would be head
coach, Jamar reached out to me and asked me to come over
and help make Centennial great again. I loved him as a player
because he always made a 100 percent effort and he will do
the same as a coach. He will make me a better coach.”
Coaching high school football is difficult enough because
of the large number of players, but there are also other tasks
that go with the job such as fund-raising, meetings with
parents, sponsors and players. Add a teacher’s schedule and
the hours are long and the responsibility huge. “The coaching
comes naturally,” Chaney said. “But you have to worry about
everything that goes into being a head coach. You are always
trying to raise money and dealing with a lot of nonfootballrelated
Port St. Lucie Magazine 57
FORT
PIERCE
things.”
One ongoing problem is making sure players keep their
grades up. On a recent February afternoon 12 players missed
training due to poor grades. Two or more Fs must come up to
Cs before a player can return to practice. “Out of 50-60 players
not all could be considered angels and some need more (help)
than others,” said Chaney, who graduated from Mississippi
State University on a four-year football scholarship. “We have
tutoring. You want guys who are accountable and you can’t go
to college without grades.”
The only time someone knocked him down was in a college
game, Chaney said, adding he never had a concussion while
playing in the NFL. He said he was happy to be vested with
benefits after four years. His career was cut short by a nagging
neck injury. Chaney found the mental challenge, speed
of the game and learning different offenses the most difficult
challenges of playing linebacker. New England Patriots fivetime
Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady was the
toughest he ever faced, Chaney said. “You never knew what
he was going to do.”
“This feels good because it’s like coming home and the kids
look up to you,” Chaney said. “By coaching football we are
going to build integrity and character in these young men
before they go back out into society. And our goal is to win as
many games as possible.” E
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