News

Jackson has named its new head football coach and it’s one of their own.

By a unanimous 5-0 vote the school board approved the hiring a former Polar Bears stand out player Jay Rohr to replace Tim Budd who resigned on February 9^th.

Rohr has been with the program as an assistant coach since 2015, the last 6 as the defensive coordinator under Budd.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to become the head coach at my alma mater,” Rohr said. “My family and I are rooted in the Jackson community. We are Polar Bears. There is a lot of work to do and we are looking forward to keeping the offseason momentum going with our 100-plus athletes in the weight room for offseason workouts.”

Rohr is the only football player in school history to have his jersey number (32) retired.

He was a two-time time first team All-County player at linebacker and running back and was named the 2001 WHBC Stark County Player of the Year.

Rohr graduated from Jackson in 2002 and went on to play college football at Akron.

His first coaching job was in 2007 at Tuslaw where he was the linebackers coach and eventually the defensive coordinator. He then returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach in 2015.

 “We talk a lot of interviewing every day at Jackson and Jay Rohr has had a great seven-year interview here,” Athletic Director Dan Michel said. “He represents the very best of what we expect from our teachers and coaches in the Jackson Local School District. I have watched Jay interact with our students and athletes for several years whether it is coaching youth basketball players, our wheelchair basketball team, or varsity football, Jay doesn’t just get the most out of his players, those players respond to Jay. “To be able to promote from within and promote one of Jackson’s own makes this opportunity particularly special for our program.”

Rohr takes over a team that went (9-3) last year and won a playoff game.