Clayton High fills football coaching job Hunter Jenks vacated amid investigation
The head football coach opening at Clayton High School was a popular one, according to principal Bennett Jones, with more than 70 applicants.
But Jones feels like the Comets hired the right person.
On Tuesday in the Clayton High School media center, Jones introduced Shane Handy as the next coach of the Comets. Handy takes over at Clayton after leading Randleman High School for 12 seasons. During his tenure at Randleman, Handy had an overall record of 95-53. The Tigers went 36-4 the past four seasons under Handy and made the 2AA East Finals in 2019.
Handy averaged eight wins a year while leading Randleman. He takes over a Clayton program that was previously led by Hunter Jenks, who coached for three seasons.
Jenks stepped down in August, two months after Johnston County Schools launched an internal investigation in the Clayton High School Athletic Department in regards to the eligibility of one student athlete. No wrongdoing was found.
“I want to think Coach Jenks,” Jones said. “He was a tremendous coach at this school. He helped turn this program around and he built a platform for coach Shane Handy can take this and excel it into even greater heights.”
After Jenks’ departure, Robert Senseney took over and led the Comets to a 6-6 record. Clayton went 4-1 in the Greater Neuse Conference and advanced to the playoffs, falling to Southeast Guilford, 13-6, in the opening round of the playoffs.
Tough to leave Randleman
Handy said it was tough to leave Randleman, where he grew up, but felt it was time for a change.
“I’m excited about moving my family here,” Handy said. “I’m excited about accepting this job and leading the Comets. It’s such a wonderful place, wonderful community. I felt like I was excited about the opportunity and the challenge ahead.”
Jones said the resumes were tremendous and he got a lot of interest from coaches across North Carolina and the Southeast. He thanked all the quality coaches who expressed interest and came in for interviews, but he felt like Handy was the one who “exudes” what it meant to be a Clayton Comet.
“What he’s done in his past, the experience that he brings,” Jones said about Handy, “the character he exhibits on and the field and off and just the man that he is and the young men he has helped raised in his capacity as a football coach.”
Before returning home to Randleman, Handy spent two years coaching in Arkansas before returning to North Carolina to coach at Catawba College.
With parents and future players looking on, Handy stressed how important it was to him and his family to come to what he considers a football town.
“I know the importance of Clayton football to the community,” Handy said. “That’s where I came from. Randleman is a small town, but it’s about Friday night football and I know that this town is about that. I never want to go to a place where they think football is big, then you go to a game and there’s nobody in the stands. I wanted to go to a place that cares about athletics in the community and that’s not just football and I know that that’s important here in Clayton.”
