‘It’s time to go to work.’ Tates Creek’s new football coach comes from within program.
When Jonathan Hawks’ name followed the words “new football coach” in Tates Creek High School’s cafeteria Friday afternoon, the football players gathered for the announcement by their athletics director roared.
“All right, men. You already know it’s time to go to work,” Hawks said after he took the podium amid the shouts and cheers.
“Yes, sir!” a player responded.
It’s clear his players, who’ve known Hawks over the years as track coach, assistant football coach and mentor, approved of their administration’s decision.
For Hawks, coaching is more than a job, it’s a mission.
“If I get kind of emotional, I apologize,” Hawks said as he began his remarks. “I’ve been here for a very long time, and I’ve given this school my heart. I continue to pour into these kids every day. It’s bigger than myself. My commitment to these kids … I can’t talk about it too much because there are not enough words.”
Hawks has been around the Tates Creek program for more than a decade. The school’s track and field head coach for boys and girls since 2016, he led the girls’ program to a dominating Class AAA state title three years later. As a football assistant since 2011, he coached wide receivers and defensive backs for a number of years before taking a short break to earn his master’s degree in social work. He returned to the football staff last fall. He plans to continue to coach track and field.
A big part of Hawks’ success has been football, he said. Hawks played football and ran track for Bemidji State, a Division II school in Minnesota, where he was an honorable mention All-American in football and holds 100- and 200-meter sprint records that still stand in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
“Football saved my life,” Hawks said. “I wouldn’t be the man I am today without the game of football. I know a lot of folks might not know a lot about my background, but it includes a lot of the same situations these kids have been going through in their own life.
“That’s why this sport means so much to me, because you can really change lives with this sport. And that’s what I plan to do.”
Hawks, a Gainesville, Ga., native, has been part of the Lexington community since playing for the now-defunct Lexington Horsemen indoor football franchise in 2008 and 2009. He has been an educator in the Fayette County school system since 2011 and a coach at various levels along the way. He now serves as a school/community liaison for the Martin Luther King Jr. Academy.
“When I got hurt in 2009 playing for the Kentucky Horsemen, on my way back from Florida, I remember just talking to God,” Hawks recalled about how he came to make Lexington home. “I told God, whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it, but if I can make an impact on kids, that would be my mission. It’s not about myself. It’s about the mission.”
Hawks takes over a program only two years removed from a 9-5 record in a season that included a district and region championship and a trip to the Class 6A state semifinals under Jonathan Smith. Smith led the team from 2018 to 2021 after being promoted from within himself. Smith stepped down after Tates Creek went 3-9 last fall.
“We’re going to train, we’re going to train, we’re going to train. And we will be disciplined,” Hawks said of his approach to righting the Commodores’ ship. “The thing that will separate us is the parents’ support. We need to get that back. We need to get these parents where they believe in what we’re doing. … We need the support from the student section. We need all that. But it’s going to take a lot of work.”
During Hawks’ first stint as a Tates Creek football assistant, he was part of former coach Antoine Sims’ staff that ultimately produced a 9-3 season in 2017 after a few years of program building.
“I know what we can do. I’ve seen it done before,” Hawks’ said. “Tates Creek has a rich tradition, and I look forward to trying to bring that back to this program.”
