Jenerette’s new perspective furthering his legacy at Aynor

Keb Johnson brushed off the hypothetical.

Would the Aynor mayor, who recently discovered that he’ll automatically earn a third term since he’s running unopposed, defeat Jody Jenerette in a one-on-one election?

“He doesn’t stay in town, so I don’t have that worry,” Johnson said of his high school’s football coach.

Despite technically living in Conway since his time as an assistant there, Jenerette’s popularity in the small town on the western edge of Horry County is undeniable. It’s not simply because he’s the varsity football coach or even that he’s brought a touch of success unknown for some time.

No, the second-longest tenured coach among the district’s football programs and third-longest on the Grand Strand has become an ambassador for a town and a school often the butt of jokes to those closer to the beach. He doesn’t run from some of it – using his self-deprecating humor to lighten the mood.

He’s calls himself a “realist,” and as an Aynor graduate, he’s afforded the right to speak for a town in which he doesn’t live.

It’s a respect he’s earned – from the mayor who’s known him his entire life and played softball with his dad to co-workers who’ve seen him grow into a role model to the players suiting up for him. But first, it’s something he had to learn to appreciate. It took nearly a decade for him to understand what he was a part of.

And it took a family tragedy for him to realize he he didn’t want to run from it.

“There’s no other plan I would have rather had,” Jenerette said. “I’ve loved how everything has gone since my brother died.”

In November of 2012, Kevin Jenerette died from acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a disease that prevents oxygen from reaching vital organs. He was survived by a wife and two boys, Zack and Caleb.

The latter two were the impetus for a turn of events six months later.

Jody Jenerette had applied for and was named one of the finalists for the opening at Socastee. The job was anything but his, but he certainly had a legitimate shot at moving up to a school that even then everyone knew was headed for the state’s biggest class. Instead, he withdrew from the search, citing a need to remain close to his nephews.

More than two years later, the effects of his decision are resonating with both of them.

“He’s really stepped into that father figure for us,” said Caleb, now the Blue Jackets’ starting quarterback. “I love hanging out with him. He’s a great man.

“It helps a lot. You never not think about [Kevin’s passing]. Being around family, being around him, it helps fill that void.”

Jenerette’s peers say what the coach has done since the Socastee decision has been felt by more than Caleb or Zack – who graduated in the spring and is now a student-athlete at Methodist.

Longtime Aynor teacher and coach Michelle Altman sees it every day.

“It spread from his nephews to all his kids,” Altman said. “He felt like he could make a difference here in the long run. When Kevin died, it was a total shift in attitude and everything. He realized there was more to life than work and then next job.”

Before, it seemed like it was only a matter of time until the Blue Jackets would be looking for Jenerette’s replacement. Although his won-loss record doesn’t look good on the surface, it was probably the worst program in Horry County when he took over.

He had been extremely open about his desire to leave. He says during his first eight years at Aynor, he put in for head coaching jobs at Green Sea Floyds, Mullins, North Myrtle Beach and Socastee, as well as an assistant position at Myrtle Beach.

He said he hasn’t looked at another position since the Braves’ opening, and many have started to wonder if he ever will again.

“It seems like from that moment and I backed out, everything got clearer,” he said. “I was always complaining. When I stopped worrying about trying to leave, from that moment on, maybe we’ve turned that corner.”

Aynor hasn’t replicated the 8-4 mark it put up in 2012. But one game into his 11th season as the Blue Jackets coach, nearly half of Jenerette’s 43 career victories have come in the last three seasons. On top of that, Aynor has made the postseason four consecutive years and won three playoff games.

Prior to 2011, the Blue Jackets hadn’t won one since 1991 – when Jenerette was a senior at Aynor.

Altman said popularity isn’t an issue with the school’s football coach. But Jenerette is certainly not doing anything to hurt it, either. In the last several years, he’s done more work than ever with the town’s youth program, even instituting his offensive scheme. He’s seen more frequently at other high school events.

And his outward emotions have come across to others.

“He’s always liked it. But he’s really embracing it now,” Caleb Jenerette said. “He’s more into it. He’s not as closed in. He’s got a lot of enthusiasm.”

The coach appears to be putting that energy into his work on the football field and in the weight room with all of the school’s students.

“It also goes to growing up and becoming a more mature coach,” said Altman, who said Jody Jenerette pushed her daughters to become better athletes. “You don’t necessarily have to work harder – you have to work smarter. He has to do what works with our kids.”

That’s where Jenerette’s mental approach to his job comes into play.

In recent years, he’s started to be more playful about the uphill climb his school faces when it comes to region play and even the postseason. He’s come to grips with it.

“We’re never going to win a state championship. I’m a realist,” he said. “When Dillon is playing in the same classification, it’s going to be really hard. … We’re in the same class as them. But you go to Dillon and there’s a Wal-Mart.

“I think you can be really good and scare some people. I think you can have fun every Friday night.”

The reserved talk about titles isn’t necessarily new. What is a relatively fresh concept is Jenerette’s vocality about being OK with coaching a seven- or eight-win Aynor team. It started in advance of Horry County Schools giving its head football coaches a nice pay bump over the summer, although he brought up the increased compensation as another reason to quit looking elsewhere.

Jenerette won’t rule out ever leaving. But his actions and words aren’t those of a guy trying to bolt. He’s already stated he wouldn’t consider anything until Caleb graduates in 2017.

After that?

“You never know, but he loves it at Aynor,” Caleb Jenerette said. “He’s trying to make a name for himself at Aynor. And he’s doing a good job, in my opinion.”

This story was originally published September 3, 2015 at 5:01 PM with the headline "Jenerette’s new perspective furthering his legacy at Aynor."