Blanket promotes Jalen Helms to role of head football coach

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BLANKET – Blanket ISD announced Tuesday that Jalen Helms has been promoted to the role of head football coach for the 2024 campaign, replacing Michael Cherry who departed after two seasons.

My dad’s been a coach my whole life, my brother’s a coach now, I’ve seen the business forever, so this means a lot,” Helms said. “I wasn’t necessarily expecting to take a head coaching job this early in my career but after some praying and thinking about I think this is a great opportunity for me and my family. We love the community here at Blanket, we love the administration and the kids.”

Helms will begin his fourth year as a coach in the 2024 season, and his first year as a head coach, with a stop off in Water Valley before starting his time in Blanket.

The Tigers are coming off a 5-5 season in 2023 and missed the postseason, after posting a 8-3 record in 2022 with a trip to the bi-district round of the playoffs. Blanket will compete in District 13-A Division II for the next two years along with Zephy and Rising Star – who both are coming off back-to-back bi-district campaigns, along with Sidney and Gustine.

We always have high expectations around here, the playoffs are always the goal,” Helms said. “We got put in a little bit of a tougher district during realignment, but we have some younger guys that are stepping up now. We’re not going to be as big as we’ve been, but I don’t think that’s going to be as big of a problem as people might think. We have a lot of speed and some good skill players.”

In terms of long-term objectives for his tenure at Blanket, Helms said, “The goal is always to serve the kids. I’ve had great coaches growing up that have impacted my life and I want to impact these young mens’ lives and be a good role model for them and the community. Everybody likes to win and that’s always going to be a goal, but I want to make these kids’ lives better as well.”