New Faces, New Goals, New Year: What’s to Come With Jenks Athletic Department
By: Abby Kornele
A majority of the Jenks community is able to say they’ve found themselves at a Friday Night Lights game sometime throughout the years. They‘ll walk through the gate, find their seat on the bleachers, and watch a game of football like millions of other schools are doing on that very same night. If they go to a game this year they may see something new. All of a sudden the opposing team is on third down and a song starts playing from the speakers. Cheer and Pom girls are on the sidelines holding signs and chanting, desperately trying to get the crowd to participate.
Since the year 2002, our Athletic Director has been Tony Dillingham. He had numerous achievements throughout his time at Jenks and made a major impact on the vibe of all sporting events. After the 2023-2024 school year Dillingham decided to step down and retire from his position.
Clayton Martin has stepped up to the plate and become Jenks’ new Athletic Director, alongside him Mandy Nightingale has become our new Assistant Athletic Director. With new faces in the Sharp people start to wonder about changes and additions that may occur. I had the privilege of sitting with them both separately and hearing all about their background and their goals for this upcoming year.
Before the school year started the Athletic Department got together and talked about the upcoming year. One idea they brought up was wanting to make the Friday night atmosphere more comparable to a college game. Martin mentioned this to Cheer, Pom, and Superfans and they were all in. They added new songs, chants, and hand motions to happen during our games, Martin hopes certain songs can come on and everyone in the stands will recognize them and know what chants come along.
After the first couple football games people have started to catch on more to what is trying to be added. At our first pep rally our Cheer and Pom squads spent time teaching everyone the new “Trojan Fight” chant, inspired by the USC Trojans.
Ella Embry, 12, teaching students a chant at a pep rally with her pom team.
“I think it’s important we try to not reinvent the wheel. This is a special place with a lot of great tradition and unbelievable successes, but just like Jenks fashion we are always seeing where we can improve and how we can continue to love and serve our kids, our coaches, and the community”, said Martin.
When talking with Nightingale she explained how she is going to spend this year learning and adapting to all of the changes. She has inspiration for what she can do with this new position but wants to make sure she is putting her best foot forward.
“Because it’s my first year I am just learning the process of so many things. I wanna be someone that the coaches and players can come to if they have a problem, I want to be a good resource for those people. Of course I think we’re trying to win some state championships but I want to focus on being able to put our coaches and players in good situations where they have the confidence to go out and win games”, said Nightingale.
Jenks Football 2024-2025 Senior Poster, pic creds: Jenks Football Booster Club
They have begun looking past the fall sports and into the winter season. Martin would love to bring similar crowd participation into the Frank Herald Gym for basketball games.
“We hope we can build and implement not necessarily a new tradition but just new experiences for when people come to the Frank to watch basketball,” said Martin.
When talking with them both, I also got to hear about both of their backgrounds and what led them to earn these positions.
Nightingale spent her high school years playing basketball at Sapulpa High School, she then went to play in college at the University of Colorado in Boulder. After her basketball career at Colorado she moved to the University of Louisiana in Lafayette on a water ski scholarship where she earned her masters.
Her first job outside of school was a counseling position here at Jenks High School. She eventually became the girls head basketball coach while working in the College and Career office. She loved her job and wasn’t looking for anything new but when Martin got the position she decided this was something she could see herself doing.
Image of Mandy Nightingale, photo creds: Tulsa World
Although she’s now working across campus in the Sharp she still has a connection to the College and Career office. The two departments work together a lot when it comes to NCAA, which is for students who are interested in continuing their athletic career into college. She is looking forward to helping with that whole process because of her scheduling and counselor background.
Not only does Nightingale have basketball head coaching experience, Martin does as well. He was hired as the head boys basketball coach in 2003 by Dillingham, he coached 2003-2015 and then came back 2017-2022.
“Having the title of coach at Jenks is something special”, said Martin, “I look back now and go ‘Man I had a lot to learn’ but it was a very rewarding experience to connect with so many students and their families over a 17 year career.”
Besides being the boys basketball coach Martin was the assistant director for Jenks Community Ed for 7 years. He was in charge of things such as lacrosse, gymnastics, swim club, Trojan Hoops, and more. He described this as being an athletic director just on a much smaller scale. He has also been a classroom teacher and an assistant principal here at Jenks.
“We’re stepping in some big shoes but I think with Martin having his athletic background he’s kinda just stepped right in and has already been a great leader. He is someone I’ve enjoyed working with and for,” said Nightingale.
When Martin was younger he played College Football at the University of Tulsa then transferred to Oklahoma Baptist University to play basketball. Besides his jobs in the state of Oklahoma he is a NFL referee on the weekends.
Image of Clay Martin reffing an NFL game, photo creds: The Score
Both Clay Martin and Mandy Nightingale are very positive additions to our athletic department with their qualifications and compassion for this job.
“I think our department is committed to continuing to make Jenks a place that attracts the best people available. We want the best here and that’s what we want to be known for, a department that people want to coach in. With the team we have on the third floor and the support we get from the admin we feel like we can do that,” said Martin.
We are excited to see how this athletic year goes with these new people guiding us towards championships. For more information on our athletic department check out @jenksathletics on Instagram and Facebook.
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