Millbrook coach Hunter Jenks hired for North Carolina district role

Roanoke Rapids Graded School District hired Hunter Jenks as executive director of community relations and auxiliary services, pulling the Millbrook High School offensive line coach into a district role that centers on school safety, disciplinary processes, district partnerships and athletics.

For Millbrook, the move removes a coach with more than 17 years of experience in North Carolina and a background that stretches from Wake County to Elon University, where he played offensive line. Jenks had worked at Millbrook as both offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator after arriving in January 2024, giving the school a veteran football voice on both sides of the ball.

His departure matters because it reaches beyond one name on a staff list. Jenks brought head-coaching experience from South Johnston, Clayton and Vance County, and one account put his overall record at 41-22 while another listed him at 42-25 across those stops. Before returning to Millbrook, he most recently spent one season at Martin County, where his tenure ended with a 42-20 second-round playoff loss to James Kenan.

Martin County had hired Jenks in January 2024 after Mike Sartain stepped down, following the consolidation of Riverside and South Creek into the Martin County football program. That path is part of the experience Roanoke Rapids is buying into now: Jenks has coached in programs that were restructuring, replacing leaders and trying to stabilize personnel quickly.

RRGSD announced the hiring July 2 as part of its administrative changes for the 2026-2027 school year, alongside two principal assignments. The district said Jenks would serve as a community liaison while helping with school safety, discipline, partnerships and athletics, a broad portfolio that reaches well beyond football.

The timing leaves Millbrook to absorb another offseason staff shift before the fall workload tightens. Jenks had joined a program that went 33-7 from 2021 to 2023, and his exit takes away a coach who could help develop linemen, shape game plans and cover staff needs on both offense and defense. Roanoke Rapids is adding a district administrator; Millbrook now has to replace that football experience before the season turns from planning to Friday nights.