East Helena High promotes Ferris, Hayter to head coaching jobs

East Helena High in Lewis and Clark County turned to two familiar faces for its fall sports leadership, promoting longtime football defensive coordinator J.D. Ferris to head coach and elevating Jill Hayter, who served on last year’s volleyball staff, to lead the volleyball program. The moves keep both teams in the hands of people already inside the building as the Vigilantes try to protect momentum instead of starting over.

The decisions fit a school that is still building its athletic identity. East Helena High opened in 2020 and recently graduated its fourth class, leaving many of its traditions, routines and alumni connections still in formation. Ferris has already spent enough time around football to know the defense, the personnel and the weekly rhythm of a Montana season. Hayter steps into volleyball with direct experience from last year’s staff, giving her a head start on the athletes and the competitive expectations already in place.

Those expectations are not modest. Tyler Murray had led football since the school’s first varsity season, and the program later moved into the Eastern A classification, reached the Class A playoffs for the first time and then hosted a postseason game for the first time in program history. Volleyball has its own recent benchmarks to defend: Shelby Holmes guided a young, inexperienced group into one of the conference’s most competitive teams, helped it qualify for the Divisional Tournament for the first time and then hosted divisionals for the first time. Ferris and Hayter inherit programs that are no longer looking simply to establish themselves, but to keep winning at a higher level.

That is why the internal promotions matter. East Helena Public Schools is betting that coaches who already know the athletes, the culture and the school’s expectations can deliver steadier results than an outside hire learning the program from scratch. For a young high school, that kind of continuity can help with player retention, day-to-day buy-in and the handoff from one class to the next.

The athletics department is still expanding as it builds that identity. East Helena High says girls flag football is being offered with grant funding from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, adding another opportunity while the school works to keep its core sports stable. For Ferris and Hayter, the task now is straightforward: turn familiarity into a season that ends with both programs deeper, sharper and still on the rise.