Danville High School has a new head football coach, Frank Parks. 

Parks will step into the role effective immediately and will take on a teaching position at DHS next semester. 

He has been coaching football for 22 seasons. His most recent role was head coach at Berea High School. He has also coached for East Jessamine High School, Madison Central High School and Bryan Station High School. He has held roles including assistant coach, defensive coordinator and head coach. 

“Danville has a very rich history with their football program, a very stoic program, one of the top programs in the state of Kentucky, and these opportunities don’t come up often enough,” he said about taking on the head football coach role in Danville. “This is a great opportunity to be able to contribute to the great legacy and history of Danville High School football.”

He said the main reason he became a coach was to help student-athletes reach their dreams and help to motivate and inspire them. He wants to help students succeed on and off the field. 

“My mission statement has always been that I want me and my staff to be able to provide the necessary tools to become successful citizens once they leave high school … It’s more than just football,” he said. “I think football is about being able to help build and mold the student-athlete.”

Parks emphasized the importance of carrying on the legacy Danville High School has here in Title Town. He wants to honor those who have come through the football program, including past coaches and football alumni by referencing them in his coaching, to demonstrate how the program got to where it is today. 

To prepare for the next football season, football players will be training and working in the weight room, Parks said. 

“We want to make sure they focus on academics, but also we’re going to really hit the weights and work very hard, build that family atmosphere and camaraderie and really just put in the work and create discipline and toughness among everyone on the team,” he said. 

DHS Principal Chad Luhman said the committee to select a new head football coach chose Parks unanimously, once they narrowed the candidates down to the finalists. He said the committee has been committed to choosing the best candidate since Coach Mark Peach resigned. The committee was composed of community members, with an emphasis on including alumni and those with football experience, he said. It also consisted of some administrators, including DHS Assistant Principal Tomma Huguely. 

“We’re happy that we’re on this timeline which gets him in here and allows him to get to know the students and the school community and get started in that weight room in the winter when we come back in the second semester,” Luhman said. 

Huguely said about Parks, “We know that he is an educator of the whole student and he comes highly recommended and highly praised by other coaches.”