2026 Meet the New High School Football Coaches
Name / School: Jake Driver, Missouri Valley
School Job / Teacher, Instructor, Grades: High School Physical Education
High School, Previous Schools / Where have you coached before: Went to High School at St. Albert (Council Bluffs); Nebraska Wesleyan University (Lincoln, Neb.); High School Coaching stops, St. Albert (2020-2022), Abraham Lincoln (2023-2025).
Colleges / Where did you play, position / Did you coach in College:
Nebraska Wesleyan University (1998-2002), played linebacker on last NAIA playoff team
Camp, Practices have just started, What have you seen that you liked:
Everything I've done has set me up for being successful. I've been in the high of highs and lows of lows. I know what it takes to build teams and strive for success. We want to be blue collar, roll our sleeves up and go to work.
What will be some of the bigger challenges:
I decided I wanted to be a head football coach, and helping kids through the process is something I look forward to doing. They've got talent there (at Missouri Valley). I did a lot of homework. They were junior-loaded last fall, so that they will be senior-loaded this year. The administration is excited to have me on board. They want me to be successful.
What is your favorite thing about Friday Night Lights:
From the early morning practices in early August, until the hour before the team takes the field for the Week 0 / Week 1 opener. The anxious intensity and build up as both the coaches and players look to take what we’ve learned over the past few weeks and see how it unfolds.
What are you most looking forward to in your first season at new school:
"We want to raise the bar, as we'll believe in ourselves and act on that. Inside our program we'll have the pillars. We were 0-8, and we want to raise the bar. I don't know where that lies, but we want to raise the expectation of where we're at and be accountable. From the outside looking in, this may not be a premier job, but I think it's going to be a sleeping giant. I'm excited to be part of the Missouri Valley community.
