Former Jets QB Chad Pennington is about to enter the realm of coaching the game he loved to play. However, it won't be at the NFL level.

Instead, Pennington is the new head coach at Sayre School -- a high school in Lexington, Kentucky. But the program has an NFL-sized challenge, with the fact that Sayre School's Spartan football team hasn't been on a field in over 40 years.

The idea to resurrect the program came when Pennington was looking for a high school that his three sons -- Cole, Luke and Gage -- would attend in the future. Cole will be the first Pennington in as a freshman this year.

When Pennington and his wife, Robin, came across Sayre School, they loved it. However, football wasn't part of its sports program.

"I really loved what Sayre offered except they didn't have football," Pennington told Jets.com's Jim Gehman. "I brought up the idea to the school about the thought of reinstituting the football program and we just started those conversations. I started with the head basketball coach, Rob Goodman, as well as the athetlic director, Rich Little. And then once those conversations got a little bit more serious, we presented the idea to the head master, and then to the board."

Why go out of the way to make this proposal? Pennington sees football not only as a sport many kids would want to play, but as a whole, it could bring the school closer together.

"I feel that football has a unique ability to make a school stronger, to create more community spirit and fellowship," he said. "And I love using football as a platform to help develop a young man. I think the game of football presents some challenges for young men that can really help them be successful later on."

Pennington's father was a high school football coach for 30 years, and it's time for him to step in his shoes now. So far, he has gotten a lot of support from parents and the school board alike.

This season, though, there won't be a varsity team. Instead, their will be a freshman and junior varsity team as Sayre builds its program to compete at the highest level. Being the smallest school in Lexington, small steps must be taken.

"Our biggest challenge will be creating trust and confidence withour faculty and our parents," Pennington said. "And that will come through time in allowing them to see how our staff operates, how we approach this game and how we use this platform. When they see that, we will certainly have more buy-in.

"With our parents; health and safety is a concern and it should be. And so our goal is to create as much awareness as we can to keep our communication and conversations going. But also being proactive in the new school of thought centered around football."

Pennington will have a lot on his plate now, as he also serves as the Co-Executive Director of NFL Legends. He also dabbles in corporate speaking, investing and is a volunteer sports coach as well.

It's safe to say he's up for the challenge.

"What excites me the most is being involved in the development of a young student-athlete," says Pennington, "and using the academic classroom and the athletic arena as compliments to each other in developing the most well-rounded student-athlete I can be a part of developing."

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