Santa Fe High School announced its new head football coach on Thursday.

Jason Wells, who grew up in Central Florida, played high school football at Eustis and played under legendary coach Paul Johnson at Georgia Southern, who then went on to much success at Navy and Georgia Tech.

While at Georgia Southern, Wells played with Santa Fe standout Adrian Peterson, who was a two-time all-state and all-area selection with the Raiders and went on to set the Division 1 rushing record with 6,559 yards while at Georgia Southern. Peterson later played eight seasons in the NFL for the Chicago Bears.

Meanwhile, Wells got his first coaching job at Valdosta High School, a powerhouse that has won 24 Georgia state titles and six national championships.

Wells takes over a Santa Fe program that has fallen on hard times.

The Raiders won state titles in 1991 and 1994 and have made numerous other appearances in the state playoffs, but Santa Fe only won one game the past two seasons under Joe Szymanski and has only one victory overall in the last three years. The Raiders haven’t had a winning season, or a playoff win, since advancing to the state semifinals under Bill Wiles in 2015.

Despite those tough numbers, Wells looks forward to the challenge.

“I’m excited to be the head football coach at Santa Fe,” Wells said. “On the surface, there have been some struggles the last 10 years or so. But when this place is going well it may be the best job in the county.

“The community has always been behind us and there have always been good athletes here, and if we keep some kids home and they play for Raider pride then the sky’s the limit.”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct background information about Wells’ prior experience