MOORE — Chris Jensen always knew he would be coaching at Southmoore. More than a decade before anyone had even had serious talks about the creation of the school district’s third high school, he knew would be running its football program.

“When I was at Moore in 1994 there was always talk about a third high school,” Jensen said. “I knew back then that’s the school I want to be a head coach at. Even before it was determined there was going to be a new school.”

Jensen’s intuition came to fruition in December when the Board of Education for the Moore School District named the former Westmoore assistant the head coach at Southmoore. He was one of five candidates the board interviewed, but it didn’t take long for them to come to a decision that he was the right man for the job.

“They called me on Dec. 14, interviewed Dec. 16 and they let me know shortly after that that it was me,” Jensen said. “It wasn’t official until the board meeting. I found out before Christmas break.”

The search was done more quickly than most of the coaching hires the school district does. That was because school officials have to put together an entire athletic department. And with the Jensen hire, Southmoore has only two head coaches in place.

“We had an opportunity to see him over the past few years,” district athletic director Carl Franks said. “We felt he was the right man for the job. We interviewed five applicants, but had several more apply for the job.”

It was a moment in time for Jensen. One that he had been waiting on for several years.

But Jensen didn’t have time to celebrate.

The full scope of what laid in front of him hit as soon as he accepted the position. Jensen isn’t taking over a program with a foundation that has been in place for years. He has to build one from the ground up.

“It was a relief,” Jensen said. “For a long time now I wanted to have this opportunity. I have been thinking bout it for a long time. But all of a sudden everything that had to happen started hitting me hard. It’s been hard work every since then.”

The Sabercats do not even have a home yet. The Southmoore facilities, along with the rest of the school, will not be ready until August. With offseason workouts starting this week, the Cats are working out at Highland West Middle School.

“Got to start a booster club somehow,” Jensen said. “Got to find parents that are willing to do that and get that going. I’ve got everything from paper clips to big five-man sleds I have to order between now and next year. And we have to do it without a place. We don’t actually have a place to go except for Highland West and we are grateful to have the opportunity to come here and work out.”

But those who know Jensen well, said he is the right man to take on such a daunting task.

Jensen started his coaching career in 1993 at Little Axe. He moved on to Moore High, Durant, Bartlesville and, finally, Westmoore, where he was coach Mike Whaley’s defensive coordinator for four seasons.

“I think he had been training to do that since he took his first coaching job,” Whaley said. “In his time here he showed the skills and leadership needed to be a head coach. And when he went to the interview, those came out very easily. One of the things he had going for him that the other candidates didn’t was that he is very familiar with the Moore Public Schools.”

Despite spending his last four years with the Jaguars, the Sabercats will not be a replica of the Jaguars. With several former Westmoore defensive coaches on his staff, the defense will look the same. But Jensen will depart from predominant running game Whaley employs and run a spread, no-huddle offense.

“I think there will be good things he will take from Westmoore’s offense, but he always expressed that if you have the athletes to run the shotgun read, it poses a lot of problems,” said former Westmoore running back coach Spencer Braggs. “He is going to put a few wrinkles in that teams will have to account for. He will put his team in a position to win on Friday nights.”