Davis High didn’t have to go far to find its next football coach. He’s been living in the school’s boundaries for years.

The school has picked Scott Peery as its next head football coach. Peery will replace Mitch Arquette, who stepped down after four seasons to take a job with Ogden School District.

Peery is in his seventh year teaching and coaching at Fremont High, where he’s been the team’s offensive coordinator the past three seasons.

“(A) whirlwind of emotions for sure, to get your mind from leaving Fremont, which is a fantastic place, to Davis High. Now I’m to the point where I’m super excited to get going. I want to put my head down and get to work,” Peery said Friday.

He said he’s expecting to meet with the players some time next week.

Peery lives in the part of Layton that’s in Davis High’s boundaries, so the proximity to Davis High was a significant reason he put in for the job.

“I’ve already timed (the commute) and it’s about 4 minutes and about 58 seconds,” he said.

But Peery said he felt he was ready to be a head coach.

“I think just at my point, you’re kind of always wanting to work up the ladder. I plan to be in education and coaching for the next 20 years, so I was at a juncture in my life where, it’s just time to give it a shot,” he said.

Peery wasn’t always a high school teacher or coaching football. For years, he worked as a land surveyor and said it put him to sleep.

So he sent some job applications out several years ago, got an interview and ended up at Fremont High. The Silverwolves have used a pass-heavy offense the past three seasons — it’s particularly become more of an air raid the past two years — and done it pretty well.

The past three years, Fremont has led Region 1 in passing yards per game, averaging 234.7 per game in 2018, 291.3 per game in 2019 and 259.5 per game in 2020.

Peery is originally from Payson, played wide receiver at Snow College and then went to Weber State in the early 2000s when Jerry Graybeal was the head coach. In 2002, Peery led WSU in receiving with 501 yards, according to Weber State’s record book.

He takes over a program that has historically been one of the most successful in Northern Utah over the years.

The Darts went 8-4 this year and had Region 1’s best offense, led by a trio of quarterback Chance Trujillo, running back Spencer Ferguson and receiver David Spjut. They were the only Region 1 team to get to the 6A state quarterfinals.

“The expectations are high there at Davis. Mitch Arquette did a phenomenal job there over the past few years and I’d like to come in and follow suit,” Peery said.