Dr. Swannie Jett played college football at Tennessee State, but knew early on that football would not sustain him for a lifetime.

"I knew at some point, my career would be over. What would I do next?" Jett pondered.

Today, he's making Black History as Seminole County's first African-American health director.

Jett said he learned the importance of having a strong work ethic from his family growing up in the inner city of Chicago. He worked hard, and eventually earned a Doctorate of Public Health degree in Preventive Medicine.

He also learned strength from his military experience, especially on the battlefield in Iraq, but Jett said it was his supervisor in Louisville, Ky., the first black health director there, who really showed him the way.

"He inspired me to have faith that I could do it, and that I could look at population health for the entire community," said Jett.

In the spring of 2013, the Florida Department of Health in Seminole County chose Jett as its new health director.

"Seminole County provided a great opportunity," Jett explained. "It has a diverse population, and at the onset of looking at population health, there were areas of focus that had not been tapped before."

Jett said he's closely studying county data to find out which groups are having the biggest problem with certain types of health concerns.

"What I do is take a step back and ask: What is going on with the social environment, the housing, the transportation, access to healthcare, that might be driving those numbers to the levels they are?" he explained.

Jett also wanted to make it clear that he's not on this mission for himself.

"I don't really care who takes the credit. I'm focused on solving the population health problem in Seminole County, so we'll move from being fourth in health outcomes in the state to No. 1, and we would change health behaviors, such as smoking, obesity, etc.," he said.

Since Jett took the job, he and the Seminole County Health Department has published a regular newsletter, appropriately titled "Jettstream."