Robbie Lucas once aspired to be a state trooper but life had other plans in store for him. Influenced by coaches from his own football career and his parents, Lucas hasn’t become the typical high school football head coach, he doesn’t often yell and he doesn’t curse — at least not in front of his students. He guides with a steady, and at times, stern hand.
“I wanted to arrest kids but now I work at keeping them out [of jail],” Robbie says as he watches three of his students complete individual assignments in the administration building of Somerset High School.
Separated from the rest of the high school’s student body, these students are part of “Right Steps,” a dropout prevention program that Robbie took over this year. He has transformed the program from a detention center to a safe environment where at-risk students are able to work toward graduation or a GED at their own pace.
In a district with a rapidly shrinking middle class due to the national economic crisis, many students are left to fend for themselves, Robbie says.
Robbie has taken it upon himself to help keep his students and players on the right track. From giving rides to students each morning to make sure they get to class to bringing hot meals for players who have difficult living situations, Robbie said he will do anything for “his boys.”
Not only is he a teacher and a coach in the school district, but his two daughters, Maddy, 10, and Molly, 5, are enrolled too. Considering that the Lucas family lives 45 minutes away in Stanford, makes for long daily commutes but its worth it to Coach Lucas and his wife, Nicole.
“[This community has] embraced me more than my own school district. I feel I owe it a debt,” Robbie says.
The coach says he prefers for the spotlight to be on his players but many of the players would not be playing if not for Robbie. Even players who have had troubles in the past have found a spot on his team thanks to his steady guidance.
“They might call us a renegade team and maybe we are, but if that boy walks across the stage with his cap and gown, it is worth it to me,” he says.
