Steve Lucas comes full circle, returns to Plano as athletic director

Steve Lucas has come full circle.

Lucas cut his coaching teeth at Plano fresh out of college, as a volunteer assistant with the football team, and later quarterbacks coach and freshman coach. He was brought aboard by his dad, Steve Lucas Sr., who was defensive coordinator for Plano’s state championship football teams in 2006 and 2007.

“It brings back good memories,” Lucas said.

The younger Lucas returned to Plano last year as the Dean of Students. Now, after Jim Schmidt’s retirement as athletic director at the end of this past school year, Lucas has come aboard as the Reapers’ new AD.

“It has kind of come full circle,” said Lucas, who lives in Oswego with his wife and two boys. “My dad was basically my boss in high school, Jim Schmidt was my boss. Looking back, it’s come full circle. It means a lot more at a place we got to do it at.”

Lucas, a graduate of Kankakee High School, was a three-sport prep athlete and went on to play football at Illinois Wesleyan, where he graduated in 2005 with a degree in business. Athletics has been in the blood a long time. His dad was the defensive coordinator for the Bishop McNamara team that snapped Providence’s 50-game win streak, and later at Iroquois West where it beat heavily-favored Carthage to win the 2003 Class 2A state title with the younger Lucas, still in college, calling offensive plays from the press box.

“Experiences like that brought me around to athletics, and being around high school athletes. I loved it,” Lucas said.

Lucas was still playing semi-pro football in Kane County, looking forward to a full-time job in the banking world, when he got the job in Plano that made him rethink his future and consider a career in education.

Lucas went back to school and got a Masters degree in secondary education at Benedictine. His first job in education came at Longwood in Chicago where he was a CTE business teacher and head football coach.

From there he went on to West Aurora as a business teacher and football assistant, then to Plainfield Central and most recently Batavia High School, where Lucas served as Dean of Students for two years before returning to Plano last July.

“I always told myself since Plano was the first place that brought me in, I was a full-time sub and football coach, when they presented the opportunity to have a Dean of Students opening I jumped at it, to finish the work that I started,” Lucas said. “It helped knowing guys like Schmidt. Got my foot back in the door, worked the past year with him, got to talking to him about his job and he has always lent an ear. Ever since Schmidt walked away, it’s big shoes to fill, he’s been doing it a long time, he has offered his assistance and guidance.”

Even before coming on as AD in an official capacity, Lucas was involved in Plano athletics moving forward last semester with various athletic projects. The ball got rolling with an initiative to revamp the weight room, getting the whole athletic wing revamped, weight room repainted, floors restripped and waxed.

“A lot of projects to say the least, on top of new hires and vacancies,” he said.

His summer has been spent making sure Plano doesn’t miss a beat in the transition, being visibly present at summer camps, answering questions and meeting with coaches, interacting with student-athletes, and trying to gain an understanding while continuing to monitor projects and building relationships with local businesses to partner with.

“Knowing the culture has been, where we are right now and wanting to get back to that level is something I strive for,” Lucas said. “The winning is not everything. It’s about other things – camaraderie, what it means to be a good teammate and a good student, the importance of hard work, being mentally tough and being able to persevere through adversity – that’s what we want our programs to instill in our kids.”