Ken Lager has spent the better part of the past two decades molding young people as a teacher and coach.

Lager, a Lombard resident and York High School graduate in the Class of 1991, has fond memories of his own mentors who inspired him.

Coaches such as Hall of Famers Joe Newton and Gary Grouwinkel, and future NBA assistant Bob Ociepka.

Service, too, shaped Lager.

Lager, who coaches football at Hinsdale Central and teaches freshman social studies at Morton West, followed the road less traveled, at least in his circle, out of high school. He joined the U.S. Marine Corps.

“I knew I needed to get my life in order,” Lager said. “I was a little bit of a troublemaker. I wanted a fresh start and a new opportunity. I was into athletics and physical fitness. It seemed like the Marines would provide me the most guidance in that regard.

“I was the only one of my peers to decide to take a different path. Everybody else didn’t know what they wanted to do. I felt like I needed direction.”

Lager went to boot camp at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego. He was stationed in Okinawa, Japan, for a year.

Most of his four years in the service, though, were spent at the Marine Corps Air Station in Cherry Point, North Carolina. Lager did crash fire and rescue. If a helicopter or plane crashed, Lager was a man on the runway providing emergency services.

Lager remembers the challenges that the Marines provided, both mental and physical.

“I think it just made me pay attention to the little things, knowing that if anybody in your group made a mistake everybody paid for it,” Lager said. “It teaches you a lot of camaraderie and a lot of self-discipline and group discipline.”

Lager appreciated meeting people from all over the U.S. during his time in the Marines, each with unique stories and upbringing, a diverse melting pot not only racially but economically and geographically.

“It was the first time I had ever worked with somebody from Texas. My first roommate was from Georgia. My last roommate was from Washington, D.C.,” Lager said. “You’re from unique backgrounds, working together for a common goal. I’m fortunate for the opportunity.”

Four years in, Lager was ready to move on from the Marines.

Still into the adrenaline rush, Lager originally wanted to pursue a career as a flight nurse. He was a paramedic for seven years, taught CPR and first aid on the side.

After working in the ER for a few years, though, Lager was ready for something more steady and less dramatic. He taught biology for a few years, but was always into history.

He student taught at Morton in 2001, and has been a teacher there since 2002, also coaching track and field.

When Mike DiMatteo got the head football coaching job at Hinsdale Central, Lager gave him a call and DiMatteo agreed to take him on.

Lager started coaching football at Hinsdale Central in 2007. He’s spent half his time with the varsity, half with the fresh-soph and is now the sophomore team’s wide receivers and defensive backs coach.

“Coaching football, I really love the camaraderie and I love to see the growth in kids,” Lager said. “It’s just a natural fit for me, being a veteran. The teamwork, the brotherhood, it’s all very similar.”

Lager’s players inquire about his service from time to time. A few of them have considered it as a career path.

“They ask me how it was, I tell them it was like any four years of your life, you have good times and bad times,” Lager said. “I try to have conversations with them about being an officer. They are already smart kids.”