SWEETWATER FEATURE: SHS using committee approach for accountability and leadership

SWEETWATER — If anyone understands how to cultivate team unity and accountability, it is Sweetwater football coach Russell Lucas, who took over a struggling Hamlin program and guided it to 12 straight playoff appearances between 2009 and 2020.  

Now entering his third season at Class 4A Sweetwater, Lucas is adapting to the challenge of uniting a much larger program and he’s doing it by way of a committee — officially named the Leadership Council.

A council of nine players selected by the Sweetwater coaching staff now oversees the task of holding everyone on the roster accountable for their actions. This emphasizes the wide-spread belief that player-led teams are better than coach-led teams, and buys Lucas more time to do his primary task: coaching football.