Sweetwater athletic director/head football coach Russell Lucas announced his retirement on Wednesday afternoon, he was a fixture in the Big Country as a head coach in the area for 21 seasons with stops at Rotan, Hamlin and Sweetwater posting a 161-85 overall record.

Coach Lucas began his coaching career in Rotan in 2004 where he served as the Yellowhammers head coach for four seasons posting a 21-19 record. From there, Lucas moved on to Hamlin where he started in 2008 leading the Pied Pipers. Lucas had an impressive run from 2008-2010 at Hamlin leading HHS to six seasons of ten plus wins, including five straight years of double digit wins from 2016-2020. In 2019, Lucas led Hamlin to the 2A-Division II state championship game where Hamlin fell in a close game to Mart.

In 2021, Lucas moved on to Class 4A Sweetwater where in his first season he helped the Mustangs to an 8-4 record, after a tough 2022 season where SHS went 1-9, Lucas guided Sweetwater to the area playoffs in 2023 and another playoff appearance in his final season 2024.

“I didn’t know I was going to retire until after the season, I still have mixed emotions, after I came back from Christmas break I felt like it was time to do something different, it’s the right time. I’ve done something I care about so much for 35 years, my wife and I didn’t take this decision lightly, what a blessing it has been to work in great districts with great people and great kids, it is the greatest profession in the world and although our work as  coaches has gotten tougher, our work is still very important,” said Lucas.

Lucas says his best memories are getting to coach his three sons, watching kids grow up and seeing them come back around as productive citizens. As for what’s next, Lucas says he’ll be plenty busy,
We started a business back when I was in Hamlin, it was a more of a hobby for me while coaching, but I’ll put a little more time into it with my wife. We have six grandkids right now, so we will chase them around and watch all their games. I’ll always be a huge fan of Texas High School Football and I’ll be at games this fall.”

Sweetwater, who recently dropped to 3A-Division I from 4A in 2024 will be one of the more attractive job openings in the Big Country and should get plenty of applications if it is posted externally.