(Chelsea Update would like to thank Chris Fritzsching for the information in this story.)
The Detroit Lions have named Josh Lucas of Chelsea High School the 2021 Detroit Lions High School Football Coach of the Year.
Lucas’s Bulldogs came back last Friday night from a 28-point deficit, the largest deficit to overcome in state finals history, to defeat Hudsonville Unity Christian 55-52 and win the MHSAA Division 4 state championship in a game with the most combined points scored (107) in MHSAA state finals history.
This is Chelsea’s first football state championship and Lucas’s first as a head coach. The Bulldogs, from the Southeastern Conference-White Division, finished the season undefeated at 14-0 outscoring their opponents 546-220. They have won 24 consecutive regular season games dating back to 2019.
Lucas concluded his 13th year coaching football, 7th season overall as a head coach and 4th season as head coach at Chelsea. During his time at Chelsea, Lucas has gone 46-6 (88.5%) with 2 state finals appearances, 4 state semi-final appearances and a 16-3 (84.2%) career playoff record.
Lucas spent three years as head coach at Allegan, five years as an assistant coach at Zeeland East and one year as an assistant at a Hudsonville middle school.
For being named the 2021 Detroit Lions High School Football Coach of the Year, Lucas will receive a $3,000 donation to his school’s football program and will be honored as the Detroit Lions nominee for the Don Shula NFL High School Football Coach of the Year.
Detroit Lions legend Chris Spielman informed Lucas of his High School Football Coach of the Year selection on Head Coach Hangout. See his reaction and the entire interview by visiting www.DetroitLions.com/hangout for this Coach of the Year announcement as well as interviews from past 2021 Detroit Lions High School Football Coach of the Week recipients.
