When Scottsburg High School sophomore Skylar Combs is on the football field, he forgets all his problems.
“Football helped me forget about those things,” Combs said. “It helped me find new friends and make a new family.”
As a small child, Combs said his biological father chose a different path than being the father Combs said he needed.
“My dad was not the best in the world,” Combs said. “I can still remember looking out the back window and seeing my dad.”
After Combs’ mother and father separated, he grew up feeling isolated, angry, and alone.
“I
used to have really bad anger issues,” Combs said. “Football helped me
channel my anger and not care about anything when I am out there.”
On
the football field, Combs found catharsis and camaraderie in the game.
His teammates became what he considers his new family — his brothers.
His coach became a father-figure to him, and Combs calls his coach, Kyle
Mullins, “dad.”
“Football allowed me to meet a whole bunch of
people. They’ve become pretty much my brothers. We hang out after
school, go to movies, and go outside play football,” Combs said. “It’s
one of my best decisions. It helped me in so many things in my life.”
For
Combs and his teammates, the football program at Scottsburg High School
does more than just teach the fundamentals of the game.
“People
think Scottsburg doesn’t have some of the problems of the inner city,”
said Mullins, who coached football in the inner city of Indianapolis
before coming to Scottsburg. “My role a lot of times is counselor, dean,
sometimes dad… There are many single-parent households here, where we
play the role of dad.”
While Mullins would love to have an
undefeated season and bring back the accolades that come with it, the
goal of the program Mullins runs is not to focus on winning alone. It’s
to rise above the negative outcomes that the world has to offer. He is
trying to raise up a group of men who leave with a high school diploma,
find gainful employment, and raise a family.
“It’d be nice to be
undefeated. We are trying to help these young men become productive
members of society and instill values to become that,” Mullins said.
“High school football should not be the biggest thing you accomplish in
life.”
The football program is more than just a game to the
students, families, players, and coaches at Scottsburg High School —
it’s a family and a program focused on helping build up its players for
the future after the Friday Night Lights go dark. At Scott County School
District 2, Schindler’s story is our story. Your story matters. You
matter.