A familiar football name in Arkansas is changing pastures, and the resulting dominoes could alter the prep landscape for the 2026 season.
Pulaski Academy coach Anthony Lucas will be leaving his post at the west Little Rock school to take over at Fayetteville High School. A wide receiver at Arkansas from 1995 to 1999, Lucas will be replacing another former Hog after Bulldogs coach, former Razorbacks quarterback and native Texan, Casey Dick, who left to take over the program at Rockwall-Heath High School in Texas.
“A new chapter, new standard. Same love for the game,” Lucas said in a Thursday statement. “My family and I are grateful for the opportunity. Let’s build something special. Go Purple Dogs.”
Lucas’ move up north throws the doors open at one of the most successful high school football programs in the state’s modern era. The Bruins program has collected 11 state championships since 2003, the last coming in 2022.
That run ended when longtime coach Kevin Kelley left to take the head coaching position at FCS Presbyterian College in South Carolina. Kelley would leave the job after a 2-9 season, citing a lack of promised resources.
Kelley would eventually return to high school coaching in 2024, taking over at Sheridan High School.
Lucas, a longtime offensive assistant at Pulaski Academy, was promoted to head coach in 2021 and promptly guided the Bruins to a Class 5A state championship over White Hall. A bump to Class 7A came soon thereafter, thanks to an Arkansas Activities Association rule that pushed private schools one step up from their enrollment-based classification. The Bruins were moved up an extra class based on the AAA’s competitive equity factor that is applied to private schools.
Though the Bruins remained competitive, facing the state’s largest programs took its toll, with Pulaski Academy dropping games to Conway and Bryant in 2024. Last season, the Bruins finished 3-8 with five losses to Class 7A opponents.
Providing he is interested, expect Pulaski Academy to at least test the waters with Kelley, who has guided Sheridan to the Class 6A playoffs the last two years, but has won six games total as he rebuilds the long-struggling south-central Arkansas program. The job is expected to draw applications from current high school head coaches in the state, along with significant out-of-state interest.
Lucas takes over a Fayetteville program that has won 16 games over the past two years and six Class 7A titles since 2007. His first order of business will likely involve settling on a quarterback after the early graduation of Arkansas-signee Hank Handrix.
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