Lawrence High will have a familiar name, Lions football coach Dirk Wedd, coaching its boys golf team this year.

“I’m real excited,” Wedd said. “It’s a great sport. I enjoy it, and I think it teaches a lot of life skills.”

Wedd replaces Ron Commons, the school’s athletic director who also served as the boys golf coach.

Wedd did not play golf on the collegiate or high-school level, but has played the sport recreationally for years, especially during the summer before football practice begins.

“My wife would kick me out of the house. So I had to go do something,” he said. “I play way too much during the months of June and July.”

With the onset of the spring sports season still far away and the composition of the roster still uncertain, Wedd did not reveal specific goals for his team. Like in football, however, he wants his athletes to become better during the course of the season.

“Like anybody,” he said, “I want us to improve from the first day to the last day and see where that gets us.”

Wedd, an LHS alumnus himself, relishes another chance to teach student-athletes.

“They’re Lawrence High kids. That means they’re good kids,” Wedd said. “We’ll see what happens.”