Bishop Seabury Academy head football coach Scott Peavey, center, talks to members of the team after practice on Tuesday. Peavey has helped the Seahawks to a 2-2 record in their first year of competition. Peavey, 20, along with coaching assistants Joe Smysor, standing left, and Connor McMullen, right, are a combined 62 years old.

They’re more Madden ’08 than they are Lombardi ’67, more Arena League in Vegas than Soldier Field in Chicago.

But they know their stuff.

Limited only by years, this season’s trio of Seabury Academy football coaches has stumbled into – and also helped create – a rare situation. At 20 years old, Scott Peavey figures to be one of the youngest high school football coaches in the nation. Joined by 20-year-old Connor McMullen, a childhood friend from Plainville, and 22-year-old Joe Smysor of Lawrence, the three combined are as old as some head coaches by themselves.

Regardless of the small age gap between players and coaches, all three Seabury mentors say they’ve been treated with nothing but respect since taking over.

“From Day 1, I wanted to establish that when I’m on the field, I’m in charge,” Peavey said. “And that’s how it has been. We’ve got a great group of kids who really just want to get better and want to play the game. Besides, age is just a number. There are a lot of 45-year-olds who probably couldn’t do this.”

While Smysor grew up in Lawrence and graduated from Lawrence High, Peavey and McMullen came to town to attend Kansas University. Peavey is majoring in secondary education and has plans to continue his coaching, which began when he was 15, as a teacher. For him, the Seabury gig is the springboard to a bigger vision.

McMullen is majoring in aerospace engineering, and Smysor’s focus is on business. This might be their only shot at working a whistle, and both have taken full advantage.

“I love it,” McMullen said. “Every time I get dressed for practice and come out here, it’s the highlight of my day.”

Added Smysor, whose background is in officiating youth sports: “I got tired of coaches yelling at me, so I thought I’d try this for a change. Plus, I just want to help kids.”

That’s the goal for all three. Little did Peavey and McMullen know, their days of doing that actually began in high school Calculus class.

“We used to sit there and draw up plays all the time,” Peavey said. “Football’s just always been a great passion of ours and so has working with kids.”

That’s what made it a no-brainer for Peavey when he heard about the opening at Seabury. Although the school had a football team last season, it was a practice-only program, designed to gauge the interest of the students and lay the groundwork for competition in 2008.

Turned out to be a nice move. In doing so, the school not only prepared its student-athletes for a full season in ’08, it also landed Peavey and crew.

Although he had complete confidence in his abilities, Peavey did not expect to get the job. Instead, he figured interviewing would be good experience. Even with that attitude, Peavey could not help himself.

“I actually had an entire 8-man playbook done before I was even offered the job,” Peavey said.

Added McMullen: “We actually had about five playbooks done.”

It’s that kind of dedication and devotion that has led the Seahawks to victory twice in four games. They’ll go for a winning season at 4 p.m. today on a makeshift football field on the Seabury campus.

Regardless of what happens in tonight’s game against Kickapoo Nation, Peavey has seen enough this season – and knows enough about Lawrence – to make some pretty bold statements about the future of Seabury football.

For starters, he has visions of a permanent home field being built right next to the school, complete with goalposts, a scoreboard and bleachers. He’s already eyeballed what trees need to go and which dumpsters need to be moved. Beyond that, Peavey believes that Seabury can become an 8-man football power.

“The sky’s the limit here at Seabury,” Peavey said. “It really is. I know that’s a cliche, but the potential is there for this to be one of the premier 8-man teams in the state.”