photo by: Courtesy of Michael Scott

Michael Scott, front, spent 22 years in the Coast Guard before taking a job in the Lawrence High athletic department.

Michael Scott is the newest member of Lawrence High School’s athletic department staff.

Yes, he hears jokes about Steve Carell’s famous character from “The Office,” who shares his name, all the time — wherever he was in his decades with the Coast Guard, from LHS coworkers and students, and even in public.

“Every day,” he said. “It never fails.”

This Michael Scott has a different career path: he doesn’t run a paper company, but he does keep athletics running smoothly at Lawrence High. After years as a Coast Guard drill instructor, he made the move to Lawrence and recently took on the role as the school’s athletic administrative assistant.

“Five years ago, I was still in a pair of jump boots on the regiment in Cape May training future Coast Guard men and women,” Scott said.

The Coast Guard had assigned him to its Topeka location inside the Frank Carlson Federal Building in 2014, bringing his family to Lawrence. Scott’s two sons went on to attend LHS, graduating in 2017 and 2023.

But in the meantime, Scott transferred to Cape May, New Jersey, in 2019 to help train new recruits — until he retired in 2023 and started working at LHS last December after 22 cumulative years in the Coast Guard.

The job was mentioned to him by a longtime friend and mentor from MidAmerica Nazarene University, where he attended education courses in Olathe. Pam Burrus told Scott about the LHS opening after they had a discussion about Scott getting into the school system, “if not to teach, then to at least take on a role with students that would expose me to the opportunities of mentoring in some way,” Scott said.

While he had love for the Chesty Lions, he didn’t expect to one day work at the school his boys attended.

“If you would have said, ‘I can see you behind the home plate making announcements for girls’ high school softball,’ I probably would have dropped you and made you give me 20,” he said.

As the school’s athletic administrator assistant, Scott sets up transportation for all sports teams. As a former Coast Guard drill instructor, some of those skills and lessons have carried over into this new role.

Time management, organization, and diligence are three characteristics that came to mind for Scott.

“There’s just such a vast audience that you’ve got to have an ability to connect with,” he said, “communicate properly and effectively with, just to ensure their success at the end of every one of these athletic events.”

Scott works closely with Lawrence High’s athletic director Patrick Graham and assistant athletic director Chad Aberle. All three are new to LHS this school year and it has led to them helping each other out and adjusting to the new system.

“I think with my sports and education background and his background we are able to mesh well together,” Aberle said. “I like to think I’m easygoing, but sometimes worry about unnecessary items. His demeanor serves as a reminder that ‘It’s all good.'”

“He’s very well rounded, willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done as a team player,” Graham added.

Aberle noted Scott’s humor and how he never fails to bring some lightheartedness into the room.

While Aberle will sometimes stress out about little details, he said Scott is the complete opposite. He will crack jokes and make tough situations more fun at LHS.

At the end of the day, this is Scott’s retirement job and he wants to make the best of it after what he called “nearly 23 years of military service and having to deal and find humorous situations in everything.”

“There is nothing that will come across this desk or this department that is going to cause stress and anxiety,” he said. “What we do here should be fun.”

Although his time in the Coast Guard is over, Scott’s mission to serve isn’t. Now he’s making an impact by supporting student-athletes both on and off the field.

“It’s definitely the team environment that a former military veteran flourishes in, only I’ve traded the everyday blue uniform for the red and black,” Scott said.

photo by: Courtesy of Michael Scott

Michael Scott is Lawrence High School’s athletic administrative assistant.