How Christian Swain speaks of good friend Neil Lomax doesn’t start by how he became an NCAA legend quarterbacking Portland State or end with two Pro Bowl appearances in nine NFL seasons.
How Swain, Columbia River’s head football coach, talks of Lomax is the player-turned-coach devoted to serving the underserved behind a “heart of gold.”
“What Neil really has,” Swain said, “is a heart for helping schools, communities and kids that are underserved and not being helped. “In reality, it’s not about him being an NFL quarterback; he’s so much more than that.”
That’s just one of the reasons why Swain is thrilled to see that Lomax, his one-time assistant, will be Fort Vancouver’s new football coach.
The hiring is not yet official and must be approved by the school board, but multiple sources confirmed to The Columbian Lomax’s expected hire. The Portland Tribune also reported that Lomax will coach Fort Vancouver.
Lomax could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
Lomax’s body of work speaks for itself — as a player and coach. As a player, he’s arguably the best to ever wear a Portland State football uniform. A player who began as a fifth-string quarterback out of Lake Oswego (Ore.) High on partial scholarship eventually set 90 NCAA records by his senior season in 1980. He went on to play nine NFL seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals franchise that later became the Arizona Cardinals.
As a coach, Lomax’s work speaks volumes, too, and Swain attests to that.
Swain and Lomax paired up for seven seasons rebuilding and rebranding Roosevelt High’s football program in North Portland. The senior class their first year together in 2009 never won a high school football game, but by 2013, Roosevelt reached the Oregon 5A state quarterfinals under Swain as head coach and Lomax as offensive coordinator.
Lomax provides instant credibility and with it, a player who quarterbacked at football’s top level. But how instrumental Lomax is also goes beyond Xs and Os, Swain said.
It happened at Roosevelt, and Swain believes it’ll happen at Fort, which was 0-9 last year and hae won just 14 games since 2005.
“He will do phenomenal work there,” Swain said. “… The kids will find out quickly how much he really loves them.”
Lomax, 59, is Fort’s third football coach in as many years, but second with NFL ties. Lomax replaces Steve Broussard, the ex-Seattle Seahawks running back and 1989 Pac-10 Player of the Year who cited health reasons for his January resignation from Fort. He’s since been hired as head coach at St. Monica (Calif.) Catholic School.
This is Lomax’s first high school head-coaching job. In addition to Roosevelt, he’s assisted at Oregon 6A schools Tigard and Lake Oswego. The latter also is where all three of Lomax’s sons — Mitch, Nick and Jack — starred before playing college football.
