On a Friday night in Galesburg, the lights come on and the stadium begins to hum. The football players lace up, the marching band tunes their instruments, the cheer squad takes its place, and the community settles in for a show. For Coach Shawn Hickey, the head football coach of the Silver Streaks, this isn’t just about scoring touchdowns. It’s about building lives.

Hickey has walked these halls most of his life. A Galesburg native and 1996 graduate, he returned to teach social studies at his alma mater more than two decades ago. Today, he teaches Honors American Studies and Criminal Justice alongside his coaching duties, reminding anyone who will listen that “I’m hired as a teacher first.” Coaching, he insists, is simply an extension of that classroom work.

That mindset is in his blood. His father began teaching at Galesburg in 1969, closing his career the very year Shawn began his own. Between father and son, a Hickey has been teaching in the district for 55 years—and now, Shawn’s son has joined as a substitute teacher, continuing the family tradition.

Yet Shawn is quick to point out that legacy alone doesn’t win trust. His players, many of whom face struggles at home, need something more than football strategy. “The most alarming thing to me,” Hickey said, “is the number of kids who come to us without fathers in their lives, or without positive male role models. So how do you break through that barrier? You show them you care. You model the right behaviors.”

For Hickey, the lessons begin long before kickoff. His staff has driven activity buses across town to pick players up who lacked rides, removing excuses and building accountability. They’ve provided food in the mornings so no player starts practice on an empty stomach. “A kid that hasn’t eaten since 5 p.m. the night before has nothing in their tank,” Hickey said. “You can’t compete like that. So we make sure they’re fueled.”

Once they arrive, the expectations are clear. Attendance incentives. Weight room gains tracked and celebrated. Leadership recognized not with speeches, but with black shirts—earned only by those who consistently show up, work hard, and go beyond. Hickey calls it building the foundation. “No building is good unless it has a good foundation. If there are cracks, tradition won’t stand. So we’re building something solid here.”

And when they step into the community, Hickey wants his players to see themselves as more than athletes. They’ve volunteered to clean yards for elderly residents, worked food drives, partnered with the NAACP for back-to-school events, and even helped line flags for the return of a Vietnam veteran’s remains. “We want kids to know this is what you do in your community,” Hickey explained. “This is how you show up, how you give back. Football is just the platform to teach that.”

His philosophy is summed up in the wristbands his team wears: T.R.U.S.T. — Team, Relationships, Unity, Sacrifice, Tradition. For Hickey, each word is a stepping stone. Team comes first. Relationships and unity follow. Sacrifice is the proof of commitment. And if all of that holds, tradition is born. “If we take care of the players, the wins and losses will take care of themselves,” he said.

It hasn’t always been easy. Last year’s 1–8 record could have left spirits low, but Hickey refuses to be measured solely by a scoreboard. “We’ve already won before we step on the field,” he said. “When kids show up, when they grow stronger, when they serve their community—that’s victory.”

Perhaps his proudest step as head coach has been bridging an old divide. For years, Galesburg’s football program and marching band operated in parallel, sometimes even in tension. Hickey decided to end that. Within weeks of his hiring, he sat down with the band director and athletic director and asked: “Why can’t it be one?” Today, the band stays to play through the game, the drumline brings the team onto the field, and last fall Hickey even took his players to watch a band competition. “We wanted to see them perform,” he said. “They watch us every Friday—we wanted to return the respect.”

On any given Friday night, the stands fill with families, the band strikes up, the cheerleaders lift their voices, and a whole community comes together. Shawn Hickey sees it all as one extended classroom—where young people learn resilience, empathy, discipline, and pride in their hometown.

Because in Galesburg, under the lights, it’s never just football. It’s education, community, and tradition woven together. And at the center, a coach who knows that every yard gained is really just another step in helping kids grow.