Eastern High School all-state football player Rob Patchett had lofty aspirations when he left Greentown in the summer of 1985. The plan included living in New York City and being a somebody wearing expensive suits — living the high life.

None of that happened.

Yet as Patchett returns to his familiar Howard County haunts tonight when his Arlington High School football team plays at Kokomo, he makes no excuses.

“When I went to college, I was a business major and I wanted a career on Wall Street,” Patchett said. “Then one day at football practice, it hit me — this is something I want to be involved in.

“I love coaching. One great thing about being in education is having time for my family. My 7-year-old son [Eli] loves baseball and he’s always wanting to play … ‘Daddy throw to me’ or ‘Daddy hit some to me.’

“I realize because of their jobs, a lot of dads don’t get to do that. I mean, what are moments like that worth? I lost my dad last year and now the time with my son is even more important. Time lost is gone forever.”

Thus the trade-off. Rather than wearing Armani, Patchett wears Champion. Rather than having a $150 lunch at Alain Ducasse at the Essex House in the financial district, he’s enjoying the tasty adventures that only a school cafeteria brings. Rather than taking the green line to the Wall Street exit, each school day he’s been turning his 2000 Chevy truck into the faculty lot at 4825 N. Arlington Ave.

And Patchett couldn’t be happier. He’s confident he’s making a difference in the lives of kids who need him.

“Not a lot of kids from Greentown end up coaching at an inner-city school,” Patchett said with a laugh. “But kids are kids and I have some of the most loyal players I’ve ever coached. I enjoyed my time [as an assistant] at North Central, but those kids didn’t really need you — they were OK without you. [At Arlington], you can make a much bigger impact. There are a lot of kids here who don’t have role models.”

Arlington is on a different planet than Eastern, Western or Sheridan — Patchett’s coaching points before landing his first teaching job at North Central in the mid 1990s. The school is composed of 92 percent blacks and 82 percent of all students are on free or reduced lunch.

“We have some challenges here that people living in the suburbs never think about, but we deal with them. We’re not big on excuses here.”

Excuses don’t work on the academic side either.

“We have pretty tough standards,” Patchett said, noting that his team also has study table. “Our players must have a 2.0 [GPA] and no more than two grades below a ‘C.’ They also can’t have more than 10 absences a semester. Our football team [last year] carried a 2.5 GPA which is a lot better than the 1.8 average that our male student population carries.”

Since Patchett arrived at Arlington in 2004, the Golden Knights have been successful on the field as well. In five-plus seasons, Arlington is 30-21 overall, 26-5 in Indianapolis Public School Conference play with league titles in 2006 and ’07.

Patchett points to a long list of mentors as one reason for his coaching success. One of those was Willard Rice, who coached the Comets in 1984 when Patchett and his teammates finished 8-3, winning the school’s only Three Rivers Conference championship. Patchett was a key element on that team, rushing for 1,195 yards, scoring 16 touchdowns.

“I still remember coach Rice’s pregame talks. They were some of the most fiery I’ve ever heard,” Patchett said. “That was a good coaching staff [Brad Wilson, Bob Dedaker, Emmett Herr, Kenny Vent and Jerry Powell]. They knew how to have fun, but also taught the game very well.”

Patchett said he also learned much from Bud Wright (Sheridan), Al Harants (North Central) and Jim Plummer (Western).

“I’ve been around so many successful coaches over the years and you steal a little bit from all of them,” Patchett said. “My defensive philosophy is still the one that I picked up from Mark Hollingsworth at Western.”

Patchett still has friends and family in Howard County, including his mother, sister and brother in Kokomo.

“I have a lot of great memories of Eastern football,” Patchett said. “I remember the closeness of the guys on that team, especially the seniors. Greentown was like growing up in Mayberry. You never locked your house or your car. If you had a car with a T-top, the only time you ever closed it was when it rained.

“Sometimes I wish my son could have the same kind of upbringing.”

• Dave Kitchell is the Kokomo Tribune sports editor. He may be reached by e-mail at dave.kitchell@kokomotribune.com or by phone at (765) 454-8574.