Detroit, MI—The Detroit Lions have named Eric Pettway of Wayne Memorial High School the week one recipient of the 2025 Detroit Lions High School Football Coach of the Week Program, presented by Carhartt. Pettway's Zebras kicked off the season with a victory over the Romulus Eagles 35-26, breaking a 17-game losing streak for the Zebras and only the 2nd program win since 2019. On Friday, September 5th, Wayne Memorial hosts their 1st home game of 2025 as the Livonia Stevenson Spartans come to town for the 11th matchup all-time between these two programs.
Pettway is in his 1st season as head coach at Wayne Memorial, having spent the last three seasons as head coach at River Rouge. Prior to his head coaching stints, Pettway spent 13 years as an assistant coach/defensive coordinator at River Rouge where he won a state championship in 2019 and was a state runner-up in 2020. Pettway started his high school football coaching career at Southfield Lathrup High School, his alma mater, in 2005. In his 4 seasons as head coach, Pettway has accumulated a 19-15 (55.9%) overall record.
Detroit Lions Football Education sat down with Pettway to discuss the week #1 victory over Romulus and what it did for the student-athletes and the student body, what the team is doing to prepare for Livonia Stevenson and how important it was for the program to embrace the mascot name Zebras. Pettway was also informed of his Coach of the Week selection on Head Coach Hangout. See his reaction and the entire interview by visiting www.DetroitLions.com/coachoftheweek.
High School Football Coach of the Week Program
Each week throughout the 2025 high school football regular season, one coach that best demonstrates success on the field, develops players' character, discipline, and football skill in addition to emphasizing player health and safety in their program will be recognized for their commitment to the team, school, and community. The winner is selected by a panel of high school football media members—Mick McCabe (retired Detroit Free Press writer), Hugh Bernreuter (Saginaw News), Bret Bakita (WOOD Radio-106.9 FM, 96.1 FM- The Game, Fox 17/Grand Rapids), James Cook (Traverse City Record-Eagle) and Scott DeCamp (DeCamp Creative Solutions).
This season's program will award $12,000 to aid in the development and promotion of high school football in the state of Michigan, thanks to contributions from the Detroit Lions, the NFL Foundation and Carhartt.
Each winning coach during the regular season will receive a $1,000 donation to his school's football program. At the conclusion of the 2025 Michigan High School Football season, the Lions will also select the High School Football Coach of the Year. This season's Coach of the Year will receive a $3,000 donation to his school's football program. All winners will receive a certificate signed by Lions' head coach Dan Campbell and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
Currently in its' 29th year, the Detroit Lions High School Coach of the Week program has awarded $515,000 to high school football programs throughout the state of Michigan. For more information on the High School Coach of the Week program, contact Chris Fritzsching, Lions' Executive Director of Football Education, at chris.fritzsching@lions.nfl.net.
