WELCOME BACK—SLU head football coach Mike Lucas was back at Strawberry Stadium Thursday afternoon, visiting with his players after practice. Lucas underwent open heart surgery last week. By John Lenz

You normally interrupt the coach's post-practice speech at your own peril. But this was one time that Southeastern's Tommy Condell didn't mind a bit.

As the Lions knelt around Condell and listened intently following Thursday afternoon's practice, they had no inkling of who was sneaking up behind them until Condell paused and pointed out the visitor.

Mike Lucas was back in Strawberry Stadium.

The players let out a war whoop and Condell ceded the floor to Lucas, returning one week after undergoing open heart surgery at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio.

And after sharing his war stories, flashing his scars and thanking Condell and his staff, Lucas thanked his players for their prayers and support.

“We have an awesome God," Lucas told them. “A lot of people have died because of what I had. But we have an awesome God, and don't you ever forget that!"

Lucas, walking slowly but looking strong, said later that he could tell the difference after only one week.

“I feel great,” he said. "I didn't realize how bad I was feeling before."

Lucas said he went to the Cleveland Clinic because of its high regard in heart surgery circles. The clinic performs some 1,100 heart valve procedures per year and was top-ranked by U.S. News & World Report 15 years running, Lucas said.

And that was good, because the doctors told him his was an involved repair that eventually left him with GoreTex and Teflon components in his ticker.

“The doctor said he'd seen a lot of bad valves that had worn out or because of disease,” Lucas said. “He said mine was the first one he'd ever seen that looked like it was injured. It was torn, like an athletic injury. They had to do several things to put it back together.”

Lucas told the Lions in the post-practice huddle that he suspected the injury occurred on the sidelines at the SFA game, then laughed along with them.

But the grins belied the emotions Lucas said he felt walking back on that field again.

“Awesome,” he said. “I was looking forward to getting out here and seeing the kids again and thanking Tommy and the staff in front of those guys. It was a pretty emotional minute.”

And Lucas said he came back from Cleveland with some very fresh perspective.

“The most important thing is, it's not about me,” he said. “It's this program and it's the kids. I don't want any focus on me. I want the focus to be on the program and the kids.

“But what I found out about me is, I want to see my grandkids,” Lucas added. “There's a lot of time when you're by yourself in that hospital room.

“I might need to calm down a little bit on the sidelines,” Lucas added after a moment's pause.

And Lucas, with wife Wendy trying to herd him back home to rest and relax, also said that he's felt so many hands lifting him up.

“Wendy has been a warrior,” Lucas said. “She's been awesome.

“And I appreciate everybody's prayers. So many people have called and (sent) cards. People have been awesome, and I really appreciate all of that.”