Tim Swore knows what it takes to lead and build successful football programs.
He started the program at Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian in 2008 and had a strong 11-year run that included a pair of Division 6 state semifinal appearances.
There was similar success during his one season at Faith Christian Academy in Orlando, Florida, and then in his return to Michigan at Carson City-Crystal.
Because of that success, Swore figured he could get similar results for a Lakewood program coming off a 1-8 season in 2023.
And that's exactly what has happened.
Swore, who is now in his third season at Lakewood, has the Vikings enjoying one of their best seasons in nearly a decade. Lakewood finished as the CAAC White runner-up and heads into the playoffs with an 8-1 record and a four-win improvement from 2025. The eight wins this season are more than Lakewood had in the 2023 through 2025 seasons combined when they won a total of seven games.
Lakewood, which has qualified for the MHSAA playoffs for the first time since 2018, last had eight wins in a season in 2017.
"I kind of have my things that I think are important that we try to instill, starting with the kids and the parents have to get on board, and then the next thing you know the community is on board and it takes off," Swore said. "We were blessed when I started out at NorthPointe Christian in 2008. They never had football before. It took a little longer, but year 6 we were in the state semifinals, and year 7 we went back to the state semifinals. I went down to Florida for one year and rebuilt a program that had been in 8-man football. We went 7-4 with a bunch of freshmen and sophomores.
"(We) go to Carson City. They had one district championship in the history of football and in our first two years there we won two district championships. We were 32-8 in four years there. Then I took on this challenge. Obviously they were 1-8 the year before we got here. Now we're doing pretty good, but it took step-by-step."
Instilling the right work ethic and right culture were focuses early for Swore when he arrived at Lakewood. Culture was bigger than X's and O's in the early stages — especially with a group of talented freshmen and sophomores in the program.
Navigating the early downs was just as vital. Lakewood won just two games in its debut season under Swore with each of those losses coming by double figures.
"They hung in there and they believed there was something better and I kept telling them there would be," Swore said. "They just hung in there and here we are."
Part of the reason Lakewood players stayed the course was because of the confidence displayed by Swore through it all.
“He's always been super confident and like trust the process and we will be a great team,” said Lakewood senior Michael Goodemoot, who has been on varsity since Swore’s arrival. “He's lived by that ever since he came here. He just keeps pushing that we will be great if we just trust the process and keep going. Now that it’s starting to pay off I think people are starting to respect him more and realize what he's doing is actually good.”
Swore's confidence has rubbed off on the players. Even when Lakewood suffered its lone loss to Portland on a last-second field goal, Swore noticed the determination from his team to not let that tough ending turn into future setbacks. And it hasn't.
Lakewood will try to keep things going as the postseason begins, finding itself two wins away from matching the school record of 10 set in 2016. That also marks the last time the Vikings won a playoff game.
“This is kind of the fourth program that I've helped rebuild,” Swore said. “You can't put the emphasis on winning. You have to put the emphasis on what you do every day and the winning just kind of takes care of itself. High school football — I'm a big believer in that if you get good at handling adversity, you're going to win more games than you lose right there. Our kids have just really grown in that.”
The Vikings host Berrien Springs (8-1) in their playoff opener at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30.
Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on X @brian_calloway.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Tim Swore's latest football rebuild turns Lakewood into winner