DOWAGIAC — When your grandfather played four years at Miami University and his head coach was the legendary late Bo Schembechler, your uncle played four years at the same institution before becoming an assistant coach at Michigan State University and your father suited up to play college football at 39 years old, football is kind of in your blood.

Just ask Dowagiac’s Luke Staten, who is hoping to help the Chieftains return to the postseason this year under new head coach Randy Brooks.

Staten will play along the offensive and defensive lines this season for Dowagiac, as well as being the team’s long-snapper.

Staten started learning about Chieftain football almost as soon as he could begin comprehending words. The heard all of the legends of what is one of southwest Michigan’s most storied high school football programs.

“Growing up, whenever I went to the high school games it was like wow, this is Dowagiac football,” he said. “I knew my dad played and my grandpa coached. I can remember going to football games as a baby and having my grandpa holding me out on the field. It was the coolest thing.”

As the years went by and Staten played at various levels of the Dowagiac program, there then came a time for him to put on that first varsity jersey. So, what did that feel like, knowing all the tradition behind it?

“It was like a dream come true because it was a family tradition,” he said.

That family tradition began in the mid-1980s when his uncle Mark Staten was a standout for the Chieftains. He would follow in his father’s footsteps and attend Miami University, where he was a four-year starter and earned All-Mid-American Conference honors as a senior and was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals.

Mark earned a spot on the Bengals’ practice squad where he was picked up by the New England Patriots and was added to their roster in late 1993 and part of 1994. He was drafted by the Barcelona Dragons of the World Football League in 1995, but sustained a career-ending knee injury.

After a stint as a high school coach in California, Mark returned to Miami of Ohio and began his coaching career as a student assistant. He was a graduate assistant at Miami of Ohio, known as the “Cradle of Coaches,” before moving on to Ohio State University for the 2002-03 seasons and was part of the Buckeyes’ National Championship team. That is also where he started working with defensive coordinator Mark Dantonio, who would later take over as head coach at the University of Cincinnati and is now at Michigan State.

Mark has been a member of Dantonio’s staff at both stops.

His father, who was also an all-state wrestler for Dowagiac, first put on his Chieftain uniform in the early 1990s. He started his career at Ferris State University, but never gave college football a chance.

Instead, he went into the construction business after an automobile accident that left him with a broken back and started a family, which included sons Luke and Clay.

Through it all, Andy still wanted to give college football a try and, as a result, ended up at Culver-Stockton College in Missouri where he played defensive tackle as the ripe old age of 39. His freshman year, he was listed at 6-foot-5, 295 pounds.

“He was playing with kids who were old enough to be his children,” Luke said about watching his father played college football. “It was crazy, but I supported him through it all.”

At the same time, he completed his college degree in business, which he received in December 2015.

With so much football tradition behind him, Luke does not feel pressured to be his grandfather, his uncle or his dad. He is encouraged to be the best he can be and enjoy the game that has given his family so much.

When asked if he gets several levels of critique after each game, he said no.

“My dad and I go over every play,” he said. “He critiques me on everything, but it helps because he knows what he is talking about because he has been in football forever. I have to do it on my own sometimes, but it is always helpful when he is around.”

He has also used grandfather Jerry Staten for help, but not too often. Jerry played at Miami of Ohio from 1964 through 1966, becoming a starter his junior and senior seasons. He helped Miami win back-to-back Mid-American Conference championships where he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament injury to his right knee, but opted to play through the pain most of his junior and senior years instead of having career-ending surgery.

Luke is looking forward to the season and getting the team focused on getting back to the postseason.

“I hope we can come together as a team,” he said. “Learning a new offense and defense is challenging, but I love coach [Randy] Brooks. He was my biology teacher. He is just a great guy.”

Brooks knew what type of person he was going to get in Luke Staten even before he coached him. That is because he coached his father when he was an assistant for the Chieftains before, under head coach Bernard Thomas.

“He is a kid who has dedicated himself to the weight room,” Brooks said. “He is a three-sport athlete and that is not easy to do. He is very committed to the improvement of his athletic abilities.”

And Brooks knows exactly where he learned that dedication.

“He knows that if you are going to do things, you are going to do them right,” he said. “You do not do them halfway. They [he and his father] are both extremely competitive. Andy was a bit more outgoing. Luke is a bit more laid back. But Andy and Luke are both tremendous competitors.”