By Marisa Dawson, Photos by Jeff Douglas

Bennington High School football has added a familiar name with deep Nebraska football roots to its coaching staff this season.

Roy Helu, a former Husker football player and NFL running back, has joined Coach Kam Lenhart’s staff as the Badgers prepare for the 2026 season.

Helu said he had been considering reaching out to Lenhart for about a year before ultimately asking to join the staff in December. Helu said his transition onto the staff has been seamless and praised the quality of the coaching staff, noting that its strength starts with the leadership at the top.

“I love football, and my passion for football has always been there,” Helu said.

But his decision to coach is about more than his love for the game. Helu said he is “wired to be driven by purpose” and has always wanted to make a difference in the lives of young men.

His own playing career (from youth football to the Nebraska Huskers, plus ultimately six seasons in the NFL) gives him plenty of experience to draw from as he works with the next generation.

Helu said one of the biggest lessons he learned from his own coaches was the weight their words could carry.

“Whenever I think of my coaching staff, I think of all the words they actually said to me and how they gave me life,” he said.

Those experiences have helped shape the kind of coach Helu hopes to become. He said he learned valuable lessons from coaches throughout his career, including what he wants to emulate and what he wants to approach differently.

Helu also said he is grateful to be joining a coaching staff whose philosophy aligns with his own.

“This staff is a dream to join,” he said. “And it starts from the top down from the leader and then leaders etc, and so that’s the only thing I would add.”

One of the lessons Helu hopes to pass along is that football should be an important part of a young person’s life, but not their entire identity.

“Don’t make your life all about football, or don’t make your life all about what you do,” he said.

For younger athletes, Helu boils his philosophy down even further: “Bring your best.”

He encourages athletes to bring their best attitude and best effort, recognizing that many aspects of team sports are outside an individual player’s control.

As he begins his first season with the Bennington coaching staff, Helu said he has plenty of ambitions for what the season can bring. But ultimately, he hopes his impact goes beyond wins and losses.

“I genuinely want them to have an experience where they say, oh man, Coach Roy really, really cared and he really had my best interest at heart,” he said.

Stay tuned for the full story about Roy Helu in our next Buzzworthy: Someone You Should Know column to learn more about his inspirations, experience, and how Bennington has become home.