Brady Nix vividly remembers the road, the tree and the thoughts that raced through his mind while driving in solitude back from a family member’s farm where he worked this summer in Oklahoma.

Nix was deployed to Afghanistan from January 2009 to January 2010 as an Army combat medic. He characterized his deployment as “rough.” In the approximately four years after he returned from his tour, Nix said 14 men he directly served with had killed themselves.

The PTSD, survivor’s guilt and suicidal thoughts were taking over Nix’s life. The tree — a symbol but also a possible means to an end — held significant meaning. With a child soon on the way, Nix’s mind wandered.

“I would drive by it every day and just be like, ‘You know, I have life insurance. Would it just be better if I drove into the tree?’” Nix would ask himself.

Instead, Nix chose to change his life. After chose to sell the outdoors expedition company he founded, he moved from Texas to the D.C. area.

That’s when fate led Nix to Soldiers to Sidelines.

While perusing Google for substitute teaching positions, Nix came across an ad for STS, an organization that develops all branches of active duty, retired or wounded servicemembers into football and lacrosse coaches in positions around the country.

It sounded like something Nix could do. So he drove to Georgetown University the next day and met head football coach Rob Sgarlata, who put him in touch with Harrison Bernstein, the founder of STS and former assistant coach for the Hoyas. Bernstein said his friend, Matt Shea, birthed the idea for the organization.

Fast-forward three months, and Nix is preparing to be the junior varsity lacrosse coach for Georgetown Prep in Bethesda, Md. A former college football player at Oklahoma State before leaving school to join the Army, Nix had never played — or really ever seen — lacrosse.

“These service members have everything they need to be excellent coaches,” Bernstein said. “And with the right tutelage, they can become excellent youth coaches. I just wanted to improve the quality of youth, high school and collegiate coaching.”

Little did Bernstein realize that he’d be impacting lives in the process.

“All of our servicemembers realize they are becoming a part of a new tribe,” Bernstein said. “And that blew me away. That motivated me to resign from coaching football, because it was just so fulfilling to me.

“We have so many deep stories of individual redemption and growth. Coaching is therapy for everyone. Whether you’re a servicemember or a civilian, you’re doing this selfishly selfless thing. You get this feeling in return that drives you.”

Nix is one of many success stories who made it through the intensive seminars. Everything is entirely free for servicemembers, but they must devote three days to classroom time and a hands-on portion that serves as a skills clinic.

The seminars are capped at 30 people, and those who complete the course are given a certificate of completion and are entered into the STS database, which enables the organization to act as an agent to help secure coaching positions.

STS has roots in the lacrosse community, having teamed up with MLL’s Chesapeake Bayhawks to run a free youth clinic this month. Participants were encouraged to make a donation.

“Soldiers to Sidelines gave me a way to live a life with purpose and probably saved mine in the process,” Nix said. “Coaching is rewarding on so many levels.”

Nix said coaching and educating runs in his family. Both of his parents were educators, and his father was a football coach. Athletics used to be an escape for Nix, but after serving in Afghanistan and witnessing the aftereffects, Nix couldn’t find joy in his life.

He said he’d sometimes go 10 days without leaving his home. He’d do anything possible to avoid human contact. He even climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa for the second time last summer and reached the peak to gaze upon the sunrise only to battle with his depression.

“Part of my problem coming out is that you’re so dedicated to what you’re doing in the Army, that you get out and miss that bond and camaraderie and the mutual goal of going out to accomplish things,” Nix said.

“I need purpose to what I’m doing. I need a purpose to get up in the morning. I want to go help people. That’s where I get the most satisfaction.”

He’s now found that purpose through lacrosse and Soldiers to Sidelines. Bernstein said the organization hopes to expand to more sports and more regions in the future. He said 2019 was the organization’s biggest year, and he expects an “even bigger” 2020.

“It’s open to anybody, but for a lot of these guys, they served for a purpose,” said Scott Urick, the Georgetown Prep varsity lacrosse coach and member of the U.S. men’s national team in 2006 who serves as the secretary and director of lacrosse at STS. “For many of them, that purpose was a cause greater than themselves and for the camaraderie that comes with it. Now that they’re transitioning to civilian life, there is a void in their lives. It’s not dissimilar to why some of these coaches stay coaching until they can’t anymore physically. When you’re a part of something bigger than yourself, you don’t want to lose that identity.”

Urick showed Nix his very first lacrosse game on YouTube. Since then, Nix has taken the initiative to immerse himself in the sport. Now, he has a mission. He has a purpose.

And that tree is nothing more than a symbol of growth and how far he’s come in a short time.