OAKLAND — On a muted December afternoon, 36 stadium lights bathed Bishop O’Dowd High School’s artificial turf in cinematic luminosity.

Had this been a movie set, and not real-life Oakland, an angelic glow would have followed Napoleon Kaufman as the coach strolled among his young charges, hands in and out of sweatpants pockets, preaching and teaching but rarely raising his voice.

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“We didn’t come this far to lose,” the former Raiders running back told the players. “This is a business trip. Tell your parents.”

A school known for basketball has been transformed this autumn by a football star-cum-pastor. In his third season as coach, Kaufman, 43, has led Bishop O’Dowd to the Division 5-AA championship game Saturday night at host Valley View of Riverside County. The Dragons (14-1) have recorded the most victories in school history and won a North Coast Section title for the first time in 12 years.

In a happy coincidence, Kaufman’s University of Washington has made the College Football Playoff and the Raiders (10-3) are hoping to reach the Super Bowl. Yet, the coach from Pleasanton has not lost sight of his mission as much as he enjoys the overwhelming success of current and former teams.

“For me, this is just an opportunity to pour into the lives of young men,” he said.

The senior pastor of Well Christian Community Church in Livermore rarely strays from his messaging. As a drizzly night descended on the hilltop campus in Oakland’s Grass Valley neighborhood, assistants and players convened in a small room where Kaufman discussed game film for the better part of an hour.

“You have to have a passion for the game,” he concluded. “You have to be physical. We can beat this team.”

The Dragons didn’t jump up and down and bellow into the night. The teens showed measured emotions as they departed. They know better.

“Every day Coach talks about how he doesn’t want us just to be great in football, but to be great in life,” said senior Alijah Tucker, a USC-bound tackle.

Kaufman didn’t flinch Sept. 23 when some players and cheerleaders decided to kneel during the national anthem before a game against Freedom-Oakley, which handed Bishop O’Dowd its only defeat this year. The coach remained non judgmental about the Colin Kaepernick-inspired protest.

“Let’s go play football,” he told the kids before the game.

“That was it for me,” Kaufman said this week. “As a team, we’re out there to do something.”

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Kaufman studied drama and communications at Washington with an eye on becoming a sports broadcaster after an NFL career. His spectacular running led him toward that lucrative post-playing career.

Washington won a national championship in Kaufman’s freshman season in Seattle. By the time he left, Kaufman became an All-American and the Huskies’ career rushing leader.

The Raiders picked Kaufman in the first round of the 1995 draft. The sturdy back led the team in rushing yards in 1996, ’97 and ’98.

But Kaufman got pulled in another direction while still playing. He became an ordained minister and eventually served as the Raiders’ chaplain. He retired in 2000, starting a congregation in San Ramon with 15 families. His church now serves more than 1,000 worshipers.

“It was a series of moments when I realized the Lord was calling me,” he said.

But the seedlings were planted at Lompoc High School where Kaufman became Cal-Hi sports football player of the year after leading the Braves to the 1990 CIF Southern Section championship. As a three-year starter, he rushed for 5,151 yards and scored 86 touchdowns. Kaufman also was the 1990 state 100-meter and 200-meter sprint champion.

But before he found stardom, Kaufman found trouble. He landed in juvenile hall for stealing bicycles heading into middle school. Once at Lompoc High, Kaufman met Dick Barrett, an English teacher and football coach who is a graduate of the great James Lick-San Jose teams of the 1960s that featured future Heisman Trophy quarterback Jim Plunkett.

Barrett took note that Kaufman excelled at reading in his freshman remedial English class. The teacher talked a school counselor into enrolling Kaufman in college prep classes. Then the coach taught his protege lessons about discipline and work ethic that Kaufman employs at Bishop O’Dowd.

The Dragons coach recalled the time Barrett walked across the street from campus to his mom’s apartment when the running back skipped school.

“Napoleon, I know you’re in there,” Barrett screamed while banging on a window. “I’m not going to let you fail.”

Kaufman went to school that day and now says of his own flock, “I don’t want to see these kids fail — not just in the classroom but in life.”

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The mother of junior outside linebacker Isaiah Henry appreciates the coach’s care beyond the box scores.

When Regina Henry took Isaiah to Jamaica to attend a family funeral a week before the season opened, Kaufman told his linebacker he couldn’t turn it into a Caribbean vacation. The single mom rented a guesthouse with a fitness room so her son would fulfill his obligations to the Dragons.

“To have those positive role models in my son’s life at this point is very important,” said Henry, San Mateo County’s deputy chief probation officer.

Kaufman, the father of four, including two sons playing at Bishop O’Dowd, can’t juggle this alone. He has recruited eight assistants with similar moral compasses and football experiences.

The staff includes J.J. Stokes, a former 49ers and UCLA receiver, and one-time Raiders teammates Kenyan Branscomb and Robert Jenkins, who are deacons at Kaufman’s church.

Kaufman arrived in 2014 to replace former NFL linebacker Hardy Nickerson, whose teams were 29-17 in four years and advanced to the playoffs three times.

After going 5-6 in the first season under Kaufman, the 7-6 Dragons reached the North Coast Section semifinals last year. Now Bishop O’Dowd is on the cusp of its first state title after escaping with two narrow victories in the past three postseason games.

None was more exciting than a 37-34 victory over Rancho Cotate on Nov. 26. Trey Miller made a 42-yard field goal with seven seconds left that inspired Regina Henry to run onto the field to celebrate with three seconds on the clock.

Kaufman didn’t realize a parent had entered the field of play until reviewing a video with his players. Henry expected a lecture when the coach approached her about it.

“Regina?” Kaufman started.

“I know Coach, I’m so sorry,” the Hayward mother said.

“I just have one question for you,” Kaufman continued.

“How did you get down there so fast?”