A military brat, Lake was born in Walnut Creek, California; his father served in the U.S. Air Force and the family lived in various locations, including overseas tours in Turkey and the Philippines.
He attended North Central High School in Spokane, Washington, was a three-sport letterman for the Indians (football, basketball, and baseball), and was recognized as a scholar-athlete.
The job change moved him to the western side of the state for the first time and up to the Football Bowl Subdivision (then called Division I-A).
[9] The 2008 Detroit Lions infamously went winless, the first NFL team to do so since the season expanded to 16 games, leading to the dismissal of Marinelli and his staff.
[10] Washington suspended Lake without pay on November 8, 2021, after he tried to separate a player from a sideline scrum by hitting him in the facemask, then shoving him in the back as he tried to walk away, the previous weekend.
Lake followed head coach Raheem Morris to Atlanta having served on staff with him both with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Los Angeles Rams.