Jeremy Lynch takes over as boys basketball head coach at Cathedral Prep, his alma mater
Jeremy Lynch was enjoying a round of golf when he figured out Steve Piotrowicz was leaving his job as the Cathedral Prep boys basketball coach to become an assistant at IUP.
Lynch, 29, dropped everything and immediately called Prep athletic director Bill Flanagan.
His dream job was open and he was going to pursue it with the same tenacity he showed on the basketball court as a player.
“I went after it passionately,” said Lynch with a smile on his face. “I was excited about the opportunity to even interview with the committee, and I didn't want to take that for granted.”
After a long process with numerous candidates, Lynch accepted the job as the next head coach of the Cathedral Prep boys basketball team.
“We had a great response to this opening and a deep pool of talented applicants to choose from,” Flanagan said. “Through countless meetings and discussions, our group continued to come back to Jeremy. His is passionate about coaching young men, about imparting his knowledge and most importantly he has a huge affinity for his alma mater.”
Lynch played basketball at Prep and graduated in 2013 before playing basketball at Edinboro. After two seasons, Lynch decided to start his coaching career and became a student assistant under coach Stan Swank with the Edinboro women's basketball team and later under coach Callie Wheeler.
Lynch returned to Prep to become an assistant coach from 2018-2020 before spending a season as an assistant at Division II Chowan University in North Carolina. Lynch came back to Erie to join Dave Niland's staff as the top assistant coach at Penn State Behrend over the past few years.
“I learned a lot from coach Swank, coach Wheeler, coach (Rob) Burke and coach Niland as well as coach (Mark) Majewski) and coach Piotrowicz,” Lynch said. “They gave me the knowledge and the confidence to become a head coach.”
'I wouldn't have left Behrend for any other job'
Lynch was at Behrend when the opportunity arose in July.
“I couldn't be more excited and I wouldn't have left Behrend for any other job,” Lynch said. “Coaching Cathedral Prep means the world to me, and this program is like my extended family.”
Lynch learned leadership skills while playing basketball for the Ramblers and the Fighting Scots.
“I think communication was a strong suit for me and that's big for a coach,” Lynch said. “Henri Wade-Chatman once told me in practice that I need to become a coach one day after recognizing my ability to read and communicate things. I think coaching is in my blood with my father and my brother as well.”
Lynch's brother Matt is the head coach at USC Salkehatchie, which is a junior college in South Carolina.
Lynch said the first priority is to get open gyms going and to get the know the players.
“We're going to start at square one and get to know the players, and they can get to know me,” Lynch said. “I know what kind of effect coaches can have on players as the coaches here had on me. I hope to have even half of that kind of impact on the players here.”
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Contact Tom Reisenweber at treisenweber@timesnews.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @ETNreisenweber.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Former Cathedral Prep basketball player Jeremy Lynch named head coach
