Girls Basketball: New coach Brian Lynch thrilled to stay with Lorain program

Lorain hopes it found the man who can take its girls basketball program to the next level. The Titans recently selected Brian Lynch to take over the basketball program, replacing longtime coach Mark Feldmann, who retired after the season. Lynch has been a lifelong basketball fan and a teacher in the Lorain district since 2014, but his coaching career got off to an unusual start seven years ago. "The girls eighth-grade coach (at Longfellow Middle School) at the time just kinda ghosted the team and stopped showing up," Lynch said. "And the principal came up to me and said, 'Hey, Lynch, do you wanna take over the eighth-grade team?' I said, 'Sure,' and just kinda took over from there. "If I could write a script, this is how it would go. I am so happy I get to stay with these girls I've been working with in many cases since they were in early elementary grades. It's been a surreal week. It means a lot that (Lorain athletic director) Bryan Koury was willing to take a chance on me and trust me with this program and I will do everything I can to make it a winning program." In the ensuing years Lynch not only coached the middle school team, he coached AAU ball in the spring, summer leagues and sixth-grade travel ball before eventually landing a role as Feldmann's assistant last spring. "Nobody works harder than Mark Feldmann, that was my biggest takeaway from coaching with him," Lynch said. "He's just a machine. Basketball is a year-round sport between the season, AAU and summer. He showed me the work you have to put in." Feldmann led the Titans program since Lorain High opened after the merger of Admiral King and Southview 13 years ago. His Lorain teams had a 156-125 record, including 12-12 last season. Lynch hopes he can help the Titans get to the next level and rise to the prominence the boys team has reached in recent years. "We need to develop a strong youth program in Lorain. We have to do more things with the girls in the summer," Lynch said. "I'm really trying to find a way to do middle school summer leagues." For Lynch, an Avon Lake native who started his teaching career in Cleveland in 2001, becoming a head coach is a personal and professional achievement. "The goal with anything is ultimately to see how high you can go. From the first year I started I wanted to learn as much as I could," he said. "I thought maybe a few years from now I might be interviewing for a varsity position but I never expected Feldmann to retire when he did. It was a shock to everyone in the program." Now Lynch is ready to build on what Feldmann accomplished in his distinguished career and take the Titans every further. "I'm meeting with the girls on Friday to talk about what the summer is going to look like," Lynch said. "We already have time reserved in the weight room. We have workouts and open gyms set and we're going to be playing a summer league. I'm ready to go, no holds barred, 11 months every year with this program." Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.