By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

GRANITE QUARRY — New head football coach Brian Flynn’s introduction to East Rowan was quite unusual.

“They handed me my schedule, and I was wondering what in the world was going on,” Flynn said. “Before I ever taught a class, they wanted me to spend some time with East’s students and teachers, so I was in classes for 30-minute intervals for everything from chemistry to culinary arts. It was pretty cool. I got to meet a lot of people. I got to get a feel for the school and the students.”

Flynn was in the unusual position of joining the faculty in the middle of a school year. He’s a professional teacher and he’ll handle weightlifting/P.E. classes, but mostly he’s been hired to revitalize a struggling football program.

Football is awfully important to high schools as a fundraiser for all sports. Football is the main link between school and community.

Football has an impact on school morale and spirit. It impacts the academic performance of a large number of students. Some students desperately need football. They need the discipline and the teamwork lessons that come from being part of something bigger than themselves. The head football coach has a chance to change for the better as many lives as anyone on campus except the principal. When football sags, and it has been tough going at East since COVID, change is inevitable. Flynn doesn’t see himself as a miracle-worker, but he does think he can help get the Mustangs back on track.

East has had two 10-win football seasons in an athletic history that dates back to the late 1950s. Once of those was in 1969. The other was in 1997. So it’s not an easy place to pile up victories. But East has fielded a lot of competitive teams. In this century, Will Orbin, Brian Hinson, Danny Misenheimer, Kenneth McClamrock and John Fitz, who coached the Mustangs the previous seven seasons, have put teams on the field that were highly competitive.

East was 6-6 and 5-6 as recently as 2018-19 under Fitz and contended for conference championships late in the regular season. But the Mustangs haven’t fully recovered from COVID — they’re 4-32 the past four seasons — and the move from the North Piedmont Conference (with the Iredell schools) to the South Piedmont Conference (with the Cabarrus schools) has made it even tougher to compete. East bottomed out at 0-10 last fall, the first winless season since 2003.

Flynn arrived with a 30-day plan in mind to get things going in the right direction. He’s happy with the progress he’s made so far.

“I’ve been able to go over to (Erwin) the middle school and talk to kids who will be rising freshman in the fall,” Flynn said. “We had a meet-and-greet with the public and the turnout was great. I’ve had meetings with potential team members, and we’ve had 90 kids there. The numbers in the program were down into the 50s last year for two teams, and that’s a problem we’ve got to address. I’ve gotten incredible support from administration, the principal and the ADs, and we’re getting started. It’s a challenge to rebuild a program, but it’s a challenge that’s gotten my blood flowing again. I’m rejuvenated.”

Flynn grew up in Davidson County.

He went to Central Davidson High, a Lexington school that has bounced around on the border of 2A and 3A. It was a 3A school during Flynn’s time there. He probably was the school’s best athlete, all-conference in baseball and basketball, as well as football.

Football was his passion. He led competitive teams. He was the quarterback for Central Davidson, throwing for 1,1oo or so yards as a junior and again as a senior. He was also a running threat, accounting for about 500 yards each season on the ground. He was the team’s offensive MVP twice. He also played defensive back.

Flynn played for three different head coaches in high school. The third one, Eugene Everhart, had the biggest impact.

“He was tough, old-school, a disciple of Allen Brown (who coached many powerful Thomasville teams),” Flynn said. “After playing for him, I started thinking seriously about becoming a high school coach.”

Flynn was part of the recruiting class that arrived at Catawba in the fall of 2000. The Indians were a national force in Division II at that time under coach David Bennett.

Flynn redshirted his first season. Catawba also was redshirting a quarterback named Luke Samples that year who would become one of the program’s all-time greats. Flynn was moved to receiver where he was working mostly with assistant coach Chip Hester before Hester was elevated to head coach prior to the 2002 season. Then DJ Summers took over as receivers coach.

Flynn made his first college catch in 2001 against North Greenville, but as a redshirt freshman his biggest contribution was on special teams. His 2002 season was a repeat. He paid more dues as a special-teams guy and backup receiver.

He progressed into a much larger role in 2003 as a junior with 30 receptions. He had seven catches for 106 yards against Carson-Newman. He had six catches against D-I Wofford. He caught his first two TD passes against Presbyterian and Tusculum.

He also performed well in 2004, his final season with the Indians. Off the field, he was making progress toward a coaching career.

“I flirted with some business classes for a while at Catawba,” he said. “But I knew in my heart that coaching is what I wanted to do.”

Time goes by swiftly. Flynn is 41 now, 42 in April.

While he’s still got plenty of fire and enthusiasm, the Chicago Cubs fan is no longer a youthful coach. He’s seasoned. He’s experienced. He’s been teacher/coach for 19 years now.

Almost all of his teaching years have been spent at North Davidson, in the Welcome community, between Lexington and Winston-Salem.

Flynn spent 12 seasons there as a football assistant coach, rising to prominence as the offensive coordinator for high-powered teams that were head-coached by Mark Holcomb.

Flynn also served as head basketball coach at North Davidson for the 2016-17 season.

When Oak Grove opened, Holcomb accepted the challenge of being the Grizzlies’ first head football coach. Flynn got the call to follow Holcomb at the helm of the Black Knights football program in 2017.

Flynn had tremendous success at North Davidson. He won big. There were three conference championships and two regional final appearances. There was a trip to the 2018 2AA state championship, where the Black Knights lost to Shelby.

His record at North Davidson was 54-29. He didn’t have to build a winning culture there, but he did show he could maintain one.

There was some adversity in Flynn’s final two seasons in Welcome, including his resignation as head coach midway through a difficult 2003 season.

But that’s in the past. Flynn has started fresh in Granite Quarry and is confident he’s got the administrative support he needs to build up the Mustangs. He’s tackling the task with the same passion he brought to the sport as a player. Former players give Flynn high grades, as far as building a team brotherhood and pulling a program together.

Flynn has a family, wife Lyndsi, son Cooper and daughter Tessa.

He commutes every day from the northern part of Davidson County, a drive that gives him to think about the day ahead.

“There’s a lot of work that is going to have to be done,” Flynn said. “But we’ll get the pride back in East Rowan football. We’re getting workouts started, and I’m recruiting the halls, starting with my weightlifting class.”