Dylan Flinn begins his head coaching journey after five years as a varsity assistant coach and seven years of teaching in Hastings.
Flinn played college basketball at Hastings College and then started his coaching career at Hastings St. Cecilia for one year. Since then, he has spent the last six years at Hastings Senior High and the last four years as assistant coach.
“I hope to bring competitiveness, and I just want us to continue to improve,” Flinn said. “Also, (I hope to) bring excitement, a style of basketball that people want to play, and energy to the program now and for years to come.”
Having been with the program for years, Flinn doesn’t look to make any drastic changes, but he plans to adapt and be the best coach he can.
“I am looking forward to being able to put my own stamp on the program and being able to have the say in what we’re doing,” Flinn said. “Right or wrong, good or bad, it’s the way I try, and I’ll continue to learn from that and grow and develop and change.”
Flinn’s coaching philosophy reflects the competitiveness he hopes to bring to the program.
“(My goal is) just to get better. I don’t put any expectations on numbers or stats or anything like that, just to improve every single game, to compete every single game playing in a really hard conference,” Flinn said. “If we can compete in our conference, we can compete with anyone in Class B.”
The boys basketball team has seen an increase in involvement so far this year and has a large freshman class.
“Numbers are up and I believe there’s quite a few freshmen on the team, so participation has been good. The kids in the program seem to be buying in and playing hard and working hard in practice,” Flinn said.
Flinn encourages his athletes to put in the time and effort needed to succeed on and off the court. He hopes to inspire time management skills in his athletes using the skills he has developed as a student-athlete.
“It just takes time-management and all the skills that as a teacher, I try to pass on to students like time-management, communication, being efficient with your time, not cutting corners and not letting (being a student and athlete) slip. Using the time as effectively as you can, and if you need to use more time, definitely do that too,” Flinn said.
Flinn wants his student athletes to do there best so he wants to do anything he can to help them in any way.
“I will support them in any way I can, academically, athletically, and outside of school. You know, that’s my job,” Flinn said. “That’s what I love to do, even as a teacher and as a coach, is just to help grow young adults into successful adults. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I do what I do and why I love to do what I do.”nd together.”
