LYNN — The Lynn Tech Tigers preseason is underway, and this year Head Coach James Runner is looking for a fast start for his team.
“I want to hit the ground running. I’m emphasizing that with our team. We need to make things happen from the jump and make teams try to catch us,” Runner said. “I’m excited for not only the season but for our coordinators. Both Maurice Cordy and Marcus Taylor have worked really hard this offseason to get our squad ready.”
Last season the Tigers made the playoffs and finished with an overall record of 3-7.
“Last year was a tough year for us. We did qualify for the MIAA playoffs which is always our number-one goal,” Runner said. “We finished with a 3-6 record, 3-7 overall with the consolation game. Our opponents that we played were a bit tougher than normal so I think we got in because the state gives you points for facing tougher opponents.”
The Tigers graduated seven seniors, five of which were in the football program for all four years. Of the seven graduates, Runner mentioned he’s losing two key players on both sides of the ball, Tyler David and Micahel Monbleau.
“It was tough to lose our big guy Tyler David, who was our quarterback and outside linebacker, in addition to Michael Monbleau, who was our fullback and middle linebacker,” Runner said. “They both got recruited by Curry College and they signed them as a package deal. I’m so proud of them. They were tough, gritty kids. They were program guys, they never missed anything from practice to open workouts.”
Runner is confident in his captains for this season to fill the void left by the seniors.
“We have a good core group of guys,” Runner said. “Our captains have really stepped up. We have four captains, three are seniors and one is an underclassman, which is a tradition I started here at Tech to have one underclassman as a captain.”
“We’ve had a lot of individual workout opportunities with the kids. The captains are holding captain practices and we have the strength and conditioning guys working with our kids,” he added. “It’s been tough since our whole gym is being renovated, so we had to make up for opportunities since we can’t use our locker rooms or gymnasiums. The kids have been really working since June and I’m proud of them.”
Heading into the start of the season, Runner mentioned he wants to improve the defensive backfield.
“I want to be more efficient on the defensive side of the ball. Especially when it comes down to third and long. You try to be as efficient as possible,” Runner said. “I think that’s the area we need to improve and I believe just putting our athletes in better positions when they’re on the field will help.”
The Tigers can expect to have another tough schedule, as Runner admitted he prefers a hard schedule because it prepares his team for the postseason.
“I think it’s important for our kids to play a different kind of schedule. We are a vocational school, but in the playoffs, we’ll face private schools, Boston schools. It’s important to play different variations of teams throughout the season,” Runner said. “To me, it’s more beneficial to play a harder schedule than playing a watered-down schedule and get in being undefeated as an eighth seed.”
Runner, who graduated from Lynn Classical, said he always wanted to come back to town to make a difference in the community. Coaching football is one way he is making an impact.
“The opportunity to make a person better than what they were before they walked through the door — that’s my number one goal,” Runner said. “I love creating better student-athletes. I graduated from Lynn Classical and I always wanted to come back and make a difference to the kids in the city of Lynn.”
