Sunday, August 20, 2006
Sunday, August 20, 2006 He's one of the founders of Athletishare. By TOM WILLIAMS VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF After 23 years as a professional football coach, Struthers native Ron Lynn is putting his family at the top of his priority list. Lynn was a NFL coach from 1986-2004, working for the San Diego Chargers, Cincinnati Bengals, Washington Redskins, New England Patriots, Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers. He was defensive coordinator for the Chargers, Bengals and Redskins, and was a secondary coach for the Raiders' 2003 Super Bowl team. But when 49ers owner John York fired head Dennis Erickson and his staff in January 2005, Lynn lost his place on the sideline. New venture Lynn was paid by the Niners through the 2005 season. Now, he's one of the founders of Athletishare, a Silicon Valley-based company that helps high school coaches and players get video exposure to college programs. Lynn, who played quarterback for Struthers High and Mount Union College, met his wife, Cynthia, when he coached at California-Berkeley. Cynthia was an attorney in Reno, Nev. Soon after they married, they began a journey to several professional football cities. Before joining the USFL's Oakland Invaders in 1983, Lynn was a college assistant coach for Toledo, Mount Union, Kent State, San Jose State, Pacific and California-Berkeley. You know how the final game of his college career ended. That was 1982's Stanford-California game that ended with five laterals on a runback and a Cal player plowing through Stanford's band to score the winning touchdown. Today, Lynn's sons Ryon (a senior) and John (a junior) play at East Pleaston, Calif., and their father says he doesn't miss the nomadic life of being an NFL coach. Family bounced around "These kids have lived in San Diego, Cincinnati, Washington D.C., New England and Oakland," said Lynn. "They've bounced around enough supporting me, so it's time for me to do the same." Another son, Alec, died from leukemia a few years ago. Unlike some football families where children suit up at the pee-wee level, Lynn said, "I wouldn't let them play until they got into high school." Two of their coaches are the sons of former Raiders coach and NBC analyst John Madden (Joe and Mike). Lynn's goal now is to help high school players who aren't Division I prospects receive exposure to college programs. "Everyone writes about big-time kids, but the vast majority of high school players might be Division III players," Lynn said. "They deserve their share of pie." About the business The AthletiShare program enables high school coaches to download information about every player on their roster onto a Web site that college coaches pay to access. With technology being so advanced and with roughly 80 percent of high schools shooting their games with digital cameras, AthletiShare says it has the ability to receive and store thousands of games instantly, which guarantees to make the process more inclusive. williams@vindy.com