Shining example: BV grad Lynn was standout on and off the football field
Submitted photo
Belle Vernon graduate Spencer Lynn is shown during his days playing for California University of Pa.
Submitted photo
Spencer Lynn was a two-year captain for Belle Vernon’s football team where he played fullback and linebacker.
Former Belle Vernon football standout Spencer Lynn has set a shining example both on and off the field.
Lynn got an early start with football.
“I started playing football when I was four years old,” Lynn recalled. “I started playing flag football in the Rostraver Township Youth Football League. I literally played every year from the time I was four until I was 23. From the time I was young I played baseball until I was in ninth grade. Up until that point I was probably a significantly better baseball player than I was a football player. I just didn’t like baseball as much as I did football to be honest.”
Lynn was a three-year varsity football letterman at Belle Vernon, serving as team captain in both his junior and senior campaigns. Lynn was a fullback on offense, but he was more known for his play at middle linebacker.
He played under Lou Rood for two seasons and then Aaron Krepps on Belle Vernon squads that posted records of 5-5 in 2007, 4-6 in 2008 and 5-5 in 2009.
“It was a transition period,” Lynn remembered. “Naturally when a coaching change occurs it takes a little bit of time for things to kind of transition over. The new culture, the new personalities and the new playbook. But I think with Coach Krepps it was bigger than that, he brought a different culture back to the Belle Vernon program that I think Coach Humbert has since only continued to improve upon. I think that originally started when Coach Krepps came back.”
A two-year team captain Lynn is very proud of that honor.
“It was pretty cool,” Lynn stated. “At the time it was pretty rare to be a two-year captain. I don’t know if it still is or not, but I was very proud of that. I was never really a vocal outspoken guy, I just led by example.
“I was a two-way player and, it’s funny, I played fullback and linebacker and every special teams unit. My junior and senior years I never came off the field the entire game. I definitely liked defense better. I liked playing fullback a lot, but I did not like running the ball, I liked blocking and we had a pretty good tailback in Matt Green. I loved blocking for him. I did not like running the ball.”
The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Lynn garnered some honors in high school. He was a two-time All-Big 7 Conference linebacker and defensive MVP as a senior. During his senior year, he was Pennsylvania Football News’ First-Team Academic All-State and Old Spice Red Zone Player of the Year. Lynn was selected to play in the Tri-County Coaches Association Football Classic, where he served as the team captain. He is proud that he helped bring Belle Vernon football back to being competitive.
“There was light at the end of the tunnel and that’s a good way to put it,” Lynn said. “The underclassmen on that team had so much potential and they obviously did go on to continue to push the program in the right direction.
“Brett Berish is still defensive coordinator at Belle Vernon and he was a big influence on me. One of his lines that he still uses to this day was ‘leave the program in better hands than it was left to you’ and that was exactly what our goal was.
“I’m proud of the honors I achieved especially the academic honor. I’ve always taken pride in my academics.”
After graduating from Belle Vernon in 2010 Lynn wound up playing college football at California University of Pennsylvania under John Luckhardt and then Mike Kellar.
“There were probably 10 schools that offered me a scholarship,” Lynn explained. “My final three were Albany, Cal U and Seton Hill. Cal was a dominant program at that time and being close to home and how good Cal U was I knew I was going to go there and be part of a winning team every year.”
Lynn’s standout play at middle linebacker translated well to the collegiate level where he was a three-year starter at Cal U. As a senior, he was a Capital One Academic All-American, a Capital One All-District player, and was a member of the All-PSAC West First Team. Lynn earned the title of USA Division II College Football 1st Team All-American, and as a result, he was selected to play in the USA College Football All-American Bowl at Cowboy Stadium in Texas where he was also awarded the defensive MVP. Spencer finished his career with 240 tackles.
The Vulcans posted a record of 33-14 during Lynn’s time at Cal U.
“I definitely accomplished my goal of wanting to be a part of a winning program,” Lynn said. “It was such a cool experience getting to go down and play in Cowboy’s Stadium in 2014. That is something I will never forget.”
After graduating from Cal U in 2014, Lynn played professionally as a player-coach for the Osnabruck Tigers in Germany.
“I did get a tryout with Edmonton of the CFL,” Lynn offered. “There was a website called Euro Players and you put in your info and European teams recruit players off of that. Some other players from Cal U played over there. It was a great experience.”
Lynn also served as an assistant coach at BVA in 2015 where he coached special teams and inside linebackers for the Big 8 Conference Champion Leopards before joining the U.S Army in 2016. He served five years as an Infantry Officer in the U.S Army where he graduated first in his class in Officer Candidate School.
He completed US Army Jungle School where he is known as a Jungle War Expert, earning himself the “Black Jungle Flag.” He presented the honorable flag to Coaches Humbert and Berish to demonstrate to current BVA players what alumni can accomplish. The current team carries this flag out onto the field every time they play on Friday Nights.
Lynn would go on to be awarded multiple medals for his time in the Army. 1st Lieutenant Lynn completed his service with the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks on the Hawaiian island of Oahu.
“Both my grandfathers served in the Army,” Lynn stated. “I kind of felt that it was a calling, something I had to do. I felt a sense of obligation to do it.”
The Spencer Lynn Excellence in Leadership Award is awarded in his honor to the area high school senior who demonstrates both excellence on the field and going above and beyond off the field as a leader.
“That’s pretty cool and it’s a huge honor,” Lynn said. “It’s fitting too, because its a leadership award and not going to (necessarily) the best player, it’s going to the best leader. The one that others look towards when times are tough. I was not the best player, but people looked to me as a leader.”
Lynn is now an avid endurance athlete and completed in his first Ironman Triathlon on his 29th birthday.
Now 31, Lynn resides in Peters Township with his wife of two years Jamie and they are expecting a baby boy due in September.
Lynn works as the Northeast Regional Manager for KOS Naturals. He is a volunteer assistant coach at his collegiate alma mater Cal U.
Looking back Lynn is very pleased with what he has accomplished.
“Life is great,” Lynn said. “I’m happy, but not satisfied, I’m never content. There is always something more to do.”