South Kingstown High School athletic director Terry Lynch.

The Providence Journal / John Freidah

SOUTH KINGSTOWN — Playing sports and tagging along with his father to football practices and basketball games while growing up in Cumberland in the 1960s and early 1970s prepared Terry Lynch for his career in athletics, even if he didn’t realize it at the time.

“I just loved being around it,” Lynch said of those times he chased footballs when his father, Dick, coached the Providence College club team or those winter evenings when his dad officiated at college basketball games.

Four decades later, as he sits in his cinderblock office at South Kingstown High School, Lynch obviously still loves being around the hustle and bustle of sports. Beginning his second year as athletic director, he is perfectly comfortable going over schedules and gear orders with his hockey and basketball coaches, talking college football with a teacher, telling his principal that he is interested in attending a summer conference on athletes and substance abuse in Lake Placid, meeting with a student about being the public address announcer for basketball games, and fielding calls from the main office about the bus that can’t squeeze through the crowded parking lot to pick up the swim team for the short ride to the University of Rhode Island for practice.

Lynch has become a fixture in Rhode Island athletics, and not only because he is the son of the retired executive director of the Rhode Island Interscholastic League, retired principal of Cumberland High, former football coach at Cranston High, URI and Providence College, former quarterback at Boston College and all-around good guy.

Terry Lynch has made his own way as an All-State quarterback and all-division catcher at Cumberland High School; a starter for most of his four years at URI, first as quarterback and then as tight end; an assistant coach at URI for 15 years; an admissions officer at New England Tech for three years; dean of students and athletics director at Mt. Hope High, in Bristol, for two; and assistant principal at South Kingstown for four years. Last January, he succeeded Bob Cavanagh, the revered longtime athletics director and boys soccer coach, who retired.

“I love it here,” Lynch said, flashing the megawatt smile that with his imposing physique are his trademarks.

“I have really good coaches and really good administrative support, and our kids compete and compete hard. And we do it the right way,” he said.

Lynch did not offer his championship football team or his playoff soccer and volleyball teams as examples of doing things the right way. Instead, he mentioned his 0-15-1 field-hockey team.

“They get beat all the time, but they don’t complain and don’t swear at the officials. They shake the officials’ hands after the game. That’s important,” he said, noting that the SK field-hockey team has won the Sportsmanship Award for two years.

Lynch learned the art of doing things the right way from two masters. His father was the first.

“Everything he was about was doing things the right way. He was an athlete, coach and administrator, and I had him to fall back on to get tips on how to do things. He’s always been very supportive and been there when I’ve needed him, and he always gives great advice,” Lynch said.

The second was Bob Griffin, football coach at URI from 1976 to 1992. Lynch spent 14 years with Griffin, 4 as a player and 10 as a coach.

“As is my dad, Grif is such a high moral person. He preached how to do things the right way instead of taking short cuts. He would say if it’s not the right thing to do, we’re not going to do it.”

Lynch learned all about winning and losing during those URI years. His first two teams in 1979 and 1980 were 3-18-1, but the 1981 team tied Boston University for the Yankee Conference title and played in the I-AA tournament. URI was 7-4 in 1982, Lynch’s last as a player.

“At times it was frustrating, but when I look back on it, it prepared me to coach. I could talk to kids who were changing positions and try to help them understand because I could say I’ve been there. Looking back on it, I can say I had a good career. A stellar career? No, but it prepared me for life’s lessons.”

Lynch was the only assistant to survive Griffin’s firing in 1992. Floyd Keith retained him, and he remained through spring practice in 1998, finally quitting to spend more time with his wife, Linda, his son, T.J., and his daughter, Taylor.

“I was spending more time worrying about other people’s kids than my own,” he said. “T.J. was 6 or 7, and I’m recruiting in Canada or New York or Pittsburgh and not around. I wanted to be around.”

T.J. is 15 now, a freshman at La Salle and one of the leading scorers on the hockey team. Taylor is 11 and also an athlete. How could she not be? Her mother was playing racquetball at a Woonsocket health club in 1987, when her father went in to work out. They started dating and in 1988 married.

Lynch remained close to URI football as Steve McDonald’s sidekick on WHJJ. He missed college coaching but not enough to chase the URI job when Keith resigned toward the end of the 1999 season. Two years later, Lynch got the urge to work with high school students and landed the Mt. Hope job. As dean of students, he was the enforcer in times of trouble. At 6-2 and packing a few pounds over the 222 he carried as a college senior, he did not invite disrespect.

“I told the kids, if there’s a fight, I’m going in hard. I’ll try not to hurt you, but I’m not getting hurt,” he said, laughing.

Lynch enjoyed working with problem students and motivated students alike, but the 50-minute commute from his home in South Kingstown started to take its toll. When the SK job opened, he jumped at the opportunity. He commutes about five minutes now.

Lynch praised Cavanagh for the foundation he laid during his run as A.D. and said that in time he hopes to put his own stamp on the program. He also hopes to get more involved with the Interscholastic League.

Terry Lynch turned 48 last Friday. He left Cumberland for URI 30 years ago, his father’s advice and example having molded his character. Today, he sends his South Kingstown athletes off to games, meets and matches, with a similar message: “When we leave here, we represent our high school and the Town of South Kingstown, and we need to do it in a first-class way.”

In Terry Lynch’s world, there is no other way.

mszostak@projo.com