“I’m an ethnically diverse coach who has never kicked a ball in professional football, so one of my biggest drivers is to break that double glass ceiling.
“To potentially reach a first-team environment one day, I’ll likely compete for roles with very knowledgeable, well-qualified ex-players who have absorbed so much experience and information.
“The only way I make it there is to be really, really, good. That’s why self-development to me is everything. Finding a way to better myself every single day is everything.”
Meet Kylrn Brooks-Lynch, who was recently appointed assistant head coach of Brighton & Hove Albion’s Under-16s, and support coach for the Under-18s.
True to form, he has just come off YouTube where he was watching a 15-minute video on a channel called, “Little Bit Better”, picking up tips on storytelling and ways to get your information across quickly.
“The best coaches aren’t always the ones that know the most about football,” he says. “They are often the ones who can connect, empathize, and relay ideas the best. So, if there’s an opportunity for me to learn something new on those areas, I’ll always make time to watch, listen, or read.”
Brooks-Lynch's beginnings
Back in April 2021, Brooks-Lynch was busy juggling four different roles within football and education, striving to land a full-time role in academy football.
He loved it, but it was an exhausting lifestyle.
On the 21st of that month, just after a Covid lockdown had ended, he spotted "a cool opportunity" online, that would change everything.
Deciding to chance his arm, there and then he applied for a place on the Premier League’s Coach Inclusion & Diversity Scheme (CIDS).
Updating his CV for the first time in a while, he wrote a thousand words on his values as a football coach before sending off applications to Brighton, Luton Town, Tottenham Hotspur, and Leicester City. He did so (in his own words) in hope rather than expectation.
The Seagulls called back, offering Brooks-Lynch an interview (he was thrilled, as it was the role he’d wanted most anyway) and on the back of a four-day process that featured several phone calls and Zoom meetings, he was offered a dream two-year placement.
Big break at Brighton
Taking up the story, a grateful Brooks-Lynch tells us, “They said I was starting in three weeks, so I quickly had to make plans to move from Bedfordshire to Brighton.
“It was so surreal because the opportunity to work on that programme was just perfect for my education. I’d get to spend three months working with every age group, getting a feel for the whole environment, working with so many excellent coaches – and outside of that I’d also gain new qualifications and a host of amazing experiences. This was the break I’d been longing for, and, in a flash, I was off to start it immediately.”
Despite admitting he felt a slight sense of "imposter syndrome" when first starting out on an all-encompassing placement that also saw him take a higher diploma in professional coaching, Brooks-Lynch thrived in his new environment.
Establishing terrific connections with players and staff, transitioning between age groups and roles seamlessly, he impressed the club to such an extent they offered him a full-time position just 12 months into a program that had offered no guarantees of further employment.
Brighton’s decision to "press the button early" is a source of overwhelming pride to the 32-year-old, who was initially used an out-of-possession coach, before switching to the Under-16s in January.
“It’s really, really cool to be rewarded with this job, as it’s such a pivotal year for all Academy players. I guess the faith the club has shown in me, must mean I am doing something right,” he says with an infectious smile.
“I am lucky as I worked with these boys at Under-14 level during my placement. Joining them midway through a season is not ideal, but because we knew each other already I could hit the ground running. It’s such an enjoyable role.”
Describing himself as a "reasonable but not excellent player", Brooks-Lynch reluctantly accepted at the age of 17 that he would not fulfil his dream of making it as a professional footballer.
Since then, he has enjoyed a richly diverse 15-year journey to this point, tasting a heady cocktail of experiences within education, business, and football.
Influence of work as a lecturer
Part of that was as a part-time lecturer at the University of Bedfordshire, the establishment where he had graduated from with an Applied Science, Sports, and Exercise Degree.
Invited back to speak on numerous occasions, he covered topics on coaching, analysis, physiology, and biomechanics.
Was he daunted by that at all?
“If I’m honest, not really,” he says. “It helped that at school I took drama. I think once you stand on a stage and speak in front of 300 people doing a play, it stops you feeling engulfed by a moment like that, further down the line.
“There was one high-pressure moment where I was asked a question by a student during a seminar though, and I didn’t know the answer. I could have lied my way out of it, I guess, but instead I opted for transparency, confessing that I wasn’t sure. I offered to sit down with that person afterwards to explore it together, which was accepted.
“As a football coach sometimes, you need to manage your way out of a tricky situation, or to take a beat to consider the right response when a player challenges you on something. That test I had as a lecturer was a very good learning experience.”
Journey to the US
Other destinations on Brooks-Lynch’s pathway to the Sussex coast include a four-month stint in Massachusetts, USA – a trip that confirmed his love for coaching – and a year-long internship working as a first-team performance analyst at Fulham under Kit Symons and Slavisa Jokanovic in 2015/16.
It formed part of his master’s degree on sport performance analysis, and it provided great clarity in regard to his future ambitions.
“My time at Fulham was indispensable. I was filming and studying sessions, then feeding back to the head analyst. I didn’t know it at the time, but that job ingrained so much useful information into me, particularly from a tactical perspective, which have turned out to be super-helpful down the line.
“Ironically the best lesson that year taught me was that I didn’t want to be an analyst! I wanted to be more connected to the players. I wanted to talk to them, move them, help them. Being on the other side of the screen was just a bit too restricting for me.
“Education teaches you so much important stuff, but sometimes it can teach you what you don’t want as well, which was a valuable learning point.”
New adventures in futsal and analytics
Always eager to taste new adventures, Brooks-Lynch went on to work as a futsal coach, as a coach for Arsenal’s soccer schools, and briefly as a performance analyst for West Ham United’s Academy.
In November 2016 Brooks-Lynch landed a full-time role managing the south east region for a start-up business that filmed and analysed matches at grassroots level, before co-founding BeDiscovered Football Academy. He also worked as a school games organiser for the local education authority, too.
Juggling numerous roles, interests, and courses had become the norm, but on completion of his UEFA B License in 2019, the urge to get into full-time football grew stronger.
Twice a week he helped coach a step 6 non-league side called Langford Town, while also working part-time for MK Dons, coaching the Under-13s Academy side. This was a period of Brooks-Lynch’s career he treasures.
“I absolutely loved working with talented young players who were just so hungry to learn, and I feel it accelerated my own coaching too. The self-development I’d been through had put me into a space where I was soon able to dial up their sessions, exploring more things than I had done previously as a coach. Making decisions, leading matchdays, and giving players different challenges that tested and pushed them was something I relished.”
Three years on from making the move from MK Dons to Brighton via the Premier League's CIDS, Brooks-Lynch’s love affair with coaching continues to gather pace.
It was the right club, at the right time, according to him, adding, “One of the strap lines at this club is ‘Every Second Counts’ and that fits so well with my own drive for learning. I am always telling my players they must absolutely take advantage of where they are, being at a place with such great resources, and with so many people around them that want to help.
“Recently I have also started to challenge the boys to tell me if a session is too easy for them. If they want to set themselves an extra target on a specific day. I also want them to let me know, so that I can bolt on something extra in the session. Together, we are all challenging ourselves to try and get better every day.”
Reading for self-improvement
As part of his own continued quest for self-enhancement, Brooks-Lynch is currently focusing hard on bringing elite communication skills to the table.
“When qualifying to become a coach you’re taught the X’s and O’s, where to stand, the do’s and don’ts, how you teach this and that, but how you deliver information is a skillset that not everyone can grasp in the same way.
“Some of the best coaches in the world don’t have the greatest football knowledge. They are the ones that have the best capacity to connect, and then to communicate.”
At the start of this season Brooks-Lynch put together a development action plan that would force him to upgrade this aspect of his coaching.
Listening to the audio version of Chris Voss’ book "Never Split The Difference" and another title called "Driven Benevolence: Leadership Lessons from Serial Winning Coaches", he cites two examples that have already helped him improve.
“It’s important for coaches to be tactically empathetic, as we are communicating with players to solve any problems they might have, as well seeking to get the outcomes we need,” he says.
“I also love listening to how serial winners build positive cultures, how they are driven to demand more while being benevolent, understanding and loving to their players, too. Some of that content is really powerful. I recommend it.”
Before we wrap things up, we touch on what the future might hold for a coach that has seen his progress accelerate quite dramatically across the last three years.
What happens next?
“Being in this position means I’m accountable, and I do love that responsibility. I also have a passion for connecting with players, and hopefully these aspects of my work are only just beginning.
“I don’t have a firm plan in place. The truth is, I just want to keep on getting better at what I do.
“That’s been my motto since this journey began, and I am not changing it now.”
