Mike Pryor will lean on experience he picked up as an assistant in four college soccer programs when he leads the Pittston Area boys team for the first time next fall.
The Pittston Area school board approved the hiring of Pryor at its Tuesday meeting. Pryor replaces Sean Curry.
Pryor, who got started in the sport playing in Pittston in the Stoners youth program, has coached on the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II level at West Chester University and Catawba College in North Carolina as well as on the local NCAA Division III level at Wilkes University and King’s College.
“I’ve had a lot of experience through being under a lot of awesome mentors I’ve had in the college game,” said Pryor, who spent the last three seasons as an assistant at King’s. “Mike Benn at West Chester, Phil Wingert at Wilkes, John Velasco and Connor Keenan at King’s – I’ve had a lot of experience being in the weeds as an assistant.
“I guess I could say the itch was kind of there to take all that experience I’ve had and be able to mold it into my own and have the opportunity to be a head coach and lead a program. … I’m excited about it, for sure.”
Pryor played at two Wyoming Valley Conference high schools that have since closed. He spent two years at Pittston Seton Catholic, now a part of Holy Redeemer in Wilkes-Barre, and two at Coughlin, which has been merged into Wilkes-Barre Area.
Pryor went on to play four seasons at West Chester, which won 45 times in his 77-game career. He was a two-time all-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference choice and earned All-Atlantic Region honors as a sophomore.
His coaching career started as a graduate assistant under Wingert at Wilkes. While building his college coaching career, Pryor became active as a coach and trainer on the youth travel circuit. He has led club programs and coached in the Olympic Development Program.
West Chester made the Division II national championship game in 2018 when Pryor was an assistant. He went from there to Catawba, but during COVID decided to return to northeastern Pennsylvania with his family.
While training some players who were on the Pittston Area team and recruiting players for King’s, Pryor has seen the Patriots play in recent seasons. Pittston Area was 13-6-1 and reached the District 2 Class 3A semifinals in 2023.
“I had an opportunity to see the progress that had been made under coach Curry,” Pryor said. “I definitely see a lot of potential in the group as they move forward.”
Pryor said his players will be invested in any changes he makes in the program.
“I’m still kind of getting my feet under me with everything in transitioning into the role,” he said. “What I will say is there is a lot of community involvement and commitment to the sport. From my understanding, coach Curry and coach (Elena) Falcone, the girls coach there now, have really done a great job with that.
“I would like to continue investing into the community and soccer as a whole. … Let them understand that it’s bigger than themselves; there’s people that have come before them that we have to honor and people that will come after them that it’s our duty to inspire them.
“In terms of how we train and how we play and different things like that, that will come as I build relationships with the players and really understand where we’re at and what they see as the standards of the program. I’ve learned that the team and the players need to take ownership over the agreeable standards.”
An IT consultant, Pryor has a bachelor’s degree from West Chester and a master’s from Wilkes in marketing and entrepreneurship.
