Mendel makes history at Newfield

I’ve always loved the grind that comes with being an athlete, had a love for the game of basketball and always felt like I had a good ability to connect with people.”

—Andrew Mendel

Lakeland 2023 graduate Andrew Mendel will enter his senior season at Ithaca College this fall as a 6-foot-2, 220-pound defensive lineman for a Bombers football team that finished 8-2 overall and placed second in the Liberty League in 2025.

For most people, balancing college academics and a collegiate football career would be enough. Not for Mendel. At 20, he also became the youngest varsity boys basketball head coach in New York state history while leading Newfield High School this winter.

“I always wanted to be a coach,” said Mendel, who served as a captain of Lakeland’s football and boys basketball teams. “I’ve always loved the grind that comes with being an athlete, had a love for the game of basketball and always felt like I had a good ability to connect with people.”

Playing sports has allowed Mendel to be surrounded by people he called incredible individuals.

“I’ve been lucky to have great coaches, mentors, teammates and an unbelievable support system around me throughout my athletic career,” Mendel said. “They helped me through the adversity that comes with sports and honestly, that adversity is part of what makes sports so meaningful to me, because nobody’s journey is perfect.”

Mendel said his goal is to one day become a Division I head coach.

“I’ve always kind of been an underdog,” Mendel said. “I’m a 20 year old college football player coaching varsity basketball, which doesn’t really fit the typical coaching narrative, but honestly, I love it that way.”

He added that he thinks he wants to “take over a program that shares those same values: tough, gritty, underdog mentality, a group that’s willing to put their head down and work every single day while everybody else doubts them.”

He said that “there’s something really motivating about building something with people who have been told they can’t do it and proving otherwise together.”

At first, Mendel said his age was one of his biggest challenges in earning full buy-in from his players.

“I wanted to bring a certain culture and energy to the program, but none of that matters if the players don’t believe in it too,” Mendel said. “Being 20 years old, I knew that was something I had to earn every single day. I think the biggest way I overcame it was by building real relationships and creating an environment people genuinely wanted to be a part of.”

One of the Newfield players who has bought into Mendel’s coaching is freshman guard Tanner Ray, who sees the positives in having a coach who is not much older than he is.

“I see coach Mendel as a coach and a friend, he’s more than a coach though, he always reaches out to us players and asks if we need anything  and is always there for us,” Ray said. “Even though he’s in college he’s always opening up the gym and a lot of us boys play other sports and he is always there supporting us and gives us his 110 percent effort.”

Mendel is looking forward to coaching Newfield again next season. The team went 10-9 overall this winter and finished 5-3 in league play, placing second.

“I’m really excited about this upcoming group,” Mendel said. “Since the season ended and offseason work started, it’s honestly just made me more excited every single day. The truth is, I genuinely hate sleeping because I can’t wait to wake up the next day and do it all over again. I would be in the gym with this group all day if I could.”

Ray is also looking forward to next season.

“I’m really excited to play for [Mendel] next year,” Ray said. “The first year was us learning how he coaches because it’s different then what we are used to and we have adapted to that and it was a very fun season last year. We had a successful season and there only more to come.”

Football-wise, there is also plenty of excitement for Mendel, as Ithaca will play Cortland in the Cortaca Jug game on Saturday, Nov. 14 at Yankee Stadium. The last time the rivals met there in 2022, the game drew more than 40,000 fans, the second-largest crowd in Division III history.

“It’s the opportunity of a lifetime, there’s not many D3 players that get to play in that big of a venue,” Mendel said. “We have a great group of guys and great culture. I love all my football teammates. They also show up to all my Newfield games. I would run through a wall for those guys.”