BUTLER TWP — Still in college and inheriting the reins of a defending WPIAL champion isn’t a bad gig.

Brandon Hoskinson has done exactly that, being approved as Butler High School’s boys lacrosse coach at last Monday’s school board meeting.

Hoskinson, 23, is in his final year as a sports management and legal studies major at Robert Morris University. He succeeds Ed Swierczyk, who resigned for personal reasons, as Golden Tornado head coach.

Butler is coming off an 18-2 season last spring that culminated with the WPIAL Division 2 championship.

“Taking over now puts me in a tough spot, but I’m always up for a challenge,” Hoskinson said. “The main goal is always to win and we’ll be preparing this program to succeed at a higher level at the same time.”

In terms of student participation, Butler’s lacrosse numbers have tripled over the past five years. The team will compete at the Division 2 level for the next two years before joining Division 1.

“Our ultimate goal is to win a Division 1 championship,” said Richard Kotch, president of the Butler Boys Lacrosse Boosters. “That’s why it was important we hire a young, energetic and enthusiastic coach to keep the program moving in the right direction.

“Brandon has the combination of knowledge and enthusiasm to keep us growing in this sport.”

Hoskinson is a 2006 North Allegheny graduate who was coached by John Rullan throughout his lacrosse playing career there. He served as an assistant coach with Rullan the past two years.

“I’ve done some work with the youth lacrosse program at NA as well,” Hoskinson said. “John Rullan was my coach since I was 11. He’s one of the best lacrosse coaches in this area.”

Rullan won section titles at NA in 2006, 2007 and 2009.

Hoskinson played midfield during most of his high school career.

“I was a mucker and a grinder,” he said. “We had a lot of other offensive talent on the field to take care of the goal scoring.

“Eventually, I realized that I wanted to coach the game more than play it. The past three years, I’ve been preparing to make that transition.”

Hoskinson played lacrosse for a year at Slippery Rock University. He transferred to Robert Morris and has not played since.

Now he believes he’s in the ideal situation.

“My job during the day is going to school. My release at night will be coaching this lacrosse team. It’s a win-win situation for me,” he said.

His three assistants — fellow NA graduates Blaine Simmer, Ian Cully and Glenn Stancione — are likelong friends of Hoskinson.

“Glenn, Blaine and I lived 10 houses apart when I was five years old,” Hoskinson said. “We were all teammates. I learned from one of the best and so did they.”

Hoskinson added that sportsmanship and an aggressive attack will be “the two most important things to me initially.

“We want to be one of the best programs in Western Pennsylvania,” he said. “We need to keep growing and improving over the next couple of years if we’re going to play with the big boys.”