DePauw University

Bill Lynch, a head football coach at three different NCAA levels and a collegiate coach for 33 years, returned to DePauw in 2013 to lead the Tigers' program.

Prior to returning to DePauw, Lynch, a 1977 Butler graduate, served as the associate athletic director for development at his alma mater since March 2011. In that role he was responsible for athletics annual giving through the Bulldog Club and served as a major gift officer for athletics. He also was the sport administrator for the football program.

Lynch led the Tigers to three straight 8-2 seasons from 2015 through 2017 after posting a 7-3 finish in 2014. In his eight seasons as DePauw head coach, including a one-year stint in 2004, the Tigers are 53-17. 

In 2004, Lynch was named the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in first season in Greencastle and was the first football coach in SCAC history to earn the distinction in his initial season. He succeeded Nick Mourouzis who served as head coach the previous 23 seasons.

The 2004 Tigers ranked 16th in NCAA Division III rushing offense after averaging 254.6 rushing yards per game. DePauw’s 2,546 rushing yards was just two yards shy of the school record and the Tigers’ averages of 5.0 yards per rushing play and 5.8 yards per offensive play still rank second in program history. Additionally, under Lynch's tutelage, seven DePauw players earned all-SCAC first team honors and wide receiver JaMarcus Shephard was one of only two Division III players invited to the 2005 Hula Bowl Maui All-Star Classic.

In January 2005, Lynch was named the associate head coach and offensive coordinator at Indiana University where he joined longtime friend and head coach Terry Hoeppner. Under Lynch’s leadership, Indiana quarterback Kellen Lewis posted one of the best freshman campaigns in program history, ranking 21st in the nation in total offense and third among freshmen with 242.0 yards per game. As a team, the Hoosiers scored their most points (277) since 2001, averaging 335.9 yards and 222.1 passing yards per game.

The interim head coach for two games during the 2006 season, Lynch was named the head coach in June 2007 just days before coach Hoeppner passed away after battling cancer. Lynch directed Indiana to a 7-6 record in 2007 and a berth to the Insight Bowl. The only head coach in Indiana history to guide his team to a bowl game in his first season, Lynch was just the fourth coach in the program’s history to lead a team to a postseason game. Furthermore, the seven victories in his debut season were the second most for a first-year Hoosiers head coach.

In his four seasons in Bloomington, Lynch added a pair of “I’s”  to the Old Oaken Bucket chain, defeating Purdue in 2007 and 2010.

Lynch mentored three all-Americans, one Academic All-America® selection, seven first team all-Big Ten selections, 74 academic all-Big Ten honorees and a Big Ten Medal of Honor recipient. Additionally, the Hoosiers produced two Ted Hendricks Award finalists as well as finalists for the Lou Groza Award, the Biletnikoff Award and the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award.

A four-year letter winner in both football and basketball and captain of each at Butler, Lynch earned Associated Press Little All-America honors at quarterback in 1974, 1975 and 1976 and was the first Butler student-athlete to twice earn the Indiana Collegiate Conference’s prestigious Tony Hinkle Award presented for both outstanding scholastic and athletic achievement.

Lynch earned  and was the Indiana Collegiate Conference Player of the Year and ICC Back of the Year all three seasons. A captain as a senior, he still holds the school record with 60 career touchdown passes and ranks third with 5,909 career passing yards. He also led the basketball team in assists in 1975-76.

After graduation, Lynch spent seven seasons as a Bulldogs assistant coach, including stints as the quarterbacks and wide receivers coach, recruiting coordinator and offensive coordinator.

He moved on to Northern Illinois University as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator in 1984, and was the quarterbacks coach of the United States Football League's Orlando Renegades in 1984.

Lynch then returned to Butler in 1985 when he was named the Bulldogs' head coach. While at the then NCAA Division II program, his teams compiled a 36-12-3 record including Heartland Collegiate Conference championships in 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1989.

He was named the conference's coach of the year in 1985, 1987 and 1988 and the American Football Coaches Association Region 3 Coach of the Year in 1985 and 1988. Lynch directed the Bulldogs to the Division II postseason in 1988 and into the top 20 rankings four times.

Lynch then moved on to Ball State University where he served as assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterback coach for the Cardinals from 1990 through 1992. He served as quarterback coach for Indiana University in 1993 and 1994 and the Hoosiers played in the 1993 Independence Bowl while compiling a 15-8 record in those two seasons.

In 1995, Lynch returned to Ball State as head coach and began an eight-year stint that included a Mid-American Conference championship in 1996 and an appearance in the Las Vegas Bowl. He also directed the Cardinals to the MAC West Division co-championship in 2001. His teams were recognized by the AFCA for outstanding graduation rates in 2000, 2001 and 2002.

In September of 2003 he was named the associate athletic director for community relations at Ball State and served as a liaison with University Development and the Cardinal Varsity Club among several duties.

Lynch was inducted into the Butler Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000 and joined Mourouzis in the class of 2004 for induction into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame.

Lynch and his wife, Linda, are the parents of daughter Kelly and sons Billy, Joey and Kevin.