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Coach Lynn Leads the Greyhounds Back to Victory
By Adam Pitterman
When former All-Lone Star Conference tight end Josh Lynn (BS 03) returned to ENMU in December 2011, there were high hopes. He served as an assistant coach at ENMU for four seasons after leading the Greyhounds to back-to-back LSC South Division titles in 1999 and 2000 as a player. Now everything has come full circle.
Coach Lynn served as a safeties coach at Delta State University after graduation. During his two seasons with the DSU Statesmen, the team posted a 15-6 record with a 13-5 mark in the conference. After leaving DSU, Coach Lynn wasted little time establishing himself at nearby New Mexico Military Institute, coaching the secondary and special teams before becoming the defensive coordinator. After taking the reigns as head coach, he quickly turned around a program, which posted a 3-8 mark in 2010, by winning nine games. NMMI finished ranked sixth in the nation and made a trip to the CHAMPS Heart of Texas Bowl.
When Coach Lynn was approached to return to the Greyhound sidelines, the squad had just completed its eighth consecutive losing season. That streak came after a span of seven straight winning seasons from 19982004, which included the two division championships in which he played.
A shot of excitement rang through the halls of Greyhound Arena on December 12, 2011, when he was named as the 15th coach of the program. “We are very pleased that Josh Lynn has accepted our invitation to be the new football coach at ENMU,” said ENMU president Steven Gamble. “It is especially gratifying when an ENMU graduate wants to return to their alma mater. Coach Lynn has a tradition of success at every level he has been at—from being a player to assistant coach to head coach. He epitomizes the kind of person we want representing our university: a competitive coach who wants to win but will not take academic shortcuts.”
Coach Lynn quickly assembled one of the top coaching staffs in the nation that includes some fellow ENMU alumni: Kelley Lee (MS 03) as offensive coordinator; Oliver Soukup as defensive coordinator; Scott Lewis (MS 13) as secondary coach; Andrew McCraw (BSE 09) as offensive line coach; Travis Lee as running backs coach; Levi Gallas as secondary coach; David Tulikihihifo (BS 13) as defensive line coach; and Chris Springer as wide receivers coach.
His recruiting plan was to emphasize the basics. He chose to have his team leave the fast-paced no-huddle offense strategy and return to the option attack that the Greyhound program experienced its greatest successes under. The Hounds managed to win three games in his first season, which included a victory over soon-to-be NCAA Division I University of the Incarnate Word at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys.
This year, Coach Lynn guided the Greyhounds to their first winning season since 2004 and brought home the Wagon Wheel from West Texas A&M for the first time in nine years. It didn’t come easy, though. Eastern started the year with a 1-3 record. At Angelo State they faced a 28-0 deficit, but with a late two-point conversion, followed by a blocked field goal, Eastern had a dramatic 29-28 win. From that point on, the Hounds would not lose again. Even a 21-point second half deficit at West Texas A&M wasn’t enough to hold Eastern down. After three touchdowns, followed by a go-ahead two-point conversion, with 51 seconds left, the Buffaloes missed a 67-yard field goal as time expired, to leave ENMU to lift the Wagon Wheel overhead after the 39-38 victory.
Next, Eastern hosted Midwestern State, with the winner having the opportunity to clinch a share of the LSC Championship the following week. The Hounds had not defeated Midwestern State since 2001, but charged their way to a 40-21 win. In the season finale, Eastern held true to form, using their stifling second-half defense to earn the win at Texas A&M-Commerce to clinch a share of the conference title. The second-half surges were very notable, as ENMU outscored the opposition over the course of the season by a 186-74 point margin.
Coach Lynn was chosen as LSC and Region 4 Coach of the year and was a finalist for Liberty Mutual National Coach of the Year.
“It’s an exciting time for Greyhound Football,” said Coach Lynn. “The success of Greyhound football came from the hard work of our players. We look to continue to build from the success we had this season, and most importantly we can’t get complacent. Our plan for next year is to aggressively recruit good players and concentrate on getting our current players better in the classroom and bigger, faster, stronger over the offseason.”
