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Jordan Lynch (for Six!) is back on the sidelines for Northern Illinois.
Northern Illinois officially hired Lynch as running backs coach on Wednesday afternoon, according to the athletic department’s Twitter account.
Four years ago, Lynch tore apart MAC defenses with the read option on a weekly basis as a quarterback. He will once again return to the gridiron in DeKalb, but this time he’ll be coaching the younger generation of Huskies.
Lynch spent the past two seasons as a run-first quarterback with the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League. He only attempted nine career passes in the CFL, one good for a touchdown. Lynch additionally ran 53 times for 228 yards and five scores. In his rookie season in the league, he scored the game-winning touchdown to win the Grey Cup with Edmonton. With the move to the NIU coaching staff, Lynch is likely retired from professional football.
Although listed as a quarterback in college and the CFL, Lynch is familiar with the running back position. As a member of the Chicago Bears preseason squad in 2014, Lynch registered 42 yards on 13 carries.
But the option quarterback will best be remembered for his contributions in Red and Black.
The former Huskie vaulted NIU to national prominence and the BCS standings in 2012, participating in the 2013 Orange Bowl after a 12-1 start and MAC title. Lynch reasserted his dominance in 2013 with another 12-2 finish, leading all quarterbacks in rushing yards (second of all FBS players) with 1,920.
The Huskies’ road to a second-straight BCS bowl was cut short in the MAC Championship by Bowing Green, but Lynch’s efforts did not go unnoticed.
Lynch earned a trip to New York for the Heisman Trophy ceremony, finishing third behind quarterbacks Jameis Winston and A.J. McCarron, garnering 40 first-place votes and 558 points overall.
Lynch finished his collegiate career with 4,343 rushing yards — third among quarterbacks in college football history. Now, he faces the opportunity to expand upon his contributions to the university he once brought to the summit of the conference.