Anthony Lynn

A native of Celina, Texas, Anthony Lynn was an All-Southwest Conference running back as a collegian at Texas Tech University, where he rushed for 1,911 yards and 17 touchdowns on 481 carries. That helped him earn a ticket to the NFL where he signed with the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent in 1992. Lynn signed with the Denver Broncos in 1993 and appeared in 13 games. In 1994, he suffered a broken leg and spent the year on injured reserve. In 1995, he moved on to the Bay Area, spending two seasons with the San Francisco 49ers (1995-96) before concluding his career in Denver with the Broncos (1997-99). In Denver, he won back-to-back Super Bowl championships (XXXII and XXXIII). Lynn hung up his cleats after the 1999 season, having played in 83 career games.

Lynn is currently an assistant head coach and running backs coach for the San Francisco 49ers of the NFL. He formerly served as head football coach of the Los Angeles Chargers and spent two seasons (2015-16) as assistant head coach with the Buffalo Bills, including the final game of the 2016 season as the team’s interim head coach. During his time with the Chargers, Lynn was struck by a drunk driver while he was crossing the street. He suffered two collapsed lungs, three broken ribs, and temporary paralysis. Miraculously, he walked out of the hospital 2 weeks later.

Lynn jumped right into the coaching ranks in 2000, spending three seasons (2000-02) with the Broncos as an offensive assistant and assistant to special teams. In 2003, he landed his first full-time position gig as the running backs coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars (2003-04). That was followed by similar positions with the Dallas Cowboys (2005-06), Cleveland Browns (2007-08), New York Jets (2009-14), and the Bills (2015-16). Lynn carried the title of assistant head coach in New York in 2014 and with the Bills for his two seasons there.

Lynn spent two seasons (2015-16) with the Bills, including the final game of the 2016 season as the team’s interim head coach. Buffalo led the NFL in both of Lynn’s seasons with the Bills in both rushing yards (2,630 in 2016 and 2,432 in 2015) and rushing touchdowns (29 in 2016 and 19, tie in 2015). In Los Angeles, Lynn will take over a team with a workhorse running back in Melvin Gordon, who broke out with 997 yards on the ground, 1,416 yards from scrimmage, and 12 total touchdowns in 2016. The Bills also led the league in average yards per carry (5.3 in 2016 and 4.8, tie in 2015) in each of his two seasons in Upstate New York. More impressively over his two coaching stops in New York and Buffalo, his teams combined to rush for 18,218 yards during that span (2009-16), the most combined yards in the NFL over that time period.

Lynn is married to Stacey Bell Lynn. He has two children, a son, D’Anton, and a daughter, Danielle. Stacey is a news anchor at WNBC in New York City. D’Anton played football collegiately at Penn State and professionally with the New York Jets and the Canadian Football League’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Danielle studied at the University of Oklahoma and is currently in graduate school at the University of North Texas.