Former Notre Dame captain Jim Lynch dies at age 76
Former Notre Dame linebacker and College Football Hall of Fame inductee Jim Lynch has died, the team announced Thursday. He was 76.
Lynch was the captain of the Irish’s 1966 national championship team. That season, he was named a unanimous All-American and won the Maxwell Award, which is given to the top player in college football regardless of position. He made a team-high 106 tackles in 1966, helping Notre Dame go 9-0-1. The Irish were ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 for six straight weeks to close the regular season.
Lynch played for Notre Dame from 1963-66. He spent his first season on the sideline, not allowed to see the field per NCAA rules prohibiting freshmen from playing on the varsity team. The Irish went 2-7 under interim head coach Hugh Devore. They hired Ara Parseghian ahead of the 1964 season. Notre Dame went 9-1, with Lynch as one of its starting linebackers until his season ended after six games due to injury.
Before the 1964 season, Lynch joined a volunteer student group that spent the summer in Peru working with natives.
As a junior, Lynch led Notre Dame in tackles (108) and helped the Irish go 7-2-1. He was the team’s sole captain as a senior and won the Scholar-Athlete Award from the National Football Foundation. He was also recognized as an Academic All-American.
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“I am often asked who was the best player to coach and Jim Lynch always comes to mind,” Parseghian once said.
“He was All-America in every sense — talented, hard-nosed and honest.”
Parseghian also recruited Lynch as the head coach at Northwestern. Lynch chose the Irish, though, over the Wildcats and Navy.
The Kansas City Chiefs selected Lynch in the second round (No. 47 overall) of the 1967 NFL Draft. He spent his entire 11-year pro career with them and was a starter on the 1969 team that won the Super Bowl. He made four tackles in that game. He was a two-time second-team All-AFL selection and an AFL All-Star in 1968. He ended his NFL career with 17 interceptions and 14 fumble recoveries.
Lynch was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1992. He is also enshrined in the Chiefs Hall of Fame.
Lynch attended Central Catholic High School in his hometown of Lima, Ohio before coming to Notre Dame. He is survived by his wife, Georgia, daughters Megan and Kara, son Jake and nine grandchildren.
