Following a first down in Friday’s spring football practice, a single voice yelling, “Yeah!” broke the otherwise quiet atmosphere.
It wasn’t a player’s voice; it was first-year offensive coordinator Joey Lynch. His exuberant personality is new to the offense, and players are responding well.
Former offensive coordinator Rich Skrosky was older and more reserved on the field than Lynch.
“I do get excited, so you’ll see me jumping around more than he did,” Lynch said. “I’m a little bit younger than him.”
Lynch is just 30, compared to Skrosky at age 49.
Skrosky, who was named head coach of Elon University in December, led a record-breaking Ball State offense last season.
Ball State led the Mid-American Conference in average passing yardage per game with 324 yards. It was second in the MAC with 38.5 points per game.
Lynch was officially named offensive coordinator in January, before the team played in the GoDaddy Bowl. Prior to being named offensive coordinator, Lynch was the tight ends’ coach for Ball State, so he is familiar with the offense.
Running back Jahwan Edwards is accustomed with Lynch, too. Edwards looks forward to potentially catching more from the backfield next season, an idea he had only jokingly presented to Lynch.
“I used to say, ‘What’s up coach? Let me play some tight end,’” Edwards said. “If I needed anything I could call him. He could also come to me.”
Lynch, a former Ball State quarterback, now gets four new quarterbacks to mentor in his young coaching career.
The four quarterbacks, Kyle Kamman, Ozzie Mann, Jack Milas and David Morrison, have a combined 10 pass attempts between them.
“We’re all starting over,” Lynch said. “You come in and a kid has been starting for two or three years, you might change verbiage or techniques or something — you don’t want to screw him up.”
Lynch said he doesn’t want to change a lot with the team. He’s been in the same offensive system for three seasons now.
“I wouldn’t say a lot has been different,” Edwards said of the switch. “We’re using the same concepts and the same schemes. It’s just a different style of coaching.”
With a four-person question mark at quarterback this season, Edwards looks to be the focal point of the offense.
He rushed for 1,110 yards and 14 touchdowns last season. Edwards also broke the Ball State record for most rushing touchdowns in a career with 39. He is within 700 yards of the career yardage record of 4,002.
Lynch doesn’t see the core concepts of the offense changing, despite the major changes to the makeup of the team. Ball State’s starting quarterback, tight end and three of the top four wide receivers all left after the season ended.
“I like how we communicate and how we talk as an offense,” Lynch said. “Your personnel might be a little different, so you might look a little different. … Whether you’re a passing team or a running team, that’s all dependent on personnel.”
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| Joey Lynch coaches during a spring practice Friday. Lynch was hired as the offensive coordinator in December. DN PHOTO BREANA DAUGHERTY |
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