After serving as an admissions counselor, assistant track and field coach, head golf coach and assistant athletic director for Oklahoma Christian University, on Nov. 18, David Lynn added a new title to his list of achievements: Oklahoma Christian’s seventh athletic director.
Lynn has been involved in Oklahoma Christian athletics for 25 years, and has served as the university’s interim athletic director since August, when Curtis Janz left to become the athletic director at Arkansas-Fort Smith University.
In his welcome address as the new athletic director, Lynn said he wants to welcome everyone to a new era of Oklahoma Christian athletics.
“I applied for this job because I have a passion for working with the student-athletes, coaches and staff at Oklahoma Christian,” Lynn said in an interview with the Sports Information Office. “Helping young men and women develop their talents academically, socially, athletically and spiritually is a dream job and one that I take great pride in doing. I want OC athletics to be as successful as possible on the field, in the classroom and in the community.”
Lynn first arrived at Oklahoma Christian in 1991 to join the Eagles’ track and field team. After graduating in 1995, Lynn served as both an admissions counselor and the assistant track and field coach before becoming the assistant men’s golf coach in 1998.
In 1999 Lynn became the men’s golf head coach and later the director of golf over both the men and women’s programs in 2011. He has also served as an assistant athletic director since 2010. As he makes the transition to athletic director, Lynn plans to continue to serve as the men’s golf coach.
“When I first heard he was named as interim AD, then later as a candidate for the full-time position, I was concerned that we were going to lose him as our golf coach because I thought there was no way the administration would allow him to do both jobs,” sophomore golfer Casey Rebbman said. “But through the process, Coach Lynn assured us that being able to still coach the men’s golf team was a top priority if he were to take the athletic director position full-time.”
Lynn, a two-time national coach of the year, led the Eagles to their second NAIA national championship and was inducted into the Oklahoma Christian Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014. In 2011, he was named the Golf Coaches Association of America’s NAIA Dave Williams National Coach of the Year and earned coach of the year honors in 2012 after the men’s golf team won the National Christian College Athletic Association national title.
“Anytime you have a change at a position, I think the person coming in brings new ideas,” Head Baseball Coach Lonny Cobble said. “I think Coach Lynn will keep moving our athletic program in a positive direction. His experiences and connections at OC will make him a very successful AD. He works hard and has the best interests of OC in mind.”
In 2016 the men’s golf team finished second in the West-South Central Super Regional and earned a bid to the NCAA Division II Championship, with Lynn being named both the South Central Region and Heartland Conference Coach of the Year. Lynn has also been named the Sooner Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2012 and was named the Heartland Conference Coach of the Year in 2013, during Oklahoma Christian’s first season in the NCAA conference.
“I hope to see Coach Lynn take our athletic reputation to the next level,” Rebbman said. “I realize we are still getting our feet wet at the NCAA Division II level, but we have already proven in spades that our athletic department and our student-athletes are top-notch, both in academics and with what our student-athletes contribute to our community. Seeing Coach Lynn help us continue to be on the rise in terms of our performance on the field and eventually to make us a national powerhouse in all sports at the DII level would be very special for everyone.”
Lynn has also served as the men’s coach for the U.S. team in the World University Games in South Africa in 2008 and co-coached during the 2012 Games in the Czech Republic. The Oklahoma Christian alumnus was the president of the NAIA Men’s Golf Coaches Association from 2007-2008, he served as the GCAA’s National Advisory Board as the NAIA’s representative from 2004-2008 and 2010-2012 and was the chairman of the GCAA’s NAIA All-American Committee from 2004-2007. He also served as a rater for the SAC and NAIA Region 6 from 2003-2005.
“Coach Lynn has dealt with people in coaching and has sold his program and been very successful in that area,” Cobble said. “As an AD, you sell your school and yourself. Coach Lynn is a people person with great people skills. This will make him a great AD.”
Rebbman said Lynn’s ability to interact with others will serve him well as he transitions into the role of athletic director.
“He will do everything,” Rebbman said. “He has a way of bringing out the best in his players and making them believe in what they have to offer to our program. If he can have that same effect on our athletic program, then you can expect big things out of Oklahoma Christian’s athletic department over the next few years.”
Statistics provided by the Oklahoma Christian University Sports Information office.
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