Richard O. Flynn (born July 17, 1943) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player and coach. He served as the head football coach at

Central Michigan University Central Michigan University (CMU) is a public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Established in 1892 as the Central Michigan Normal School and Business Institute, the private normal school became a state institution and renamed Cen ...

from 1994 to 1999, compiling a record of 30–37.

Career

Flynn played football at

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

from 1962 to 1964. At the end of his senior year he won the Ross Trophy, given annually to the best scholar-athlete. Following his graduation from Michigan State he served as an assistant coach at Lansing Eastern High School from 1965–1966 before serving four years in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

as a lieutenant. He returned to Eastern High School in 1971 as head football coach, a position he would occupy until 1977. Central Michigan promoted

Herb Deromedi Herb Deromedi (born May 26, 1939) is a retired American football coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Central Michigan University from 1978 to 1993, compiling a record of 110–55–10. His 110 wins re ...

, its

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

, to become head football coach in 1978 on the unexpected departure of

Roy Kramer Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin. In Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' (modern ''roi''), likewise gave rise t ...

. Deromedi brought in Flynn as one of several defensive assistants, with responsibility for linebackers. Also on staff was future Notre Dame head coach

Tyrone Willingham Lionel Tyrone Willingham (born December 30, 1953) is a former American football player and coach. He was the head coach at Stanford University (1995–2001), the University of Notre Dame (2002–2004), and the University of Washington (2005–2 ...

(secondary). Flynn was ''de facto'' coordinator during the 1978 season, and was formally given the title in 1979. Flynn succeeded Deromedi as head coach after the 1993 season when the latter became athletic director. Flynn had been assistant head coach, in addition to defensive coordinator, from 1992–1993. After his resignation as Central Michigan's head coach toward the end of the 1999 season, Flynn served as an assistant coach at

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

(2000–2001),

Akron Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...

(2002–2003), and

Eastern Michigan Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

(2004–2005).

Head coaching record

College

References

1943 births Living people American football ends American football tackles Akron Zips football coaches Central Michigan Chippewas football coaches Eastern Michigan Eagles football coaches Indiana Hoosiers football coaches Michigan State Spartans football players High school football coaches in Michigan United States Air Force officers People from Mount Pleasant, Michigan Military personnel from Michigan {{1990s-collegefootball-coach-stub