The Washington Commanders are set to interview San Francisco 49ers assistant head coach/running backs coach Anthony Lynn for their offensive coordinator position. The interview will take place in California.
Lynn, who has been an NFL coach since his time with the Denver Broncos in 2000, is in his first season with the 49ers after serving as the Detroit Lions' offensive coordinator in 2021. Lynn has coached for six other teams in his career, including three seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers as their head coach.
Lynn has also coached with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Dallas Cowboys, Cleveland Browns, New York Jets and Buffalo Bills. He has been a running backs coach seven times in his career; an assistant head coach three times; and an offensive coordinator twice.
Lynn also played for the New York Giants, Denver Broncos and 49ers in the 1990s and was on the Broncos' Super Bowl teams in 1997 and 1998.
Lynn has a long history of helping running backs post successful seasons. In his first year working with veteran Fred Taylor, the back put up 1,572 yards, which was fifth among all running backs, and six touchdowns. The next season, he put up 1,224 yards while averaging 87.4 yards per game.
During his two seasons with the Cowboys, Dallas was in the top of the league in rushing yards with help from the duo of Julius Jones and Marion Barber. The two combined for 3,269 yards and 28 touchdowns, including a 1,084-yard showing from Jones and a 14-touchdown season from Barber in 2006.
Lynn then moved on to the Browns, where he worked with nine-year veteran Jamal Lewis and current Commanders team president Jason Wright. Lewis recorded his sixth and seventh 1,000-yard season with Lynn and averaged four yards per carry during that time.
After that, Lynn stayed in the AFC and moved to the New York Jets, where he spent six seasons. During that time working with Rex Ryan, the Jets had multiple successful seasons running the ball under Lynn's watch with five top 10 finishes and a league-leading 172.3 yards per game in 2009.
Running backs like Thomas Jones and Shonn Greene had their best statistical seasons playing for Lynn. Jones put up career highs in rushing yards (1,402) and touchdowns (14) in 2009, and Greene had the only 1,000-yard seasons of his career in 2011 (1,054) and 2012 (1.063).
In 2015 and 2016 with the Bills, Lynn helped the Buffalo offense lead the league in rushing yards during both seasons. He worked with LeSean McCoy and helped the veteran get back-to-back Pro Bowls with at least 1,100 scrimmage yards in that span. Once Lynn became the Bills' offensive coordinator in 2016, Buffalo finished the season with the 10th scoring offense. He also served as the team's interim head coach once Ryan was relieved of his duties.
As the head coach for the Chargers, Lynn led his team to a 33-31 record during his tenure and had two winning seasons, including a 12-4 finish in 2018. Lynn had three top 10 offenses in his four seasons as a head coach, with the one exception coming in 2018, when the Chargers finished 11th in yards.
After his tenure with the Chargers, Lynn was hired as the offensive coordinator for the Lions and helped D'Andre Swift and Jamaal Williams combined for 1,218 rushing yards and eight touchdowns. Lynn also worked with Amon-Ra St. Brown, who began his NFL career with 912 receiving yards.
During this past season with the 49ers, San Francisco is on the way to the NFC Championship and is fueled by a rushing attack that finished the regular season eighth in rushing yard average. Despite being traded with the team around the halfway point of the season, Christian McCaffrey has rushed for 746 yards and caught 52 passes for 464 yards with 10 touchdowns in that span.
