More than a decade after his playing career ended, Jordan Lynch is still making NIU history.

Lynch was introduced as a member of the 2026 NFF College Football Hall of Fame Class by the National Football Foundation on Wednesday, the second NIU player to earn the sport’s highest recognition.

“It’s a surreal feeling,” said Lynch, who is the head coach at Mount Carmel and led the team to a Class 8A title at Huskie Stadium in December. “To know that of all the players in the history of college football, just over 1,000 have been selected to the NFF College Football Hall of Fame, and to be just the second NIU player named, it’s obviously a great honor.

“To have all the hard work, sacrifice and dedication, the time, the commitment, by not just me but my parents, family, loved ones, teammates, coaches and everyone at NIU recognized is awesome,” Lynch continued in a statement.

Lynch led NIU to a 24-4 record as a starter from 2012-13, including a Mid-American Conference Championship and a historic appearance in the Orange Bowl to cap his junior season in 2012. An NIU and MAC Hall of Fame inductee in 2024, Lynch guided the Huskies to an undefeated regular season in 2013, including wins over Iowa and Purdue.

In his senior season, Lynch threw for 2,892 yards with 24 passing touchdowns and added 1,920 rushing yards with 23 touchdowns to earn a trip to New York City as a Heisman Trophy finalist. He finished in third place, the highest finish by a player from the MAC. Lynch was a finalist for the Walter Camp Player of the Year, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and Manning Quarterback Award.

Lynch’s 1,920 rushing yards in 2013 set an NCAA quarterback rushing record, breaking the mark he had set the previous season when he finished with 1,815 yards. His 321 rushing yards versus Western Michigan set the NCAA record for most rushing yards in a game by an FBS quarterback – once again breaking the record he had set a month prior when he ran for 316 yards against Central Michigan. In total, Lynch set five NCAA records and 25 school records during his time at NIU.

“Jordan Lynch was, simply put, the best player I have ever coached,” said former NIU head coach Rod Carey, NIU offensive coordinator in 2012 and head coach from 2012 until 2018. “When other coaches find out I called plays for him and then became his head coach I often get this: ‘He was a fullback playing quarterback.’ They mean it as a compliment, but I always say back to them ‘He was a quarterback I asked to play fullback at times. Have you ever coached a quarterback willing to do that?’ That is the trait that separates Jordan in my view.”

In 2013 Lynch was named a first-team All-American as an all-purpose player by the Associated Press and won the MAC’s Vern Smith Leadership Award, presented to the league MVP, for the second time. He twice was named the MAC Offensive Player of the Year and was a two-time, first-team All-MAC quarterback. The Chicago native averaged 343.7 yards of total offense per game, recorded a passing and rushing touchdown in 11 games and set school records for completions, points and rushing touchdowns through an undefeated regular season.

In his first year as a starter in 2012, Lynch guided NIU to the Orange Bowl – the first BCS berth by a MAC team – and finished seventh in the Heisman race. He ranked second in the nation in total offense with 4,953 yards and became the first FBS player ever to pass for more than 3,000 yards and rush for more than 1,500 in a single season.

“In my 31 years of coaching at the collegiate level, I can say wholeheartedly that Jordan Lynch was special - and he was special in every way possible,” said Dave Doeren, NIU head coach from 2011-2012, in a statement. “I wish I could clone that young man and have him in my offense every single season. He belongs in every college Hall of Fame in my opinion. They don’t make them like him anymore.”

Through his two years as a starter for the Huskies, Lynch was 12-0 on the road and 11-0 at Huskie Stadium. He ranks fourth all-time in school history in both passing yards and touchdowns as well as third in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns.

In total, Lynch walked away from NIU with three single game, 16 single season and six career records and tallied 100 career touchdowns. He recorded at least one touchdown in all 28 games as a starter and had 19 multi-touchdown games in that time period.

After leaving NIU, Lynch played two seasons for the Edmonton Eskimos in the Canadian Football League, helping the team to a Grey Cup win in 2015. He returned to NIU as an assistant coach in 2017.

Lynch will join George Bork as the only two NIU players in the hall of fame when he’s inducted during the 68th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on December 8 in Las Vegas.