Football ties: Lynch family reunites Saturday at Ball State game

As the father of three football-playing sons, IU offensive coordinator Bill Lynch has alway seen football as a family affair.\nHis youngest son, Kevin Lynch, is a freshman split end at Franklin College, 42 miles northeast of Bloomington. \nThe oldest, Billy Lynch, currently works alongside his father and IU coach Terry Hoeppner as the Hoosiers' wide receivers coach. \nHis third son, Joey Lynch, is part of what will make this weekend so special for the Lynch family: He is a fifth-year senior and starting quarterback for Ball State. \nJoey Lynch has been a starting quarterback at Ball State since 2004, when he started in seven of the eight games he played in. He took over as the primary starter in 2005 and started all 11 games Ball State played, throwing a team-record 18 touchdowns. \nBefore the season began, Joey was named a co-captain, Ball State coach Brady Hoke said.\n"Joe Lynch really is a guy who is a great leader for us offensively," Hoke said during Monday's Mid-American Conference coaches teleconference. \nWhen Joey takes the field for Ball State Saturday night at Scheumann Stadium in Muncie, he'll not only be facing off against an in-state rival, but he'll also be taking part in something special to his family. \n"We're trying to enjoy it and realize that something like this doesn't come around very often," Bill said after Wednesday's practice. \nThe problem for Bill and Billy is that they probably will be too busy to watch Joey play. As offensive coaches, both will likely spend most of the time that the Ball State offense is on the field making adjustments to their own offense. \nNeither of the Lynch coaches will have a chance to look out on to the field and see how Joey is doing. \n"To be perfectly honest with you, I don't know how much looking up I'll be doing," Billy said after Wednesday's practice. "Really, the time I'll get to watch him play against us is Sunday morning when we go back and watch the tape."\nBoth Bill and Billy have considerable ties to Ball State aside from Joey playing there. \nBilly spent his undergraduate years at Ball State, where he was a three-year letter winner in both football and basketball. He was a wide receiver and led the Cardinals with 40 receptions his senior year.\nAfter graduation, Billy began his coaching career as an assistant at Miami University of Ohio. He moved onto IU when Terry Hoeppner was hired before the 2005 season. \nBill has been head coach at Butler and most recently DePauw before joining the IU staff along with Hoeppner in 2005. He was the offensive coordinator at Ball State from 1990 to 1992. \nAside from football connections, Bill's daughter Kelly is married and lives in Muncie. Kelly and Bill's wife Linda will both have a hard time choosing sides Saturday.\n"It's a tough week on (Linda). Obviously she's got allegiance to both sides," Bill said. "It's hard for them to pick a side, but I think they're enjoying it as well"