Suitland High's Lynch Dies in Wreck

Lynch didn't hide his emotions. In a 2003 playoff loss to Eleanor Roosevelt, he pulled his team off the field with 1 minute 29 seconds remaining to protest the officiating; that earned him a suspension from the Rams' 2004 playoff opener. He also occasionally wore a pink shirt on the sideline in remembrance of his mother, Doris, who died of breast cancer.

"Out of all the people, it's just crazy . . . so many people depend on him. The kids depend on him," said Eric Wade, the former Largo High head coach who grew up with Lynch and was an assistant coach at Suitland for the past five seasons. "You live with every single kid. You just don't understand how hard it is . . . and how much he cared. Cared enough to give a kid hard discipline when he needed it, and give him love when he needed it."

Said senior defensive end Anthony Thomas, a three-year varsity player: "As a father figure, he was tough. But at the same time, he looked out for your best interests. He always said there is nothing promised. You can never replace Coach Lynch in any way. He's a stand-up guy and a good person to look up to, in my eyes."

News of Lynch's death started a chain of phone calls yesterday morning among coaches around the state.

"He was truly a leader of Prince George's County coaches," said Crossland High Coach Eric Knight, who was an assistant coach at Roosevelt during Lynch's sophomore and junior years of high school. "He was unselfish with his time. If it needed to be done, Nick was the kind of guy who would do it. It's truly a loss for everybody. He's going to be sorely missed."

Eleanor Roosevelt Coach Tom Green said Lynch's standing in the county was the reason he went to Suitland as an assistant coach earlier this decade.

"He was a unique guy for Suitland," Green said. "It takes a special guy to work at Suitland and be effective at Suitland. And he was the guy."

Lynch became adept at helping his team deal with grief, starting with the 2003 shooting death of former standout Raheem Lewis. In October 2007, former player Eric Allen, who was a recruit for the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, collapsed and died during a training exercise. And later that same month, Ramon D. Ware, a 2007 graduate and varsity offensive lineman, was fatally shot outside an apartment complex in District Heights.

Lynch ordered stickers with each young man's jersey number and told his players to display the stickers on the front of their helmets, where they would be most visible.

"The love of the kids and showing them direction and just being there for them, that is what motivates me," Nick Lynch told The Post in a 1999 profile. "I just want to see the happiness on young men's faces when they accomplish their goals. It can't be measured."

Lynch is survived by his wife, Ivornette, and a son, David Jr., as well as seven siblings and other relatives.

Staff writer Hamil R. Harris contributed to this report.