Lynn Amedee (August 3, 1941 – May 20, 2025) was an American

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and coach. He played professionally as a

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

for the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at Commonwealth Stadium. The E ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL). He served as the head coach for two seasons at the

University of Tennessee at Martin The University of Tennessee at Martin (UT Martin or UTM) is a public university in Martin, Tennessee, United States. It is one of the five campuses of the University of Tennessee system. UTM is the only public university in West Tennessee outsi ...

, an assistant coach at nine different colleges and two different professional teams, and a head coach at three high schools.

Playing career

Amedee played

and

placekicker In gridiron football, the placekicker (PK), or simply kicker (K), is the player responsible for attempts at scoring Field goal (football), field goals and extra points. In most cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist ...

under coaches

Paul Dietzel Paul Franklin Dietzel (September 5, 1924 – September 24, 2013) was an American college football player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head coach at Louisiana State University (1955–1961), the United States Military Aca ...

and

Charles McClendon Charles Youmans McClendon (October 17, 1923 – December 6, 2001), also known as "Cholly Mac", was an American college football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Louisiana State University (LSU) from 1962 to 1979, compilin ...

at Louisiana State from 1960 to 1962. He was named the outstanding player of the 1963 Cotton Bowl, kicking two field goals and recovering a fumble in LSU's 13–0 victory over

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. Amedee also pitched for LSU's baseball team. He was not selected in the

1963 NFL draft The 1963 NFL draft was held at the Sheraton in Chicago, Illinois, on Monday, December 3, 1962. The first overall selection was quarterback Terry Baker of Oregon State, the Heisman Trophy winner, taken by the Los Angeles Rams. The AFL draft wa ...

but started a professional career with the CFL's

. Over the course of the two seasons, Amedee played in 16 games for the Eskimos, throwing for 1,788 yards on 279 attempts with eight touchdowns.

Coaching career

Amedee began his football coaching career as an assistant at Northeast Louisiana in 1970, before moving on to be an assistant at

Tulane The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it be ...

and then as an assistant for the NFL's

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

and WFL's

Birmingham Americans The Birmingham Americans were a professional American football team located in Birmingham, Alabama. They were members of the four-team Central Division of the World Football League (WFL). The Americans, founded in late December 1973, played in t ...

, before returning to his alma mater as quarterbacks coach under head coach McClendon from 1975 to 1978. In 1980, he became head coach at the

. He guided the school to an 8–14 record in two years before resigning in order to join the coaching staff at Southwestern Louisiana (now Louisiana-Lafayette). He left USL after one season, heading to Vanderbilt to become

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

under head coach George MacIntyre. Amedee left Vanderbilt after the 1984 season, as he was hired as offensive coordinator by new

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

head coach

Jackie Sherrill Jackie Wayne Sherrill (born November 28, 1943) is an American former college football player and coach. He was the head football coach at Washington State University (1976), the University of Pittsburgh (1977–1981), Texas A&M University (1982� ...

. In 1986, Amedee interviewed for the vacant LSU head coaching job, but lost out to LSU defensive coordinator Mike Archer. In 1988, he became offensive coordinator under head coach

Galen Hall Galen Samuel Hall (born August 14, 1940) is a retired American college and professional football coach and player. He is a native of Pennsylvania, and an alumnus of Penn State University, where he played college football. Hall was previously the ...

at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

, where he drew criticism for his strategy to use sophomore

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

Emmitt Smith Emmitt James Smith III (born May 15, 1969) is an American former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, 13 as a member of the Dallas Cowboys and 2 seasons with the Arizona Cardinals ...

as a "decoy". 1988 was Smith's only season with less than 1,000 yards rushing. In 1989, Amedee was hired as offensive coordinator by

head coach David McWilliams. After McWilliams resignation in 1991, Amedee sat out for a year, before joining

Curley Hallman Hudson "Curley" Hallman (born September 3, 1947) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Southern Mississippi (1988–1990) and Louisiana State University (1991–1994), compiling a career ...

's coaching staff at his alma mater LSU. Hallman, along with the coaching staff, was fired after the 1994 season. Amedee went on to coach one season at New Iberia (Louisiana) Senior High and left the school that December to accept the offensive coordinator position under Sherrill at

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

. In 1999, Amedee left the collegiate ranks, taking over head coaching duties at Opelousas High School in

Opelousas, Louisiana Opelousas (; ) is a small city and the parish seat of St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, United States. Interstate 49 in Louisiana, Interstate 49 and U.S. Route 190 in Louisiana, U.S. Route 190 were constructed with a ju ...

, he retired after the 2003 season.

Personal

Amedee died on May 20, 2025.

Head coaching record

College

References

External Links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Amedee, Lynn 1941 births 2025 deaths American football quarterbacks Canadian football quarterbacks Birmingham Americans coaches Edmonton Elks players Florida Gators football coaches High school football coaches in Louisiana Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football coaches LSU Tigers football coaches LSU Tigers football players Mississippi State Bulldogs football coaches New Orleans Saints coaches Players of American football from Baton Rouge, Louisiana Tennessee Volunteers football coaches UT Martin Skyhawks football coaches Texas A&M Aggies football coaches Texas Longhorns football coaches Vanderbilt Commodores football coaches Players of Canadian football from Louisiana