Head coach Kevin Lynch is off to a 1-1 start in his first season as head coach of the Bulldogs. Photo by Andrew Buckley.
MARIA CLARA KOLLER | STAFF REPORTER | mkollerfernandez@butler.edu
The 2025 season marks the start of head coach Kevin Lynch‘s tenure at Butler. Coming in from Ball State, Lynch will be looking to match the football team’s 2024 season, in which the Bulldogs finished third in the Pioneer Football League (PFL) and were ranked 23rd in the FCS national rankings.
“I got a great situation coming into a group of guys that know how to work, know how to play,” Lynch said. “It’s been the same. I want guys to work hard, and play hard and all the other stuff takes care of itself.”
Following their impressive 2024 season, the bar has been set equally as high for this year. The Dawgs were picked fourth in the Pioneer Football League’s Preseason Coaches Poll, with senior linebacker Jeremiah Jackson and senior defensive lineman Danny Orgler representing the team in the Preseason All-PFL team.
Jackson spoke on the expectations last season set for the Bulldogs.
“[Our first expectation] is to sweep the rest of our schedule,” Jackson said. “[Then] to win a PFL championship and make a run for [nationals]. That’s the expectation for sure.”
Butler opened the season with a 38-14 loss on the road against the University of Northern Iowa on Aug. 30, but bounced back with a 37-27 home win against Truman State on Sept. 6.
A crucial member in both games was redshirt junior quarterback Reagan Andrew, who became one of the most important players for the Bulldogs following his breakthrough season last year. Andrew became the starting quarterback and ranked third in the PFL last year in passing efficiency and completion percentage, while leading the team to a 9-3 season — their best since 2013.
Andrew spoke on how last season’s success has set the team up for the new season.
“I think it’s just keeping the guys together and keeping each other on the same page,” Andrew said. “And then the coach talks about fanatical effort all the time, just making sure that on Saturdays we hit the field, and giving everything we got.”
However, the team has remodeled significantly since last season. Along with the addition of Lynch, seven coaches and 29 new players joined the Bulldogs for this season. The team also saw the departure of 11 student-athletes.
“This year, obviously, we got a new coaching staff, new head coach, but you look at the retention we had from last year to this year, the core guys on this team are the same,” Andrew said. “We [have] a lot of Bulldog-oriented football players on this team, so our culture has stayed consistent [and] strong, and as these new guys come in, they’ve been bought in since day one.”
Jackson is back for his fourth and final season with the program. Throughout his collegiate career, Jackson has been one of the most influential players for the Bulldogs, becoming a starter in his sophomore year and consistently earning All-PFL honors. Last year, Jackson led the team with nine tackles and recorded a 100-yard pick-six vs Stetson, a school record.
The Bulldogs have managed to maintain a winning record every year of Jackson’s career, with their last losing season coming in 2021. This shift has raised the bar for Butler, and the Indianapolis native attributes that success to the team cohesion built since his freshman year.
“This is the closest team we’ve ever [been],” Jackson said. “This year, we just took that step to be like, ‘this is the year’. A lot of the guys, especially the seniors that have come in playing this since [their first] year, we wanted this program to be better than when we came in with it.”
Lynch commented on how Butler compares to other teams he has coached.
“I will say this about, really, my experience at Butler as a whole,” Lynch said. “It’s a very tight-knit group, very tight-knit community here, and that makes it really enjoyable to come to work on the football side of it.”
Butler faces in-state rival Hanover on Sept. 13.
