'19 Warren G. Harding Alum Kay'Ron Lynch-Adams To Sign With The Carolina Panthers

“All I know is WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK!”  

That was the post on the Facebook page of Kay’Ron Lynch-Adams shortly after 9 PM on Saturday night as he announced that he was signing with the Carolina Panthers as an undrafted rookie free agent.

From 2016 through 2018, Lynch-Adams built a resume on the gridiron for Warren G. Harding that’s rivaled by very few.  The following includes his career milestones and where they rank in the school’s history…

-3,544 career rushing yards… 4th 

-35 career rushing touchdowns…5th 

-45 career total touchdowns…  5th 

-3,727 career total yards… 6th 

NOTE: To date, Lynch-Adams is also in a three-way tie for the longest touchdown catch in Harding history (84 yards from quarterback Elijah Taylor against Youngstown East in 2018).  The others who accomplished the feat include Omar Provitt (from Chris Ensign during the 1990 OHSAA Division I state championship game against Cincinnati Princeton) and Naujeat Jones (from Chaz Coleman against Boardman in 2023).

Highlight film from Lynch-Adams' high school football career at Warren G. Harding.

In addition to his prowess on the football field, Lynch-Adams was a dynamic member of Harding’s track & field team.  At the 2018 Austintown Region Championships, he was the anchor when the 4x100 relay team (along with Jamel Anderson, Theran Hargrove, and Sterling Frazier) clocked a time of 42.12, which remains the school’s second fastest time ever.

Then-Warren G. Harding junior Kay’Ron Lynch-Adams places first in the boys 100 meter dash final with a time of 10.86 at the 2018 Austintown District Track & Field Championships.

In 2019, Lynch-Adams began his college football career with a two-year stint at Rutgers.  In 18 career games for the Scarlet Knights, he rushed for 320 yards & two touchdowns on 83 carries.  After transferring to UMass in 2021, he racked up 1,568 rushing yards & 14 touchdowns for the Minutemen.  The majority of that prodution came during his breakout season in 2023 when he ranked 13th in the nation with 236 carries, 27th with a career-high 1,157 rushing yards, and 29th in rushing touchdowns with 12 while adding a career-high 20 catches for 118 yards.  That effort resulted in him becoming just the second UMass player in the FBS era to eclipse 1,000+ rushing yards in a season (1,138 by Ellis Merriweather in 2021).  

Lynch-Adams scores on a 47-yard touchdown run during UMass' matchup against Toledo in 2023.

Lynch -Adams put the exclamation point on the 2023-24 school year by earning his bachelor’s degree in African American Studies.

In 2024, Lynch-Adams joined the football program at Michigan State as a graduate transfer.  He’d go on to lead the Spartans in carries (133), rushing yards (649), and all-purpose yardage (773) while ranking 15th in the Big Ten with 54.1 rushing yards per game.

Lynch-Adams scores on a 63-yard touchdown run during Michigan State's 2024 season opener against Florida Atlantic.

All together, Lynch-Adams rushed for 2,537 yards and 18 touchdowns on 575 carries in his collegiate career.  Now, he’s set to join the rich fraternity of Warren G. Harding athletes who earned their way into the NFL.