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Smithfield • Utah State Hall of Fame football player and former Sky View High football coach Earl Lindley died Monday. He was 79.
Lindley, who was inducted into the Utah State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010, played football and basketball for the Aggies in the early 1950s. In 1953, he led the nation in scoring with 81 points, 13 touchdowns and three extra points. He played halfback and defensive end and was teammates with Aggie legends Dave Kragthorpe and LaVell Edwards. He also lettered in basketball in 1952 and 1953.
The Aggie star was selected by the Chicago Bears in the 16th round of the 1954 NNFL Draft, but elected to play in the Canadian Football League for the Edmonton Eskimos from 1954 to 1957, helping them win three-straight Grey Cup Championships. His football career was cut short by a severe football injury. He returned to Utah to be an assistant coach at BYU.
In 1968, Lindley returned to Cache Valley as the team's head coach. The Bobcats went 6-2 in his first season and made the state playoffs. The second season, Sky View went 10-0 in league play. He coached at Sky View until 1977. When he left coaching, he continued at the school as an administrator until 2006. He was inducted into the Sky View Athletic Hall of Fame in 2010.
As a high school player at South Cache High School, he earned 11 letters in football, track, basketball and wrestling.