James Lilly Zink was an athletic director at Indiana University and DePauw University as well as one of the first head coaches of the basketball and football teams at Butler University. Reported to have been from Greencastle, Indiana, Zink was an 1891 graduate of the School of Gymnastics at Vanderbilt University. From 1891 to 1893, he was an instructor in gymnastics and athletics at Indiana University where he held the title of Director of the Men's Gymnasium within the Department of Physical Training. At Indiana, he was a member of the Pi Chapter of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. Zink was succeeded as IU's Director of the Men's Gymnasium by E.C. Syrett in 1893, then was the Physical Director at the YMCA in Alton, Illinois from 1893 to 1894. In 1895, he was the Director of Athletics at DePauw University. From 1895 to 1898, Zink was the Director of Physical Culture at Butler College in Irvington, Indiana. In 1897, Zink took over as the head coach of the university's football team. In his only season at the helm, Butler went undefeated in three games. Zink was also the head coach of the men's basketball team at Butler from 1897 to 1899.