Yesterday Pete Lembo resigned as head coach of Ball State University to take a job as special teams coordinator and assistant head coach at the University of Maryland. Lembo spent the past five seasons with the Cardinals, going 33-29 over that span, including a 10-3 finish in 2013, but it was widely noted that he was frustrated with Ball State’s lack of investment in its football program.
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“I’m really excited to be adding someone the caliber of Pete Lembo to my staff,” new Head Coach D.J. Durkin said in a statement. “Pete brings a great deal of experience as a head coach and a proven track record of success. He’s been especially successful coaching special teams units and we’ll immediately improve with him on board.”
Prior to his time at Ball State, Lembo spent time as head coach of FCS programs Elon (2006-2010) and Lehigh (2001-2005), and has been an assistant at Lehigh (1998-2000), Hampden-Sydney (1997), Dartmouth (1996-1996) and Albany (1992-1993)
While at Ball State Lembo’s special teams units have consistently ranked among the best in the Mid-American Conference, never finishing lower than third in the league in a compilation of special team statistics during his five years, including first in the MAC in 2012. Under Lembo’s leadership, five Cardinals made all-conference teams at special teams positions, and in 2012 his kicker and punter were semifinalists for the Lou Groza and Ray Guy awards respectively.
Lembo is a big get for the Terrapins not only because his teams regularly perform well on special teams, but also because he brings head coaching experience, which can be very valuable, especially with an untested head man in Durkin.
Baltimore Sport and Life caught up with Lembo to discuss his new job and why he’s excited for the future with the Terrapins.
BSL: What made you want to come to Maryland?
Lembo: It was a very difficult decision to leave a program I’ve put my heart and soul into for the last five years, and I’m certainly thankful for the opportunity my family and I had at Ball State, but this was a really unique situation to go to Maryland with DJ Durkin, who I think is going to be a spectacular head coach, and have a leadership position on his staff, and work with some other great coaches to try to build Maryland into a highly competitive team in the Big 10.
BSL: A lot of coaches wouldn’t go from being the head coach at a FBS program to taking an assistant job at another school. Can you explain your thought process when doing that?
Lembo: Well anyone that knows me is aware that I don’t have a big ego, and I’ve been a head coach for 15 years, and I’ve enjoyed it, but this is a great opportunity to coach and help build and lead a program that has great resources in the top level of college football. That’s something that I have not been able to do so far in my career, so that makes it a very very exciting challenge and opportunity.
BSL: Other then your five years at Ball State, you’ve been on the East Coast for pretty much your whole career. Did Maryland’s location have any impact on your decision to join the Terps?
Lembo: It wasn’t a deciding factor, but it helped. It is a good thing because we have been able to make a lot of strong bonds in [the Midwest] during our five years here, but the majority of my life has been spent up and down the eastern seaboard from North Carolina up to New Hampshire, so it’s exciting to be going back east to be near my family and friends.
BSL: What do you think that you personally bring to the Maryland Terrapins?
Lembo: Well, I have obviously extensive experience as a head coach and I think coach Durkin is excited to have guys like me on his staff that have sat in that chair and had to make hard decisions. I’m organized and detailed. The offensive coordinator Walt Bell is a dynamic young coordinator and I have a background in offense, so I think I’d be able to offer him some advice and help him. I think coach Durkin is very similar to myself, so I think that we can make a great team and help get this program where we want it to be.
BSL: You’ve mentioned your head coaching experience. That’s now three assistant coaches (Lembo, former Virginia Coach Mike London and Former Syracuse Coach Scott Shafer) hired on Durkin’s staff that were head coaches last season. What do you think having so many guys that have been head coaches brings to the table?
Lembo: I think Durkin like guys that have been in the head seat, because you understand the organization, the planning, the daily problem solving, dealing with the student – athletes, dealing with the administration and other things like that. Being a head coach is very much an overseer type role and I think it always helps to have guys who have done it around you.
BSL: Is that something you saw at Ball State? Were you in more of a CEO type role?
Lembo: Yes, it wasn’t as hands-on per say as other types of coaching. It’s a lot of overseeing everything happening and dealing with the administration rather than just being out there coaching the guys. One of the things I liked about this was I saw it as a great opportunity to get back to coaching. I think this Job description was really tailor-made for my background, and I’m very excited to be at Maryland.
BSL: The new staff each brings their own specialties to the recruiting scene, with a lot of coaches that are prominent recruiters in different areas of the country. You have connections up and down the East Coast and in the Midwest, Mike London owns the Tidewater area (of Virginia), Shafer has a wealth of connections in the Northeast, [new DB coach] Aazaar Abdul-Rahim recruits the D.C. area as well as anyone and the list goes on.
Lembo: I think you nailed it. You have a lot of different guys with excellent reputations in different areas that are natural fits for Maryland to go after kids. We’ve got a lot of great recruiters here, so I’m excited wherever Coach Durkin wants to send me, I’ll be ready to go. I feel like from the Northeast down to the mid-south and all the way out to the midwest, I would be very comfortable with those areas and have a lot a good contacts.
BSL: Anything that you would like to add?
Lembo: I think Coach Durkin is going to bring a lot of good energy and excitement to the program and I’m anxious to get to Maryland and get to work.
Andrew Feather is a multimedia journalist from the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. Currently a broadcast journalism major at Elon University in Elon, N.C., Feather serves as the Assistant Sports Director of Elon Local News, the school’s award winning, student-run news broadcast.