Buffalo hires Pete Lembo, former Ball State football coach, South Carolina special teams coordinator

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — University at Buffalo on Sunday hired South Carolina special teams coordinator Pete Lembo, who has 15 years of experience as a college head coach, to lead the Bulls.

Lembo replaces Maurice Linguist, who last week stepped down after three years leading the Bulls to become an assistant coach at Alabama under Kalen DeBoer. The Bulls went 14-23 under Linguist, who was hired to replace Lance Leipold after he left for Kansas in 2021.

Lembo, 53, has experience in the Mid-American Conference, going 33-29 in five seasons as head coach at Ball State from (2011-15). He also has served as head coach Elon and Lehigh, going 79-36 in 10 seasons.

“We will work tirelessly to recruit, develop and maximize the experience for our student-athletes on and off the field. I am really excited to assemble an energetic staff that will build meaningful relationships with our players and with each other,” Lembo said in a statement.

Lembo hasn’t had a head coaching job since Ball State, but he’s made several stops as assistant head coach and special teams coordinator, including at Maryland, Rice and Memphis. He joined Shane Beamer’s staff at South Carolina in 2021. The Gamecocks reached the postseason during Beamer’s first two seasons but slipped to 5-7 in 2023.

A semifinalist for the Broyles Award in 2022, Lembo was named special teams coach of the year by Phil Steele, and finalist for the FootballScoop award. South Carolina was No. 1 in ESPN’s special teams efficiency ranking. Lembo had similar success as assistant head coach and special teams coordinator at his previous stops.

“I’ve followed his career and have been very impressed not only with his coaching acumen but how he’s achieved success at his various stops,” UB athletics director Mark Alnutt stated. “His positive engagement and relationship building with people are second to none.  This is very advantageous when it comes to running a successful program.  I have no doubt that we will be very competitive and win championships in the MAC.”

Lembo led Ball State to consecutive bowl games, finishing 10-3 (7-1 MAC) in 2013, after going 9-4 (6-2 MAC) in 2012. The Cardinals set school records for points (501), total offense (6,199 yards), passing yards (4,214), touchdown passes (35) and total touchdowns (64) in 2013.

The Bulls made one bowl game under Linguist and had a string of three straight winning seasons under Leipold, who went 37-33 at the school from 2015-2020.

Lembo, a Staten Island native, began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Albany in 1992.

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