Thunderbirds Tab Lamb For Football Post
 CEDAR CITY, Utah, Dec. 20 – Southern Utah University has named Ed Lamb as its new head football coach, SUU Director of Athletics Ken Beazer announced today.
Lamb, who is currently special teams coordinator, recruiting coordinator and defensive backs coach at the University of San Diego, will take over the reins of the program immediately.
“We’re very happy and excited to name Ed Lamb as the new head football coach at Southern Utah University,” Beazer said. “We had tremendous interest in the job and looked at a lot of candidates before focusing in on Ed as our man. I have confidence he will step in and get our program going in the right direction.”
A 1996 graduate of Brigham Young University, Lamb helped guide San Diego to three consecutive Pioneer League championships as well as back-to-back NCAA Division I-AA Mid-Major National Championships, in 2005 and 2006. In 2007 The USD special teams ranked first or second in every statistical category and the defense finished 2006 ranked fourth nationally after completing an 11-1 season.
Prior to joining the Toreros in 2005, Lamb spent two seasons as defensive coordinator at the University of Idaho as well as a year on the BYU staff. He also spent time as defensive coordinator at the University of Redlands, where his teams led the conference in scoring defense every year he was with the program.
“I feel I have a great opportunity ahead of me here at SUU,” Lamb said. “We will have the goals to have a winning record, to win conference championships and to be selected for the national playoffs. To reach those goals we’ll work hard, we’ll recruit the best student-athletes we can get and we will strive to accomplish our goals sooner rather than later.”
As a student-athlete, Lamb played linebacker and defensive end from 1992-96 on Brigham Young University and BYU-Idaho teams which combined to win four conference championships.
Lamb and his wife, Sarah, are the parents of three daughters: Anna, 8 1/2; Amelia, 4; and Summer, eight months.
The Lamb File
Coaching Experience
- 1997
University of Redlands
Defensive Line Coach
- 1998-2000
University of Redlands
Defensive Coordinator
- 2001
Brigham Young University
Defensive Assistant – Linebackers
- 2002-03
University of Idaho
Defensive Coordinator
- 2005-2007
University of San Diego
Special Teams Coordinator
Recruiting Coordinator
Defensive Backs Coach
Education
- 1998 Master of Arts, Education Counseling, University of Redlands
- 1996 Bachelor of Arts, English, Brigham Young University
Additional quotes from the press conference:
President Michael Benson:
- “I want to thank Coach Meier and his staff right off the bat for the job they’ve done. They’ve graduated student-athletes and that’s really the bottom line. We lead the state in graduation percentage and we need to thank Coach Meier and his staff for that.
- “I had an opportunity to meet [Coach Lamb] for the first time yesterday and I was very impressed. He was an English major, and he actually used the word ‘modicum’ in his interview, which is very unusual for a football coach ... he also quoted Henry the Fifth in his interview, which will play very well in Cedar City.
- “This is an exciting day for Thunderbird athletics. He looks like a football coach, he sounds like a football coach … the future bodes very well for us.”
Director of Athletics Ken Beazer
- “I also want to thank some people, foremost the football staff. It’s been a very difficult time but they got the team through finals, through the grading and the end of the semester and I appreciate what they’ve done.
- “This was a process that began four weeks ago and during that time I have talked to countless counterparts in the profession, people for whom I have a lot of respect, coaches, administrators all the way from California to Delawaare who have given me advice.
- “We had tremendous interest in the job but I went through the applicants and narrowed it down to eight, then further narrowed it and we brought four on campus.
- “I tried to hire Ed Lamb several years ago, many years ago, and the more I thought about it, it just seemed right.
- “When [Lamb] walked out of my office yesterday I couldn’t get it out of my mind that ‘this is the individual that you can trust with this football program.’ I know where this football program needs to be and where we want to take it and this is the individual I want leading that program.
- “He is strong academically – obviously he is quoting Shakespeare already – and what he has been able to do at the institution he is at, a private school with the academics it has, is remarkable.
- “His attention to detail, everyone I talked to said the same thing, that he is detailed to the limit and when I talked to him, the questions he asked me, I could see he has great attention to detail.
- “Football-wise, he can lock down two phases of the game himself, defense and special teams. He did a great job when he was at Idaho, leading the nation in point-differential turnaround his first year there. At San Diego if you look at the statistics his special teams are at the top, so I have great deal of confidence in him.
Ed Lamb
- “I want to thank Ken Beazer for what he’s seen in me. Not everyone around the country has seen it but I feel like everything I’ve been through, everywhere I’ve been and everything I’ve learned has led to this moment. I felt a kinship with [Beazer] right away.
- “I heard about what a tough schedule Southern Utah had and sometimes it was brought up in a negative way … but I can’t wait to play those kinds of teams. I would not want it any other way. There’s a lot of hard work to do but that’s what I’m here to do.
- “I’ve been in a lot of programs and some of them had uphill battles and I can’t wait to take that challenge.
- “You don’t get to pick your own job in college football but we’ve wanted to get back to Utah, to have an opportunity to come back to Utah and coach for a long time. For this to happen to my wife and I and our family right now, this is a dream come true.
- “I have a clear vision for the program. I’ve had the opportunity to work with some experienced coaches; I’ve learned a lot in the past few years and I can’t wait to get going here.
- “We’re going to recruit qualified and willing student-athletes. I’ve learned that if the talent is anywhere close, if the student is willing to put forth the effort in the classroom and make the effort in the community, those players will far and away out-do those athletes who are only concerned with athletics.
- “I think it is my responsibility as a head coach to push the student-athletes in ways they didn’t know they could be pushed. And those are the coaches I value most now when I look back on it.
- “I feel like when you’ve worked hard – and I know it to be true from my own experience –
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