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Elon Will Introduce Lembo: Lehigh Coach to Guide Phoenix Football Program

Posted on: Monday, 19 December 2005, 18:00 CST

By Adam Smith, Times-News, Burlington, N.C., Times-News, Burlington, N.C.

Dec. 19--ELON -- Lehigh coach Pete Lembo will be introduced today as Elon University's next football coach, sources close to the situation confirmed Sunday night. The school has scheduled a news conference for 11:30 a.m. at Rhodes Stadium. Elon waited until after 9 p.m. Sunday to announce plans for today's news conference. Elon's search for a replacement formally ends 22 days after Paul Hamilton was out of a job. Hamilton, hired Dec. 23, 2003, went 6-16 (with back-to-back 3-8 records) during two seasons with the Phoenix. Lembo hasn't returned messages the Times-News left last week. Elon athletics director Dr. Alan White, Lehigh athletics director Joe Sterrett, Lehigh offensive coordinator Chris Rorke and Lehigh defensive coordi nator Gerard Wilcher didn't return messages Sunday night. On the surface, Lembo's departure from Lehigh registers as somewhat puzzling. Lehigh produced at least eight victories in each of his five sea sons at the Bethlehem, Pa., school. Lembo, 35, compiled a career record of 44-14 for a winning rate of 75.9 percent with the Mountain Hawks. His winning percentage is the all-time best at Lehigh. In the near 20-year history of the Patriot League, which competes on the Division I-AA level, just as Elon does in the Southern Conference, no other football coach won more league games in his first four years than Lembo. Under Lembo, Lehigh won two Patriot League titles and was consis tently ranked among the nation's top Division I-AA teams, peaking as high as No. 2 in September 2002.

In 2001, Lembo's first season at Lehigh, the Mountain Hawks went 11- 1 and finished the year ranked No. 5 in Division I-AA. He earned the Eddie Robinson Award as the top coach in Division I-AA for that season. At Lehigh, Lembo became the sec ond-youngest football coach in all of Division I when he was elevated from his role as assistant head coach and offensive line coach after the 2000 season. Then, Lembo replaced Kevin Higgins, now coach at The Citadel, who took an assistant coaching posi tion with the Detroit Lions. Adam Smith can be reached at adam_smith@link.freedom.com Lembo

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Source: Times-News

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