A Good Month For Ex-Lehigh Coaches (And Players)

As interesting as the Dave Cecchini hiring was for Lehigh, he was hardly the only former member of the Brown & White getting hired.

No fewer than four more ex-Lehigh players and ex-Lehigh coaches got jobs this month - including one former star QB that will now be taking over at his alma mater.  (High school alma mater, that is.) (more)


That would be the guy pictured to my left, QB Phil Stambaugh '00, who is taking over at Pius X after Rob Goffredo retired after seven years in the job.  The Express-Times said of the hire - where Phil was working as an assistant - was a promotion:

Pius X High School in Roseto has promoted assistant coach Phil Stambaugh to head football coach.


The quarterback on the Royals' 1995 District 11 Class A championship who has served as the team's offensive coordinator the last seven years, was named the team's next head coach Friday.

"It's definitely a special thing," said Stambaugh, who coached under Rob Goffredo, who retired last month after seven seasons and a 51-29 record. "It's something that was a goal of mine to one day be a head coach. For it to happen at Pius, where I was an athlete, is very special."

"I would consider myself a classic players' coach," Stambaugh said. "I've had good relationships with the kids I've coached. I have not only the kids' best interest at heart, but the program's best interest at heart. I'll be tough, but I'll congratulate them when they come off the field."

Jeff Ditzi retired from the staff in the offseason, leaving Stambaugh two positions to fill — defensive coordinator and offensive assistant.

Stambaugh said he hasn't formally talked to anyone about either position. But for the first time in his coaching career, it's Stambaugh's turn to make the decisions.

"I really did start to prepare to take over and now that it's a reality, I'm revved up and ready to go," Stambaugh said.

Lost a bit in Cecchini's hiring at Lehigh is that former coach Issac Collins, who was defensive coordinator  under former Lehigh head football coach Kevin Higgins at the Citadel, was released at the same time as Cech.  What did he end up doing?  Only blazing a trail as the new head football coach at D-III Widener:

Widener University announced Monday that Isaac Collins, defensive coordinator for The Citadel in Charleston, SC, has been named the university’s 22nd football coach. Collins becomes the first African-American head football coach in Widener history, and only the sixth active minority head football coach in NCAA Division III.

“Widener has a great football tradition and I am honored to be selected to continue that tradition,” Collins said. “I’m familiar with the high level of competition in the Middle Atlantic Conference, and I look forward to the challenge.”

Another assistant coach, Casey Creehan, who worked on the other side of the ball from Coen and Cech in the 1999 season has gotten a new job - in the Great White North:

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers added another five years of CFL experience to their coaching ranks, announcing the hiring of Casey Creehan as the team’s linebackers coach today.

Creehan joins the Blue Bombers’ after spending last season as an assistant coach at Eastern Michigan University, coaching the defensive line. Prior to that, he was an assistant coach with the Montreal Alouettes in 2008, as the team’s front seven coordinator. As a member of the Alouettes staff, Creehan helped the team make it to the Grey Cup final and the Alouettes finished second in the CFL in sacks and second in rush defence. Prior to his stint with Montreal, Creehan was the defensive line coach for four seasons with the Calgary Stampeders, from 2004-07, and was part of three CFL playoff appearances. In 2005, the Stampeders defence led the league in sacks and finished first in rush defence combined from 2004-2006.

Creehan began his college career at Lehigh University as a defensive assistant on the 1999 team that won the Patriot League championship.

[Update:] Mere hours after I posted this, a friendly commenter and a news outlet also announced another huge hire of a former Lehigh assistant coach: Dave Ungerer, former special teams coach on South Mountain.  His destination?  Washington State of the Pac 10, under former Eastern Washington head football coach Paul Wulff:

Some speculated Ungerer might have focused on special teams because of his outstanding résumé leading kick and punt units. His ability to motivate players and knowledge of the game convinced Coach Wulff to assign him dual responsibilities. And yes, he has experience as a running backs coach as well.

Ungerer comes to Pullman after serving the past year at Elon College in North Carolina. Last season Elon posted a 9-3 record, advancing to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. Ungerer’s special teams units ranked among the top 50 in four categories, including fifth in kickoff coverage as Elon surrendered just 17.06 yards per return.

The head coach at Elon?  Yep: former Lehigh head football man Pete Lembo, whose Phoenix made the FCS playoffs for the first time in 2009 and notched their first postseason appearance since 1981, where they won the NAIA championship.

And finally, a former assistant football coach, Robert Admunson, is climbing up another ladder - that of athletic director at Cumberland College:

Since the summer, Cumberland County College has been trying to find a replacement for a new assistant athletic director. It has been an ongoing process with many applicants applying for this position at the college.

The new assistant athletic director was finally announced. His name is Robert Amundson and he started on November 30, 2009. He graduated from Vineland High School and was an adjunct for sociology as well as the assistant baseball coach here at Cumberland County College. His other coaching positions were at Rowan University and Lehigh University. He was also an assistant football and baseball coach at both colleges.

In these days of high unemployment, it's great to hear that the skills of former Lehigh football players are still in very high demand.