Ed Lamb's Legacy at Southern Utah

One of the sad realities of being an FCS program is this, rarely does a head coach stay on for his entire career.  Of course that are people like Eddie Robinson, but most FCS coaches will eventually move on.  It is both with sadness and excitement that Southern Utah should say goodbye to Ed Lamb.

Lamb will be taking the position of Assistant Head Coach and will also coach the tight ends and special teams for new BYU coach Kalani Sitake.  His experience as a head coach will be invaluable to Sitake, a first-time head coach.

Lamb leaves a big footprint in Cedar City.  He is the only coach who what led the Thunderbirds in the post-season.  He bridged the gap that brought SUU to the Big Sky Conference as a result of the 2010 college football realignment and led SUU to the Big Sky Conference title in 2015.

Ed Lamb is a BYU alum, who was a teammate of Sitake under coach LaVell Edwards.  He is not Mormon, but has married into a Mormon family.  For Lamb, this is likely another step in his career.  I expect his stay in Provo will be a short one this time before he either goes to the NFL or resumes his Head Coaching career at another FBS school.

For SUU, however, they have some good men who are ready to take over for Lamb.  Most likely Ryan Hunt (no relation) and Demario Warren are the leading candidates to replace him.  Other candidates would include Snow College Head Coach Britt Maughan or Weber State Offensive Coordinator Steve Clark.  I would expect SUU to name their new head coach shortly after the new year.  Coach Warren has been named the interim head coach.

The Big Sky has a lot of good schools, and power can turn over very quickly.  SUU will not only have to defend their conference title without Lamb, but a lot of good seniors have played their last game.  Don't expect the Thunderbirds to be rebuilding for very long, however.  They have a lot to offer an FCS-level athlete.

Ranking Southern Utah's Head Coaches

1.  Jack Bishop 1978-1995
2.  Ed Lamb 2008-2015 (Only SUU coach to take T-Birds to post-season)
3.  Tom Kingsford 1967-1977
4.  Bruce Osborne 1963-1964
5.  Bill Reeske 1965-1966
6.  Ray Gregory 1997-2002
7.  Rich Ellerson 1996
8.  Gary Anderson 2003
9.  Don Conrad 1983-1985
10. Wes Meier 2004-2007