GREELEY, Colorado (Dec. 8, 2022) – University of Northern Colorado director of athletics Darren Dunn has named Ed Lamb as the next head coach of the Bears football program. The announcement was made Tuesday, Dec. 6.
Watch | Ed Lamb Press Conference
Lamb will be the 18th head coach of the Bears since 1893. Lamb just completed his seventh season at BYU while serving as the assistant head coach and special teams coordinator.
No stranger to the Big Sky Conference, Lamb led Southern Utah University for eight seasons where he guided the Thunderbirds to a pair of conference championships.
Inheriting a team that had suffered 18 straight losses, Lamb's debut campaign saw the Thunderbirds go from 0-11 the previous season to a 4-7 record in 2008. By his third season at the helm, Lamb guided SUU to a winning record at 6-5 and a perfect 4-0 mark in Great West Conference play for the league championship.
"I am incredibly excited to welcome Coach Lamb, his wife Sarah and their family to UNC," Dunn said. "It was evident through our process Coach Lamb was the man to lead UNC football," said Director of Athletics Darren Dunn. "He is a man of high character who is a proven winner, tireless recruiter, and developer of young men. He's won championships as a head coach at the FCS level and has worked alongside and learned from some of the best coaches in football."
SUU joined the Big Sky Conference in 2012 and earned an invite to the FCS Championships one year later as Lamb's 2013 team compiled an 8-5 overall record. In just the fourth year in the Big Sky, Lamb's 2015 squad posted an 8-4 overall record and a 7-1 mark in conference games to capture the BSC crown.
A two-time Eddie Robinson Award finalist recognizing the top coaches in the FCS, Lamb's SUU teams earned wins over FBS teams in 2011 (UNLV) and 2013 (South Alabama). In four years as a Big Sky program, Lamb's teams went 19-13 against conference foes.
Prior to his head coach role at Southern Utah, Lamb was an assistant coach on Jim Harbaugh's staff at the University of San Diego for three seasons where the Toreros seized three Pioneer League championships.
After beginning his coaching career as a graduate assistant at BYU, Lamb was the defensive coordinator at the University of Idaho from 2002-03 under the direction of head coach Tom Cable.
A native of Pleasanton, California, Lamb played for Lavell Edwards at BYU from 1994-96. Lamb was a member of the 1996 team that went 15-1, won the Cotton Bowl, and closed out the year ranked No. 5 in the country.
"I'm confident Coach Lamb will provide exceptional opportunities for young men to develop and earn their degrees at UNC and restore a tradition of greatness to UNC football," Dunn said.
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