Report: Wake Forest deal to hire Purdue coordinator finalized

Reports indicated that Wake Forest would be hiring their new coordinator away from Purdue, in a deal that was finalized on Tuesday. Purdue defensive coordinator Brad Lambert will be hired on with the Demon Deacons in the same position, as first reported by Yahoo Sports’ Pete Thamel.

Wake Forest’s next defensive coordinator from Purdue

“The deal to bring Purdue DC Brad Lambert to Wake Forest is being finalized and should be announced in next 24 hours,” stated Thamel on Tuesday evening.

The news that Wake Forest was targeting Purdue’s defensive coordinator to fill the role for them began to circulate on Monday, and the deal appears finalized now via Thamel. Lambert was a former head coach at Charlotte, and spent ten seasons at Wake Forest under coach Jim Grobe.

Lambert’s work at Purdue reflected a tremendous improvement in the Boilermakers’ defense as their co-defensive coordinator, and was part of overseeing the second-ranked defense in the nation at Marshall in 2020. With Lambert as defensive coordinator at Marshall, they allowed just 13 points per game for the 2020 season.

Purdue went from a 2-4 record during 2020 to a 9-4 record in 2021 with Lambert on their staff. The Boilermakers season was their best since 2003, and their defense allowed 7.4 less points per game in just one season.

Lambert accepted his first coaching position with Marshall in 1990, and has been a position coach for Georgia, Wake Forest and Purdue over his coaching career.

In 2011, he was named the first head coach of the Charlotte 49ers in North Carolina. The 49ers would not play their first game until 2013 as an independent, but joined the C-USA in 2015. Lambert led Charlotte to a 5-6 record in their inaugural season and their first FBS victory came over Georgia State in 2015.

However, Lambert had four straight losing seasons to begin their history, including a 1-11 season in 2017. After six seasons as head coach, he was released by Charlotte with a 22-48 career record.