Report: South Carolina assistant Pete Lembo agrees to five-year deal to become Buffalo head coach

Buffalo has hired South Carolina special teams coordinator/associate head coach Pete Lembo to be its next head coach, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Lembo spent four seasons with the Gamecocks and was a Broyles Award Assistant Coach of the Year Semifinalist in 2022.

ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg provided more details on the race in Buffalo.

“Per sources, other candidates for Buffalo included Tim Lester, the former Western Michigan coach, and Toledo defensive coordinator Vince Kehres, the former Mount Union coach who won two Division III national titles there,” Rittenberg wrote on X.

Lembo is thrilled Buffalo chose him for the opportunity.

Pete Lembo Named UB Football Head Coach 🤘#UBhornsUP https://t.co/hN8IAwN6sd

— UB Football (@UBFootball) January 21, 2024

“I would like to thank Director of Athletics Mark Alnutt and President Tripathi for providing me with this tremendous opportunity,” Lembo said. “I look forward to partnering with them, as well as the other leadership in the athletic department, on campus and in the community to make the UB football program one that we can all be proud of.

“We will work tirelessly to recruit, develop and maximize the experience for our student-athletes on and off the field. I am really excited to assemble an energetic staff that will build meaningful relationships with our players and with each other.”

Who is Buffalo getting?

Lembo was named the Gamecocks’ associate head coach/special teams coordinator on Dec. 27, 2020. In the 2023 campaign, the Gamecocks converted 12-of-14 field goal attempts.

Additionally, South Carolina blocked four kicks, two field goal attempts and two punts. The Gamecocks finished 23rd in the nation in net punting, ranking 18th in punt return defense. While South Carolina’s special teams unit was solid in 2023, Lembo grabbed the nation’s attention last season.

In 2022, Lembo was named a Broyles Award Assistant Coach of the Year Semifinalist, a FootballScoop Special Teams Coach of the Year Finalist and earned Phil Steele’s Special Teams Coach of the Year accolades for his unit’s overwhelming success.

In the campaign, the Gamecocks tied for third in the country with six blocked kicks and tied for second with five blocked punts. Under Lembo’s guidance, SC scored five special teams touchdowns – two blocked punt returns, one kick return, one fake punt and one fake field goal.

Junior punter Kai Kroeger was an All-American and first-team All-SEC selection. Long snapper Hunter Rogers earned second-team All-SEC honors.

Before joining South Carolina, Lembo spent two seasons as the assistant head coach and special teams coordinator at Memphis. Again, he was nominated for the Broyles Award. He’s also had massive success coaching special teams at Rice and Maryland.

Lembo also has extensive experience as a head coach. He was the HC at Ball State for five seasons, guiding the program to a 33-29 during his tenure. He was the first head coach in Ball State history to win at least 30 games in his first four seasons.

During his time with the program, the Cardinals set over 60 school records, including season marks for points (501), total offense (6,199 yards), passing yards (4,214), TD passes (35) and total TD (64) in 2013.

In total, the 53-year-old coach boasts a 112-65 record. Lembo will replace Maurice Linguist, who is now the co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach at Alabama.