Pete Lembo
Pete Lembo went 130–79 as a head coach, 2001–2026, at Lehigh, Elon, Ball State and Buffalo. Wikipedia’s season articles record one season differently (2026, 3–3); by them his record is 129–79. Share
10 seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 2001–05 at Lehigh; 2006–10 at Elon. They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 130–79 career
- Seasons
- 18
- Schools
- 4
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Apr 16, 1970
- Best season
- 2013 10–3
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Lehigh * | 11–1 | 1st | NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal L | 5 | |
| 2002 | Lehigh * | 8–4 | 4th | |||
| 2003 | Lehigh * | 8–3 | 2nd | 23 | ||
| 2004 | Lehigh * | 9–3 | T–1st | NCAA Division I-AA First Round L | 15 | |
| 2005 | Lehigh * | 8–3 | 3rd | |||
| 2006 | Elon * | 5–6 | T–5th | |||
| 2007 | Elon * | 7–4 | T–3rd | 23 | ||
| 2008 | Elon * | 8–4 | 3rd | 17 | ||
| 2009 | Elon * | 9–3 | 2nd | NCAA Division I First Round L | 9 | |
| 2010 | Elon * | 6–5 | T–3rd | |||
| 2011 | Ball State | 6–6 | T–4th (West) | |||
| 2012 | Ball State | 9–4 | T–2nd (West) | Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl St. Petersburg L | ||
| 2013 | Ball State | 10–3 | 2nd (West) | GoDaddy Bowl L | ||
| 2014 | Ball State | 5–7 | 5th (West) | |||
| 2015 | Ball State | 3–9 | 5th (West) | |||
| 2016–23: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2024 | Buffalo | 9–4 | T–3rd | Bahamas Bowl W | ||
| 2025 | Buffalo | 5–7 | T–6th | |||
| 2026 | Buffalo | 4–3 (Wikipedia: 3–3) | ||||
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table. * A season our game records don’t credit to him; its record is the article’s.
Players he coached
Shaun DolacConsensus All‑American, 2024
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 10 | 2–8 | 20% |
| Against top-10 teams | 2 | 0–2 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 10 | 2–8 | 20% |
| Conference games | 59 | 35–24 | 59% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 3 | 1–2 | 33% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 37 | 22–15 | 59% |
| At home | 45 | 28–17 | 62% |
| On the road | 45 | 21–24 | 47% |
| At neutral sites | 4 | 2–2 | 50% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 50 | 38–12 | 76% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 44 | 13–31 | 30% |
His own 94 games on file, 2011–2026, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matt Campbell 2012–2026 | 2–3 | Toledo, Penn State | 5 | |
| Dan Enos 2011–2014 | 4–0 | Central Michigan | 4 | |
| Chris Creighton 2014–2025 | 4–0 | Eastern Michigan | 4 | |
| P.J. Fleck 2013–2025 | 1–3 | Western Michigan, Minnesota | 4 | |
| Rich Ellerson 2011–2013 | 3–0 | Army | 3 | |
| Ron English 2011–2013 | 3–0 | Eastern Michigan | 3 | |
| Frank Solich 2011–2015 | 2–1 | Ohio | 3 | |
| Rod Carey 2013–2015 | 0–3 | Northern Illinois | 3 |
Pete Lembo’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Eastern Michiganseries | 7 | 7–0 |
| Toledoseries | 7 | 4–3 |
| Western Michiganseries | 7 | 2–5 |
| Central Michiganseries | 6 | 4–2 |
| Northern Illinoisseries | 6 | 1–5 |
| Massachusettsseries | 5 | 4–1 |
| Ohioseries | 5 | 2–3 |
| Armyseries | 4 | 3–1 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992–93 | Albany | Graduate assistant | |
| 1994–96 | Dartmouth | Tight ends coach | |
| 1997 | Hampden-Sydney | Offensive coordinator, offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator | |
| 1998–2000 | Lehigh | Assistant head coach, offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator | |
| 2001–05 | Lehigh | Head coach | |
| 2006–10 | Elon | Head coach | |
| 2011–15 | Ball State | Head coach | |
| 2016–17 | Maryland | Assistant head coach and special teams and tight ends coach | |
| 2018 | Rice | Assistant head coach and special teams coach | |
| 2019–20 | Memphis | Assistant head coach and special teams coach | |
| 2021–23 | South Carolina | Assistant head coach and special teams coach | |
| 2024–present | Buffalo | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- John LyonsDartmouth
- D.J. DurkinMaryland
- Mike BloomgrenRice
- Mike NorvellMemphis
- Ryan SilverfieldMemphis
- Shane BeamerSouth Carolina
Assistants who became head coaches
- Dave CecchiniValparaiso, Bucknell
- Isaac CollinsWidener, Seton Hill, Albright
- Tom GilmoreHoly Cross, Lehigh
- Brian NewberryNavy
- Gerard WilcherMorehouse
- Jay BatemanSiena
- Rich SkroskyRamapo, Elon
- Warren RuggieroGlenville State
- Billy RiebockMillikin
- Cris ReisertTiffin, Gardner-Webb
- Kevin KellyGeorgetown, New England (NH)
- Dave PatenaudeNew Haven
Worked under (6)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Lyons | Dartmouth | 1994–96 | Tight ends coach | |
| D.J. Durkin | Maryland | 2016–17 | Assistant head coach and special teams and tight ends coach | |
| Mike Bloomgren | Rice | 2018 | Assistant head coach and special teams coach | |
| Mike Norvell | Memphis | 2019 | Assistant head coach and special teams coach | |
| Ryan Silverfield | Memphis | 2019–20 | Assistant head coach and special teams coach | |
| Shane Beamer | South Carolina | 2021–23 | Assistant head coach and special teams coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (12)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dave Cecchini | Lehigh, 2001–02: assistant coach | Valparaiso, Bucknell | |
| Isaac Collins | Lehigh, 2001–03: assistant coach and recruiting coordinator | Widener, Seton Hill, Albright | |
| Tom Gilmore | Lehigh, 2001–03: defensive coordinator | Holy Cross, Lehigh | |
| Brian Newberry | Lehigh, 2003: assistant defensive backs; Elon, 2007–10: defensive backs coach | Navy | |
| Gerard Wilcher | Lehigh, 2004: defensive backs coach; 2005: defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | Morehouse | |
| Jay Bateman | Lehigh, 2005: defensive line coach; Elon, 2006–10: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach; Ball State, 2011–13: defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach | Siena | |
| Rich Skrosky | Elon, 2006–08: offensive line coach; 2009–10: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; Ball State, 2011–13: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Ramapo, Elon | |
| Warren Ruggiero | Elon, 2006–07: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Glenville State | |
| Billy Riebock | Ball State, 2012–13: graduate assistant | Millikin | |
| Cris Reisert | Ball State, 2013: graduate assistant | Tiffin, Gardner-Webb | |
| Kevin Kelly | Ball State, 2014–15: defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach | Georgetown, New England (NH) | |
| Dave Patenaude | Buffalo, 2024–25: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | New Haven |
Other assistants under him (6)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| John Strollo | Elon, 2008: tight ends coach; 2009–10: offensive line coach; Ball State, 2011: offensive line coach; 2014–15: assistant coach | |
| Chad Wilt | Ball State, 2011–13: defensive line coach | |
| Joey Lynch | Ball State, 2011–13: tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator; 2014–15: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Joe Bowen | Buffalo, 2024–25: defensive coordinator | |
| Brian Dougherty | Buffalo, 2026: defensive coordinator | |
| Tony Tokarz | Buffalo, 2026: offensive coordinator |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Ball State | head coachbonuses up to $460,000; $2,500 in bonuses paid | $517,750 USA Today | |
| 2014 | Ball State | head coachbonuses up to $450,000 | $503,500 USA Today |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Lembo’s teams went for it on 19% of fourth downs and on 33% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 50% of plays and took 22.2 seconds a play, 2011–2026.
| Season | School | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 12 g | Ball State | 15 of 99 15% | 27% | 55% | 20.8 | +0.02 | |
| 2012 13 g | Ball State | 15 of 92 16% | 24% | 49% | 19.6 | +0.09 | |
| 2013 13 g | Ball State | 13 of 81 16% | 28% | 54% | 19.7 | +0.09 | |
| 2014 12 g | Ball State | 13 of 107 12% | 19% | 49% | 24.1 | +0.01 | |
| 2015 12 g | Ball State | 23 of 109 21% | 31% | 52% | 22.0 | −0.02 | |
| 2024 13 g | Buffalo | 29 of 118 25% | 55% | 43% | 24.3 | 0.00 | |
| 2025 12 g | Buffalo | 25 of 105 24% | 53% | 53% | 23.6 | −0.07 | |
| 2026 7 g | Buffalo | 13 of 71 18% | 39% | 47% | 24.2 | −0.09 | |
| All 94 g | 146 of 782 19% | 33% | 50% | 22.2 | +0.01 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.