Following a difficult 2023 season that both began and ended with four-game losing streaks, Buffalo saw its head coach, Maurice Linguist, resign to join Kalen DeBoer’s newly constructed staff at Alabama.
As luck would have it, the only MAC school in need of a new head coach this offseason decided to bring in an old MAC coach as Buffalo hired Pete Lembo, who previously went 33-29 in five seasons at Ball State (2011-15).
A program that, in only the past four seasons, has experienced the highs of being ranked in the AP Poll for the first time ever (2020) as well as the lows of losing to an FCS program at home, twice (Holy Cross in 2022 and Fordham in 2023), has tabbed Lembo to bring stability back to Western New York.
Who will make up Lembo’s first staff of the Bulls?
Buffalo Bulls Coaching Staff
Head Coach, Pete Lembo
Lembo was named the 28th head coach at the University of Buffalo football program on Jan. 21, 2024.
A coaching veteran of over 30 years, Lembo has spent half of that time enjoying successful stints as head coach of three separate programs. From 2001-15, he served as head coach at Lehigh (FCS), Elon (FCS) and Ball State. He amassed a 112–65 career record, including a 79–36 record in 10 seasons at the FCS level, making him one of the winningest coaches in the history of that classification.
In five years as head coach at Lehigh, Lembo had a record of 44-14, including 26-7 in Patriot League play. He led the Mountain Hawks to two Patriot League titles and two appearances in the FCS playoffs. He was named the Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year and the Patriot League Coach of the Year in 2001 after leading Lehigh to an 11-1 record and as high as No. 2 in the national polls – the highest ranking the program’s history.
Lembo then spent five seasons at Elon, which had become a program in need of tender love and care. The Phoenix went 14-42 in the five seasons prior to his arrival and then went 35-22 with Lembo leading the way. He was named the Southern Conference Coach of the Year twice during his tenure (2007, 2009) in addition to qualifying for the FCS playoffs for the first time in program history in 2009.
His first — and to this point only — FBS head coaching opportunity came at Buffalo’s MAC rival, Ball State.
Lembo became the first coach in Cardinals history to win 30 games over his first four seasons at the helm. He led Ball State to the 2012 Beef ‘O’ Brady Bowl and the 2013 GoDaddy Bowl, marking just the second time in over 90 years that they played in bowl games during consecutive seasons.
Since his departure from Ball State following the 2015 season, Lembo had become one of the best special teams coordinators in the country at Maryland, Rice, Memphis and South Carolina.
Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach, Dave Patenaude
Dave Patenaude begins his first season at Buffalo as the team’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, but it is far from his first season coaching college football.
In fact, Patenaude has over 30 years of experience, including a recent three-year stint as the offensive coordinator at Georgia Tech from 2019-21.
After a brief stint at Old Dominion in 2022 before having to step away for personal reasons, Patenaude most recently served as an offensive analyst at Virgina in 2023.
Prior to joining Georgia Tech, Patenaude was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Temple from 2017-18 where they had two of its top three single-season passing totals in school history during his tenure. He also held the offensive coordinator title at Coastal Carolina (2012-16), Georgetown (2010-11) and Hofstra (2008-09).
Patenaude began his coaching career in 1991 as the running backs coach at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.
Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach, Joe Bowen
While Lembo went with experience in choosing an offensive coordinator, he went in the opposite direction for the defense in tabbing Joe Bowen for his first coordinator role.
Bowen comes to Buffalo following two seasons at Miami (OH) where he served as linebackers coach and running game coordinator. In 2022, Miami was the conference’s top-ranked scoring defense and run defense. In 2023, the RedHawks ranked in the top three in the MAC in scoring defense, rushing defense, and defensive efficiency.
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Prior to being hired at Miami, Bowen spent the 2021 season as a defensive graduate assistant at South Carolina on the same staff as Lembo.
In Bowen’s lone season with the Gamecocks, they led the SEC in turnovers with 24 while having the best total defense and scoring defense the school has had since 2013. Bowen’s full college football coaching résumé can be found below.
- Miami (OH), defensive graduate assistant (2015-16)
- Michigan State, defensive graduate assistant/assistant LB coach (2017)
- Florida State, defensive analyst and defensive graduate assistant (2018-20)
- South Carolina, defensive graduate assistant (2021)
- Miami (OH), linebackers coach and running game coordinator (2022-23)
Special Teams Coordinator/Defensive Assistant, Tyler Hancock
Tyler Hancock arrives in Western New York for his first season with Buffalo by way of Baylor, where he was a special teams quality control coach for the Bears.
Hancock served as special teams coordinator at Charlotte from 2021-22. In his two seasons with the 49ers, Charlotte ranked among the nation’s top 10 in punt-return defense (No. 4 in 2022 and No. 8 in 2021).
Prior to Charlotte, Hancock spent two seasons as the senior analyst for special teams at West Virginia. He oversaw the program’s analysts and quality control coaches, while helping lead the special teams unit and its gameplans.
Hancock served as special teams quality control coach at Maryland from 2016-18 where he worked with Lembo, who was the Terps special teams coordinator at the time.
Tight Ends Coach, Ron Whitcomb
Ron Whitcomb is a holdover from the previous staff who was retained by Lembo for his first season with Buffalo. He has coached tight ends and quarterbacks at UB over the past three seasons and will now serve as tight ends coach under coach Lembo beginning in 2024.
Prior to arriving at Buffalo, Whitcomb spent 12 seasons as quarterbacks coach at Old Dominion where he guided the likes of Blake LaRussa, Steven Williams, David Washington, and Taylor Heinicke.
Before joining the Old Dominion staff, Whitcomb was a four-year starter at the University of Maine from 2003-06, where he was the Black Bears’ all-time leader in completions (755), total offense (8,801), and touchdown passes (68) when he left school.
Defensive Line/Run Game Coordinator, Adam Morris
A former team captain for Coach Lembo at Ball State, Adam Morris comes to Buffalo for his first season with the Bulls as a defensive line/run game coordinator after spending last season with the Cardinals as their defensive line coach.
He helped lead a Ball State defense that ranked second in the Mid-American Conference in total defense (315.8) and rushing defense (111.6) in 2023.
Prior to Ball State, Morris spent three seasons as defensive line coach at Eastern Illinois.
Offensive Line Coach, Matt Stansfield
Matt Stansfield will enter his fourth season as the Bulls’ offensive line coach.
Last season, Buffalo tied for third in the MAC for the fewest sacks allowed. Additionally, it was the third straight season that two Bulls offensive linemen were named All-MAC, as offensive guards Tyler Doty and Gabe Wallace were both named to the third team.
Stansfield came to UB after spending the previous five seasons as run game coordinator and offensive line/tight ends coach at Duquesne. A former player and coach at Duquesne, he returned to his alma mater after serving as offensive coordinator at Waynesburg for four seasons.
Safeties & Nickels Coach, Brian Dougherty
Brian Dougherty enters his first season as safeties and nickels coach after spending the 2023 season as defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach at Division II’s University of Indianapolis.
In his lone season at U-Indy, Dougherty helped lead the Greyhounds to a 9-2 record and oversaw one of the top defenses in not only the Great Lakes Athletic Conference, but all of Division II.
Prior to his time with the Greyhounds, Dougherty spent four seasons as the defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Valparaiso. He helped lead the Beacons to 12 Pioneer Football League victories over his final three seasons, setting a school record over that span.
Dougherty spent two seasons as a graduate assistant under Lembo at Ball State, working with the wide receivers in 2015 and defensive backs in 2014.
Running Backs Coach, Ray Pickering
Ray Pickering is apart of the new staff at Buffalo after serving one season as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at FCS school Norfolk State.
In his one season with the Spartans, Norfolk State ranked third in the MEAC in scoring offense (24.0) and second in rushing offense (173.8). The Spartans set a program record for rushing yards in a season with 1,912, as well as their best-ever single-game rushing total with 350 yards against Towson.
Prior to Norfolk State, Pickering served as an offensive assistant at Texas in 2022. He worked with the offensive line, which produced freshman All-American Kelvin Banks. He helped a unit that improved vastly during the second year of head coach Steve Sarkisian and propelled current Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson to career bests.
Cornerbacks Coach, Holman Copeland
Holman Copeland will enter his second season on the coaching staff at Buffalo. After coaching the defensive backs in 2023, Copeland will focus on the cornerbacks beginning in 2024.
Buffalo tied for third in the MAC in interceptions with 11 in 2023. It is a homecoming of sorts for Copeland who was a graduate assistant on the UB staff in 2012 and 2013.
Prior to arriving in Western New York, Copeland spent the last four seasons as cornerbacks coach at Delaware. In his final season with the Blue Hens, they went 8-5 and advanced to the second round of the FCS playoff while leading their conference in total defense, passing defense and scoring defense.
Prior to Delaware, Copeland spent two seasons (2017-18) at William & Mary, where he was the secondary coach and an assistant special teams coordinator, and three seasons (2014-16) as an assistant at Central Connecticut State, where he served as the outside linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator.
Wide Receivers Coach, Caleb Haynes
Caleb Haynes enters his first season with Buffalo after spending the previous five at Stony Brook, where he coached multiple units, including the wide receivers (2021-23). He also coached safeties and quarterbacks for the Seawolves.
Prior to Stony Brook, Haynes spent three seasons as an offensive graduate assistant at Rice at the same time Lembo was there as the special teams coordinator. He coached the Owls’ receiving corps and assisted with the special teams as well.
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