South Carolina Football Coach Shane Beamer made his second hire, according to a Pete Thamel report from Yahoo! sports. Coordination of special Memphis teams Pete Lembo, according to Thamel, agreed to take the same position for Gamecocks.
Tony Morrell of TheBigSpur.com was the first to report that Lembo was Beamer’s main target for the position of coordinator of special teams.
Lembo will enter Erik Kimrey, who agreed to become the tight-lipped coach in South Carolina after resigning from the Hammond School in Columbia, as Beamer’s second contractor. FootballScoop.com had previously reported that the former Tennessee offensive lineman Will be friend will also be part of the South Carolina team, but although we think this is likely, our sources have not indicated that the deal is right.
Lembo just finished his second season with the Tigers after joining the program in January 2019, where he spent a season at Rice University. Lembo has an extensive coaching career, which also included three stops as a head coach, including one nearby.
Lembo was an assistant coach at Lehigh University from 1998-2000 before taking on that program as a head coach from 2001-05. He was head coach at Elon University from 2006-10 before taking over as the 2011-15 Ball State. After his stint at Ball State, he coordinated special teams in Maryland in 2016-17 before moving to Rice and Memphis.
Lembo was the only coordinator of special teams for the Broyles Award among 41 coaches nominated for the 2019 Broyles Award, which is awarded annually to the country’s best assistant coach. He was also one of the three finalists for the Special Football Team Coordinator of the Year in the same season.
Lembo, according to his memphis biography, graduated in 1992 from Georgetown University, was a starter for four years on the Hoyas offensive line and served as team captain in 1991. Born in Staten Island, New York, Lembo is married with ex-Jenifer Kochis. The couple has three children: Sophia, AJ and Victoria.