Bobby Lamb out as Mercer Bears head football coach after losing season
The Mercer Bears have parted ways with head football coach Bobby Lamb after finishing the season 4-8 and end the season on a three-game losing streak capped by a loss to ACC opponent North Carolina.
The announcement was made Sunday evening in a press release from Mercer Athletics.
“Days like today are very difficult, especially when you are talking about someone like Bobby Lamb,” Mercer Athletic Director Jim Cole said in the release. “We have all worked side-by-side to start and grow the Mercer football program from a dream to an actual reality. Bobby Lamb shouldered the majority of that burden and workload in that process. We can never thank him enough.”
Lamb has been the head coach since the program was reestablished in 2013. He went 41-39 in his seven seasons as head coach.
The Bears went 10-2 that first season, tying the NCAA record for most wins by a first-year program. From there, he led the Bears into the Southern Conference. Former Mercer football player Tony Perella was part of the first class of football players to come through the program in 2013. He said that he will always be grateful for Lamb taking a chance on him and others in that first recruiting class.
“The appreciation for him goes beyond words. It is a tough thing to see but obviously it’s a hard conference. It’s tough to win. Nothing is a guarantee,” Perella said. “Mercer is a program that wants to win. In a tough environment, you either do it or you don’t. I wish we had done it during our time and the time after us. It’s a harsh reality that is happening right now.”
The Bears have had several highlight wins over FCS top 25 teams including Samford last season. Perrella said that even when they were outmatched on paper, Lamb and his staff came up with strategies to give them a chance to win.
“The coaches did a good job. Coach Lamb was at the forefront of that,” Perella said. “It did lead us to some unexpected victories. And those are some of the best memories that we have of our time there.”
Steven Nixon, a former Mercer long snapper who transferred to Georgia, said Monday one of his favorite memories of playing under Lamb is upsetting no. 3 ranked Chattanooga in 2015. He praised Lamb for building the program “right” from the ground up and wants to see the next head coach focus on not only winning games, but building up players off the field.
“(Mercer officials) do a great job of looking and finding the guy that’s gonna one, have a great team and have a successful program but two, build better men,” Nixon said. “That’s what coach Lamb has done and he really prided himself. Yes we want to win football games, yes Mercer wants to be known as a top-tier...program but he also wants to build better men and I think he does a great job of that.”
The Bears finished at .500 in the conference for three straight seasons but took a step back this season when they finished 3-5.
“Everyone at Mercer has the utmost respect for Bobby, his family, the football staff and our student-athletes,” Cole said in the release. “I know I speak for all Bears to say ‘Thank you’ to Bobby and Allyson for all they have done for Mercer.”
A national search for the Bears’ next head coach is underway. CarrSports Consulting will serve as the search counsel.
Telegraph correspondent Brandon Sudge contributed to this report.
This story was originally published November 24, 2019 at 8:20 PM.