Football: Ongoing search for football head coach remains under wraps

As students prepare to head home for the winter break, the search for a new football head coach continues. Little buzz has been generated over the internet in the past week, other than the report that Pete Lembo has withdrawn his name from consideration for the job. Lembo, who had previously been linked to the vacancy by a report on footballscoop.com, is currently the head coach at Elon University.

Director of Athletics Gary Walters ’67 declined to comment on the ongoing search for a replacement for former head coach Roger Hughes, saying that the process is confidential.

With no head coach in place, life as usual has continued for the players. Over the past few weeks, the team has continued with its regular offseason strength and conditioning program under the direction of strength coach Jason Gallucci.

“Nothing’s really changed,” sophomore wide receiver Jon Hibler said. “As far as I know, the head coach never really had anything to do with workouts or the type of workouts that we do. We’re still going down there and getting our training in, and waiting on an answer to see who’s going to be our guy.”

The lack of a head coach has had the most impact on the team’s recruiting efforts. Recruiting is particularly competitive in the Ivy League, as all eight schools search nationwide for academically qualified students who are also stellar athletes, and the best recruits are often targeted by multiple teams.

The few weekends immediately following the end of the football season are key weekends in the recruiting process. Prospects visit campuses during this time, and they get a feel for both campus life and the football program.

While the lack of a head coach has not hindered recruits as they evaluate life at Princeton, getting a feel for what Princeton football is all about has been more difficult as of late. A potential recruit might know about the team’s key players and its performance over the last few years, but judging the program’s future is much harder without a head coach.

The recruiting efforts are currently being led by Hughes’ coaching staff, all of whom remain under contract. Walters has said that the new head coach will have the option of bringing in his own staff, but until then, there will be no changes unless a coach chooses to leave on his own accord.

Still, the players’ roles in helping recruit new players have remained unchanged.

“[Our role] is the same,” Hibler said. “The old coaching staff is still doing the recruiting for this year’s class. They’re doing their best to sell the program to the best players that they can get regardless of whether or not [the coaching staff is] going to be here.”