Former CCHS coach Donnie Roberts named co-defensive coordinator at Lehigh

FROM KEITH GROLLER

Lehigh football coach Andy Coen didn't have to look far to replace Dave Kotulski, the Mountain Hawks' defensive coordinator who left South Mountain for a job at Stanford a couple of weeks ago.

Coen knew he had quality, experienced people on his staff and he has promoted two of them to co-defensive coordinators.

One of them is Donnie Roberts, the former Central Catholic head coach, who returned to the collegiate coaching ranks once Coen came back to Lehigh in 2006.

The other is Gerard Wilcher, who has been with Lehigh's staff longer than anyone else and has been an asset to the program in a number of capacities.

He was previously the team's defensive coordinator under Pete Lembo.

Both are very deserving of the promotion and will do an excellent job as Lehigh tries to go for a three-peat in the Patriot League this fall.

Here's the official release from Lehigh:

Lehigh head coach Andy Coen has announced several updates to the Mountain Hawks’ defensive coaching staff. Defensive line coach Donnie Roberts and secondary coach Gerard Wilcher have been promoted and will serve as co-defensive coordinators for the 2012 season, while former outside linebackers coach Matt Sanders returns to the Lehigh staff to coach the inside linebackers.



The restructuring was necessitated by the departure of six-year defensive coordinator Dave Kotulski to become the inside linebackers coach at Stanford.



“We’ve seen our defense develop schematically over the last four seasons,” said Coen, who enters his seventh season. “Our staff does a great job putting kids in the right position. We’ve developed a multiplicity to our defense that I didn’t want to lose. Donnie and Gerard, from working with Dave had a lot of input in getting our scheme to where it is today.



Coen continued, "It was hard to distinguish just one of those guys. I wanted to be able to reward both those guys for doing a great job over the last six years we’ve been here. They work very well together on a day-to-day basis and I’m sure they will here. That’s why I made them co-coordinators.”



Roberts is entering his seventh season as the Mountain Hawks’ defensive line coach as part of his second stint on the Lehigh staff. Over the last six seasons, Roberts has mentored 13 All-Patriot League selections and three All-Americans.



Last season all three of Lehigh’s starting defensive linemen (Ben Flizack, Sajjad Chagani and Andrew Knapp) earned all-league honors, as the Mountain Hawks boasted a rush defense that ranked in the top 12 nationally. Lehigh also led the Patriot League in sacks for the third straight season. During the 2009 season Roberts was instrumental in the Lehigh defense leading the nation in sacks with 39 and ranking 12th in the country in tackles-for-loss with 83. Roberts added the title of Assistant Head Coach in 2008, as he assists Coen in a number of administrative areas.



Wilcher is going into his ninth season as coach of Lehigh’s secondary. This will be Wilcher’s second stint as defensive coordinator as he previously held the title in 2005, a year in which the Mountain Hawks led the Patriot League in rush defense, sacks and interceptions. With his prior experience as a coordinator, Wilcher will handle the defensive play calling responsibilities on game day.

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