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The University of Tulsa has hired a new head football coach.
University of Tulsa Vice President and Director of Athletics Justin Moore announced on Sunday evening the appointment of Tre Lamb as the school’s 35th head football coach.
A news conference is set for 10 a.m. Tuesday.
Lamb comes to Tulsa following a season as the head coach at East Tennessee State, where his offensive prowess helped lead the Buccaneers to their first winning season since 2021.
"We are so excited for Tre and his family to join TU," Moore said. "He is young, energetic and a proven winner. We feel he is exactly who we need to lead our program and restore a tradition of winning for Tulsa in this new era of college football. I welcome Tre, his wife, Carter, and his children, Olivia James and Drew Nix, to Tulsa.”
Before joining ETSU, Lamb spent four seasons as the head coach at Gardner-Webb, leading the Bulldogs to back-to-back Big South Conference titles and FCS playoff appearances.
In his 12 years of coaching experience, Lamb has also had a pair of stops at Tennessee Tech as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach and a three-year stint as quarterbacks coach at Mercer.
“Being the head football coach at Tulsa is a responsibility I will not take lightly,” Lamb said. “We are going to compete for championships. Before we do that, I look forward to hiring a staff and building a roster our students and fans will be excited about!
“This an opportunity of a lifetime. My family and I cannot wait to explore Tulsa and make it our home. Thank you to Justin Moore, President (Brad) Carson and the other distinguished members of the search committee. I am honored to be your coach.”
In his lone season at East Tennessee State, Lamb engineered a bounce-back season. The Buccaneers rushed for 2,330 yards, third best in program history, and the defense held opponents to just 110.5 yards per game on the ground, also the third best in school history.
The Bucs led the Southern Conference in multiple offensive categories under Lamb, including rushing offense, rushing touchdowns, sacks allowed and first downs gained rushing, while finishing second in total offense.
"This is an exciting day for The University of Tulsa," University President Brad Carson said. "Coach Lamb has a track record of producing winning football teams and developing great young men. We welcome Tre and his family to the great city of Tulsa and to our prestigious university. We intend to make an unprecedented investment in our football program, and Coach Lamb is the right person for this new era – one in which conference championships and beyond are the expectation.”
During his tenure at Gardner-Webb, Lamb led the Runnin’ Bulldogs to a 10-1 conference record in his final two seasons, including a 5-0 league campaign in 2022. Gardner-Webb capped its dream season with its first conference title in 20 years and the school’s first playoff appearance since 1992. The Runnin’ Bulldogs then collected their first-ever FCS playoff win with a 52-41 defeat of Eastern Kentucky.
Lamb’s offense led the Big South in total points scored (418), touchdowns (56), total offense (441.5), completion percentage (63.4) and completions (281) during the 2022 season. The Runnin’ Bulldogs scored at least 30 points in four of the team’s five conference games, including three games of 40 or more. Lamb was named the 2022 Big South Coach of the Year.
The 2023 team earned a share of the first-ever Big South/OVC Championship, marking the first time Gardner-Webb had won back-to-back conference titles since 2002-03. Lamb's squad started the year ranked No. 24 in the AFCA Preseason Coaches Poll and No. 25 in the STATS Perform Poll – the first time the Runnin' Bulldogs were ranked in the Coaches Poll since Oct. 5, 2013. Gardner-Webb won its last five regular season games, averaging more than 37 points per game during the streak to help secure a spot in the FCS Playoffs for a second straight year.
The first challenge when taking over as head coach was navigating the COVID-19 pandemic, winning his first game in a shortened 2020 spring season that started in 2021. He opened his account with a 42-20 upset of No. 24 Elon and finished the season 2-2, becoming one of only two coaches in school history to finish their first season .500. In 2021, he was featured as one of the AFCA’s top young coaches in the country.
Prior to Gardner-Webb, Lamb served as an offensive coordinator at Tennessee Tech during the 2018 and 2019 seasons. He helped guide the Golden Eagles to one of the largest turnarounds in 2019. After Tennessee Tech combined for two wins in 2017 and 2018, the Golden Eagles won six games during the 2019 campaign. In the 2019 season-opening win over Samford, Tennessee Tech totaled 671 yards of total offense in the 59-58 victory. During the season, Tennessee Tech went on to score 30 or more points five times en route to finishing second in the Ohio Valley Conference in scoring offense and offensive plays.
Lamb started his coaching career at his alma mater, Tennessee Tech, where he was the quarterbacks coach in 2013. Following the 2013 season, Lamb went to Mercer where he served in the same role from 2014 to 2017. During his stint in Macon, Georgia, Lamb mentored John Russ to an outstanding career and helped freshman Kaelan Riley to a spot on the Jerry Rice Award Watch List and Southern Conference Freshman of the Year honors in 2017.
A native of Calhoun, Georgia, Lamb played quarterback at Tennessee Tech from 2009 to 2012 and served as team captain for his final three seasons. He led the Golden Eagles to an OVC title in 2011 – the program's first since 1975 – and the school's first appearance in the FCS Playoffs. During that championship campaign, Lamb led an offense that set nine school records, including single-season marks for points scored (355), scoring average (32.3) and first downs in a season (238). He graduated with a degree in interdisciplinary studies, education and exercise science.
The program's Robert Hill Johnson Award winner, Lamb set three individual school records himself in 2011, establishing new marks for single-game attempts and completions and the single-season record for total offense with 2,555 yards. He finished his career with 5,301 passing yards, which ranks third in program history. He passed for a school-record 481 yards vs. Southeast Missouri State as a senior.