What’s old is new again, as former Ball State head coach Pete Lembo tries to steady a reeling Buffalo program.
The Buffalo Bulls appeared poised to have a normal offseason. Then Nick Saban retired.
How does the head coach of a dynasty in the SEC affect Buffalo? Alabama needed a successor to Saban, and Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer took on that challenge. DeBoer then populated his staff, and among his additions was Buffalo head coach Maurice Linguist.
Linguist spent three seasons as the Bulls’ head man after Lance Leipold departed to Kansas. After entering the winter of 2024 seemingly stable under Linguist’s direction, Buffalo had to start anew at head coach, hiring Pete Lembo on Jan. 24.
Coaching changes create chaos in the modern era of college football. The transfer portal runs even more abundant on programs witnessing massive turnover within their coaching staffs. Buffalo was subject to all of this throughout the past seven months, and now it’s time to see what the Bulls came out with on the other side. Here’s what’s new in Buffalo for 2024:
Lembo returns to the MAC
Buffalo is the only MAC program phasing in a new head coach this season. But he’s anything but new to the conference.
The Bulls hired Pete Lembo in late January after former head coach Maurice Linguist stepped down to take a position as Alabama’s co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach. Lembo spent the last eight seasons as an assistant at four stops, most recently serving as South Carolina’s associate head coach and special teams coordinator. Before Lembo became renowned as a special teams guru, he was head coach at Ball State from 2011-15. Lembo produced two winning seasons with the Cardinals, faring 9-4 in 2012 and 10-3 in 2013, before resigning at the conclusion of the 2015 campaign. Buffalo represents his first head coaching position since, and he assembled a new staff to lead the Bulls in 2024.
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Dave Patenaude will serve as Lembo’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, operating in his typical role he also held at other FBS schools including Temple and Georgia Tech. His last offensive coordinator role was a challenging one, tasked with transforming the Yellow Jackets from a flexbone triple option offense to a more modern offense built around 11 personnel. Patenaude was hired as Old Dominion’s offensive coordinator after his brief Georgia Tech stint, but he resigned one month before the 2022 season. Last year, he served in a smaller role as an offensive analyst at Virginia.
Joe Bowen is the leader on the other side of the ball as Buffalo’s first-year defensive coordinator. Unlike Patenaude, this is Bowen’s first time operating in a coordinator role. Bowen was on Lembo’s staff at South Carolina in 2021 as a defensive graduate assistant and leveraged his success there into becoming the linebackers coach at Miami (OH). Miami won the MAC title last December and finished seventh nationally in scoring defense, earning two All-MAC selections from Bowen’s linebacking corps.
Other first-year assistants include special teams coordinator Tyler Hancock, who formerly held the same role at Charlotte from 2021-22. Additionally, Lembo adds a defensive line coach in Adam Morris, who played for Lembo at Ball State in the early 2010s. Morris arrives at Buffalo after spending one season working with the defensive line at his alma mater. Brian Dougherty, a Division II defensive coordinator who served as a graduate assistant under Lembo at Ball State, joins the Buffalo staff to coach the safeties. Ray Pickering is the running backs coach, earning the opportunity after time as the offensive coordinator at FCS Norfolk State. Lastly, the Bulls start fresh at wide receivers coach with Caleb Haynes, who spent the past three seasons in the same position at FCS Stony Brook. Similar to other first-year assistants, Haynes intersected paths with Lembo at a previous stop, serving as an offensive analyst during Lembo’s one year as Rice’s special teams coordinator (2018).
Transferrin’ up to Buffalo
Offensive transfers
Buffalo lost two-year starting quarterback Cole Snyder to Eastern Michigan in the transfer portal this offseason, leaving a significant void at the all-important position. While incumbent backup CJ Ogbonna — who earned substantial playing time in 2023 as Buffalo’s more mobile quarterback option — is expected to start Week 1, the Bulls landed a challenger for the position this offseason. Jack Shields is the only Buffalo quarterback with FBS starting experience, holding the No. 1 role for two games at Old Dominion last September. Shields finished with a season stat-line of 353 yards on 25 completions and 47 attempts, firing two touchdowns and three interceptions. There is a mobile element to his game, as demonstrated by a 66-yard touchdown run in a conference clash against Marshall.
Who will Ogbonna or Shields throw to? Five different players amassed 20 receptions and 200 receiving yards for the Bulls in 2023. Zero remain on the roster for 2024. Four of those players were wide receivers, which makes that one position of emphasis for Buffalo in fall camp. The Bulls loaded up on receivers in the portal, snagging Taji Johnson from Boston College and JJ Jenkins from Columbia — both who could thrive as bona fide day one starters, especially Jenkins.
Johnson caught 11 passes for 119 yards from 2021-23 at Boston College, sharing a receiver room with first round NFL Draft pick Zay Flowers for multiple years. Jenkins moves from one Upstate New York school to another after producing considerable numbers at the FCS level. He registered 434 yards and three touchdowns in 2022 and upped those numbers to 535 and four in 2023.
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Also in the pass-catchers department is tight end Evan King, who arrives from Hampton of the FCS after nine receptions, 106 yards, and two touchdowns a season ago. Other offensive transfers include running back Jordan Owens from Army, who has yet to see collegiate on-field action, and a trio of offensive linemen — Gabe Arena who redshirted the entire 2023 season at Virginia Tech, Matt Glen who played at Hutchinson Community College, and Chayce Chadwick who played at Coffeyville Community College.
Defensive transfers
Kobe Stewart is perhaps the most intriguing transfer on the defensive side of the ball on a Buffalo d-line which loses a great deal of production. Only one defensive end who recorded a sack last season remains on the roster, so Stewart could earn a starting spot opposite C.J. Bazile. Stewart hails from the FCS, where he accumulated 19 tackles at Samford. While that’s not exactly a wealth of on-field experience in college football, Stewart impressed in spring ball and should be on track for significant playing time in 2024.
Another defensive end competing to earn that starting nod is Antonio Colclough. Colclough was apart of James Madison’s inaugural FBS season in 2022, but saw his playing time ramp up when moving to the FCS level last season. At Monmouth, he tallied 4.5 sacks and 22 tackles — enough to earn an honorable mention for his all-conference team. The Bulls also have Malin White entering the depth chart from the FCS level. An outside linebacker at Cornell, White is best suited for Buffalo’s 4-man front, where he can contribute after 21 tackles and a forced fumble last fall.
Elswhere on the defensive line, Tristan Souza arrives from Washington State to bolster defensive tackle depth. Despite fours seasons in Pullman, Souza still awaits his first opportunity to record a statistic. Also new on the defensive line is Charlton Goodell, a former Deion Sanders recruit, who logged one tackle at Jackson State of the FCS in 2023.
With starters Shaun Dolac and Red Murdock back, linebacker wasn’t a priority in the transfer portal, especially for ready-to-play talent. Buffalo addressed this area, however, by bringing in Erie Community College transfer Matthew Hilty.
The secondary gains experience with the addition of Western Michigan transfer SaVeon Brown. The strong safety cracked the Broncos’ rotation last season, accumulating 17 tackles and two pass breakups for the fellow MAC school. Also new in the defensive back room is cornerback Oliver Bridges, who spent two years at Cincinnati and registered three tackles during the Bearcats’ Big 12 debut season. More cornerback depth comes in the form of Eddie Pleasant III, but the Michigan State transfer has yet to take a collegiate snap after redshirting his true freshman season.
Special teams transfers
Buffalo’s 2023 punter Anthony Venneri is no longer on the roster, but the Bulls effectively replaced him by means of the portal. In comes Ethan Duane from Old Dominion, who spent the 2022 offseason working directly with Lembo. The Australia native is a three-year starter, racking up his best numbers in 2022 with a 42.9 punting average and an All-Sun Belt honorable mention.
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Although you won’t hear his name frequently on Saturdays (or Tuesdays and Wednesdays), another seemingly surefire starter Buffalo acquired from the portal is Byron Floyd. Floyd will serve an integral role on special teams as the long snapper after earning two years of starting experience at Pitt.
One other special teams transfers the Bulls landed are Upton Bellenfant, who did not see any playing time as a kicker at Alabama, and long snapper Carson Selee from the Division II level.
Young Bulls to watch
Lembo’s first class at Buffalo ranked 111th in the FBS and 11th in the MAC, per 247Sports.
The Bulls signed a heap of 3-star recruits, notably recruiting well at wide receiver with the additions of Patrick Clacks III and Tyrell Simmons Jr. Clacks was a two-time all-state receiver in Indiana with 614 yards and seven touchdowns last season at Kenwood Academy, while Simmons managed 631 yards and eight touchdowns in Rochester, NY, in addition to thriving as a defensive end. Other high school receivers the Bulls landed include Bobby Mays, Jeremiah Watkins, Evan Dean, Shey Williams, Terrell Richards, and Marcel Picard.
Shamar Riser-Pressley is one of Buffalo’s more heralded offensive recruits, giving the offense a first team all-state tight end from Clintondale, MI. Nick Leonard from Victor, NY is the Bulls’ other tight end recruit for the 2024 class.
Another first team all-stater from the midwest is running back Terrance Shelton Jr., who totaled 2,165 all-purpose yards and 33 touchdowns as a senior. Gabe Goins is a fellow running back, arriving on campus from the Cincinnati area. Buffalo also lists true freshman James McNeil Jr. as an “athlete” on the roster. McNeil is one of the more intriguing newcomers, displaying impressive versatility after rushing for 1,827 yards and recording 96 tackles in the same season.
Finally on offense, Jackson Bellamy, Paul Clark, Tyrone Davis, Val Kondratenko, and Ahmann Thomas fortify the line as Buffalo’s recruits in the trenches.
On the defensive side, defensive end Will Clark stands out after posting 133 tackles and six sacks in Crown Point, IN last fall. The defensive line also features newcomer Luke Yau Gayle, who played for the NFL Academy in the United Kingdom — an NFL-associated program which trains athletes across the pond. Other edge rushers in the recruiting class include Demetrius Ballard, Jacari Bennett, Logan Jozwiak, Chris Martin, Billy O’Byrne, and Noah Whitmer. Drake Saltarelli, DJ Mangan, Nick Burun, and Matthew Conlin are the true freshman linebackers joining a defense which oftentimes plays just two linebackers at a time.
After losing an All-American safety in Devin Grant, the Bulls also heavily recruited that position with Ronnell Davis, John Keough, and Xavier Leonard, who combine for two all-state selections and a state championship in 2023. Cornerbacks Kobi Blackwell, Ramari Taylor, and Mikey Crawford also join the secondary as a true freshmen from out of state.
Dylan Drennan (kicker) and Bailey Sanders (long snapper) round out the recruiting class as the special teams additions for a special teams oriented head coach.