New Buffalo coach Pete Lembo gets emotional talking about USC, Shane Beamer impact

Pete Lembo insists it “should be hard” to leave a place.

He certainly feels that way about South Carolina, where he spent three seasons as associate head coach and special teams coordinator for Shane Beamer before accepting the Buffalo head coaching job over the weekend.

Lembo delivered an emotional tribute to Beamer and his time at USC during his introductory news conference at Buffalo on Tuesday, praising USC’s fourth-year coach as a great person and his family’s “incredible” experience in Columbia.

Lembo, a 30-plus year coaching veteran who’s previously been a head coach at Lehigh, Elon and Ball State, was part of Beamer’s first staff at South Carolina and developed a reputation as one of the best special teams coaches in the country with the Gamecocks.

“I don’t think there’s any way that I’m here in front of you today if I didn’t first get the opportunity to go with Shane Beamer to the University of South Carolina,” Lembo said Tuesday, before taking a five-second pause to compose himself.

“Shane’s a great person. Many of you know about Frank Beamer, and Shane is definitely Frank’s son. They’re both great people. And I had an incredible experience the last three years in Columbia with Shane, with those players there, with the coaching staff there.”

“Our family …”

Another pause.

“Sorry, I’m getting a little emotional right now.”

Lembo has coached all over the country but said his three years at South Carolina were “a very special time in 30-plus year career.”

“You know, it should be hard to leave a place,” he said. “It should be hard. And it was hard to leave them. But that doesn’t temper my excitement and enthusiasm to be here.”

Beamer was equally complimentary of Lembo on social media. Lembo was the second USC assistant to leave for a head coaching job this offseason, as tight ends coach Jody Wright accepted the lead job at FCS Murray State.

Lembo’s unit ranked No. 1 in ESPN’s special teams efficiency ranking in 2022 and developed a reputation for consistency, impact plays and occasional trick plays while blocking 14 kicks from 2021-23 after just eight blocked kicks over the previous five seasons (2016-20) combined.

“Congrats Pistol Pete !!!!!” Beamer wrote on the platform X (formerly Twitter) after news broke of Lembo’s hiring. “Incredible opportunity for you …You made our program better on and off the field. This position in Columbia is EXTREMELY attractive to so many now because of it …Although the new coach will never be able to reach your level of nickname usage on our team.”

Buffalo competes at the FBS Group of Five level in the Mid-American Conference, or MAC. The team went 3-9 last season and 3-5 in the MAC. Its former head coach, Maurice Linguist, resigned earlier this month to reportedly accept an assistant job at Alabama under new head coach Kalen DeBoer.

“We’re definitely going through a transition right now … but I’m very optimistic about what we can build here,” Lembo said. “I’m very optimistic about what we can accomplish here. I’m a humble guy. But please don’t mistake that for a lack of confidence. It’s going to be a fun ride. And we’re going to enjoy the process.”