South Carolina special teams coach Pete Lembo has agreed to a deal to become Buffalo‘s next football coach, sources told ESPN.
Lembo would replace Maurice Linguist, who has agreed to a deal to be Alabama’s co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach on new Crimson Tide coach Kalen DeBoer’s staff, sources told ESPN last week.
Linguist was 14-23 in three seasons as Buffalo’s coach.
Lembo brings a strong history in the MAC, as he went 33-29 (23-17 in league play) at Ball State in five years as head coach.
Lembo also has a breadth of experience as a head coach. He has gone 112-65 during his 15 seasons as the head coach at Ball State, Lehigh and Elon. He’s also considered an elite special teams coach, with previous stops at Maryland, Rice and Memphis before joining South Carolina.
Buffalo athletic director Mark Alnutt prioritized head-coaching experience in his search.
ESPN’s Chris Low and Pete Thamel contributed to this report.