Marshall University Athletics
Football
Lambert, Brad
Brad Lambert
- Title:
- Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
- Email:
- lambertb@marshall.edu
- Phone:
- -----
Lambert was hired as defensive coordinator for the 2019 season, marking a return to the program for the Kansas native after serving as the head coach at Charlotte from 2011-18.
In 2019, he coached the Thundering Herd’s linebacking corps, which included Tavante Beckett, who was picked as a first-team All-Conference USA selection after leading the league with 121 tackles. Beckett teamed with second-team pick Omari Cobb and, together, the two were named the team’s co-Defensive MVPs.
The 49ers played for two years (2013, 2014) as an FCS Independent before making their debut in the FBS as a member of Conference USA in 2015.
Along the way, Lambert oversaw a string of firsts, including a win in the 49ers’ first-ever game, a win in the 49ers’ first-ever FBS game, the program’s first C-USA wins and the first 49ers player to be drafted by and start in the NFL.
In 2017, as Charlotte’s First Class graduated to become pro prospects, the 49ers faced its first season without its foundational class. The 49ers posted their first C-USA home win, a 25-24 OT victory vs. UAB in which the 49ers converted a two-point conversion with the game on the line. Seven 49ers were named Honorable Mention all-Conference USA while Karrington King became the program’s all-time leading tackler despite cutting his senior season short with an injury in game 7 at WKU.
Meanwhile, four-year starting defensive lineman Larry Ogunjobi was selected with the first pick of the third round (65th overall) by the Cleveland Browns in the 2017 NFL Draft. Ogunjobi played in 14 games making one start for the Browns. Fellow defensive lineman Brandon Banks played with the Washington Redskins in his first NFL game and receiver Austin Duke served on the Carolina Panthers practice squad. Like Banks and Duke, Kalif Phillips (Green Bay Packers) also signed with the NFL as an undrafted free agent.
In 2016, Charlotte doubled its win total from its FBS debut with a 4-8 mark while producing a 3-5 record in Conference USA to finish fifth of seven teams in the East Division and eighth of 13 teams, overall. Ogunjobi became the first 49er to earn first team all-Conference USA honors before becoming the first 49er selected in the NFL Draft.
During the 2016 season, the 49ers picked up the program’s first three C-USA victories, all on the road. The 28-23 win at FAU was the program’s first league victory.
While Ogunjobi took home first-team all-C-USA honors, seven 49ers earned honorable mention and two were named to the league’s all-Freshman team. Freshman defensive back Ben DeLuca was named Freshman all-America by Pro Football Focus to become the first 49er so honored.
In 2015, the 49ers made the leap to the FBS and picked up a victory in the program’s first-ever FBS game by toppling bowl-bound Georgia State, 23-20, in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome. The 49ers would finish the season with a 2-10 record with defensive lineman Larry Ogunjobi and running back Kalif Phillips becoming the first 49ers to earn all-Conference USA honors by taking home second-team awards.
Hired Mar. 1, 2011, the 20-year coaching veteran was charged with building the start-up program, recruiting its first players, helping design the stadium layout and infrastructure, hiring the staff and assembling legions of fans.
On April 28, 2011, Lambert officially broke ground on the 49ers stadium, not with a shovel but a front-end loader before a crowd of over 3,000 fans. In February of 2012, the program’s first recruiting class was announced and in August of 2012, the first players started workouts for what would be a red-shirt season. In April of 2013, the 49ers staged their first Spring Game and on August 31, 2013, the program burst out of the tunnel for its inaugural game.
The 49ers would win that first game, 52-7, against Campbell and go on to a 5-6 record. Along the way, the 49ers picked up their first-ever FCS Top 25 win with a dramatic come-from-behind 53-51 victory over #24 Gardner-Webb. Trailing by 21 points in the fourth quarter, Charlotte scored 29 straight points to take the lead and stopped the Bulldogs two-point conversion in the final minute to secure the win.
The first season included four games against FCS top 25 opponents.
Charlotte picked up its first FCS road win at Presbyterian, put up over 500 yards of total offense at #3 Coastal Carolina and closed the season with a record-setting 61-17 victory at Morehead State.
Season two was highlighted by an explosive offense that featured the program’s first-ever 1,000-yard rusher and receiver. Running back Kalif Phillips rushed for 1441 yards and 20 touchdowns and slot receiver Austin Duke had 1373 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. The 49ers again finished 5-6, but from a competitive level, five losses were by one possession and two came in overtime. Against competition similar to the inaugural season, including eight common opponents, Charlotte enjoyed a +37 scoring differential as opposed to a -17 differential in the first season.
In the spring of 2015, offensive lineman Daniel Blitch (Carolina Panthers) and defensive back Desmond Cooper (Jacksonville Jaguars) were invited to the NFL rookie minicamps – becoming the first 49ers to get an invite to an NFL camp. Cooper became the first 49er to sign an NFL contract, when Jacksonville signed him after the two-day camp. Cooper would stay with the team through the preseason and saw action in 2015 preseason games.
A 10-year assistant at Wake Forest, who also had successful stints at Georgia, Marshall and Oklahoma, Lambert was announced as head coach by university Chancellor Dr. Philip Dubois and 49ers Director of Athletics Judy Rose in a press conference in the university’s Barnhardt Student Activity Center, Mar. 1, 2011.
Over his 23-year career prior to coming to Charlotte, Lambert won an NCAA National Championship and an Atlantic Coast Conference title, went to eight bowl games and four NCAA National Championship games and enjoyed a winning pct. of over 62 percent.
Lambert served as Defensive Coordinator for the Demon Deacons for three years prior to joining the 49ers. He was Linebackers Coach and Special Teams Coach at Wake Forest from 2001-2009. He served as secondary, linebackers, special teams and defensive ends coach while at Georgia and as secondary and defensive ends coach at Marshall. He began his coaching career as graduate assistant at Oklahoma.
In his 10 years under Jim Grobe at Wake Forest, he was an integral part of the Deacons most successful football era. He was the Linebackers Coach on Wake Forest’s 2006 ACC Champion team and was a part of four Bowl Game appearances, including three straight from 2006-2008. In 2008, he coached Butkus Award winner Aaron Curry, as the Deacons advanced to their third straight bowl: the 2008 EagleBank Bowl.
The Deacons had five winning seasons during Lambert’s tenure, including the 11-3 ACC Championship and Orange Bowl team in 2006 and the 9-4 squad that advanced to the 2007 Meineke Car Care Bowl. In 2008, Lambert’s first as Defensive Coordinator, the Deacons went 8-5 to cap a three-year run in which Wake Forest put together an overall 28-12 record and a 15-9 mark in the ACC while earning bids to the three straight bowl games. Over the course of his 10-year run at Wake Forest, Lambert helped the Deacons to a 61-60 record.
Prior to joining Wake Forest’s staff, Lambert coached for 11 years with Jim Donnan at both Marshall (1990-95) and Georgia (1996-2000). He got his start as a Graduate Assistant at Oklahoma.
At Georgia, Lambert helped the Bulldogs to a 40-19 record that included four straight bowl wins: 1997 Outback Bowl, 1998 Peach Bowl, 1999 Outback Bowl and 2000 Oahu Bowl. At Marshall, he was a part of the Thundering Herd’s 1992 NCAA Division I-AA National Championship. In fact, as an assistant coach at Marshall, Lambert helped the Herd to the national title game in four of his six years and to a semifinal appearance in a fifth.
During his coaching career, Lambert has overseen the development of players such as Ogunjobi, Curry, Will Witherspoon, Stanley Arnoux and Alphonso Smith. He also coached both Champ Bailey and Hines Ward while serving as Special Teams Coordinator at Georgia.
A 1987 graduate of Kansas State, Lambert was a four-year letterwinner who earned second-team all-Big Eight honors as a Defensive Back in 1984. He was an Academic all-Big Eight choice from 1984-86.
Lambert and his wife, Angie, have three children: a daughter, Lucy, and sons Layne and Beau.
In 2019, he coached the Thundering Herd’s linebacking corps, which included Tavante Beckett, who was picked as a first-team All-Conference USA selection after leading the league with 121 tackles. Beckett teamed with second-team pick Omari Cobb and, together, the two were named the team’s co-Defensive MVPs.
The 49ers played for two years (2013, 2014) as an FCS Independent before making their debut in the FBS as a member of Conference USA in 2015.
Along the way, Lambert oversaw a string of firsts, including a win in the 49ers’ first-ever game, a win in the 49ers’ first-ever FBS game, the program’s first C-USA wins and the first 49ers player to be drafted by and start in the NFL.
In 2017, as Charlotte’s First Class graduated to become pro prospects, the 49ers faced its first season without its foundational class. The 49ers posted their first C-USA home win, a 25-24 OT victory vs. UAB in which the 49ers converted a two-point conversion with the game on the line. Seven 49ers were named Honorable Mention all-Conference USA while Karrington King became the program’s all-time leading tackler despite cutting his senior season short with an injury in game 7 at WKU.
Meanwhile, four-year starting defensive lineman Larry Ogunjobi was selected with the first pick of the third round (65th overall) by the Cleveland Browns in the 2017 NFL Draft. Ogunjobi played in 14 games making one start for the Browns. Fellow defensive lineman Brandon Banks played with the Washington Redskins in his first NFL game and receiver Austin Duke served on the Carolina Panthers practice squad. Like Banks and Duke, Kalif Phillips (Green Bay Packers) also signed with the NFL as an undrafted free agent.
In 2016, Charlotte doubled its win total from its FBS debut with a 4-8 mark while producing a 3-5 record in Conference USA to finish fifth of seven teams in the East Division and eighth of 13 teams, overall. Ogunjobi became the first 49er to earn first team all-Conference USA honors before becoming the first 49er selected in the NFL Draft.
During the 2016 season, the 49ers picked up the program’s first three C-USA victories, all on the road. The 28-23 win at FAU was the program’s first league victory.
While Ogunjobi took home first-team all-C-USA honors, seven 49ers earned honorable mention and two were named to the league’s all-Freshman team. Freshman defensive back Ben DeLuca was named Freshman all-America by Pro Football Focus to become the first 49er so honored.
In 2015, the 49ers made the leap to the FBS and picked up a victory in the program’s first-ever FBS game by toppling bowl-bound Georgia State, 23-20, in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome. The 49ers would finish the season with a 2-10 record with defensive lineman Larry Ogunjobi and running back Kalif Phillips becoming the first 49ers to earn all-Conference USA honors by taking home second-team awards.
Hired Mar. 1, 2011, the 20-year coaching veteran was charged with building the start-up program, recruiting its first players, helping design the stadium layout and infrastructure, hiring the staff and assembling legions of fans.
On April 28, 2011, Lambert officially broke ground on the 49ers stadium, not with a shovel but a front-end loader before a crowd of over 3,000 fans. In February of 2012, the program’s first recruiting class was announced and in August of 2012, the first players started workouts for what would be a red-shirt season. In April of 2013, the 49ers staged their first Spring Game and on August 31, 2013, the program burst out of the tunnel for its inaugural game.
The 49ers would win that first game, 52-7, against Campbell and go on to a 5-6 record. Along the way, the 49ers picked up their first-ever FCS Top 25 win with a dramatic come-from-behind 53-51 victory over #24 Gardner-Webb. Trailing by 21 points in the fourth quarter, Charlotte scored 29 straight points to take the lead and stopped the Bulldogs two-point conversion in the final minute to secure the win.
The first season included four games against FCS top 25 opponents.
Charlotte picked up its first FCS road win at Presbyterian, put up over 500 yards of total offense at #3 Coastal Carolina and closed the season with a record-setting 61-17 victory at Morehead State.
Season two was highlighted by an explosive offense that featured the program’s first-ever 1,000-yard rusher and receiver. Running back Kalif Phillips rushed for 1441 yards and 20 touchdowns and slot receiver Austin Duke had 1373 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. The 49ers again finished 5-6, but from a competitive level, five losses were by one possession and two came in overtime. Against competition similar to the inaugural season, including eight common opponents, Charlotte enjoyed a +37 scoring differential as opposed to a -17 differential in the first season.
In the spring of 2015, offensive lineman Daniel Blitch (Carolina Panthers) and defensive back Desmond Cooper (Jacksonville Jaguars) were invited to the NFL rookie minicamps – becoming the first 49ers to get an invite to an NFL camp. Cooper became the first 49er to sign an NFL contract, when Jacksonville signed him after the two-day camp. Cooper would stay with the team through the preseason and saw action in 2015 preseason games.
A 10-year assistant at Wake Forest, who also had successful stints at Georgia, Marshall and Oklahoma, Lambert was announced as head coach by university Chancellor Dr. Philip Dubois and 49ers Director of Athletics Judy Rose in a press conference in the university’s Barnhardt Student Activity Center, Mar. 1, 2011.
Over his 23-year career prior to coming to Charlotte, Lambert won an NCAA National Championship and an Atlantic Coast Conference title, went to eight bowl games and four NCAA National Championship games and enjoyed a winning pct. of over 62 percent.
Lambert served as Defensive Coordinator for the Demon Deacons for three years prior to joining the 49ers. He was Linebackers Coach and Special Teams Coach at Wake Forest from 2001-2009. He served as secondary, linebackers, special teams and defensive ends coach while at Georgia and as secondary and defensive ends coach at Marshall. He began his coaching career as graduate assistant at Oklahoma.
In his 10 years under Jim Grobe at Wake Forest, he was an integral part of the Deacons most successful football era. He was the Linebackers Coach on Wake Forest’s 2006 ACC Champion team and was a part of four Bowl Game appearances, including three straight from 2006-2008. In 2008, he coached Butkus Award winner Aaron Curry, as the Deacons advanced to their third straight bowl: the 2008 EagleBank Bowl.
The Deacons had five winning seasons during Lambert’s tenure, including the 11-3 ACC Championship and Orange Bowl team in 2006 and the 9-4 squad that advanced to the 2007 Meineke Car Care Bowl. In 2008, Lambert’s first as Defensive Coordinator, the Deacons went 8-5 to cap a three-year run in which Wake Forest put together an overall 28-12 record and a 15-9 mark in the ACC while earning bids to the three straight bowl games. Over the course of his 10-year run at Wake Forest, Lambert helped the Deacons to a 61-60 record.
Prior to joining Wake Forest’s staff, Lambert coached for 11 years with Jim Donnan at both Marshall (1990-95) and Georgia (1996-2000). He got his start as a Graduate Assistant at Oklahoma.
At Georgia, Lambert helped the Bulldogs to a 40-19 record that included four straight bowl wins: 1997 Outback Bowl, 1998 Peach Bowl, 1999 Outback Bowl and 2000 Oahu Bowl. At Marshall, he was a part of the Thundering Herd’s 1992 NCAA Division I-AA National Championship. In fact, as an assistant coach at Marshall, Lambert helped the Herd to the national title game in four of his six years and to a semifinal appearance in a fifth.
During his coaching career, Lambert has overseen the development of players such as Ogunjobi, Curry, Will Witherspoon, Stanley Arnoux and Alphonso Smith. He also coached both Champ Bailey and Hines Ward while serving as Special Teams Coordinator at Georgia.
A 1987 graduate of Kansas State, Lambert was a four-year letterwinner who earned second-team all-Big Eight honors as a Defensive Back in 1984. He was an Academic all-Big Eight choice from 1984-86.
Lambert and his wife, Angie, have three children: a daughter, Lucy, and sons Layne and Beau.
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