Lindsey Lamar Brings Lessons From Steelers to Pitt
PITTSBURGH -- The summer of 2023 was transformational for new Pitt Panthers running backs coach Lindsey Lamar. The up-and-coming Howard offensive coordinator was in Western Pennsylvania coaching football, but little did he know that experience would help him land a full-time job in a city he's always admired from afar.
Lamar stood on the field at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania last August, helping the Pittsburgh Steelers prepare for the start of the season as a coaching intern and less than six months later, he's taking those lessons learned from the professional ranks to help the Panthers rebound from a difficult fall last year.
"I was going into being an offensive coordinator for the first year at Howard and I was trying to take everything I could from the Steelers and take it back to my guys," Lamar said. "When this opportunity came up, I was like ‘Wow, that’s pretty ironic that I’m back here now in Pittsburgh.’”
Lamar met with local media for the first time this week and raved about the time he got to spend learning from the Steelers and head coach Mike Tomlin. He was set to begin his first season as offense coordinator at Howard, so he was eager to pick up some tips on how to run an entire team.
He had spent most of his career as a position coach and offensive assistant. Lamar hadn't had to think holistically about what it takes to prepare an entire offense - not just managing each position group but preparing scout teams, creating his own gameplans and more.
"For me, it was my first year of being an offensive coordinator at Howard," Lamar said. "So I was able to do that right before I went into that transition and it prepped me in so many ways from an organization standpoint, just techniques, details, making routine plays routinely - I used that quote the whole year and it helped us win a championship at Howard."
Calling it "the greatest experience of his life," Lamar said his time with the Steelers was instrumental in preparing him to make a leap from the MEAC to the ACC. His first taste of Pittsburgh was playing against the Panthers as a South Florida Bull, his second was working with the city's most famous professional sports franchise and now he's bringing essential parts of those experiences to his biggest job yet.
"I learned so much and being in Pittsburgh, again it’s just kind of ironic. Pittsburgh is a special place," Lamar said. "I played here a couple times back in the Big East, had that internship and now here I am working at Pitt.”
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