Follow Coach Lucas on Twitter: @Coach_TLucas
Recruiting Areas:
• Virginia (Virginia Beach and Northeast), Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia
Tony Lucas joined the Elon University football program on January 29, 2019, as the program's running backs coach and special teams coordinator after spending the previous two seasons as running backs coach at Temple for head coach Geoff Collins. Before joining the Owls, Lucas spent four seasons in CAA Football at Delaware as the Blue Hens' running backs coach, where he made Delaware into a perennial top-five rushing program in the league.
At Temple, Lucas helped the Owls reach back-to-back bowl games, beating FIU 28-3 in the 2017 Gasparilla Bowl before taking on Duke in the 2018 Independence Bowl. During the 2018 season, Temple averaged 155.9 yards per game on the ground and scored 28 of the team's 48 offensive touchdowns. On the year, Ryquell Armstead surpassed the 1,000-yard mark with 1,098 yards on the season. He averaged 109.8 yards per game and 5.2 per carry while finding the end zone 13 times. Temple's 155.9 yards per game was nearly 20 yards more than the 2017 season when it averaged 136.4 yards per game with 15 touchdowns.
In his first year at Delaware, it ranked fourth in the CAA in rushing, which helped the offense finish second in the conference in scoring. He mentored running back Andrew Pierce, who was named a Second Team All-CAA honoree and earned a spot on the Walter Payton Award Watch List during his senior campaign.
In 2014, the UD unit was led by the duo of Jalen Randolph and Wes Hills, who kept the Blue Hens' ground game amongst the Top 5 in rushing average in the CAA and sixth in total offense while combining for 15 touchdowns and 1,603 yards on the ground.
The 2015 season saw Lucas mentor another young running back tandem in redshirt freshman Thomas Jefferson and sophomore Kareem Williams. The two kept Delaware's running game ranked second in the CAA and 17th in the country with 219.4 yards per game on the ground.
One season later with a balanced rushing attack established, Hills, Jefferson and Randolph each ran for more than 600 yards and combined for 20 touchdowns. The trio propelled the rushing offense to finish second in the CAA for the second straight season.
Under Lucas, Randolph became a three-time CoSIDA District 2 First Team All-Academic honoree in 2014, 2015 and 2016 and was a three-time CAA All-Academic selection in 2013, 2014 and 2015. Hills was a Third Team All-CAA performer in 2016 while Jefferson earned Co-Rookie of the Year honors and was put on the CFPA FCS National Freshman Performer of the Year Watch List in 2015.
Before joining the Blue Hens, Lucas spent two seasons at Georgetown from 2011-12. In his first season as the running backs coach, Lucas's unit helped the Hoyas to an 8-3 record behind the No. 2 rushing offense (147.5 ypg) in the Patriot League. The following year, the running attack continued its stellar play, finishing as the third-best rushing offense in the conference with 146.1 yards per game. During his two years at Georgetown, Lucas guided Nick Campanella to back-to-back All-Patriot League honors after he led the team in rushing in back-to-back seasons.
Lucas started his coaching journey as a graduate assistant and outside linebackers coach at Trinity College (Division III) in 2008. He coached at Trinity for two seasons while completing his masters in economics in 2010. After finishing his degree, Lucas went on to become the defensive quality control coach and assistant academic coordinator at Bowling Green for current Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson.
The Bloomfield, Conn., native's roots stem from the Ivy League, where he played defensive back at Columbia. He majored in economics and earned his degree in 2003. During his playing days, Lucas was given the Maniatty-Remmer Unsung Hero Award, which is given to a player whose role is not always obvious to the outside observer, but without his contributions, the team would not be successful. The recipient is one who strives to be a leader and performs his assignments to the best of his ability without expecting or requiring any public recognition.
What They're Saying...
Trisciani on Lucas: "Tony Lucas is a veteran running backs coach who has developed some of the top rushing groups in the CAA during his time at Delaware. The special teams coordinator was a very important hire to me, and I took my time to make sure we got it right. Tony has been very involved in special teams at Temple and Delaware with the 2018 Temple unit blocking seven kicks and scoring six special teams touchdowns, and that's the type of game-changing explosiveness we need from our special teams unit. Tony is a highly organized and detail oriented coach who will have a great impact on our entire program."
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Coaching Experience
|
| 2008-09 |
Graduate Assistant, Trinity |
| 2010 |
Defensive Quality Control, Bowling Green |
| 2011-12 |
Running Backs, Georgetown |
| 2013-16 |
Running Backs, Delaware |
| 2017-18 |
Running Backs, Temple |
| 2019 |
Running Backs/Special Teams Coordinator, Elon |
