Editor’s Note: This article has been updated with statements from the dean of athletics, coach and players from the 2025 season.
Lehigh football defensive coordinator Richard Nagy was appointed Vandergrift Family Head Coach following Kevin Cahill’s departure on Feb. 23, according to Lehigh Sports. He’s Lehigh’s 31st head coach and previously served three seasons with the Mountain Hawks as defensive coordinator.
During his time at Lehigh, Nagy helped guide the leading defense in the Patriot League and the second-best scoring defense in the FCS, allowing just 13.9 points per game. He was part of the staff named the Dick Biddle Patriot League Coaching Staff of the Year following Lehigh’s undefeated 12-0 regular season in 2025.
In 2025, six members of Lehigh’s defense earned All-Patriot League honors: senior Tyler Ochojski, senior TJ Burke, senior Matt Spatny, junior Aidan Singleton, sophomore Mekhai Smith and senior Brycen Edwards.
Sophomore punter Connor Poole said players were initially taken aback by the coaching change but felt better after speaking with Nagy.
“I think we were surprised because a lot of the guys expected it to be coach Hunt,” Poole said. “But after our team meeting with coach Nagy, he provided a lot of clarity about what was going on.”
Dean of athletics Jeremy Gibson said the athletics department is excited about Nagy stepping into the role.
“For the last several years, (Nagy’s) led one of the top ranked defenses in FCS, and we’re really fortunate to have him moving into this role,” Gibson said. “A big focus was to retain the entire staff and continue the great things that they’ve been doing with our team.”
With Nagy’s promotion, five other coaches on the team have been appointed to new positions.
Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Dan Hunt took over as associate head coach. Special teams coordinator and safeties coach Mike Kashurba has been promoted to defensive coordinator. Offensive line coach and run game coordinator Mike Morita is now the assistant offensive coordinator. Defensive line coach Jeff Comissiong is now the defensive run game coordinator. Director of sports performance Eric Markovcy has been promoted to assistant athletic director for sports performance.
Gibson said promoting Nagy aligned with the department’s plans for the coaching staff and allowed Lehigh to retain key members of the program.
Nagy brings more than three decades of coaching experience at both the Division I and Division III levels. Before arriving in Bethlehem in 2023, he spent three seasons as the head coach at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania. He was also a graduate assistant coach for the Gators in 1988.
The team went 10-20 during his tenure while developing multiple all-conference student athletes. Under Nagy from 2019 to 2022, the student-athletes garnered four All-PAC selections, nine total All-NCAC selections, two D3football.com All-Region selections and five CoSIDA Academic All-District honors.
Junior Jake Stalsitz, who’s also a reporter for The Brown and White, said he was originally recruited to Allegheny by Nagy in high school.
“I found out he moved to Lehigh, and then I accepted my offer to Lehigh knowing that he was there,” Stalsitz said. “I originally got recruited as a defensive end, so it was nice knowing that my defensive coach was going to be the defensive coordinator at my prospective school.”
Prior to Allegheny, Nagy held several defensive coordinator roles at different schools for 24 years. He spent six seasons as defensive coordinator at Old Dominion University from 2012 to 2018 and previously served on the defensive staff from 2010 to 2012 at Western Michigan University, where he was promoted to defensive coordinator in his final year.
Earlier in his career, Nagy also coached at Hofstra University from 2009 to 2010 and Murray State University from 2005 to 2008. He and Cahill coached together at Murray State in 2006 and 2007. He also had stints at the University of Maine from 2001 to 2005, Fordham University from 1998 to 2001, the University of South Dakota from 1997 to 1998 and Union College in 1989.
Nagy said he believes maintaining continuity within the program helped ease the transition following Cahill’s departure.
“I think the team reacted positively,” Nagy said. “There was uncertainty at first, but I think there was relief knowing the staff is staying together and that the things they’ve come to understand about the day-to-day operations of the program aren’t going to change.”
He also acknowledged that the transfer portal remains a possibility but believes the strong relationships within the program will help keep the team together.
The Connecticut native played college football at Trinity College, where he was a running back and was named the team’s most valuable player in 1986. He began his coaching career as a part-time secondary coach for his alma mater shortly after graduating with a political science degree in 1987.
Poole said the overall culture of the program is expected to remain the same.
“We knew either way, whether it was coach Hunt or coach Nagy, that our culture and vision weren’t going to change,” Poole said. “The biggest difference now is that he goes from drawing X’s and O’s as a defensive coordinator to now, ‘How can you guide us to another Patriot League and then hopefully a national championship?’”
Lehigh football starts its spring practice schedule on March 17.
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