BURNABY Β β Simon Fraser University head football coach Dave Johnson has announced the hiring of Nick Lucey as the programβs new offensive coordinator.
“When I looked at Nick, his experience, his personality and his ability to teach all made him a great fit,” said Johnson. “I made some reference calls about him to some big schools and the references were awesome. After that we did some statistical analysis and his offence the last couple of years has been very strong. That made him a hot candidate. He is eager, hungry and this is a place that he wants to be.”
Lucey comes to the Clan from Western New Mexico University, but the move brings him close to his hometown of University Place, WA.
βThis is a great opportunity,β said Lucey. βItβs a dream job in an awesome city. Itβs close to home and the school offers all of the things we need to be successful. Coach Johnson is held in high regard and Iβm excited to work with him.β
Lucey comes from a coaching family, as his father is the coach at Curtis High School in University Place, WA.
He played football at Western State College Colorado and the University of Puget Sound before returning to Curtis High School to begin his coaching career.
βThereβs a lot of really good talent on the roster with a bunch of coach-able, hardworking kids. The players returning are strong and thereβs an exciting recruiting class coming in. All the ingredients we need to be successful,β continued Lucey.
After one season at Curtis, he moved on to Pulham High School where he coached for three years before becoming a graduate assistant at Division I Washington State from 2006 through 2010.
Lucey then went overseas where he coached a semi-professional team in Denmark before taking his most recent position of offensive coordinator and assistant head coach at Western New Mexico State.
At WNMS his offence was second in passing yards per game in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in 2011 averaging 279.4 yards per game. They also led the RMAC in passing touchdowns and receiver Marquis Sumpter received All-RMAC First-Team honours.
βIβm going to try and carry over the success the team had last year.Β Weβll be a spread coast team that gets the ball into the hands of our athletes in space as well as be able to run,β continued Lucey.
Lucey rounds out the Clan’s coaching staff as SFU added new defensive coordinator James Colzie III earlier this spring.
“With Nick and James, we have two coordinators with Division II experience who have had success and that’s a huge asset. Both guys have extensive recruiting experience and both guys are really excited by the quality of the academics and the talent already here,” finished Johnson.
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