Helpful Links

Team Website

2015 Schedule

2015 Roster

2014 Statistics


Social Media

@HavenAthletics / @LHUFootball / @Coach_Taynor

Facebook

YouTube


Head Coach: Dave Taynor (first year)
Offensive Coordinator: J. Steven Primble (first year), Bill Nickell (first year)
Defensive Coordinator: Randi Moore (second year)

Five Year History
2014: 2-9
2013: 3-8
2102: 1-10
2011: 0-10
2010: 0-11



Over the past four years, veteran coach John Allen helped drag the Lock Haven football program back from near death. In the process, he restored some pride, attracted better athletes and assistant coaches and created some hope that the Bald Eagles can field a winning team in the not-too-distant future. Allen's Bald Eagles managed six wins over the past three years. While that isn't exactly impressive, it's not insignificant considering the state the program was in upon his arrival. Despite the progress and the potential for the future, Allen resigned in February to accept the Offensive Coordinator position at FCS Delaware State under first year head coach Kenneth Carter.

Allen's restoration project was ongoing, but far from complete. Much work needs to be done to sustain forward progress and continue to build up the program. I don't know if I could say LHU has a lot of momentum, but they do have some and losing any of it at this stage would be a terrible shame. The coaching change is a variable. It’s a new coach with new philosophies and we don't yet know how successful he will be at installing his system.

But I don't think Lock Haven supporters have much to worry about. If anything, they should be pretty excited about what they have. David Taynor is the man that will take over the program and lead it through the next stages of growth and I think they're pretty darn fortunate to have him. Taynor was a candidate for the Millersville job in 2013 and I was very disappointed that he withdrew from consideration before the final decision was made. I thought he had an ideal background for rebuilding a program and would have been a great addition to the PSAC. Now two years later, the PSAC has him. I think he's a perfect fit for a program that has been dormant as long as Lock Haven's. Here's why…

Taynor comes to Lock Haven from Urbana University in Ohio where he served as head coach from 2008-2014. Taynor is a former Urbana player and a 1999 graduate.
He has spent his entire career at the small college levels and successfully guided Urbana's transition from NAIA to Division II. Prior to his appointment as head coach, the Urbana program had no football tradition. None…unless you consider losing a tradition. From 1986-2007, The Blue Knights had just two winning seasons and only six seasons in which they won five or more games. Under Taynor's leadership, Urbana won five or more games in five consecutive seasons, including a program record 8 wins in 2011, followed by 7 in 2012 and 7 in 2013. His 2013 team finished second in the inaugural season of the MEC and fielded one of the most explosive offenses in the league. Nearly every significant team record was established during his tenure, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Taynor can't be given all the credit for the turnaround at Urbana - it started under his predecessors Todd Murgatroyd and Tim Place - but he built off their foundation and turned baby steps into giant leaps…and that is exactly what Lock Haven needs now.

Taynor's teams have excelled on offense over the past couple of years and that is where the Bald Eagles need the most rapid growth. At times, the Eagles threw the ball well last year and they did have consistency with Caleb Walton starting all 11 games at quarterback. Walton had mixed results in his sophomore season. He completed 53% of passes and accumulated more than 2,000 yards, which isn't bad by recent standards in LHU's offense. But he did throw more INTs (16) than any QB in the conference. Walton should enter the season as the number one on the depth chart but he will be challenged by Sr. Shaun Jones, who played in seven games last year. Both QBs will benefit from having a veteran offensive line that returns the entire two-deep from last year. The group will be anchored by Seniors Matt Sexton and Luke Erdman. At the skill positions, they'll be deep at receiver. David Cook (47 catches, 530 yards, 4TD) will be the number one target again and will be joined by returning threats Jeremy Cornelius (23 catches, 279 yards, 1 TD) and Farrell Boyd (22 catches, 240 yards, 2TD). A large group of redshirt freshmen from last year's recruiting class will compete for playing time as well. Sr. Beau Swales (598 yards) was dependable at running back in 2014 but will have be even more productive this year. He was really the only true running back on the roster that had meaningful carries last year. As a unit, the offense is a solid and experienced core for Taynor and his staff to work with. They haven't been very productive over the last couple of years but this group has been playing together for a while and should be ready for some bigger steps forward in the right system.

Defensively, they've been alright. Not great, and not deep enough, but they've had a good system and they've managed to hold their own. The Bald Eagle D have will the benefit of continuing to work with defensive coordinator Randi Moore, who joined the program last year and is the only holdover from the previous staff. The bad news is that most of the seniors that graduated in 2014 were defensive starters, so there is a lot of rebuilding to do. The defensive line was hit hard by graduation so they could have some problems matching up at the line of scrimmage early in the season. If they can continue to defend the pass as well as they have for the last two years, they'll be able to stay in games. They've done a good job on third down (8th in the PSAC in 2014) and when you can get off the field on third down, you certainly stand a better chance of hanging around. Look for linebacker Tony Ballon (74 total tackles) and DB Daniel Strawbridge (81 total tackles, 4 INT) to be the leaders.

The Final Word
Lock Haven has taken several small steps forward in the last three years but to take it to the next level, they need more rapid and continuous growth and that is where Taynor's prior experience comes into play. Obviously, he will need some time to install his system and recruit the talent to fit his schemes, but he has started by building out a good looking staff. The schedule has four opponents that they should be able to match up well with. They may not win all four, but if they could win three and be competitive with some of the stronger programs, I'd say that's a good start for this new staff. I'm really excited for LHU with the hiring of Taynor.