Bobby Lamb, a collegiate coaching staple in the South whose coaching tree includes the likes of Tony Elliott, Billy Napier, Clay Hendrix, Des Kitching and dozens of additional coaches at the college, pro and prep levels, has almost finalized the first two hires for his latest challenge: starting the NCAA Division II program at Anderson University (South Carolina).
Sources tell FootballScoop that Lamb and the Trojans are poised to make their first full-time assistant coaches with the impending additions of Malik Chevry and Seth Strickland.
The deals are expected to be finalized this week, as Chevry is set to become the Trojans’ first-ever defensive assistant coach while Strickland, a former University of South Carolina standout-player, will become the first offensive addition to the staff of Lamb, a former Furman and Mercer head coach who’s amassed more than 100 career wins.
Chevry, who played at Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida, before entering the coaching ranks, will come to the Anderson program after spending the past season at Erskine University. Chevry likewise has high school coaching experience at both Blue Ridge High school and Victory Christian Academy.
Once his deal is finalized, Strickland, to join Anderson after spending the past season at Albany State, has background at one of the premier prep athletics institutions in the nation, IMG Academy, where he was quarterbacks coach in 2019. He also gained professional coaching experience with Steve Spurrier in the ill-fated Alliance of American Football with the Orlando Apollos.
Strickland spent the first six years of his climb through the coaching ranks at his alma mater on the staffs of both Spurrier and Will Muschamp
Lamb still will hire six more full-time assistants by January 2023, but first priority is the Trojans’ initial recruiting class. Lamb previously told FootballScoop that the program has established a goal of combing the region to bring in a 70-80 man recruiting class for the 2023 haul that will reflect the program’s first-ever group of recruits.