After six years as the mastermind of the Penn football team's offense, Andy Coen left his post as offensive coordinator last week to accept the head coaching position at Lehigh University.
Coen returns to the program where he spent six successful seasons as an offensive line coach and offensive coordinator before joining the Quakers.
As an offensive coordinator at Lehigh, Coen guided the Mountain Hawks to their first undefeated season in program history (11-0) in 1998. Lehigh also finished with a combined 22-3 record in Coen's last two years.
According to Penn coach Al Bagnoli, the Quakers essentially "stole" Coen from Lehigh at the end of the 1999 season, when then Penn offensive coordinator Chuck Priore departed for Trinity University.
"Andy was a natural candidate," Bagnoli said. "From what he accomplished at Lehigh, I felt he would be a perfect match."
Upon his arrival, Coen introduced his spread offense to an already powerful Quakers lineup, including former quarterback Gavin Hoffman and Penn's all-time leading rusher, Kris Ryan.
The Quakers flourished in 2000, setting the school and Ivy League record for points in a season en route to an Ivy title.
Two years later, Coen's unit was even more impressive, averaging 40.7 points per game and outscoring their opponents by an average of 30 points per contest.
More importantly, Coen was able to create balance between Penn's rushing and passing attack -- something which is hard to do while keeping all of the skill players happy at the same time.
Penn coach Al Bagnoli agreed that Coen's ability to influence his players extends beyond the sideline.
"I have a tremendous amount of confidence in [Coen]," Bagnoli said. "He has a huge impact both in games and in practice."
Coen's impact can be traced back to his first stint as offensive coordinator at the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, Long Island.
Coen implemented an offense that set 17 team and individual records over four years at Kings Point, even though all of his competition was against Division III schools.
From there, Coen accepted a position as offensive line coach at Lehigh, where he made the transition to offensive coordinator two years later.
But for someone who has had nearly 18 years of success at various football programs, Coen's time as offensive coordinator could not have been expected to last much longer.
"Andy was ready to become a head coach," Bagnoli said. "I encouraged him to seek every opportunity, and this seems like a great fit for him."
Over two years ago, during the Quakers' undefeated 2003 season, Coen expressed interest in coaching at the Division I-A level and even the National Football League.
But more important to him was the challenge of becoming a head coach, regardless of the status of the program.
Fortunately for Coen, he was able to take over the reins of a top Division I-AA program and return to a school where he was previously met with great success.
Coen could not immediately be reached for comment.
