Coach Lester Erb. Past Present and Future?

Coach Lester Erb was born and raised in the small town of Milton, Pennsylvania. Growing up, football wasn’t really a part of his life. “My father showed no interest in football or any sport for that matter,” Erb quoted. The family would watch football whenever it was one but no one took it seriously. It was more of a family time moment than anything. Erb played baseball and basketball as a kid but never tried football. But, in the 5th grade that changed as he began playing football for the first time. His first time playing football was a local recreational tackle league with all the kids in the neighborhoods. Erb instantly fell in love with the sport and continued playing through high school. He then went on to be a three sport athlete in high school. Earning varsity letters for baseball, basketball and football. Having a very successful career in football did get him heavily recruited however. Bucknell University was his best option as a Division 1AA school. So Erb took the chance to play at home and continued his football career at Bucknell. Going into his first year of college Erb had some growing up to do. “I was still immature and it showed in my school work to begin my first semester,” Erb said. He got it together and earned a little bit of playing time on the field as a true freshman. That playing time carried over to the next season. Erb saw himself in a bigger role and grew up even more the next year. Finishing in his finals two years he held the starting position at Wide Receiver. “By my junior and seniors years I finally became a young man. I understood what was expected of me and took football to another level.” Erb ended his career and found himself creating his own legacy at the university. He has 11 records for football at Bucknell and turned the program around. His first two seasons the team finished 4–6 and 3–7. His last two seasons they finished 7–4. Erb dreamed of playing football after college and got a chance in the Canadian league. Unfortunately, he was cut from the team after mini-camp and his dreams came to an end.

Now, before he became “Coach” Erb coaching was never something he saw himself doing. However, a former teammate was coaching Division 3 football at Hobart College and offered Erb a job. He got a chance to coach the position he once played and gained a new passion for coaching. Next, he received a promotion and was hired at Syracuse University where he later met his wife on a blind date. His coaching career seemed to be going extremely well as he was given a job coaching for the Baltimore Ravens of the NFL. After coaching the Ravens for two years the staff was fired. Erb then received another job coaching at Army West Point for a year. His next stop in coaching was in Iowa City. The University of Iowa became his new home for 12 years. Erb was loved by the community and became a part of the Iowa family. However, in 2013 he took another job here at the University of Nevada. “I love it here, my family loves it here. I plan on staying and raising my family here in Reno,” Erb explained. He was just named the new Head Assistant Coach this year and plans on being here for a while. Coach Erb doesn’t know how much longer he will coach. But he does know he enjoys it. “I’ll stop coaching after I lose the passion for it.”