BEAUMONT, Texas – After leading Lamar University to more wins this season than the three previous years combined, and its first winning season since the 2018 campaign, first-year head coach Pete Rossomando has been named a finalist for the 2023 Stats Perform Eddie Robinson Award, presented by FedEx Ground.
 
The award, which was first presented in 1987, is named for the legendary Grambling State head coach.
 
Rossomando joins 19 other head coaches across the NCAA FCS landscape named to the list and is one of just two Southland Conference coaches recognized. Rossomando led his young charges against two of the other names on that list this season in Tim Rebowe (Nicholls) and Bob Nielson (South Dakota).
 
The Cardinals took historic steps forward in Rossomando's first season in the Golden Triangle. Big Red opened league play 3-0 for the first time since the 1967 season, and the Cardinals went into their week 10 matchup at Nicholls playing for a share of the Southland Conference title.
 
Along the way, the Cardinals set a school record with six players being named Southland Conference Player of the Week (two offense and four special teams).
 
Rossomando was even drawing national praise midway through the year for the work his squad was doing on the field. In October, the Our Coaching Network released its candidates for the mid-season coach of the year, and they recognized Rossomando with that honor.
 
Before guiding the Cardinals to a third-place finish in the Southland Conference standings this season, Rossomando led his troops through one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country. The Cardinals went on the road and nearly pulled off an upset at UL Monroe, and the two FCS teams Lamar played are two of the top four national needs in the NCAA FCS playoffs.
 
It is the second time in his career that Rossomando has been a finalist for the award.