BEAUMONT, Texas – Just days after announcing its 2024 signing class, Lamar University football head coach Pete Rossomando has announced several staff promotions. Coby Gipson has been named assistant head coach, Lorenzo Jackson has been named defensive run game coordinator, Wayne Cordova will take on the added role of defensive pass game coordinator, Todd Macon will take on the added responsibility of offensive pass game coordinator, Andrew Sparano has been named offensive run game coordinator while Matt Cannata will also serve as the academic coordinator.
 
"These guys are excellent recruiters, but most importantly they are really good people who have brought a lot to the program from a schematic standpoint," said Rossomando. "Also, these guys have done a great job of driving our culture home with the team. They have worked so hard with their positions and their craft that I thought it was time reward them with a promotion."
 
The Cardinals are coming off a six-win campaign in Rossomando's first season that saw the nation's fourth-largest single-season turnaround and had the Cardinals in the hunt for a Southland Conference title up until the next last week of the season. This coming off a one-win season the year before.
 
The Cardinals 2023-win total surpassed the total from the previous three years combined. Rossomando is now entering his second season in the Golden Triangle with his staff intact.
 
"I think it speaks to the administration and the people above us that have given us the opportunity to keep them," said Rossomando. "I don't think people would stay if they felt like we weren't being supported or given the tools necessary to win a national championship. While we're not perfect, I think we're moving in that direction. From Dr. Jaime Taylor to Jeff O'Malley, they have done a great job of convincing our staff and our players that everything they have put into the program has been toward winning a national championship."
 
Gipson and Cordova are both entering their fifth seasons with the program. Gipson serves as the recruiting coordinator and works directly with the Cardinal receivers, but he has also coached the running backs during his time with the Red and White. Cordova has spent his entire time on the defensive side of the ball working with the Cardinal safeties.
 
Jackson, Macon, Sparano and Cannata joined the staff after Rossomando's hiring and are entering their second year with the program. Jackson coaches Lamar's defensive linemen. The other three assistants are focused on the offensive side of the ball as Macon coaches running backs, Sparano coaches tight ends and Cannata works with the offensive line.
 
The combined efforts of this staff helped produce seven all-conference selections – including one first-team nod – this past season which equaled the program's total number of honorees since 2019. Lamar also had one player named to the All-Texas Team (Damashja Harris) following the season, and during the year the Cardinals began receiving votes in the STATS FCS Top 25 poll.