University of Northern Colorado’s (UNC) new head football coach, Ed Lamb, was looking for something unique before he chose to move his family to Greeley a little more than a year ago.
There was his young daughter, still a high school sophomore in the middle of her academic year, to consider. And then there was his son, Edward, also in his teens, to think about. Edward lives with severe autism, does not communicate through conventional means, can at times be unpredictable in his behavior and requires special needs schooling and attention.
With the comfort, safety and social structure of his children foremost on his mind, Ed knew that transitioning his family to a new town from where he had been working as assistant head football coach at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Utah could be challenging.
But Ed is a man who actively seeks out these types of progressive moves forward. Character building is an integral part of his worldview — for himself, for his kids and for the players he has been proud to coach over the course of his nationwide travels and career.
With no previous connections to Greeley, Ed boasts that the move was — for his entire family — a “complete leap of faith,” though one they’ve ultimately been delighted to have taken.
“I was interested in the head coach job the moment it opened up,” Ed says. He noted his previous experience successfully serving as head coach at Southern Utah University for nearly a decade, punctuated by his longstanding relationship with UNC Director of Athletics Darren Dunn, helped him to secure the position.
“I had been looking for not only a new head coaching opportunity but a specific one that would give me the chance to really build up a program from one that had been facing some hard times.”
Being a part of a college football program such as BYU’s, with its impressive legacy and substantial resources, was satisfying for Ed. But he felt there wasn’t much he could do to make a true impact.
“UNC is a much different situation,” Ed says. “Building the program here from where it was before is what really gets me up in the morning every day.”
Once setting his sights on his new hometown, Ed quickly realized that Greeley would be the kind of place where he and his family could not only comfortably reside . . . but flourish.
“Right away, we had people from the community come in and help us with some of our biggest concerns,” Ed recalls.
The Lambs were introduced to a myriad of resources that would help them navigate their needs, especially with ensuring Edward would be comfortable and well taken care of, thanks to the tireless efforts of the likes of Tyler Richardson and his family, the Arc of Weld County and Envision.
“The community has been so welcoming and supportive of us," Ed says.
Ed also credits realtor Steve Baker and Roche Contractors for helping him arrange suitable acreage to continue the equine therapy that had become such an important part of both Edward's wellbeing and the Lambs' family lifestyle.
“So much of this has been about the kindness and the flexibility of people who have become true friends here in Greeley,” Ed says. “It was less than a year ago that they were just strangers. It has happened that fast and easily.”
The Lambs are now doing what they can to give back to the community by expanding the weekly equine therapy sessions they’ve provided for their son to include other children with disabilities throughout the area, with an eventual goal of building a focused nonprofit foundation to grow such services even further.
In addition to being a father of a child with special needs, Ed believes that his background and education in counseling, for which he received a master’s degree, has helped him become particularly qualified for such therapeutic work.
“My training in the past has taught me the importance of listening,” Ed says. “I use that in my priorities as a husband, father, football coach and for what I do trying to offer opportunities to kids with disabilities to get up on horseback.”
Ed’s daughter, Summer, has meanwhile found her tribe at Greeley West High School (GWHS). Ed modestly defers to the teachers at GWHS and administration at District 6 for the ease at which both Summer and Edward have found their place in their new community.
In addition to being involved in the school’s theater program, Ed observes that Summer has found a “really good group of friends who really care about each other, their academics and their future. So, it’s been really good for all of us here.”
With what (very) little spare time Ed and his busy family have, he says they’ve grown to look forward to the Greeley Stampede every year — “the music, the rodeos, the food; what a blast!” – along with the many offerings for live performance, culinary delights and vibrant energy offered by their weekend outings downtown.
“People have reached out with so much friendship and inclusion,” Ed concludes. “They really have put my family, which had our concerns as mentioned before, at ease with this move. It has been even better than we could’ve hoped.”
"The community has been so welcoming and supportive of us."
“Much of this has been about the kindness and flexibility of people here in Greeley."
On the Sidelines
Though soccer was Ed’s first athletic passion, along with his youthful interest in baseball, football was where he early on found his most viable opportunities for college scholarships. From there, it was a relatively smooth transition into the field of coaching.
“I had always had really great experiences coaching, from my dad who had also been a coach when I was really young, to the coaches I had in high school,” Ed says.
What has been something of a welcomed surprise from his original life plan was his ending up coaching at the coveted university level.
“I had wanted to be a head football coach and English teacher at a high school,” Ed says, adding, “and possibly a counselor there, as well.”