Photo of Stephen Lee by Russell Marwitz/True To The Cru/russellmarwitz.com
BELTON — A familiar face will be guiding UMHB’s offense moving forwards, as the focus shifts towards the 2025 season.
Stephen Lee, who served as The Cru’s offensive coordinator through four trips to the Stagg Bowl from 2016-2021, is returning to Belton for a second stint in the same role. Mary Hardin-Baylor officially announced the hire via a press release Thursday morning.
“We are excited for Coach Lee to join our staff,” UMHB head coach Larry Harmon said in the release. “We know firsthand the championship mindset he brings and we are happy to welcome him back to Belton.”
Lee takes over for Andy Padron, who will not return after spending the last three seasons leading the offense.
His return to the UMHB program comes after three recent coaching stops since 2022, serving as the offensive coordinator at Division I Abilene Christian, the head coach at NJCAA Cisco College, and a tight ends coach at Division I Tarleton State. He took the Abilene Christian position on the heels of UMHB’s Stagg Bowl run in 2021, and in 2022, helped ACU to its best season as a D-I program, going 7-4. The Wildcat offense averaged 28.18 points per game, 141.8 rushing yards per game, and 256.64 passing yards per game, also ranking No. 1 in the WAC in total offensive plays (788).
Lee led Cisco to a 4-4 record during his lone season as the Wranglers’ head coach in 2023.
But it was his two stops at Division II West Texas A&M and Mary Hardin-Baylor, spanning 11 season total from 2011-2021, that elevated Lee’s status as one of the nation’s top small-college offensive coordinators.
At West Texas A&M, the San Angelo native was at the helm of a high-flying passing attack that set a Division II record for passing yardage in 2013, tallying 5,544 yards through the air on 457 completions. The Buffs ranked second nationally in passing yards/game (396.0), and led the country in passing touchdowns (57), a mark that was No. 2 amongst all NCAA divisions that season.
That carried over to his time in Belton, where over a six-year span, UMHB averaged 45.7 points per game and 422.6 yards per game.
During his first season in 2016, The Cru, powered by the prowess of running back Markeith Miller, were No. 6 in D-III in yards/play (6.84) and No. 3 in rushing touchdowns (44). The passing game took more of a front seat in 2017, with a pair of 1,000-yard passers in Kyle Jones and Carl Robinson, in addition to Miller’s presence at running back. In 2018, Lee directed an offense that set ASC records for both points in a season (801) and touchdowns in a season (109) en route to a 15-0 record and a 24-16 Stagg Bowl victory over Mount Union. 2019 had some similarities to 2017 in terms of lower offensive production compared to the previous season, though UMHB still found the end zone often, averaging 47.2 points per game, which was the ninth-best in D-III.
2021 was the pinnacle, both in terms of stats and UMHB’s historic 20 wins during the 2021 calendar year. Led by quarterback Kyle King, Lee’s offensive attack etched itself into the record books, tallying 101 touchdowns, 263.5 passing yards/game and 215.7 rushing yards/game. It marked the first time since 2018 that UMHB had averaged 200+ yards through the air and on the ground. The Crusaders also set program-highs in passing yardage (3,593), passing efficiency (191.2), fewest interceptions (3), and touchdown passes (48), which was also a new ASC record.
In the Stagg Bowl, UMHB dominated North Central (IL) in a 57-24 victory, scoring the third-most points ever in the D-III title game and the most since 1997, according to D3 Data. Amongst other noteworthy offensive numbers from the 2021 Stagg Bowl, UMHB’s 463 passing yards were the second-most in Stagg Bowl history, they were the fifth team in history to have at least four different players catch a touchdown pass in the Stagg Bowl, and tied for the most passing first downs ever recorded in a Stagg Bowl (20).
Link to UMHB’s complete press release can be found here.
We will see …,…… hope it happens soon…….