Staff Directory
Nagy, Richard
Richard Nagy
- Title:
- Defensive Coordinator/Rovers Coach
- Email:
- Phone:
- 610-758-1875
Richard Nagy is in his third season as Lehigh’s defensive coordinator. He also coaches Lehigh’s rovers. A coaching veteran with more than 35 years of experience at the Division I and Division III levels, Nagy came to Lehigh following three seasons as the head coach at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa.
An opportunistic defense that grew into one of the top units in the FCS highlighted Lehigh’s 2024 Patriot League championship season. Lehigh led the Patriot League and ranked in the top 20 nationally in total defense, pass defense and sacks. The Mountain Hawks also allowed a league-best 21.6 points per game.
Four members of Lehigh’s defensive unit garnered first team All-Patriot League honors: linemen TJ Burke and Matt Spatny, linebacker Mike DeNucci and safety Nick Peltekian.
Spatny ranked third in the FCS in sacks and was an honorable mention AP All-American, while DeNucci was a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award, given to the top defensive player in the FCS.
Nagy’s rover group was led by the emergence of Jackson Dowd, who ranked fourth on the team with 64 tackles and added five pass breakups.
In his first season, three of Nagy’s defensive players earned All-Patriot League honors: lineman Dean Colton, DeNucci and Peltekian. The Mountain Hawks ranked second in the Patriot League with 21 sacks.
In his three seasons at Allegheny, Nagy mentored 13 all-conference student-athletes. He came to Allegheny following six seasons as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Old Dominion. At ODU, Nagy coached a first-team All-Conference USA defender in each of his final three seasons, including Oshane Ximines, who twice set the Old Dominion single season sack record before eventually being drafted by the New York Giants. Nagy was also on staff for ODU’s win at the 2016 Bahamas Bowl.
Nagy joined ODU after three seasons at Western Michigan where he worked with the safeties and spent the 2012 season as defensive coordinator.
In 2010, Nagy moved up to the FBS ranks following stints at Murray State and then Hofstra. At Murray State, Nagy spent two seasons coaching alongside current Lehigh head coach Kevin Cahill.
Nagy spent five seasons at the University of Maine, where he served as defensive coordinator while working with the linebackers and the secondary. He was a part of two Black Bear teams that won conference titles and made the Division I-AA quarterfinals.
As a student-athlete, Nagy was a standout running back at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut and was Trinity football’s most valuable player in 1986. He began his coaching career as a part-time secondary coach at his alma mater before moving on to Allegheny, where he worked as a graduate assistant coaching the inside linebackers. From Allegheny, Nagy went on to Union College and then a two-year stint at Maine.
Nagy returned to Allegheny in 1992 and spent five seasons as special teams coordinator and linebackers coach, adding the title of associate head coach in his final season. He was on staff for three NCAC championship teams at Allegheny before moving on to a one-year stint as the special teams coordinator and secondary coach at South Dakota and a three-year stint in the Patriot League at Fordham before returning to Maine in 2001.
A Connecticut native, Nagy graduated from Trinity College in 1987 with a degree in political science. Nagy and his wife, Erika, are the parents of two daughters, Jordan and Erin.
An opportunistic defense that grew into one of the top units in the FCS highlighted Lehigh’s 2024 Patriot League championship season. Lehigh led the Patriot League and ranked in the top 20 nationally in total defense, pass defense and sacks. The Mountain Hawks also allowed a league-best 21.6 points per game.
Four members of Lehigh’s defensive unit garnered first team All-Patriot League honors: linemen TJ Burke and Matt Spatny, linebacker Mike DeNucci and safety Nick Peltekian.
Spatny ranked third in the FCS in sacks and was an honorable mention AP All-American, while DeNucci was a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award, given to the top defensive player in the FCS.
Nagy’s rover group was led by the emergence of Jackson Dowd, who ranked fourth on the team with 64 tackles and added five pass breakups.
In his first season, three of Nagy’s defensive players earned All-Patriot League honors: lineman Dean Colton, DeNucci and Peltekian. The Mountain Hawks ranked second in the Patriot League with 21 sacks.
In his three seasons at Allegheny, Nagy mentored 13 all-conference student-athletes. He came to Allegheny following six seasons as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Old Dominion. At ODU, Nagy coached a first-team All-Conference USA defender in each of his final three seasons, including Oshane Ximines, who twice set the Old Dominion single season sack record before eventually being drafted by the New York Giants. Nagy was also on staff for ODU’s win at the 2016 Bahamas Bowl.
Nagy joined ODU after three seasons at Western Michigan where he worked with the safeties and spent the 2012 season as defensive coordinator.
In 2010, Nagy moved up to the FBS ranks following stints at Murray State and then Hofstra. At Murray State, Nagy spent two seasons coaching alongside current Lehigh head coach Kevin Cahill.
Nagy spent five seasons at the University of Maine, where he served as defensive coordinator while working with the linebackers and the secondary. He was a part of two Black Bear teams that won conference titles and made the Division I-AA quarterfinals.
As a student-athlete, Nagy was a standout running back at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut and was Trinity football’s most valuable player in 1986. He began his coaching career as a part-time secondary coach at his alma mater before moving on to Allegheny, where he worked as a graduate assistant coaching the inside linebackers. From Allegheny, Nagy went on to Union College and then a two-year stint at Maine.
Nagy returned to Allegheny in 1992 and spent five seasons as special teams coordinator and linebackers coach, adding the title of associate head coach in his final season. He was on staff for three NCAC championship teams at Allegheny before moving on to a one-year stint as the special teams coordinator and secondary coach at South Dakota and a three-year stint in the Patriot League at Fordham before returning to Maine in 2001.
A Connecticut native, Nagy graduated from Trinity College in 1987 with a degree in political science. Nagy and his wife, Erika, are the parents of two daughters, Jordan and Erin.
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