Furman University

Ken Lamendola is in his fourth year as the Paladins’ inside linebackers coach and second as recruiting coordinator.

In his first year on staff Lamendola was forced to manage early season ending injuries to three senior starters — a task he accomplished in solid fashion by overseeing the development of a pair of Southern Conference All-Freshman Team performers, including Elijah McKoy, who finished the season with 81 tackles on the Paladins’ 8-5 squad that advanced to the FCS playoffs.

In 2018 he helped first-year starter Donavan Perryman play a key role in the squad’s strong stretch run that saw the Paladins register five wins over their final six games to claim a share of the program’s 14th SoCon championship.

This past season inside linebacker Braden Gilby fashioned an impactful first season en route to earning SoCon All-Fresman Team honors and helping Furman to an 8-5 campaign, at-large berth to the FCS playoffs, and AFCA No. 19 final national ranking.

The quality work Lamendola has turned in with his players on the field has been mirrored by the stellar recruiting effort he has directed the last two years.  Furman’s 2019 class was rated in among the Top 15 nationally. 

Lamendola came to Furman from Air Force Academy Preparatory School, where he coached inside linebackers for two seasons.

Lamendola’s playing career spanned five seasons (2007-11) and was highlighted by a sophomore campaign that saw him rack up 118 tackles and earn honorable mention All-Mountain West Conference honors as an inside linebacker before injuries curtailed his playing time.

The Westlake, Ohio, product totaled 24 tackles for a 2009 Air Force squad that defeated 25th-ranked Houston, 45-20, to win the Armed Forces Bowl.  The next year he was a member of a Falcons squad that went 9-4 and beat Georgia Tech, 14-7, in the Independence Bowl, and in 2011 he served as team captain in helping Air Force capture the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy, which is awarded annually based on head-to-head results among the three service academies.

Following graduation in December of 2011, he served one year as a program manager for Air Force One in the Very Important Person Special Air Mission (VIPSAM) and Special Duty Division at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma.

An 18-month stint as executive officer in the VIPSAM Special Duty Division followed before he was assigned program manager duties in the E-4B Commercial Derivative Aircraft Division in Sept. of 2014.  Among his many tasks there were enabling critical decision making capability to the Secretary of Defense and the National Airborne Operations Center for the $150 million/year E-4B fleet and spearheading a $400 million-dollar Low Frequency Transmit System replacement.

Lamendola began his coaching career in April of 2015 at USAFA Prep School as inside linebackers coach.

In addition to his bachelor of science degree in management from Air Force Academy, he has completed graduate level studies in United States Air Force Fundamentals of Acquisition Management at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, and holds a master’s degree in human resources from the University of Oklahoma.