Watch: Tulsa's Tre Lamb makes confident debut at American Media Days

First-year Tulsa head coach Tre Lamb took center stage at American Athletic Conference Media Days with a vision built on consistency and local pride.

Lamb, the former head coach at East Tennessee State and Gardner-Webb, was praised by American Commissioner Tim Pernetti as a "high-energy guy building his program" and a strong hire for the league. Lamb wasted no time laying out his goals for the Golden Hurricane.

“Tulsa has had success. It just hasn’t been quite that recent,” Lamb said. “My goal is to turn it into a consistent winner. I’m not trying to win 10 games and go 3-8 the next year. We’ve got to get this thing off the ground with consistency.”

Lamb highlighted Kirk Francis, a former walk-on from Tulsa’s own Metro Christian, as his starting quarterback. He also emphasized the leadership of Chris Thompson Jr., a former four-star recruit from Texas who’s returned to Tulsa after stops at Auburn and USC.

On recruiting, Lamb didn’t shy away from calling out the need to protect TU’s home turf:

“There’s no reason we can’t compete with the Oklahoma States and Kansas States of the world. We don’t need those people coming in our backyard taking our players.”

Tulsa’s new head coach also pointed to the city’s unique position in the college football landscape — no pro teams, passionate support, and a rich football history that includes four NFL Hall of Famers and 184 NFL Draft picks, the most of any Group of Five program.

“We are Tulsa’s team,” Lamb said. “We’ve got oil and gas money in town. When we show success, we’re going to tap into those resources and get this thing really going.”

Lamb closed by reflecting on his coaching path and the challenges ahead:

“I’ve learned how to do more with less. I didn’t play or coach in the SEC. But I’ve earned everything. I know we’re going to get punched in the mouth — it’s how we respond that matters.”

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