TIM WEIGHT/For the Express Lock Haven football head coach Dan Mulrooney reacts from the sideline in a game during the 2024 season.

In a shocking and sudden turn of events, former Lock Haven head coach Dan Mulrooney officially announced his resignation on Saturday, Jan. 11, opting to take the defensive coordinator job at Brown University under current head coach James Perry.

Mulrooney was hired at Lock Haven in 2021, and in three short years was able to completely change the fortunes of a team mired in despair. Bald Eagles football was at a considerable low point when Mulrooney was brought in, coming off three straight years finishing 2-9. Mulrooney came to The Haven from Anna Maria, a Div.3 school who was in a very similar place to where Lock Haven was when he took over. And in just four short years Mulrooney brought the Amcats from the dregs of Div.3 to a berth in the NCAA Div.3 Playoffs, winning the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference.

After a 1-11 finish in his first year at Lock Haven, Mulrooney and his 2022 team blew all expectations out of the water, finishing 5-6, a record they would repeat this season. This was the first time since 1981-82 that the Bald Eagles finished back to back seasons with five or more wins.

This turnaround came in large part to Lock Haven’s incredible ability through the portal, able to find gems like quarterback Jackson Ostrowsky, wide receiver T’iar Young, and current NFL running back Chris Collier.

Mulrooney exits the program with a final record of 11-21, while that may not sound impressive, Mulrooney currently sits inside the top five in win percentage in Lock Haven Football history, and he will go down as one of the best coaches in Bald Eagle history.

Unfortunately this is the harsh reality of college sports, there is always greener pastures. Coach Mulrooney poured everything into the Lock Haven community, and the football program over the last three years, a fact that deserves its praise and recognition. Moving up is the name of the game in any profession, and being a football coach is no different. Mulrooney’s decision is not one that should be met with scorn or distaste that he left, but with gratitude and praise for the incredible job he did.

Now the attention turns to who will fill the shoes Mulrooney has left, and while there are some outside options that make sense, all signs point to Lock Haven keeping the hiring in house and promoting a current member of the staff. Current offensive coordinator Joe Battaglia is the obvious replacement candidate, but there are numerous other names on the current staff that make sense as well.

The problem with losing a coach at this point in the recruiting cycle is that Lock Haven now has to re-pitch to every recruit that has already verbally committed, and they risk losing them if they can’t sell it well enough. The question becomes who did they commit to, Lock Haven? Or coach Mulrooney?

Current interim athletic director Albert Jones has an impossible task ahead of him, as he not only has to hire the right successor for the program, but also do it as fast as possible to attempt to save their recruiting class and keep the positive momentum rolling.

The coming weeks for Lock Haven football will be a critical turning point for the future of the program, will they fall back into the losing ways of old? Or can they steady the ship, and continue their upward rise to 2025 and beyond?