Courtesy of Bob Lomp/Wareham Week

New Bedford High School has hired long time coach Bob Lomp as the program’s new coach. Lomp is a familiar name to football fans in the South Coast and on the Cape after being a head coach at Apponequet, Wareham and Sandwich.

Lomp inherits a program coming off of a 2-9 record and one that has struggled in recent years. He replaces Mark DeBrito who stepped down after 11 seasons and four playoff appearances.

Lomp’s track record as a program builder is well known. He has built strong programs everywhere he has coached. He coached at Apponequet from 2001-2014 and had a highly successful run. Apponequet finished above .500 in all 14 of his seasons. Lomp has a career record of 145-52 as a high school head coach, including going 14-8 the past two seasons at Sandwich. He led the Knights to the second round of the playoffs last season. Sandwich finished 9-2.

At New Bedford, Lomp will inherit a program that has talent but needs to be more consistent. It may take some time but Lomp could eventually turn the program around the same way he has at his previous stops.

The allure of coaching at a bigger school can be tough to pass up. For Lomp, this will be another challenge. For New Bedford, Lomp is a home run hire. He brings credibility and stability to the program.