Former DMU Lion becomes leader of the pride

After playing for the DMU Lions last season as a visiting scholar from the USA, Josh Seybert has taken the role of Lions head coach for this season.

Josh grew up in Lawrence, a college town in the east of Kansas with a fairly similar climate to the UK. He has decided to stay in the UK as he enjoyed his time at De Montfort University (DMU) in Leicester and can continue to be involved in American football whilst here.

He said about the UK: “The lifestyle here suits my passions. I’m able to coach and play across two seasons and be around football all year.”

Josh has played American football for most of his life playing in high school for Lawrence High and in college for Baker University, both in Kansas.

Both of these teams have had some success in their time, with Baker University losing in the final of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics on two occasions.

These experiences of playing football have made Josh fall in love with the sport; this was the main reason for him coming to DMU in Leicester in the first place as he wanted to continue his career in football which just was not possible in America.

Last season’s experiences made Josh want to stay and become head coach as he wanted to continue his career in football and the best opportunity to do that was by staying in the UK.

Josh said about his time being head coach: “Love the challenge. Developing a team which relies on several brand new players to the sport is no easy task. Given we’ve only been training for 6 weeks, I’m very proud to see how far we’ve come.”

He said he is is relishing the opportunity to be a head coach as he enjoys forming the team and the bonds he can see within the team give him great pleasure.

However, the season has got off to a bad start with the Lions having one win and two losses, a record the team are hoping they can turn around as the season continues, as they hope to push for the playoffs.