LEHIGH VALLEY NATIVE TO LEAD THE ‘HAWKS
Allentown, PA (November 28, 2017) – The Lehigh Valley Steelhawks are happy to announce the position of head coach and assistant general manager has been filled. Bob Kohler, a native of the Lehigh Valley, has been chosen to take the reins. Kohler has been on staff with the Steelhawks for six of their seven years, and spent the last two seasons as defensive coordinator.
After Chris Thompson announced his resignation and promotion to the AFL, the Steelhawks began a nationwide search to find their next head coach and assistant general manager. Kohler, a Lehigh Valley native and a coach with more than 40 years of experience, has been named as the Steelhawks next head coach. As the team’s defensive coordinator for the last two seasons, the Steelhawks have been a top ranked defense. Specializing on the secondary, the team has been dangerous in pass defense; the team had a +19 turnover margin behind 22 interceptions in 2017.
Kohler has coached in the Lehigh Valley at every level of football for the past 45 years. He spent his first three years at the high school level with William Allen and then 40 years at the collegiate level (Kutztown University – Division II, Muhlenberg College – Division III, and Moravian College – Division III); coaching all positions throughout his career. He has coached twelve All-Americans, scores of All-Conference players, coached in nine NCAA Division III National Championship Tournaments, and four Eastern Collegiate Conference Division III Bowl games. In addition to his time with the Steelhawks, Kohler has spent three years at the professional arena level with the Lehigh Valley Outlawz, New Jersey Revolution, and Trenton Freedom where he served as defensive coordinator.
In 2013 and 2014, he also served as the head coach for the Lehigh Valley Storm Minor League football team where he amassed a 22-5 record, two Conference Championships, and advanced to the National Championship game in Memphis, TN. Kohler was inducted into the Lehigh Valley Sports Hall of Fame in 2013. He has a son and daughter, three grandchildren, and he is a retired Public School Teacher/Administrator from the Allentown School District.
Kohler is already looking forward to shaping the 2018 season: “This is quite a humbling appointment. To be considered worthy of being the third head coach of the Steelhawks and working with the Clark family and staff is a unique honor at this point in my coaching career, especially in my home town. Our main objective starting out is to continue to travel on the same road that the Clark family and Coach Thompson have paved for the Steelhawks over the first seven years; as an organization built on integrity and doing things the right way. As for our team, the goal is to enhance our visibility and respect within the arena football world and even more important our local community, the Lehigh Valley and beyond. We will work hard to be competitive through consistent and persistent effort on and off the field.”
After having Kohler on his staff for so many years, Thompson couldn’t be happier to see him take over at the helm: “First off, I want to thank Glenn and Mike Clark and the Clark family again for the last six seasons. I am leaving with so many wonderful memories with great fans, partners, players, and coaches. I was not surprised to hear of the interest from coaches all over the country to be a part of this elite professional franchise but I couldn’t be more excited for Coach Kohler as we have worked together for so many years and he is without a doubt very deserving of it. I have always said it before, our success over the years is because of the great people we have surrounded ourselves with and Coach Kohler and the rest of the staff are definitely some of the best in the business. I can’t wait to continue working with Coach Kohler and the Steelhawks organization as I now embark on my new awesome opportunity with the Albany AFL team.”
Steelhawks 2018 season tickets are ON SALE NOW! Call 610-224-4625 to reserve your seats! Season ticket packages start as low as $56. All Steelhawks games are played on Embassy Bank Field inside the PPL Center.
Visit the team website at www.LVSteelhawks.com for the latest updates and recent Steelhawks news.
The Steelhawks are a PROFESSIONAL Arena Football team that plays inside the PPL Center in downtown Allentown, PA. Season ticket packages start as low as $8 per game (or $56 for the full season) and games are an exciting event for people of the Lehigh Valley to attend on weekend nights.
PPL Center (pplcenter.com) is a state-of-the-art multipurpose venue in downtown Allentown, PA. The arena seats more than 10,000 for concerts and more than 8,500 for Lehigh Valley Phantoms professional hockey games, making it the region’s largest events venue. The amenities-packed PPL Center will host more than 150 events each year, offering something for everyone, including the Phantoms, the AHL affiliate of the NHL Philadelphia Flyers, live concerts, family shows, trade shows, figure skating events, youth sports, high school and collegiate events, Disney on Ice, conferences, graduations and many more events. PPL Center is currently the main catalyst to the revitalization and growth of downtown Allentown. Spectra by Comcast Spectacor provides the Venue Management, Food Services and Hospitality at PPL Center.
Lehigh Valley Health Network includes five hospital campuses – three in Allentown including the region’s only facility dedicated to orthopedic surgery, one in Bethlehem and one in Hazleton, Pa.; 13 health centers caring for communities in five counties; numerous primary and specialty care physician practices throughout the region; pharmacy, imaging, home health services and lab services; and preferred provider services through Valley Preferred. Specialty care includes: trauma care at the region’s busiest, most-experienced trauma center treating adults and children, burn care at the regional Burn Center, kidney and pancreas transplants; perinatal/neonatal, cardiac, cancer care, and neurology and complex neurosurgery capabilities including national certification as a Comprehensive Stroke Center. Children’s Hospital at Lehigh Valley Hospital, the only children’s hospital in the region, provides care in 28 specialties and general pediatrics. Lehigh Valley Health Network has been recognized by US News & World Report for 20 consecutive years as one of America’s Best Hospitals and is a national Magnet hospital for excellence in nursing. Lehigh Valley Health Network’s Cancer Center is the only cancer center in the region to have been selected as a National Cancer Center Community Cancer Centers Program (NCCCP, 2010-14). Additional information is available at lvhn.org and by following us on facebook.com/LVHealthNetwork and twitter.com/LVHN.
Information provided to TVL by:
Katie Nork
Director of Marketing
Lehigh Valley Phantoms
