SHU assistant Matt Kohn to be named interim coach for 2016 season

Siena Heights University football head coach Jim Lyall has decided to step down effective immediately due to health concerns, the school announced today in a press release.



“Over the past year and a half, I have experienced ongoing health issues,” Lyall said in the release. “In light of this issue, I’ve decided to step down as the head football coach at Siena Heights University. This was a very difficult decision to make, but for the sake of my health and my family, it was the right time. I have complete confidence that Siena Heights football will continue to carry on the tradition we have started.”



Saints assistant head coach and defensive coordinator Matt Kohn (Adrian High School) has been named interim head coach for the 2016 season.



Siena Heights will hold a press conference today at 11 a.m. to address both moves.



Lyall was hired in 2010 to help start the Saints’ intercollegiate football program and coached SHU through its first five seasons. In 2014, Lyall was named Mid-States Football Association Mideast League Coach of the Year after leading the Saints to the MSFA Mideast championship.



In four NAIA varsity seasons at SHU, Lyall’s teams went a combined 19-21 (11-12 MSFA).



“Jim embodies everything we wanted Siena Heights football to be,” SHU athletic director Fred Smith said in the release. “The university owes him a debt of gratitude for taking on the challenge of beginning a successful collegiate football program. We wish him nothing but the best and know he will remain an integral part of the university community.”



Lyall played at the University of Michigan for coach Bo Schembechler from 1970 to 1973.



His college football coaching career spanned 40 years, including 25 as head coach. He was the head coach at Adrian College from 1990 to 2009, compiling a 103-92-1 overall record and a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship in 1997.



Lyall worked for 15 years as a special education teacher in adapted physical education.



“We couldn’t have asked for a better person to start our football program,” SHU president Sister Peg Albert said in the release. “We wanted someone who understood not only how to run a college football program, but could build it the right way. We wanted success both on and off the field, and Jim certainly accomplished that. I am very grateful for his service and his dedication to the mission of Siena Heights.”



Kohn, 34, was part of Lyall’s original coaching staff at Siena Heights. He was named MSFA Mideast Assistant Coach of the Year in 2014.



Kohn previously coached quarterbacks at his alma mater, NCAA Division II University of Indianapolis, from 2005 to 2008.



Kohn holds several University of Indianapolis school records, as well as the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference record for most passing yards in a game (645).



“We have all the confidence that Matt can continue the strong football tradition that Siena Heights has established,” Smith said in the release. “We know the coaching staff and student-athletes will rise to the challenge this season.”



