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The University at Buffalo football program has a new man in charge.

UB’s athletic department announced Pete Lembo’s hire as its football coach Sunday afternoon, and Lembo takes his first head coaching job since 2015, when he was at Ball State. Most recently, Lembo was South Carolina’s associate head coach and special teams coordinator for the last three seasons.

“We will work tirelessly to recruit, develop and maximize the experience for our student-athletes on and off the field,” Lembo said in a statement released by the UB athletic department. “I am really excited to assemble an energetic staff that will build meaningful relationships with our players and with each other.”

UB will formally introduce Lembo at noon Tuesday at the Murchie Family Fieldhouse, and he will make his in-game debut as UB’s coach when the Bulls open the season Aug. 29 against Lafayette at UB Stadium.

It has been three very special years for me and Lembo family here in Columbia! I would like to thank Coach Beamer, Coach Tanner, our coaching staff, our support staff and especially our players for their unwavering support! The future is bright for Gamecock football! I look…

— Pete Lembo (@Pete_Lembo) January 21, 2024

“Pete is a proven winner as a head coach and is an awesome hire for Buffalo,” South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer said in a statement. “He made our program at South Carolina better on and off the field. I can’t wait to watch what he does at Buffalo.”

Congrats Pistol Pete !!!!!! Incredible opportunity for you …You made our program better on and off the field This position in Columbia is EXTREMELY attractive to so many now because of it …Although the new coach will never be able to reach your level of nickname usage on… https://t.co/WyIxn6Ku6D

— Shane Beamer (@CoachSBeamer) January 21, 2024

Lembo replaces Maurice Linguist, who resigned last week to become an assistant on Kalen DeBoer’s staff at Alabama, after three seasons at UB.

An athletic department spokesperson told The Buffalo News that Lembo has agreed to a five-year contract at UB, but the financial terms were not immediately available.

The Post and Courier of Charleston, S.C., reported Sunday that according to Lembo’s contract at South Carolina, he earns an annual salary of $725,000, but the terms of his contract state that he will not have to pay USC a buyout as he is leaving to become a head coach. Linguist made an annual base salary of $475,000 and additional annual compensation of $200,000, according to his original contract and contract extension.

“I’ve followed his career and have been very impressed not only with his coaching acumen but how he’s achieved success at his various stops,” UB athletic director Mark Alnutt said in a statement. “His positive engagement and relationship building with people are second to none. This is very advantageous when it comes to running a successful program. I have no doubt that we will be very competitive and win championships in the MAC. The future is very bright for UB football with Coach Lembo at the helm.”

A source also told the News that Lembo is scheduled to meet with UB’s players Tuesday afternoon after he is introduced on campus.

More about Pete Lembo

Lembo, 53, grew up in Staten Island, and played college football at Georgetown.

Lembo was a head coach at Lehigh, at Elon and at Ball State from 2001-2015, but has served as an assistant, as a coordinator or as an associate head coach since 2016 at Maryland, Rice, Memphis and South Carolina. One of Lembo’s wins as head coach at Lehigh came against UB in 2002.

Lembo was 33-29 and 23-17 in the Mid-American Conference in five seasons at Ball State, from 2011-15. He led the Cardinals to bowl games in 2012 and 2013.

Lembo left Ball State after the 2015 season to join Maryland’s staff as a special teams coordinator, working with former Terps head coach DJ Durkin.

What awaits Lembo

At UB, Lembo takes over a team that was 14-23 over the last three seasons, and played in the 2022 Camellia Bowl. In those three seasons, the Bulls finished no higher than second in the MAC’s East Division. The conference’s championship stakes change, this season, though. The MAC eliminated its East and West divisions in football after the 2023 season, and the top two teams based on conference winning percentage will play for the MAC championship.

UB had 12 players enter the transfer portal after the 2023 season, and seven of those players have announced they will join new programs. However, UB did not lose any of its incoming high school recruits between Linguist’s departure Tuesday and Lembo’s hire Sunday, and did not have any FBS, FCS or junior-college transfers announce that they will not join the program.

The first duty for Lembo is to meet with current and incoming players and outline their commitments, responsibilities and roles within the program. Again, that will happen Tuesday.

Second: Shoring up a coaching staff. UB has one coordinator (Dave Patenaude) and four assistants currently in house from Linguist’s previous staff.

Third: Lembo will have to finalize dates for UB’s spring practices and spring game, as well as UB’s pro day, which is typically held in March.

UB opens the season in August but it’s unclear, as of right now, if UB will face Ball State — Lembo’s last head coaching stop — this fall. The MAC will announce each school’s future opponents at the end of January, and will release the full 2024 schedule at the end of February.

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In the early 1900s, Buffalo Mill in Union County was a thriving workplace employing more than 900 employees.

At the time, the mill was one of six cotton mills in Union County. Located three miles west of Union it was designed by W.B. Whaley and built in 1901. The mill village grew to more than 2,000 residents in 1907 when rent was only 55 cents a month for the company-owned houses. The isolated steam electric plant continued to flourish until struggling in the 1930s and then rebounding during World War II.

Gone but not forgotten, the former mill site near Highway 215 on Buffalo Creek will be transformed into a community park. Union County Supervisor Frank Hart said the county purchased four acres of the former mill site in June for $65,000.

"The old Buffalo Mill was a prominent textile mill in the community," Hart said. "The plan is to restore the towers, fix the clocks, and have lights on the towers. The area will be turned into a green space for a park."

The mill was torn down years ago including the main building, which connected to the two towers still standing. The mill's design was Late Victorian Romanesque Revival. For many years, the mill was in disrepair after it closed and had become a blight, Hart said.

The county worked for years with the mill's owner to get it cleaned up. Hart said the county already owned some property at the site including an office building and power plant once used by mill employees.

"We are going to continue finishing cleaning up debris," Hart said. "The county will apply for grant funding to remove concrete from the lower level and fill it, so we can have a community area park-like environment."

The seven-story towers are 150-feet tall. Hart said the towers were evaluated and determined to be structurally safe. Hart said the county will conduct an environmental assessment and cleanup over the next two years with construction of a park to follow.

"People in the community I think have been supportive of the project," Hart said.

Union County Council member Tracie Campbell said she supports the project because a new park in Buffalo would give children a new safe place to play.

"Buffalo is a tight-knit community and a new park there would be really great," Campbell said.

South Carolina’s football program will have to find another new coach to hire for the upcoming season.

Associate head coach and special teams coordinator Pete Lembo was announced as the new head football coach for the University of Buffalo, the program announced Sunday afternoon. ESPN’s Pete Thamel first reported the news Sunday morning.

UB Athletics will introduce Lembo on campus as the head coach Tuesday afternoon. He’ll receive a five-year contract, and will make his debut as the Bulls’ head coach against Lafayette on Aug 29.

“Pete is a proven winner as a head coach and is an awesome hire for Buffalo,” USC head coach Shane Beamer said in a statement to UB Athletics. “He made our program at South Carolina better on and off the field. I can’t wait to watch what he does at Buffalo.”

Beamer later shared on X (formerly Twitter): “Congrats Pistol Pete !!!!! Incredible opportunity for you …You made our program better on and off the field. This position in Columbia is EXTREMELY attractive to so many now because of it …Although the new coach will never be able to reach your level of nickname usage on our team.”

Lembo has spent the past three seasons with the Gamecocks, joining Shane Beamer’s staff in Dec. 2020. He’s coached special teams to a program-record 14 blocked kicks in three seasons. The Gamecocks finished last year ranked No. 23 in the nation for net punting and No. 18 in punt return defense.

Lembo was a Broyles Award Assistant Coach of the Year semifinalist in 2022.

Lembo is originally from Staten Island, N.Y., roughly six hours from Buffalo’s campus.

“We will work tirelessly to recruit, develop and maximize the experience for our student-athletes on and off the field,” Lembo said in the Bulls’ announcement. “I am really excited to assemble an energetic staff that will build meaningful relationships with our players and with each other.”

Buffalo went 3-9 last season and 3-5 in the MAC. Previous head coach Maurice Linguist resigned last week to become an assistant at Alabama under new head coach Kalen DeBoer.

Lembo is the second USC coach to leave the program this offseason for a head coaching position, after former tight ends coach Jody Wright accepted a job at Murray State on Jan. 10. According to his contract, Lembo doesn’t have to pay USC a buyout, since he’s leaving for a head coaching position.

Lembo was the head coach at Elon and Lehigh before joining Ball State (2011-15), a conference foe for Buffalo, where he led the Cardinals to a 33-29 record while setting over 60 program records in five years. He was also the first Ball State head coach to reach 30 wins in four seasons in program history.

Lembo is 112-65 in his 14 years as a head coach, spanning from 2001-2015. He’s had previous coaching stops at Maryland, Memphis, Rice, Dartmouth Hampden-Sydeny and Albany. before landing at USC with Beamer. Lembo played college football at Georgetown.

This story was originally published January 21, 2024, 11:56 AM.

North Carolina is an excellent place to go fishing. This lovely southern state has thousands of lakes, rivers, and ponds stocked with bass, trout, and bluegills. Not only can you fish for bass, but also buffalo fish. In this article, we discuss the largest buffalo fish ever caught in North Carolina and other amazing state fish records!

What is the Largest Buffalo Fish Ever Caught in North Carolina?

The largest buffalo fish ever caught in North Carolina weighed an astonishing 88 pounds. Tony Crawford caught this monster of a fish in Lake Wylie on November 14, 1993, using Pack bait. This massive creature is the third-largest fish species caught in the state!

About Buffalo Fish

The buffalo fish species found in North Carolina is the smallmouth buffalo. They are members of the Catostomidae family. They can live long lives, well over 60 years! Interestingly though, smallmouth buffalo fish aren’t native to North Carolina.

Smallmouth buffalo fish are about 16 to 24 inches long. They vary a lot in weight. Most smallmouth buffalo fish only weigh about 5 to 15 pounds. However, they can surpass 40 inches long and 80 pounds.

Smallmouth buffalo also vary in color. They are generally gray to brown or blue-grey. They are also coppery green dorsally and pale yellow to white ventrally. Smallmouth buffalo are long and narrow, with an arched back.

Smallmouth buffalo fish have a wide range in North America. They are native to the major tributaries of the Mississippi River in the United States. It’s also common in other states outside of its native range.

You can find these narrow fish in clear freshwater streams or lakes with thick vegetation.

So, what do these fish eat? Smallmouth buffalo fish are bottom feeders. They mainly eat vegetative matter at the bottom of bodies of water. They also eat algae off of rocks and surfaces. These fish may also hunt for crustaceans and zooplankton.

The larger a smallmouth buffalo fish grows, the fewer natural predators they have. Young smallmouth buffalo fish are commonly targeted by other large fish species and snakes. They are also sometimes eaten by frogs and large birds like herons. Humans though are this fish’s main predator.

Other Fish in North Carolina

Smallmouth buffalo fish are just one fish species in the state. You can find both freshwater and saltwater fish in North Carolina. Keep reading to learn more about other fish in the state and their records!

The first fish on our list is the black sea bass. This fish is a member of the family Serranidae. The average size of a black sea bass is 12 inches long. They typically weigh between 1 to 5 pounds. In 1979, Joe Mizelle caught an 8-pound and 12-ounce black sea bass off the Oregon Inlet.

Another common fish found in North Carolina is the blue marlin. Blue marlins are massive marine fish endemic to the Atlantic Ocean. Currently, they are listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Blue marlins are popular game fish, with a unique hunting method. These large fish are about 1,190 to 1,810 pounds. They are also very long fish, with some females reaching 16 feet long. Although not as big as 1,810 pounds, in 2008, Trey Irvine caught a record-breaking 1,228-pound blue marlin off the Oregon Inlet.

The next fish on our list is the sailfish. The sailfish is a marine fish with a long bill and lives in colder pelagic waters throughout the world. They are excellent hunters but are sadly listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. The largest sailfish ever caught in North Carolina weighed 100 pounds. John P. Grooms, Jr. caught this impressive fish in 1987 off of Ocean Isle.

Last but not least is the bluegill. The bluegill is a North American vibrant freshwater fish found in many cool water streams, lakes, and ponds. They are excellent hiders and spend a lot of time inside old tree stumps. Bluegills can live in deep water, or near the shore. They prefer taking shelter in vegetation with shade. Bluegills are also small. Some bluegills don’t even weigh 2 pounds. Danny Case in 1976 caught a 4-pound and 5-ounce bluegill in Henderson County using a Catalpa worm as bait.

The photo featured at the top of this post is ©

David and Faythe DiLoreto were at a crossroads in their lives when they took a vacation to Italy back in 2011.

"There came a time when we were looking to do something different," David explained to PBS NC. "We happened to make a family trip to Italy, not searching for anything there, but just fell in love with buffalo mozzarella when we were there."

Most Americans don't realize that mozzarella is made with water buffalo milk, and when they returned home to Rowan County, North Carolina, the DiLoretos discovered why: Barely anyone produces it stateside.

"We came home and realized that nobody was making it in the United States," David, a retired physician, recalled to the local news station.

The couple discovered that there were only five producers of buffalo mozzarella producers in the entire country, and none were within 500 miles of Rowan County.

So Faythe found a small herd of water buffalo and gave them to David for his birthday. And after two years of perfecting the process, America had six producers of buffalo mozzarella.

What began as a humble quest for fresh buffalo mozzarella has since transformed into Fading D Farm, a 64-acre farm on the outskirts Salisbury. There, the DiLoretos raise and milk a small herd of female water buffalo for mozzarella, gourmet gelato, and an assortment of other dairy products. Except for their stud Z, the male buffalo get sold for meat.

The DiLoretos make their cheese the old-fashioned way. It's difficult, but the flavor is worth it. Buffalo milk is 9 to 12 percent butterfat, compared to 3 to 5 percent for most cows. It's easier to digest than cow's milk—it's also noticeably thicker and sweeter.

Faythe describes it as "like drinking a melted milkshake."

"We know what's in it. We enjoy it from start to finish and having control over all of it," David told Carolina Country. "We know the cows are treated properly. We know the cheese is handled properly. It's such a good product—we love it."

Fading D Farm's products are available at the farm and in nearby stores. They also offer farm tours by appointment.

For more information, visit FadingDFarm.com.