Bucknell hires Rutgers' Susan as head coach

Published Jan. 27, 2010 11:43 p.m. ET

foxsports

Bucknell hired Joe Susan to take over as head football coach, luring back a former Bison assistant to lead a program coming off three straight losing seasons.

Athletic director John Hardt cited Susan's 30-plus years in coaching and familiarity with the Patriot League school in announcing the hiring Wednesday.

Susan spent the last nine seasons as an assistant at Rutgers, most recently coaching tight ends and serving as recruiting coordinator under head coach Greg Schiano.

Susan, 54, was an assistant at Bucknell from 1981-90. While there, Susan recruited Schiano, who played football for three years at Bucknell.

Susan also had coaching stops at Princeton and Memphis, but Susan's only year as a head coach came in 2000 when he led FCS school Davidson to a 10-0 record. He takes over at Bucknell for Tim Landis, who left last month to take an assistant coaching job at San Jose State.

Bucknell finished 4-7 last season, and the school hasn't had a winning record since going 6-5 in 2006.