Eric Lewis - Football Coach - Bowling Green State University Athletics

Eric Lewis

Title:
Defensive Coordinator (Defensive Backs)
Email:
falconrecruit@bgsu.edu
Phone:
419-372-7083

Coach Lewis
Hometown	East Lansing, Mich.
College	San Diego State (1998)
Family	Wife, Elizabeth, children Taylor, Harper, Emerson and Micah
Coaching History
2001	Michigan State, Graduate Assistant
2002	Bucknell, Defensive Backs
2003-05	Ball State, Safeties
2006-07	Green Bay Packers, Def. Quality Control
2008	Louisville, Cornerbacks
2009	Eastern Michigan, Defensive Coordinator
2012-13	Weber State, Defensive Coordinator
2014	Buffalo, Secondary
2015-16	Georgia State, Secondary/Special Teams Coordinator
2017	Tennessee, Quality Control Assistant
2018	Colorado State, Cornerbacks
2019	Boston College, Defensive Backs
2020	Bowling Green, Defensive Backs
2021-22	Bowling Green, Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs

Bowling Green State University head coach Scot Loeffler named Eric Lewis as an assistant coach in Feb. of 2020, overseeing the defensive backs. In March of 2021, he was promoted to defensive coordinator.

Lewis joined Bowling Green following a stint coaching the defensive backs at Boston College. He has 19 years of collegiate and NFL experience.

In 2021, Lewis' first as the defensive coordinator, the BGSU defense recorded its best season dating back to the 2013 MAC championship year, allowing opponents only 373.7 yards per game.

Linebacker Darren Anders earned first-team All-MAC honors after he led the MAC and was No. 8 in the nation with 10.3 tackles per game. There was solid defensive back play in 2021 under the watchful eye of Lewis. Safety Jordan Anderson was one of three FBS players in the nation to record 3+ INTs, 2+ fumble recoveries and 5+ pass breakups. Cornerback Davon Ferguson was dominant in 2021 before missing the final 4.5 games with an injury. When Ferguson went down with injury, he was the only player in the nation with 60+ tackles (68), 2.0+ sacks (2) and 4+ passes defended (4). He was No. 1 in the MAC and No. 14 in the nation with 5.6 solo tackles per game.

Lewis headed to Boston College in 2019 after a one-year stint as the defensive backs coach at Colorado State in 2018. While at CSU Lewis helped the team improve 28 spots nationally in pass defense. He was a quality control assistant at Tennessee in 2017 after spending the 2015-16 seasons at Georgia State. While at Georgia State, Lewis' 2016 secondary ranked sixth in the NCAA in passing efficiency defense and eighth in passing defense, while allowing the fewest passing touchdowns in FBS (8). In 2015, his Georgia State team was the most improved defense in the country in terms of scoring defense (allowing 15 points per game fewer than the previous season), rush defense and passing defense efficiency.

Lewis also has experience in the Mid-American Conference as he coached the secondary at Buffalo in 2014 as well as serving as defensive coordinator at Eastern Michigan in 2009. He also coached at Ball State, overseeing the safeties from 2003-05. In his lone season at EMU, Lewis' team allowed just 150.1 yards per game passing, the fewest yards allowed in the nation.

He held the defensive coordinator position at Weber State from 2012-13. Prior to his time in Ypsilanti with EMU, he was the cornerbacks coach at Louisville for a season. Lewis spent two years (2006-07) with the Green Bay Packers as a Defensive Quality Control Coach. Lewis has also served as the defensive backs coach at Bucknell and was a graduate assistant at Michigan State.

Lewis earned his bachelor's degree in business administration (finance) from San Diego State, having played for the Aztecs from 1994-98. He was a 2014 inductee into the St. Francis High School Hall of Fame. Lewis was a four-year starter at San Diego State and finished as the Aztecs' all-time leader in career pass breakups.

He is the son of long-time college and NFL coach Sherman Lewis. He is married to Elizabeth and the couple has four children – Taylor, Harper, Emerson and Micah.