Lakeland alum Joey Lehto is back with the Muskies for his sixth year overall in his third stint as an assistant coach and will be the team’s defensive coordinator in 2022.
Lehto is back at Lakeland after previous tenures as an assistant coach from 2018-19 and before that from 2013-15. Most recently he spent the last two years at Elmhurst (Ill.) University, where he was the team’s offensive coordinator and also coached the Bluejays’ offensive line.
Lehto received his first experience as a coordinator in 2019 when he took over as the Muskies’ offensive coordinator. He also coached the team’s offensive line in 2018 and 2019 after returning to Lakeland after coaching running backs at St. Norbert College. He also worked in the school's Residential Education and Housing office.
Before that, Lehto was an assistant for three years with Lakeland from 2013-15 after concluding a four-year playing career with the team. He was a graduate assistant with the team and the team's secondary coach his first year and then linebackers coach from 2014-15.
Lehto joined the coaching staff after a four-year career with the Muskies in which he battled injuries but served as a starting fullback for two seasons. Primarily a blocker, he rushed 28 times for 63 yards in his career and scored his first two touchdowns as a senior at Maranatha Baptist. He also caught ten passes for 105 yards in 20 career games.
Lehto is a native of Bartlett, Ill., and received his bachelor’s degree from Lakeland in exercise science and sport studies in the spring of 2013. He also received his master's degree in counseling from Lakeland in 2016.
