The Warsaw Mets have announced the signing of veteran Lonnie Hursey as their defensive coordinator for the 2024 season.
The Mets finished the 2024 season in the Polish Football League with a 2-6 record after reaching the semifinals in 2022.
The 46 year old Hursey was the head coach of the Krakow Kings in 2024 helping them make it to the semifinals following a 6-2 regular season after a disastrous 2023 season which saw them wind up with a 3-5 record. He spent the 2023 season with the Usti and Labem Blades in the Czech Republic after coaching the Mures Monsters in the Romanian Football League in 2022. In 2020, Hursey took over the Ostrava Steelers in the Czech Republic and guided them to the playoffs before the pandemic ended the season prematurely.
A native of Olympia, Washington, Hursey is now entering his 16th year of coaching football in a country outside the United States. He is a true football globe trotter with stops everywhere from Reus, Spain to Vila Velha, Brazil, from Pune, India to Trondheim, Norway, and seemingly everywhere in between. The list of countries is mind boggling. In addition to the Czech Republic and Romania, Hursey has guided teams and mentored players in Spain, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, India, Serbia, Poland and Brazil.
His record as a coach includes five championship finals and 12 playoff appearances.