Joel Lamb, a 1993 Harvard graduate and former Crimson quarterback, returned to Cambridge in 2006 as the program's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He enters his sixth season in that role with his alma mater in 2011-12.

• Joel Lamb Photos

Lamb oversees the Crimson's recruiting efforts in the midwest states including Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Kentucky.

During his time on the Harvard coaching staff, Lamb has helped the Crimson to rank among the nation's leaders in offense each season. In 2009 and 2010, Harvard ranked 19th nationally in rushing yards as Gino Gordon and Treavor Scales both earned All-Ivy League status in each season. In 2009, Scales took home the league's Rookie of the Year award and in 2010, Gordon was named as the Asa Bushnell Cup recipient as the Ivy League's Player of the Year.

In 2008, Harvard ranked 18th nationally in passing offense and led the Ivy League in total offense. Chris Pizzotti was named the Ivy's Player of the Year and was signed by the New York Jets. For his efforts, Lamb was named the Assistant Coach of the Year by the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston.

Harvard has had an All-Ivy League quarterback in eight of the last 10 seasons.

Lamb returned to Harvard following nine years as the quarterbacks coach at Yale. He was the Bulldogs' offensive coordinator for three seasons, during which time Yale twice led the Ivy League in passing offense. His 2003 unit led the Ivies in passing offense, scoring offense and total offense.

Lamb helped Yale to the 1999 Ivy League championship, which was the Bulldogs' first league title in 10 years. He coached three of the four most prolific quarterbacks in Yale history in all-time passing leader Alvin Cowan, runner-up Joe Walland and Peter Lee, who ranks fourth in school history. Lamb's 2005 quarterback, Jeff Mroz, finished second on Yale's single-season passing chart and tied Cowan's school record with 22 touchdown passes before signing with the Dallas Cowboys.

Before joining the staff at Yale, Lamb had been the quarterbacks coach and passing-game coordinator at Amherst College for four years.

Lamb was a four-year member of Harvard's football program as an undergraduate and was the 1992 winner of the team's Henry N. Lamar Award, which recognizes dedication to the program, concern for his fellow man and contributions to Harvard football.

He went on to play competitively in England in 1994 with the Leeds Cougars of the British American Football Association.

A native of Natick, Mass., Lamb was a three-sport captain at Natick High School and was an all-state quarterback. He also was a standout in baseball and basketball. Lamb graduated from Harvard in 1993 after concentrating in psychology. He holds a master's degree in sports management from the University of Massachusetts.

Lamb's father, Tom, is the longtime athletic director and head football coach at Natick High, while Joel's wife, Ainslee, is the head field hockey coach at Boston College. They have a daughter, Brooklyn.