WORCESTER, Mass. – Worcester State University announced its new head football coach. Lazaro Mitjans, Jr. was named as the new leader of the Lancers. 

He comes to Worcester State after coaching stints at Harvard, Amherst College and the Massachuestts Maritime Academy. While at Harvard, Mitjans served as the running back coach for the Ivy League champion Crimson. 

Mitjans takes over a program that finished 3-7 in the 2024 season. 

This is the Ashland native's first collegiate heading coach job, and he says he's excited to get started.

"Yeah, I'm extremely excited to be the head coach here at Worcester State," said Mitjans. "I think it's a great opportunity for me. There's a lot of opportunity here in the City of Worcester and at Worcester State for this football program, and I'm extremely excited to get started. I talked about it throughout the process. The main goal of our program will always be to maximize the potential of every student-athlete as a person, as a student and then as a football player. We want to win a lot of football games too, that's for sure. But the main thing you'll see from the team is they're going to fight for each other, they're going to be committed to each other, they're going to believe in each other and that's what we want to be able to put out on the field."

Mitjan's father was a long time high school coach in the area, inlcuding at Algonquin Regional High School.