Osia Lewis (December 3, 1962May 31, 2020) was an American professional arena football player who played four seasons in the Arena Football League with the Chicago Bruisers and

Albany Firebirds The Indiana Firebirds were a team in the Arena Football League. The team was based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Home games were played at the Conseco Fieldhouse, also the home of the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association and Indiana ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at Oregon State University and attended Tucson High School in Tucson, Arizona.

College career

Lewis was a four-year

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

for the Oregon State Beavers from 1982 to 1985. He primarily played linebacker but also saw time at quarterback, safety and wide receiver for the Beavers. As a senior in 1985, he was named the team's Most Inspirational Player, served as team captain and earned All-

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

and honorable mention All-America honors by the Associated Press. Lewis set school records for single-season defensive points, season fumble recoveries with four and career fumble recoveries with eight.

Professional career

Lewis played for the Chicago Bruisers from 1987 to 1989, earning Second Team All-Arena honors in 1988. He played for the

in 1990.

Coaching career

Lewis was an assistant coach for the Western Oregon Wolves of

Western Oregon State College Western Oregon University (WOU) is a public university in Monmouth, Oregon. It was originally established in 1856 by Disciples of Christ pioneers as Monmouth University. Subsequent names included Oregon State Normal School, Oregon College of Ed ...

from 1989 to 1990. He served as an assistant coach for the Oregon State Beavers of Oregon State University, working with linebackers and special teams from 1991 to 1996. He was defensive line coach for the Illinois Fighting Illini of the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign from 1997 to 2000 before serving as linebackers coach from 2001 to 2002. Lewis was

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

of the New Mexico Lobos of the University of New Mexico from 2003 to 2007 while also serving stints as defensive line and linebacker coach. He served as defensive coordinator of the UTEP Miners of the University of Texas at El Paso from 2008 to 2009. He was defensive coordinator of the Hartford Colonials of the United Football League in 2010. Lewis served as defensive line coach of the San Diego State Aztecs of San Diego State University from 2011 to 2015. In February 2016, he joined the Vanderbilt Commodores of Vanderbilt University as a senior defensive assistant and outside linebackers coach.

Death

Lewis died May 31, 2020, from

liver cancer Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...

. He was 57 years old.

References

External links

Just Sports Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Osia 1962 births 2020 deaths American football fullbacks American football linebackers African-American players of American football Oregon State Beavers football players Chicago Bruisers players Albany Firebirds players Western Oregon Wolves football coaches Oregon State Beavers football coaches Illinois Fighting Illini football coaches New Mexico Lobos football coaches UTEP Miners football coaches Hartford Colonials coaches San Diego State Aztecs football coaches Vanderbilt Commodores football coaches Players of American football from Anchorage, Alaska Players of American football from Tucson, Arizona Tucson High School alumni Deaths from liver cancer 21st-century African-American people