The Cologne Centurions have signed a new Head Coach. Javan Lenhardt will be responsible for the team from the West Division in the upcoming season.
 
Lenhardt already knows the franchise well. From 2021 to 2022, he was the Cologne team's defensive coordinator and assistant head coach. He then became defensive back coach of the Frankfurt Galaxy. 

In Cologne, he now succeeds Jag Bal, who left the Centurions at the end of last season. In the meantime, Bal is the new head coach of Berlin Thunder

Deep connection with the city of Cologne 

Lenhardt began his coaching career in Germany in 1997, coaching the defensive backs of the Hamburg Blue Devils. That year, the team won the European Championship title. The following season, he moved to Cologne as defensive back's coach and later as defensive coordinator, where he won the German championship in 2000. 

His career also took him to the GFL with teams such as the Darmstadt Diamonds and the Cologne Falcons, where he was both Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator.

In 2008, Lenhardt moved to the Netherlands, where he worked for the Maastricht Wildcats as defensive coordinator and assistant head coach. He and his team won the Dutch championship title in 2011. 

New challenge at Centurions

The American, and father of Galaxy wide receiver Paul Lenhardt, returned to his home country in 2014. He became defensive coordinator and assistant head coach at White Oak High School and Richlands High School.

He returned to Germany and Cologne again in 2018. Lenhardt coached the Cologne Falcons from 2018 to 2021 and then joined the Centurions.

A big challenge awaits Lenhardt at the Centurions. After a rather disappointing season, the team missed the playoffs last season with a record of 6-6. The squad is currently in kind of a shake-up. For instance, quarterback Isaiah Weed left Cologne to join the Helvetic Mercenaries.

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