By simply stepping outside his front door each morning, Lafayette Head Coach Frank Tavani can proudly admire the football fiefdom he has built. From his home atop College Hill, Tavani – like Mufasa in “The Lion King” – can survey his surroundings and know that all that the light touches is the result of his hard work.

Across the street lies Fisher Stadium, the gleaming football cathedral where his Leopards recently trounced Marist under the lights in front of 9,000 raucous fans. At the far end of the stadium, just behind the giant Jumbotron, workers mill to and fro, building the Bourger Varsity Football House, an $11 million facility that will house athletic offices, training facilities, and a revamped weight room.

“Life is good,” Tavani says with a chuckle, before the football coach inside him gets the better of him.

“But you can’t sit back and be satisfied. That’s when you get complacent.”

It would be easy for Tavani to be content with what he already has – three consecutive Patriot League titles, three postseason appearances, and the most successful four year run in school history – but Tavani works day and night to keep his Leopards hungry. The 54-year-old father of four recently put his team through what he calls “one of the most grueling preseason camps I’ve ever been a part of,” and last week’s romp to open the season proved the Leopards don’t plan on relinquishing the Patriot League crown from their jaws anytime soon.

It’s hard to be content with the memories of how it used to be, back when Tavani was offensive coordinator in the late 1990s and Lafayette football was on the verge of collapse.

“I was here in ’97, when they were thinking of giving up on football,” the 2004 Patriot League coach of the year says. “We had the worst facilities, the worst record in the league. Those were trying times.”

The 180 began two years later, when Tavani was hired as head coach. Although he spent his first two seasons mired in sub-.500 mediocrity, the former all-American running back at Lebanon Valley College was quietly working to dig himself and his program out of a hole.

When he noticed former coaches had only recruited regional talent, Tavani hit the interstate, selling Leopard football in living rooms as far away as Florida. When money ran low, he hit up the Maroon Club, the university’s organization of alumni and parents.

The results speak for themselves. When he was first hired in 1999, the Leopards roster boasted no representation from the talent-rich Sunshine State. This season, 13 Floridians will don the maroon and white, including hard-hitting senior linebacker Chris Bacon. Thanks to the $33 million donated by football boosters over the past few years, Lafayette fans can now watch Bacon’s big hits replayed on the Jumbotron, and listen to the ferocious Leopard growl that blares from the Fisher Stadium speakers.

“They’re on what I call a roll,” says Georgetown Head Coach Kevin Kelly, who is currently trying to rebuild a program. “They just reload with younger guys every year that have been in the program for a while. They do a good job of recruiting, and they have an excellent coaching staff – a lot of those guys have been there for a very long time, and they have great continuity.”

Tavani, who has been roaming the sidelines in Easton, Pa., for two decades, has been blessed with a loyal supporting cast. Both ike Faragalli, who runs the Leopards’ juggernaut offense, and John Loose, the director of the unyielding “D,” have been with Tavani since 1999.

“The same guys have been with me throughout, and they are a staple of our program,” Tavani says. “I have had great support from my staff.”

Tavani doesn’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon. With his current gig, it’s hard to fathom why he would ever want to. From his home across the street – where he lives with his wife Agnes and his dog Rocky – Tavani can keep a watchful eye over his domain.

“I run a tight ship. I’m old school,” says Tavani, who is notorious for his my-way-or-the-highway attitude. “But I always tell players that my door is open if they ever need to come by with a problem. I’ve been very involved.”

This weekend, Tavani and his Leopards prepare to defend their title against a Georgetown team that he believes is progressing rapidly.

“I remember the feeling of what Coach Kelly is going through,” Tavani says. “But you can already see the difference between last year’s team and this one. Coach Kelly has improved that team immensely.”

As the Patriot League’s old hand prepares to face the conference up-and-comer, he has but one piece of advice.

“Patience,” Tavani says, “is a virtue.”