(Photo Courtesy of LIU Lacrosse/Twitter)

With fall ball in the rearview mirror and the march towards preseason practice in front of us, let’s take a look back at all the coaching changes that took place over this past summer/fall.

In all, eight different programs changed head coaches. 22 programs made assistant coaching changes. Only two positions remain open.

Here’s a look at all the action from this year’s coaching carousel:

Head Coaching Changes

Both Providence and St. John’s announced that they would be parting ways with their current head coaches within an hour of each other on May 4th, making the pair of Big East programs the first head coaching opening of the carousel.

Providence, after parting ways with Chris Gabrielli, announced on June 15th that it had hired Bobby Benson as its head head men’s lacrosse coach. Benson arrived in the Rhode Island state capital this summer after two seasons as the offensive coordinator at Maryland, where he helped lead the Terrapins to consecutive national championship appearances. That includes Maryland’s 18-0 national title season in 2022. Benson spent 14 seasons in the same role at Johns Hopkins prior to spending the last two seasons in College Park.

Benson has brought in Casey Broderson and Carroll Kennedy as his assistant coaches. Broderson, who was given the associate head coach title, arrives at Providence after spending 12 seasons on the sidelines at Bryant. That includes the past eight as the Bulldog’s associate head coach. Kennedy spent the 2022 season with Benson at Maryland, serving as the Terrapins’ volunteer assistant.

Colin Munro, who just ended his playing career at Georgetown in the spring and is the son of former Denver head coach Jamie Munro, has been brought on as a volunteer assistant at Providence.

St. John’s, following its parting of ways with Jason Miller, hired Justin Turri as its next head coach. Turri arrived in Queens after four seasons as the offensive coordinator at Michigan. Turri led a Wolverines’ offense last spring that ended the year as the 11th-ranked scoring offense (14.07 goals per game) nationally.

Turri brought in his brother, Kyle, and Christian Klipstein on board as assistant coaches. The latter Turri spent the last four years as the defensive coordinator at Hobart. Klipstein spent each of the last three seasons as the defensive coordinator at Dickinson (DIII).

Quinn O’Reily has joined Turri’s staff as a volunteer assistant. A 2021 Adelphi grad, he spent 2022 as the offensive coordinator of Long Island Lutheran High School.

UMass Lowell parted ways with Ed Stephenson on May ninth and Drew Kelleher was named as the River Hawks’ next head coach on June 16th. Kelleher comes to UMass Lowell after seven seasons at the helm of the Manhattan Jaspers, who he guided to a MAAC title and NCAA Tournament appearance in 2022.

Connor Samuelson and Ian Moore have been hired as part of Kelleher’s inaugural staff. Samuelson spent the past four seasons as the defensive coordinator at Williams (DIII). Moore spent last season as a volunteer assistant at Ohio State after serving in the same role at Lafayette each of the prior three seasons.

Manhattan elected to elevate John Odierna to interim and then eventually full head coach following Kelleher’s departure. Oiderna served as an assistant coach at Manhattan all seven years of the Kelleher era, filling the defensive coordinator role.

Oiderna retained Doug Sage as an assistant. He came to Riverdale ahead of the 2022 season after four years as the head coach at Drew (DIII). Former Mercer head coach Chad Surman joined Oiderna’s staff in late July but has since left, being hired as the inaugural head coach of the Iona Gaels, who will begin play during the 2024-25 school year.

Bryant announced the retirement of head coach Mike Pressler on June third. The Bulldogs hired Brad Ross as its next head just over a week later on June 13th. Ross arrived in Smithfield after three seasons as the offensive coordinator at Navy. Ross was previously on Pressler’s staff at Bryant from 2011-2014 as the Bulldogs’ associate head coach.

Ross filled our his inaugural staff with Chris Gabrelli and Travis Harrington coming on as assistant coaches. Gabrielli comes to Smithfield after 10 years as the head coach of Providence, where he led the Friars to a 61-81 record and three Big East Tournament appearances.

NJIT parted ways with Travis Johnson on May 13th and a month and 10 days later named Eric Wolf as the next head coach of the Highlanders. Wolf arrived at NJIT after a five-year stint as the head coach at LIU, where he helped lead the program through its transition to DI and led it to consecutive NEC tournament appearances in 2021 and 2022.

Eric Wolf filled out his inaugural staff at NJIT with the hiring of Sean Eccles and Jack Kearney. Eccles is an UAlbany alum like Wolf and comes to NJIT after serving as the interim head coach of SUNY Oswego (DIII) last spring, where he had been hired as the offensive coordinator in the fall before being elevated in January. Kearney came to NJIT after a two-year stint as a volunteer assistant at Bryant where he worked with the Bulldogs’ goalies, among other task.

LIU selected Jordan Levine to fill the opening left by Wolf’s departure. Levine spent 14 years with the Mercy (DII) men’s lacrosse program, including the past 10 as its head coach. He led the Mavericks to a 16-2 record and national championship appearance in 2022.

Levine retained defensive coordinator Troy Reh, who had been hired in that position ahead of the Sharks’ 2022 season. He brought in Kyle Hays to round out his staff at LIU. Hays previously served as the head coach at Manhattanville (DIII) last spring.

Mercer saw Chad Surman step down as the Bears’ head coach on July 7th. It hired Ryan Danehy on August 8th. Danehy comes to Mercer after a four-year stint as the offensive coordinator at Bucknell.

Danehy has hired Brian Kingsbury as his one full-time assistant at Mercer. Kingsbury arrived in the Peach State after a nine-year stint as the head coach at Lynn (DII). Carl Rausch has remained as the Bears’ volunteer assistant.

Assistant Coaching Changes

Here is a look at all the programs that saw changes at the assistant level only:

Johns Hopkins and offensive coordinator John Grant Jr. parted ways at the end of the season. The Blue Jays brought in former star player John Crawley to fill the position. Crawley returns to Homewood after a three-year stint in the same role at Lehigh, where he led offenses that averaged 14 and 9.4 goals per game each of the past two seasons.

Following Crawley’s departure, Lehigh brought in Matt Francis as an assistant coach. Francis comes to Lehigh following a six-year stint at Providence, the last three of which he served as the Friars’ associate head coach.

Navy lost offensive coordinator Brad Ross to the head coaching position at Bryant. To fill the position, the Midshipmen brought in Michael Phipps from Georgetown. An Annapolis native, Phipps’ hiring marked a return to not only his hometown but also to the Naval Academy for Phipps as he served on the previous staff at Navy under Rick Sowell from 2015-17. Phipps led the Georgetown offense since 2017 and held title as associate head coach since 2021. He helped the Hoyas to four consecutive Big East championships and NCAA Tournament appearances, and led some of the best offenses in college lacrosse.

Following Phipps’ departure, Georgetown filled the position with the hiring of John Hogan as its next offensive coordinator. Hogan comes to Georgetown after three seasons in the same position at Richmond, where he helped lead the Spiders to consecutive SoCon title games. That includes a league title and NCAA Tournament showing in 2022.

Richmond chose to promote Jason Archbell from volunteer status to fill the vacancy left by Hogan’s departure. Archbell joined the Spiders’ staff ahead of last season where he worked with the goalies. He was previously the head coach at Bowdoin (DIII) for eight years.

Maryland lost its offensive coordinator Bobby Benson following the Terrapins’ undefeated national championship season. John Tillman added former Terrapin star Jake Bernhardt to his staff to fill the vacancy. Bernhardt, who joins his brother, Jesse, on Maryland’s staff, returns to College Park after a five seasons in the same role at Vermont. He helped lead the Catamounts to consecutive America East titles and NCAA Tournament appearances in 2021 and 2022.

Vermont head coach Chris Feifs had to replace Bernhardt and defensive coordinator Brian Kavanagh following last season. The Catamounts added Nick Grill and Danny Murphy to fill those holes. Grill comes to Vermont after one season as the defensive coordinator at Binghamton. Murphy previously was the volunteer assistant at Michigan.

Following Grill’s departure, Binghamton hired Brandon Myron to fill that void. He previously served as an assistant at SUNY Postdam (DIII).

Michigan lost its offensive coordinator Justin Turri to the head coaching job at St. John’s. To replace Turri, the Wolverines brought in Scott Bieda from Lafayette. Bieda was on the Leopards’ staff for six years including the past four as offensive coordinator. He headed an offense that averaged 12.07 goals per game in 2022.

Lafayette filled the vacancy left by Bieda’s departure with the hiring of Erik Adamson as the Leopards’ next offensive coordinator. Adamson arrived in Easton after four-year stint at his alma mater, Denver, as a volunteer assistant where he worked closely with the Pioneers’ offense under Matt Brown and ran the man-up unit.

Mike Murphy parted ways with Penn State after one season as the Nittany Lions’ defensive coordinator. Head coach Jeff Tambroni added Joe Bucci to his staff to fill the vacancy. Bucci arrived in State College after six seasons at UMBC, which included the past two seasons in the defensive coordinator role. He led the Retrievers’ to top-10 finishes in scoring defense in both 2021 and 2022.

Ryan Moran’s UMBC staff will see Craig Chick take on the defensive coordinator responsibilities fully. Mike Herring was hired from VMI to serve as the Retrievers’ offensive coordinator.

Following Herring’s exit, VMI head coach James Purpura added  Nik Clinton to his staff. Clinton comes to VMI after a two-year stint as a volunteer assistant at his alma mater, St. Bonaventure, where he worked with the Bonnies’ faceoff unit, substitution game, and assisted with the offense.

Hobart saw its defensive coordinator Kyle Turri join his brother’s inaugural staff at St. John’s. To fill that void, the Statesmen brought in Chris Fisher from St. John’s. Fisher served in the same role at his alma mater last spring and before that for one year at Limestone (DII).

Yale offensive coordinator Tom Compitello stepped down following last spring. Head Coach Andy Shay promoted from within to fill the vacancy, elevating Colin Neesdale from a volunteer assistant role.

Bucknell lost offensive coordinator Ryan Danehy to the head coaching position at Mercer. To vill the vacancy, Head Coach Frank Fedorjaka elevated volunteer assistant Kyle Gallagher.

Bellarmine saw offensive coordinator Steve Soriano step away from coaching after the season. Head Coach Andy Whitley promoted volunteer assistant Mike Ondrusek to fill the vacancy.

Sacred Heart lost defensive coordinator Erich Skelly to the Albright (DIII) head coaching position. The Pioneers brought in Will Fox as an assistant coach to fill the vacancy. Fox returns to the Constitution State, where he played in college for Fairfield, after a stint as the volunteer assistant at North Carolina.

Detroit Mercy and offensive coordinator Jake Padilla parted ways at the end of the 2022 season. The Titans went young with its replacement as Head Coach Chris Kolon tabbed recent Titan star attackman Brett Erskine as assistant coach. He led the team with 28 points (20G/8A) last season and ended his career this past spring second in career goals (91) and fourth in points (138).

Canisius parted ways with assistant coach Frank Brown last season. The Golden Griffins have brought in Michael Zadroga to fill the open position. A Pennsylvania native, he played at Marquette and has been coaching at the high school and club level. He served as the head boy’s lacrosse coach at Owen J. Roberts High School in Pottstown, Pa., last spring.

DI newcomer Queens saw associate head coach Kyle Hannan leave to take the head coaching position at Goucher (DIII), which he previously held from 2001-2012. Nikolas Colpitts was brought in to fill that vacancy. He arrived in Charlotte after two seasons as a volunteer assistant at Jacksonville.

Holy Cross parted ways with offensive coordinator Chris Harren after just one season. Keith Euker has joined J.L. Reppert’s staff to fill that vacancy. The Crusaders have seen another assistant position come open in recent weeks with associate head coach Shayne Lynch taking the heading coaching position at Nichols (DIII).

Holy Cross and Manhattan are the only two DI programs with current assistant coaching positions still open.