Sources: Syracuse to hire Princeton’s Pat March as next assistant coach

Princeton Tigers men’s lacrosse offensive coordinator Pat March will be hired as an assistant coach for the Syracuse Orange, multiple sources have told myself and our sister site College Crosse.

March will replace Kevin Donahue as a permanent assistant coach and will work with the team’s offensive unit. Donahue moved into a volunteer assistant role in late August.

March has spent the last three seasons with the Tigers, ranking in the top 10 in scoring offense in each of those years. He’s also spent time at Vermont, Dickinson, and Roanoke, his alma mater. This summer, March has been the offensive coordinator of the Atlanta Blaze in Major League Lacrosse, working with head coach and Orange alum Liam Banks.

Princeton has also posted a men’s lacrosse assistant coach job opening earlier this morning.

Here’s a little more on March that I wrote one week ago.

In his first three seasons, Princeton ranked in the top 10 in scoring offense with 14.67 goals per game in 2017 (2nd), 13.62 goals per game in 2018 (3rd), and 13.93 goals per game in 2019 (tied for 10th). One big reason for that is the emergence of Michael Sowers, who has already become the school’s all-time leading scorer in only three years.

Prior to Princeton, March was Vermont’s offensive coordinator and helped the Catamounts go from 55th in scoring offense to two 11th place finishes. March also coached Ian MacKay, the America East Offensive Player of the Year, in his final season in Burlington. March coached at Dickinson College for two seasons and helped the team set records in goals, assists, and points.

March, along with Penn offensive coordinator Mike Abbott, interviewed for the job last week, according to multiple sources.

In talking to some current Syracuse players, they are very excited to have him on the team and can’t wait to be a part of his offense.

This is Syracuse’s first full-time assistant hire since the team brought in former SUNY Cortland head coach Lelan Rogers as defensive coordinator in the summer of 2007. He will also be the youngest assistant coach on John Desko’s staff.

Syracuse returns roughly 2/3s of their scoring from a season ago and also bring in Loyola transfer Chase Scanlan, who will also wear the No. 22 jersey for the first time since Jordan Evans graduated after the 2017 season. Despite Stephen Rehfuss being the only returning attackman, the Orange bring back seven guys who played midfield in 2019, including Tucker Dordevic who missed the entire season with an injury.

The Orange will start fall ball later this month. Right now, the only known fall ball scrimmage the team has is on October 5 when the team plays the Denver Pioneers at SUNY Cortland as part of the school’s first ever C-Lax Legends Weekend. Pioneers head coach Bill Tierney is a SUNY Cortland alum and will be recognized for his contributions to the sport of lacrosse. Tickets will be $5 at the gate.