Navy men’s lacrosse officially hires Dave Cottle as offensive coordinator

Navy men’s lacrosse lost its offensive coordinator less than one month prior to the start of preseason practice.

Annapolis native Michael Phipps stepped down Dec. 21 to accept the same position at Maryland, his alma mater. That put Navy head coach Joe Amplo in a difficult position. He had to find an offensive coordinator in a hurry and certainly was not comfortable with rushing to make such an important hire. Also, Amplo was reluctant — at this late juncture — to hire an assistant away from another school and leave that program in a lurch.

Considering the circumstances, it was like a Christmas miracle when Hall of Fame coach Dave Cottle told Amplo he would be willing to fill the position for the 2024 season.

The Capital reported last week that Cottle would become offensive coordinator for Navy men’s lacrosse. Navy athletics made it official, announcing his hiring in a news release Thursday.

Amplo acknowledged the staff opening came at “an inconvenient time” and was beyond thrilled that Cottle, a member of the Intercollegiate Men’s Lacrosse Coaches Association Hall of Fame, was willing to fill the void.

“This is a great day for Navy lacrosse and I could not be more humbled and grateful that Dave is joining our staff,” Amplo said. “Sure, we get a hall of fame coach with experience, credibility and experience. We also get someone who wants to be here and believes in our players. Above all, we get a legend who has something to prove.”

Cottle is one of the most recognizable figures in college lacrosse history after winning 280 games across 28 seasons as coach at Loyola Maryland and University of Maryland. He has not served as an assistant since doing so in a graduate capacity at Salisbury, his alma mater, in the early 1980s.

“This is an unbelievable opportunity to work with Joe Amplo and the Navy players, and one that I felt I would regret had I not taken,” Cottle said. “I’m a big fan of and have great respect for the Naval Academy and its men’s lacrosse program, which has such a long and storied history. The opportunity to work with players who demonstrate such high core values and commitment is something I am looking forward to.”

Cottle posted a record of 181-70 (.721) over 19 seasons (1983-2001) at Loyola, guiding the Baltimore school’s transition to Division I. He led the Greyhounds to 18 straight winning seasons and 14 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.

Cottle left Loyola to succeed the late Dick Edell at Maryland, where he amassed a 99-45 record from 2002 to 2010. He led the Terrapins to eight straight NCAA Tournament berths.

Cottle spent 10 years with the Chesapeake Bayhawks of Major League Lacrosse — serving as head coach, president and general manager at various times. The 67-year-old Baltimore native has been living in Boca Raton, Florida, before deciding to come out of retirement to coach at Navy.

In 2010, Cottle was retained by Marquette to serve as a consultant after the Milwaukee school announced it was adding men’s and women’s lacrosse as varsity sports. In that capacity, he arranged an interview for Amplo, who became the men’s program’s inaugural coach and spent seven seasons there.

“Dave was instrumental in helping me get my first head coaching job and has been a valuable mentor to me since then,” said Amplo, noting that he talked to Cottle almost every week during the season and at least once a month during the offseason.

Cottle cited his strong relationship with Amplo along with a familiarity with other members of the Navy staff as big factors in his decision. Cottle also noted that he coached 10 players on the Navy roster while working with the Annapolis Hawks club lacrosse program.

“There were just too many positives to not accept this opportunity for the next five months,” Cottle said.

Amplo is not ruling out the possibility Cottle could remain part of the program for longer than that.

“Right now, Dave has committed to coaching through the end of May and we’ll see what happens from there,” he said. “We’ll see if Dave enjoys the position and is comfortable with being full-time and wants to do the other things that come with the job.”

Cottle has jumped head first into the new job and has spent the last couple weeks reviewing tape of every Navy game last season. Amplo said his phone “has been blowing up” with calls from Cottle to discuss individual players, offensive philosophy and various schemes.

“Dave is a next level thinker when it comes to lacrosse and our players are really going to benefit from the development and strategy he provides,” Amplo said. “Dave has been studying our team and has noticed some things I hadn’t. There are all sorts of innovative strategies he is considering. He just brings our whole operation to another level.”

It will be quite an adjustment for Cottle to serve as an assistant after so many years as the head coach. The former Anne Arundel County resident said he has no interest in running a collegiate program at this stage of his life and is content to work in the background and behind the scenes.

“I have tremendous respect for Joe Amplo. He’s a quality individual and an outstanding coach,” Cottle said. “I’m going to put my head down and work hard to build an effective offense. Hopefully, I can bring something to the table that helps this team score more goals.”

Phipps was an All-American attackman at Maryland when Cottle was head coach and therefore has been ingrained with his offensive philosophy. Phipps spent last spring and this fall implementing and developing the Navy offense. Amplo does not want to “start from square one” and lose the “equity that has been built up” on that side of the field.

While Navy figures to employ pretty much the same offensive approach, Amplo expects Cottle to get the players to execute at a higher level through a focus on the fundamentals and finer details.

Cottle was blessed with top tier offensive talent toward the end of his tenure at Loyola and throughout his time at Maryland. Navy does not have the same caliber of talent, athleticism and skill across the board as he’s accustomed. However, Cottle believes there are solid building blocks in place. The Midshipmen return their top five scorers, including midfielder Max Hewitt (36 points) and attackman Xavier Arline (33 points).

“I think this team is going to be better offensively than they were last season based solely on experience. They used so many young players last season and those kids grew up a lot,” he said.

Cottle has already identified the primary problem that led Navy to average just over 10 goals per game in 2022. The Midshipmen ranked 71st out of 72 Division I teams with a .226 shooting percentage.

“We’ve got some challenges we need to figure out offensively. One thing we definitely need to fix is the shooting percentage,” he said. “Was it the wrong guys shooting or were they shooting the wrong shots? We have to figure that out and get better in that area. When you go from 22% to 30% you go from eight wins to 11 or 12.”