It's Official: Dave Cottle No Longer Maryland's Men's Lacrosse Coach

Notice that that's resigns, not re-signs; as in, he's done as Maryland lacrosse's head coach.

Was it the right choice? That remains to be seen. Maryland does admittedly have certain disadvantages, namely a lack of academic reputation (though hopefully that will continue to change quickly). But they also have inherent advantages, and quite frankly if Cottle wasn't going to win a national championship, it was time to try to see if (yet) another coach could.

The first report came from Patrick Stevens, who reported that Yow made the decision; the second was from the Sun, which reported that it was a resignation on the part of Cottle. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a mutual parting, or at least Cottle leaving on his own terms after seeing the writing on the wall.

Again, I'm not a lacrosse whiz, but the two names that seemingly always come up in these discussions are Gary Gait and Paul Cantabene. Gait is the Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Pele, and Walter Payton of lacrosse; he's a sort of undisputed GOAT of the sport. He's currently the head coach for Syracuse women's lacrosse team, but he used to be a women's assistant for Maryland and would have more of a "name" than any other possible hire. Obviously money, attainability, and experience come into play, but it's worth watching out for.

Cantabene might be a more pragmatic hire, though he does have a slight issue. Cantabene currently coaches at Stevenson University, a DIII school, but under his tutelage they've become the best DIII team in the country the past few years. He used to coach under Cottle at Maryland before leaving for Stevenson, and he brings a combination of experienced and hard-nosed coaching technique. The only problem would be that he's currently coaching at a DIII level, but he's proven his coaching acumen for some time.

There are a ton of potential candidates, from the two mentioned to Scott Marr to John Tucker. My early guess is Cantabene. It would make sense on a lot of levels. Are you happy that Cottle's out of town, or did you think he was the right man for the job?