Washington College tabs new coach
Washington College has hired Jeff Shirk as the 11th head coach of the lacrosse program, the school announced Tuesday morning.
Shirk, who had spent the previous four years as the head coach at Virginia Military Institute, succeeds J.B. Clarke, who resigned on May 12 and was named the new head coach at Division II Limestone Monday afternoon.
"I could not be more excited about the opportunity that lies ahead," Shirk said in a press release posted on the college’s website. "From the moment I drove into Chestertown and met all of the wonderful people at Washington College, I knew this was the place I wanted to coach and raise my family. The future is bright and I am ready to do my part in helping continue the great tradition of lacrosse excellence at Washington College."
The Cadets compiled a 13-46 record in four seasons with Shirk, but experienced their greatest success in 2008 when the program achieved three firsts: qualifying for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament, winning a conference tournament game (by defeating Providence), and advancing to the tournament final.
Shirk was a short-stick defensive midfielder at Maryland, playing in the 1997 and 1998 national championship games. He also played three years in the National Lacrosse League.
His coaching experience includes three years as the head coach at Naval Academy Preparatory School from 2002-04, one season as an assistant coach at Maryland and one year as the defensive coordinator at Brown before assuming the head coaching position at VMI.
Shirk, 32, inherits a Shoremen team has qualified for 30 NCAA and United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Tournaments, but has missed the NCAA Tournament in the last two seasons. Washington went 4-10 this past season.
Comments
13-46 record, wow, nice hire WAC. Matthews hired him due to his Naval Academy ties. I wish him well but was expecting more. Hopefully he can get 15 wins in four years.
Posted by: Rob | July 1, 2010 9:03 PM
Hopefully this time around he will try to actually reach out to alumni instead of bashing them in a quote.. this time I suggest you maybe not turn the lee Jackson classic into a scrimmage, and cancel the alumni game, maybe then you will get a little more respect… they should have kept Grant.. Good riddance in my opinion
Posted by: Lee | July 6, 2010 9:22 AM