 Lars Tiffany |
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Former two-time Bears' lacrosse captain Lars Tiffany '90, named
the 2008 New England Coach of the Year after guiding the Brown
men's lacrosse team to the Ivy League Championship, returned to his
alma mater as head men's lacrosse coach in the summer of 2006.
Since taking over the Brown program two years ago, Tiffany has
transformed a team that was winless in the Ivy League in 2006 into
the top team in the Ivy League, winning the 2008 Ivy League title
with a 5-1 league mark. Tiffany's 2008 Brown team posted an 11-3
record, earning the most wins at Brown since 1994. Only five Brown
lacrosse teams have won more games than Tiffany's 2008 Bears.
Brown, the number one ranked team in New England, finished 13th
nationally in the final USILA coaches poll, with just six teams in
the nation winning more games than the Bears. In his first season
at the helm of the Brown team, Tiffany turned the fortunes of the
program in the right direction, guiding the Bears to a 7-7 record
in 2007, and a national ranking as high as 18th nationally. In the
short time he's been the Bears' head coach, Tiffany has refocused
Brown's players to improve their level of dedication and commitment
to the program. He stresses individual development with the
players, while enabling his men to make a major commitment to the
community. In addition, Tiffany has reenergized Brown's alumni base
and upgraded the Brown schedule. Tiffany came to Brown from Stony
Brook, where he was the head lacrosse coach in 2005 and 2006. "As a
Brown graduate, Lars Tiffany has a unique understanding of the Ivy
League and the Brown experience," said Brown athletic Director
Michael Goldberger. "Lars has a proven track record of success as a
head and assistant coach at the Division I level. He has a clear
understanding of the great role lacrosse can play in the life of a
student-athlete, and how important it is to balance athletics and
academics." A 1990 graduate of Brown, Tiffany was a two-time team
captain and starter on defense for three years under Dom Starsia,
now the head coach at Virginia. A Biology concentrator, Tiffany
played on two Brown teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament
(1987 & 1990). He was the Cliff Stevenson Award winner as
Co-MVP of the Brown team that captured its first-ever NCAA playoff
victory in 1990 (12-9 vs. UMass). Tiffany capped his career by
playing in the North-South Senior All-Star game. Tiffany was the
head coach at Stony Brook for two years, posting an 18-13 overall
mark. His 2006 squad finished second in America East with a 4-1
league mark and was ranked in the Top 20 in two weeks. In 2005,
Tiffany's Seawolves appeared in the Top 20 for the first time ever,
and were ranked as high as 14th nationally. Tiffany, the 2005
America East Coach of the Year, led Stony Brook to wins over Penn
State and Rutgers, as his Seawolves boasted the number-one ranked
man-up unit in Division I. Tiffany arrived at Stony Brook after
four years at Penn State and highly successful stints at Dartmouth,
Washington & Lee and LeMoyne. He spent his four years at Penn
State (2000-2004) as the top assistant under head coach Glenn
Thiel, and was involved in all facets of the lacrosse program as
the team's defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator. His
first recruiting class helped Penn State move from 20th in the
USILA national rankings in 2001 to an 8-5 record and a No. 13
ranking in 2003. The ranking, along with a win over No. 8 Rutgers,
helped Penn State earn its first-ever NCAA tournament bid for a
program that has been in existence since 1913. Tiffany's defensive
units were outstanding during his four years, and in 2002, the
Nittany Lions led the nation in man-down defense. Prior to coaching
at Penn State, Tiffany was an assistant coach at Dartmouth College,
where he spent the 1999 and 2000 seasons under head coach Rick
Sowell. In his two seasons as defensive coordinator, the Big
Green's goals allowed per game in Ivy League contests dropped from
15.3 to 9.0. His recruiting classes went on to earn Dartmouth its
first share of the Ivy League title and a berth in the NCAA
tournament in 2003. Tiffany was an assistant coach from 1997-98 at
Washington & Lee University. In 1998, the Generals went 13-3
and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament while
finishing fifth in the USILA Division III national rankings.
Tiffany began his collegiate coaching career at LeMoyne College,
where he served as an assistant coach of men's lacrosse and co-head
coach of the women's lacrosse program from 1994-96. A native of
LaFayette, N.Y., Tiffany graduated from LaFayette High School where
he lettered in football, basketball and lacrosse. Upon graduation
from Brown, he taught biology and coached lacrosse and football at
the Robert Louis Stevenson School in Pebble Beach, Calif., from
1990-94.
Tiffany's Head Coaching Record:
200510-6Stony Brook
20068-7Stony Brook
20077-7Brown
2008 11-3 Brown Ivy League Champions
Career record: 36-23 (4 years)
