Coach Cottle
Dave Cottle is widely recognized as one of the most foremost figures within the game of
men’s lacrosse – as a coach, instructor and organizer. The Baltimore native’s lifelong association with the sport has seen him fill the roles of standout player, highly successful coach and
national leader.
Cottle is well-established as one of the finest head coaches in Division I history, having
compiled a 279-115 record in 28 seasons at Loyola College and the University of Maryland. He
ranks fifth all-time in career victories and is tied for first all-time with 22 NCAA Tournament
appearances.
Cottle began his college coaching career at Loyola in Baltimore, taking over a struggling
program in 1983 and transforming it into one of the nation’s strongest during a remarkable 19-
year tenure. After rebuilding the program from the ground up, Cottle led the Greyhounds to 18
straight winning seasons and 14 consecutive NCAA Tournament berths.
In 1988, Loyola compiled a 13-2 record and earned the top seed in the NCAA Tournament
for the first time in school history. In 1990, Cottle led the Greyhounds to the Division I national
championship game against perennial power Syracuse.
Cottle was named the eighth coach in the storied history of Maryland lacrosse on Sept. 26,
2001 and continued his consistent run of success in College Park. Under Cottle’s leadership, the
Terrapins made eight straight trips to the NCAA tournament, earned a top-three seed five times
and advanced to the Final Four in 2003, 2005 and 2006.
Cottle compiled a 99-45 record and captured two Atlantic Coast Conference championships in
nine seasons at Maryland. The Terrapins took the ACC title in 2004 then repeated as champs in
2005. The Terps won 13 games in 2004 and 12 in both the 2003 and 2005 seasons that resulted
in NCAA semifinal appearances.
Along the way, Cottle earned a reputation as one of the most innovative offensive minds
in college lacrosse, introducing numerous strategical elements that were picked up by other
coaches and became standard in the sport. His success was due largely to thorough scouting
of opponent’s, sound game-plans, the ability to instill a strong work ethic in players and an
emphasis on developing student-athletes. More than a dozen of Cottle’s players at Loyola and
Maryland were named USILA Academic All-Americans.
Cottle has always been a tireless volunteer and leader within the sport, serving on the NCAA
Tournament selection committee and the All-America selection committee. He was an assistant
coach with the United States national team in 1994 and has addressed the USILA Coaches’
Convention on several occasions.
A graduate of Northern High in Baltimore, Cottle attended Salisbury State College and became
one of the finest players in program history. Cottle was a three-time Division III All-American at
Salisbury still ranks top three in program history in goals (179), assists (123) and points (302).
The prolific attackman led the nation in scoring in 1975 when he became just the second player
in college lacrosse history to surpass 100 points in a single season. He served as team captain in
the North-South senior all-star game and was inducted into the Salisbury Athletic Hall of Fame
in 1989.
Cottle founded the Top 205 lacrosse camps along with coaching friends Bill Tierney (Princeton, Denver) and Tony Seaman (Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins, Towson) in 1989. That elite program annually attracts the finest high school recruits in the country and features high-level competition along with expert instruction. Cottle has also co-directed the Gait Cup and Futures
camps at Gettysburg College.
Cottle, an Edgewater resident, served as a consultant for the Chesapeake Bayhawks in
2010 and played an important role in helping the franchise secure the Major League Lacrosse
championship.
