Chesapeake Bayhawks Names New Head Coach

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Coach of the 2019 MLL Champions and longtime member of the Chesapeake Bayhawks organization Dave Cottle has stepped down and turned the reigns over to the 2019 Bayhawks Assistant Coach Tom Mariano.

“I want to thank Coach Cottle for his dedication and service over the past decade,” said Mark Burdett, president of the Chesapeake Bayhawks. “This seamless transition, welcoming Tom Mariano to take over as head coach, provides consistency in the locker room. As Tom brings a championship attitude to Annapolis, we are excited to welcome fans and partners back for another exciting season.”

Cottle brought four (2010, 2012, 2013, 2019) MLL championship rings back to Annapolis. Cottle has served as the Bayhawks’ head coach from 2012-2015 and from 2018 to 2019. He accumulated a 49-37 regular-season record and a 6-1 record in the postseason. Cottle has spent more than four-decades coaching lacrosse, having started as a graduate assistant coach at Salisbury, later coaching for the Severn School, Loyola, University of Maryland and the Chesapeake Bayhawks. He was an assistant coach for the United States team that won the 1994 World Championship. His career has landed him in the Baltimore Chapter of the Lacrosse Foundation's Hall of Fame, Loyola-Maryland’s athletics Hall of Fame, Chesapeake Chapter of US Lacrosse Hall of Fame and the Intercollegiate Men’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IMLCA) Hall of Fame.

Mariano has been with Major League Lacrosse since 2013. He has coached three teams in his tenure and has served as an assistant coach to Cottle and the Bayhawks in 2016 and 2019. In 2017, while head coach for the Florida Launch, Mariano was named Coach of the Year after leading his team to their firstever playoff berth. He now looks forward to leading the Bayhawks to a back-to-back championship in the Bayhawks’ and MLL’s 20th anniversary season.

“I am extremely grateful and honored to be following in the footsteps of Dave Cottle,” said Mariano. “The Bayhawks have an unwavering tradition of success, and I look forward
to working with our guys to keep that tradition going in 2020. We are committed to being the best
version of ourselves.”

Mariano has coached lacrosse for 26 years. He currently serves as the head men's lacrosse
coach and assistant athletics director at Pace University, in Pleasantville, NY. During his successful tenure at Pace, the Setters have posted a record of 57-35. Mariano led the Setters to their best season ever in 2017, concluding with the program's first-ever berth into the NCAA Tournament and Mariano being named the Northeast-10 Conference Co-Coach of the Year. Before his time with Pace, Mariano served as head coach for Sacred Heart University and earned NEC Coach of the Year honors with the Pioneers in 2013. As a player, Mariano helped Nazareth College win an NCAA Division III National Championship.