Coach of the 2019 MLL Champions and longtime member of the Chesapeake Bayhawks organization, Coach Dave Cottle announced today that he will be passing the torch 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.”
When joining the Bayhawks organization in 2010 Cottle stated, “I’m here to do whatever is needed to help this organization, to help our local team get back to competing for the MLL championship.”
Since that time, Coach 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 coached many great athletes at the professional level, including all-stars like Michael Evans, Matt Abbott, Kyle Dixon, and Ben Rubeor; and generational talents like Lyle Thompson, Casey Powell, and John Grant Jr. Cottle has also served as the Bayhawks’ general manager.
Coach Dave 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 illustrious 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.
The Bayhawks are extremely thankful for the dedication, leadership, and success that Coach Dave Cottle brought to the organization and to the Annapolis community.
“It has been a privilege to be part of the Bayhawks organization,” said Cottle. “I am grateful to the many players, fans and to the league for the dedication and support over the past ten years. I look forward to returning to Navy Marine Corps Stadium in 2020 as a fan, and watching Tom lead the Bayhawks to their seventh MLL Championship.”
Coach Tom Mariano will take over as the Bayhawks head coach, effective immediately. Coach 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 Coach 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 first- ever playoff berth. He now looks forward to leading the Bayhawks to a back-to-back championship in the Bayhawks’ and MLL’s twentieth anniversary season.
“I am extremely grateful and honored to be following in the footsteps of Dave Cottle,” said Bayhawks’ head coach, Tom 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.”
Tom Mariano has coached lacrosse for twenty-six 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.
Coach Mariano and the 2020 Chesapeake Bayhawks will take the field for the first time in their twentieth anniversary season, May 30th.
