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Hartford Hawks, COME ON DOWN! With today's announcement, you are off the Coaching Carousel Big Board.
Shout out to @Horton1733 for the tip!
NEWS: Former Associate Head Coach Ryan Martin has been named the new @hartfordmlax Head Coach! https://t.co/Bv1tXpKSOZ #HawkNationDomination
— Hartford Hawks (@HartfordHawks) June 2, 2016
The Hartford Hawks made it official today and promoted Ryan Martin to head coach of the men's lacrosse team. In Vol. I of our Coaching Carousel series, we noted that from the tone of the press release that announced that former Hartford head coach, Peter Lawrence, was stepping down, Ryan Martin appeared to be the leading candidate for the Hartford job. Indeed, Director of Athletics Anton Goff stated as much in the May 13th announcement that Peter Lawrence was stepping down, that
"I have all the confidence in the world that Ryan Martin will excel as our Interim Head Coach once Pete departs near the end of the month. Pete, Ryan and the entire coaching staff have built a culture of excellence within the lacrosse program, and I firmly believe there are more championships in our future."
In today's release, Goff stated that
"Ryan has already instilled a culture of winning in Hartford lacrosse, and has driven home the importance of academics and community service to our student-athletes in his time here. His passion for both the men's lacrosse program and the University is unsurpassed. I am confident that he will continue to attract high-quality recruits and am extremely excited to see what new heights the Hawks will reach with Ryan leading the program."
BOSS Martin was ecstatic about the news, eager to start, and graciously pointed to his time under Coach Lawrence as instrumental to his growth as a coach, stating
"I am extremely appreciative that Coach Lawrence took me on two years ago as his offensive coordinator and am grateful for the opportunity I had to work alongside him. Coach Lawrence built a tremendous foundation here at Hartford, and I believe through hard work, we can bring the program to new heights. I look forward to continuing to coach this tremendous group of student-athletes and I am excited to work with the alumni and parents that make up the Hartford lacrosse family for many years to come."
Great job all around by Hartford, BOSS Martin, and former BOSS Lawrence. Coaching changes are always delicate and this one was about as smooth and amicable as possible.