USA Lacrosse has announced that Seth Tierney, an assistant coach with the U.S. team for nearly a decade, has been selected as the U.S. Men’s Senior National Team head coach. Tierney’s appointment will run through the 2027 World Lacrosse Men’s Championship, which will be held in Japan.
Tierney, the head men’s lacrosse coach at Hofstra University, was first named as an assistant coach for the U.S. senior team in 2014 and helped them capture the world championship in 2018 in Netanya, Israel, and in 2023 in San Diego. He also serves as the Premier Lacrosse League’s Head of Competition.
“As an assistant coach for our last two men’s national teams, Seth played an integral role in helping us win two world championships,” said USA Lacrosse CEO Marc Riccio. “His experience with those teams, coupled with his role at the Premier Lacrosse League, has given him a unique understanding of today’s professional athlete that makes him ideally suited to take on this new role with our national team.”
“As you can imagine this is an honor, humbling. There are a lot of emotions mixed in this and I couldn’t be more thankful to have this opportunity, but also know that this opportunity comes with great responsibility,” Tierney said.
John Danowski, Tierney’s former boss at Hofstra, was the head coach for the last two U.S. teams and installed Tierney as the team’s offensive coordinator.
“Having him trust me with certain things over this last decade of two gold medal journeys, that has put me in this position,” Tierney said. “Certainly without the chemistry of Joe Amplo, Tony Resch, Charley Toomey, those guys right there, I certainly wouldn’t be sitting here. All the players that were involved in the last two journeys, and not just the players that traveled to Israel or San Diego, but the other team that didn’t travel, they were an integral part of this.”
“Seth has tremendous knowledge of the international game and the culture of USA Lacrosse,” Danowski said. “He’s going to continue what we started, build upon it, put his own stamp on things and continue to grow the program.”
Tierney has been the head coach at Hofstra since the 2007 season and entered this year with 132 career victories. He has led the Pride to four NCAA tournament berths, three CAA regular season titles and an additional CAA tournament title. His 2017 team won its first 10 games of the season and climbed to No. 2 in the national rankings.
During his tenure at Hofstra, 16 players have earned All-America honors and 98 have earned postseason all-conference recognition. In his position as head coach at Hofstra, Tierney has mentored several players who have represented their respective countries in international competition, including three U.S. team medalists. Steven DeNapoli and Kevin Unterstein were both selected to the 2018 U.S. men’s team that captured the world championship, and his son, Ryan Tierney, was a silver medalist on the U.S. sixes team at The World Games 2022.
Tierney previously served as an assistant coach from 1995 to 2000 under Danowski and during that six-year run the Pride won five conference titles and reached the NCAA tournament four times.
In between his stints at Hofstra, Tierney spent six years at his alma mater, Johns Hopkins. He was an assistant coach the first four years and the associate head coach his final two years. As offensive coordinator in 2003, Johns Hopkins ranked No. 1 in the country in scoring and the 2005 squad finished No. 2 in scoring offense while capturing the school’s first national title in nearly two decades.
As a player, Tierney helped Johns Hopkins reach the NCAA tournament four straight years from 1988 to 1991, including a title game appearance in 1989. Tierney was a captain as a senior and played in the USILA North-South game. He went on to play professionally for three years with the New York Saints in the National Lacrosse League and then coached for two years before beginning his first stint at Hofstra.
The U.S. Men’s National Team trains and plays using game-changing, high-performance equipment from Cascade Maverik and Warrior and best-in-class products from Enovis (sports bracing).
In addition to these partners, Gatorade, MedStar Health and Stryker are official sponsors of the U.S. National Team Program. Team training is also aided by products from Athletic Republic.
Funding for the national teams also comes from generous donors to the USA Lacrosse Foundation. Help support the team.
About USA Lacrosse
USA Lacrosse, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, is a Recognized Sports Organization of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee. As the governing body of men’s and women’s lacrosse in the United States, USA Lacrosse leads the U.S. National Teams Program and establishes universal standards. With more than 400,000 members across the country, USA Lacrosse unites the community of players, coaches, officials, parents, and program leaders. Working together, we inspire participation, enrich the athlete experience, and support the growth of the sport.
