– The Denver Outlaws of Major League Lacrosse, on Friday announced that they have promoted B.J. O’Hara as Head Coach after Jim Stagnitta stepped down from the position.
O’Hara will enter his 11th MLL season in 2014 and his 38th overall as a lacrosse coach. O’Hara has posted a career coaching record of 231-170 (.576 pct.) through his first 37 years of coaching.
“We are very happy to announce the appointment of BJ O’Hara as the new head coach of the Denver Outlaws,” General Manager Tony Seaman said. “He has brought a great deal of MLL experience as well as college success to the Outlaws over the past two years as an assistant coach. We are all very excited that he is taking over the leadership role.”
O’Hara has served as an assistant coach for the Outlaws since 2012, helping the team post a league-best 25-3 record (.893 pct.). Denver has outscored opponents 465-307 in that time period with that 159-goal differential leading all MLL teams in that span.
O’Hara helped coach a team that set 21 team records and 10 MLL records in 2013 on its way to become the first in MLL history to finish a season undefeated. Denver’s 14-0 record set a league mark for most wins in a season.
In his first season as an assistant coach for the Outlaws, the team set franchise records in in wins (11), goals (229), assists (116), ground balls (482) and shooting percentage (.348).
“I am extremely excited to be named as Head Coach of the Denver Outlaws,” O’Hara said. “I am especially grateful for the confidence that the Outlaws’ front office, in particular, Tony Seaman, showed towards me by offering this opportunity. I look forward to working together with the entire staff with the goal of bringing the 2014 Major League Lacrosse Championship to the city of Denver. We have a very talented and dynamic roster, and I know that this team is built to contend for the title. I can’t wait to get back on the field and work towards that ultimate goal.”
Stagnitta resigns following a season in which he led the Outlaws to the first undefeated season in MLL history and earned the league’s Coach of the Year Award. In his two seasons as the team’s head coach, Denver put together a league-best 25-3 record with the team’s 25 wins under his leadership representing the most in a two-year span in league history.
“We want to thank Jim Stagnitta for two outstanding years as the head coach of the Denver Outlaws,” Seaman said. “What he was able to accomplish this past year, no other MLL coach has ever accomplished. We want to wish him the very best of luck in his new endeavors.”
