The Ohio Machine, Ohio’s Major League Lacrosse (MLL) team, announced Monday the extension of Head Coach Bear Davis’ contract through the 2014 season. Davis took over the position of head coach for the Machine’s final six games of the 2013 season this past June.
“Bear’s attention to detail, game preparation and overall philosophies have really resonated with our players,” said President and GM John Algie. “We finally saw our nucleus of young talent turn the corner at the end of the 2013 season and it’s exciting to see where this team is headed in 2014.”
Since Davis took over as head coach, the Machine, who are 1-5 under Davis, has scored double-digit goals in all six games and has allowed no more than 13 goals in each game except against New York where they scored 14. In the previous eight games where the Machine was 1-7, the Machine had only one game with double-digit goals and allowed 14 or more goals in four of the eight games. As head coach, Davis has also helped improve the team’s overall goal differential by more than five goals per game.
“I’m excited for the opportunity to continue what we’ve started here with this talented roster,” said Head Coach Davis. “We still have a lot of work to do through the upcoming drafts and in the offseason but I’m looking forward to the 2014 season and seeing our hard work come together on the field next year.”
The Machine’s top five scorers of the 2013 season included first-year players Logan Schuss and Marcus Holman, as well as second-year players Steele Stanwick, Joe Cummings and Kiel Matisz. Rookie and The Ohio State University standout Schuss recorded 19 goals and seven assists for 26 points in the last six games, averaging 4.4 points per game since Davis took over. Schuss, who led the Machine in goals for the year with 28, also finished second place in the 2013 MLL Rookie of the Year race to former number one overall MLL Collegiate Draft pick Rob Pannell. Second-year player Steele Stanwick followed up his rookie campaign with another points-filled season where he finished second on the team in points with 32 and led the Machine in assists with 20, averaging 2.5 points a game over the last six games. Stanwick also finished tied for third in MLL for assists and was named the Machine’s 2013 Most Valuable Player.
Davis, a Hilliard Davidson High School alum in the Columbus-area, is the current head boy’s lacrosse coach and associate athletic director at Archbishop Spalding (Md.) in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA). Davis took over at Archbishop Spalding after building the men’s lacrosse program at Division I Robert Morris University over a span of seven years as the team’s first-ever head coach.
During Davis’ time at Robert Morris, the program showed marked improvements year after year, culminating with the team’s first appearance in the national rankings in 2010 along with two straight years of leading the NCAA in scoring offense before Davis joined Archbishop Spalding.
Before being named the head coach at Robert Morris, Davis helped start the Wheeling Jesuit men’s lacrosse program. Davis took the Cardinals from a 2-11 record in their first year of existence in 2000 to an 8-4 record and a No. 10 national ranking in 2003.
