Moving up in the coaching world is full of sideways moves that prove someone is ready to take on more responsibility. A D3 head coach might leave to take an assistant job at a D1 school in hopes of landing a D1 or D2 head job. Nat St. Laurent is doing something similar by leaving Washington & Lee, where he serves as offensive coordinator, to take the head job at upstart Ohio Northern University for its inaugural season in 2016. St. Laurent will finish this season before taking reins at ONU.
St. Laurent had previously helped start Ferrum‘s program in 2011 before coming to W&L. That experience in program building will come in handy in his new post.
The announcement came courtesy of a press release from Ohio Northern.
ADA, Ohio — Nat St. Laurent has been named as Ohio Northern University’s first-ever men’s lacrosse coach and will begin his duties this spring.
St. Laurent currently is in his fourth season as an assistant lacrosse coach at Washington and Lee (Va.), where he serves as offensive coordinator. He will come to ONU full-time when W&L’s 2014 season is completed.
“We are very excited to start men’s lacrosse with Nat St. Laurent as our first head coach,” ONU director of athletics Tom Simmons said. “We are being very methodical in our men’s and women’s lacrosse coaching searches so that we can provide our student-athletes with the best possible structure. Nat has an excellent reputation in intercollegiate lacrosse and we look forward to much success in the program.”
The Polar Bears will begin play as a varsity sport in the spring of 2016.
“I am really excited to take on the challenge of building the men’s lacrosse program at Ohio Northern University,” St. Laurent said. “ONU has all of the tools in place to build a successful program. It was a difficult decision to make, leaving a top-10 program such as Washington & Lee. It had to be the right fit.
“Coming to Ohio Northern just feels right. I was extremely impressed with the facilities, the people at ONU and the support of the University from the administration. I want to thank Tom Simmons, (ONU provost) Dave Crago and (ONU Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs) Julie Hurtig for having the faith in me to build the program. I have very high hopes for the success of Polar Bear lacrosse.”
In the past three seasons, the Generals have posted a 35-21 record with two trips to the ODAC Tournament finals and a bid to the 2013 NCAA Division III Tournament. He coached eight All-ODAC honorees, two All-Americans and the ODAC Rookie of the Year while at W&L.
In 2013, the Generals finished the season ranked eighth nationally and scored the fourth-most goals in program history.
St. Laurent had previously served as a volunteer assistant coach for W&L in 2009, assisting with the offense and the man-up unit. That season, the Generals went 16-4 overall, won the Old Dominion Athletic Conference title and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs.
St. Laurent returned to Washington and Lee following one year as the head lacrosse coach at Ferrum (Va.). In that role, he was responsible for recruiting student-athletes for a first-year program that began competition in 2011.
