In the 2004-05 season, Coach Lars Tiffany began his career as a head coach at Stony Brook University, having come off a stretch as a Penn State assistant coach under Glenn Thiel — the college lacrosse legend who led Virginia to their first NCAA championship in 1972. Fast forward to Feb. 21, when Tiffany won his 100th game as head coach of the Cavaliers in a match against the Seawolves.
Five men’s college coaching positions later and now 100 wins since his arrival to Grounds, Tiffany stands at the helm of a blue-blood program that he has brought immense success to — and with it, immense expectations.
The accomplishment marks a milestone shared by only two others — Tiffany joins former Coaches Jim Adams and Dom Starsia as the only Virginia coaches to reach that number of wins in the NCAA era of men’s lacrosse. Over Tiffany’s tenure, the Cavaliers have won two national championships in the 2019 and 2021 seasons, and have been one of the Final Four in four of his eight full-length seasons — the 2019-20 season was cut short by COVID-19.
This season, however, the 2026 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships are coming to Scott Stadium in May — the first time the event has been held in a college stadium since 2002 and in Charlottesville since 1982. With hopes Virginia will be one of the final two contenders, Tiffany’s tenure has seen Charlottesville become a center of the lacrosse world’s orbit.
But Tiffany’s 100th win was not one the head coach had been counting down to, with the achievement being one he was not aware of until after the matchup.
“It was really a surprise to tell you the truth,” Tiffany said. “As I was running out of LaValle Stadium, somebody from the Stony Brook administration said something … that was a special moment.”
He was joined by associate head coach and offensive coordinator Kevin Cassese, who also used to be a member of Stony Brook’s staff, and worked alongside Tiffany in 2005.
Tiffany’s sustained success has allowed choice decisions in the coaching ranks, using familiarity as an asset by hiring former Cavaliers — 2019 and 2021 national championship players Logan Greco and Connor Shellenberger, respectively — as assistant coaches on his staff.
Arriving in Charlottesville in 2016 after a nine-year head coaching term at alma mater Brown University, Tiffany won his first game as Virginia head coach in a nail-biter upset victory over Loyola. However, the rest of his inaugural season failed to live up the success of the opening game, as the Cavaliers finished the season with an 8-7 record, losing all games in conference play.
The next season would see Virginia make the NCAA Tournament, the first of six appearances for Tiffany, although they ultimately lost to Loyola to end the 2017-18 season.
Third time would prove to be a charm for Tiffany and the Cavaliers, as his 2019 squad went 17-3, and became a national champion team for the first time since 2011, adding a sixth total trophy to Virginia's shelf. Along the way, Tiffany was named ACC Coach of the Year.
The Cavaliers added a seventh championship in 2021, notching back-to-back titles following a COVID-19-suspended 2019-20 season.
Those tandem championship victories are likely two of the most consequential wins of his career, marking the first time a Virginia lacrosse coach won back-to-back national championships, and only the seventh time in Division I history.
Since 2021, Virginia has remained close to returning to a championship berth, but have not yet found the same success. Nonetheless consecutive appearances in the Final Four in 2023 and 2024 and Shellenberger’s three Tewaaraton nominations from 2022 to 2024 prove Virginia has endured as an elite program.
From the beginning of his tenure to today, Tiffany has produced several players who were drafted into professional lacrosse. Two — Zed Williams and Shellenberger — were named MVPs of the Premier Lacrosse League. Overall, Tiffany has seen 18 players drafted into professional lacrosse — seven of which were drafted in the first round. He has also coached 29 All-ACC selections.
While only Shellenberger has been a finalist for the Tewaaraton Award under Tiffany, the “MVP Award” of college lacrosse, Tiffany has expanded the trophy collection otherwise. Two of his players — Jared Conners and Thomas McConvey — have won the McLaughlin Award, given to the best midfielder of the season.
But a rough 0-4 conference record in 2025, where fans witnessed Virginia finish 5th in the ACC for the first time since Tiffany’s first season, has shaken some faith in the Cavaliers. The team began the season nationally ranked, but have more to prove after a poor 3-4 start to the 2024-25 season against stiff competition.
Virginia’s first losing season under Tiffany is ideally not one to repeat. Following an 18-12 loss to powerhouse Richmond, Virginia’s defeat of Stony Brook is a milestone for Tiffany and an extremely close loss to Maryland is a potential sign of a return to order as the 2025-26 season continues.
Tiffany’s lengthy service is not without comparison, though, especially in the context of the perennially tough ACC. Despite approaching a decade of service, Tiffany is fourth of the five ACC coaches in terms of tenure length at an ACC school. Only Gary Gait of Syracuse has been an ACC head coach for a shorter time, having been hired in 2021.
In 2022, Tiffany’s contract was extended through this present season. Although there are no current reports of an extension, a future with Tiffany at the helm would invite comparison to the tenures of former Coaches Adams and Starsia — 14 and 23 years respectively — particularly in a program that has only had four coaches since the beginning of the NCAA men’s lacrosse era.
But for Tiffany, his 100 wins and 10 years of coaching have brought more than just records of victories and defeats — they have brought connection with alumni and current players, something he gets to see for his current team day-to-day and ahead of hallmark rivalries for the program like against Duke or North Carolina.
“It means a tremendous amount to both programs,” Tiffany said. “Who it really means [a lot for] is the alumni, [the] past generations of lacrosse players and coaches who wore the Virginia uniform.”
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