June 25, 2001
HAMILTON, N.Y. Jim Nagle, head men’s lacrosse coach at the State University of New York College at Oneonta, has been named head coach at Colgate University.
Nagle replaces Dan Whelan, who resigned early after guiding the Red Raiders for six seasons.
‘I’m truly excited for the opportunity to lead the Colgate lacrosse program,’ said Nagle. ‘I am looking forward to working with excellent student-athletes, who enjoy playing in a high-level Division I program.’
‘I think we found a gem right in our own backyard,’ said Colgate athletic director Mark Murphy. ‘He is a young coach that has enjoyed tremendous success and I’m confident that he can turn around our program.’
Nagle was head coach of the Red Dragons for seven seasons guiding Oneonta to an overall record of 65-39. In three of the last four seasons, he has been selected as the conference Coach of the Year.
In 1998 and 1999, Nagle was the Empire League Coach of the Year, and this past season he earned SUNYAC Coach of the Year honors while posting a 9-5 record.
Nagle took over a program that had suffered through several losing seasons, and quickly turned the Red Dragons into a winning program. In his third season, Oneonta finished 11-6 and earned the school’s first-ever berth in the ECAC Tournament.
That was the second of six straight winning campaigns under Nagle. In 1998, the Red Dragons posted a 13-2 record – the best record in school history and were Empire League champions and ECAC finalists.
The next season, the Red Dragons earned their first-ever NCAA Division III berth with a 10-4 record and national ranking. Nagle was the recipient of the Francis ‘Babe’ Kraus Award as the USILA National Coach of the Year.
In 2000, the Red Dragons won their first ECAC Division III Upstate New York title with a 10-7 mark.
He began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Springfield College in 1992, where he saw the Pride win the 1993 ECAC championship and 1994 NCAA Division II championship. After three seasons at Springfield, he moved to The Stony Brook School on Long Island, where he saw his team win the Suffolk County Class ‘B’ title.
Nagle is a 1992 graduate of Loyola College, where he helped his alma mater earn four straight appearances in the NCAA Division I Tournament including a berth in the 1990 title game. He played his scholastic lacrosse at Ward Melville where he was part of a 24-0 squad that won the New York State championship in 1988.