Lars Tiffany | University of Virginia

LARS TIFFANY BY THE NUMBERS (as of May 31, 2023)

1 UVA’s only head coach to win back-to-back NCAA Championships; Tewaaraton Award winner (Dylan Molloy–2016)

2 NCAA Championships; ACC Championships

3 Tewaaraton Award finalists

5 Conference coach-of-the-year honors, including two-time ACC Coach of the Year

8 NCAA Tournament appearances as head coach; consecutive years finishing in the top-2 nationally in ground balls per game

9 Consecutive NCAA Tournament wins (2019-22), a UVA record 

24 All-ACC selections

25 PLL draft picks all-time, including 11 at UVA

30 USILA Academic All-Americans

39 USILA All-Americans, including seven first-team selections

80 Wins in seven seasons as UVA head coach, good for No. 3 all-time in program history

193 Career wins in 19 seasons as head coach

Two-time ACC Coach of the Year Lars Tiffany enters his eighth season as Virginia men’s lacrosse head coach in 2024 after being named the program’s 17th head coach on June 21, 2016. Tiffany came to UVA with 12 years of head coaching experience after a 10-year stint at his alma mater, Brown University (2007-16) and a two-year stop at Stony Brook University (2005-06). 

Delivering two NCAA Championships to Charlottesville in back-to-back tries in 2019 and 2021, Tiffany is one of the most successful and respected head coaches in the game of men’s lacrosse. He was bestowed ACC Coach of the Year in 2019 and 2022 after guiding the Cavaliers to ACC Championships in both years. Tiffany is one of just three head coaches in program history to record 80 wins. Over the course of his head coaching career, Tiffany has mentored 39 All-Americans and 25 PLL draft picks, including 14 selections from UVA.

In 2023, Tiffany steered the Cavaliers to their third Championship Weekend appearance in the last four NCAA Tournaments. Virginia finished with a 13-4 overall record, including 4-2 in ACC play with a pair of wins over the eventual national champions in Notre Dame. Nine Cavaliers were named USILA All-Americans, including three first-team selections. Virginia’s nine All-Americans led all Division I programs nationally. Among those first-team selections was attackman Connor Shellenberger, who became the program’s second three-time first team All-American and was a Tewaaraton Award Finalist for the second consecutive year. Shellenberger was also voted to the 2023 NCAA All-Tournament Team selection after leading all players in assists (11) and points (22) and tied for first in goals (11). Additionally, the Cavaliers led the nation in ground balls per game, which marked the seventh season in the last eight a Tiffany-coached team did so. Thomas McConvey was named the recipient of the Lt. j.g. Donald MacLaughlin Jr. Outstanding Midfielder Award, which is bestowed annually to the nation’s top midfielder. McConvey is the second player under Tiffany’s tutelage to lay claim to the MacLaughlin Award, joining former UVA long-stick midfielder Jared Conners who did so in 2021.

For the second time of his career, Tiffany was voted ACC Coach of the Year by his peers in 2022 after leading the Cavaliers to a share of the program’s 19 ACC title. After going 8-0 at Klöckner Stadium in the regular season, Virginia went on the road to knock off Brown, Tiffany’s alma mater and former post, in the First Round of the NCAA, which marked the Cavaliers’ ninth consecutive NCAA Tournament win. In addition to Shellenberger garnering his first Tewaaraton Award Finalist honor, the Cavaliers dominated ACC postseason awards. Defenseman Cole Kastner and goalie Matthew Nunes were tabbed the ACC’s Defensive Player and Freshman of the Year, respectively, under the guidance of Tiffany and his staff. Furthermore, Matt Moore, who concluded his career as the program’s all-time points leader, became the third recipient under Tiffany to receive the Senior CLASS Award.

After Virginia went 4-2 overall in 2020 before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) ultimately forced the cancellation of the rest of the season, Tiffany and the fourth-seeded Cavaliers won the program’s seventh NCAA title in 2021 after a triumphant 17-16 victory over third-seeded Maryland. UVA’s 2021 title marked the first time in program history it won back-to-back national championships, having also done so in 2019. Under the direction of Tiffany in 2021, Virginia became just the seventh men’s lacrosse program in Division-I history to win back-to-back national championships and first Division I men’s lacrosse program to win six straight NCAA finals games (1999, 2003, 2006, 2011, 2019 and 2021). Shellenberger was crowned the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament. In addition to Conners laying claim to the Donald MacLaughlin Award, UVA’s nine USILA All-Americans tied for the most by any Division I program nationally.

Upon serving as UVA head coach for just two seasons, Tiffany and his staff guided the Cavaliers to the program’s sixth NCAA Championship in 2019 – its first since 2011. Virginia finished with an overall record of 17-7, which tied the program’s single season wins record. Goalie Alex Rode was crowned the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament, a four-win performance that was highlighted by 18 saves against Duke in the semifinals. UVA also won its first ACC title since 2010 after defeating Notre Dame, 10-4, in the ACC Tournament championship game, which was held at Klöckner Stadium. Conners, Ryan Conrad and Dox Aitken were tabbed first-team All-Americans. Conrad became the second player under Tiffany to be name the recipient of the Senior CLASS Award. He was also named MVP of the ACC Tournament and an NCAA All-Tournament selection. Conrad went on to be drafted No. 2 overall by the Atlas in the inaugural PLL Draft, which tied for second highest MLL/PLL draft pick in UVA history.

After missing the NCAA Tournament in the previous two seasons, Tiffany returned the Cavaliers to the big dance in 2018, his second year as UVA head coach. In addition to leading the nation in ground balls, Virginia finished fifth nationally in assists and seventh in scoring offense. Michael Kraus became the third player in program history to tally 80 points in a single season after finishing with 83, while Aitken represented Virginia as a USILA First Team All-American after setting a then-program record with 51 points.

In his first year at the helm, Tiffany returned the Cavaliers to their winning ways (8-7) after a losing season in 2016. The UVA offense led the ACC and finished third in the nation in goals, assists and points. Aitken shattered the program’s freshman midfielder record of 29 goals in just eight games and tallied 40 points. Kraus was named ACC Freshman of the Year and the only rookie on the All-ACC team after leading the Hoos with 34 goals and 56 points.

Prior to his tenure at Virginia, Tiffany transformed Brown into one of the nation’s premier programs. He led the Bears to Championship Weekend in Philadelphia in 2016 behind a program-record 16 wins and the nation’s No. 1 scoring offense. Attackman Dylan Molloy was crowned the recipient of the Tewaaraton Award and the nation’s most outstanding attackman in 2016. Additionally, Jack Kelly was named the nation’s most outstanding goalie and the recipient of the 2016 Senior CLASS Award. Under Tiffany’s guidance, Brown had a program-record eight USILA All-Americans in 2016. Tiffany finished with an overall record of 95-56 in 10 seasons at his alma mater.

Brown’s historic success in 2016 was the culmination of four Ivy League titles in 2008, 2010, 2015 and 2016 and three NCAA Tournament berths in 2009, 2015 and 2016. Tiffany and his staff are widely credited with changing the modern landscape of college lacrosse after implementing a unique fastbreak-style of offense that finished fifth in the nation in goals per game in 2015. At Brown, Tiffany garnered back-to-back Ivy League Coach of the Year honors in 2015 and 2016. He was also named New England Coach of the Year four times (2008-09-15-16).

After inheriting a Brown program that went winless in Ivy League play in 2006, Tiffany coached the Bears to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1997 before falling to Johns Hopkins in overtime in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament. Tiffany’s 2008 squad captured a share of the Ivy League title with a 5-1 league mark and achieved an 11-3 record to earn the most wins in a single season by the Bears since 1994. In his first season at Brown in 2007, Tiffany turned the fortunes of the program in the right direction by guiding the Bears to a 7-7 record and a national ranking as high as No. 18. 

Tiffany’s first head coaching stint was at Stony Brook during the 2005 and 2006 seasons, where he compiled an 18-13 overall record. He was named America East Coach of the Year in 2005 after the Seawolves cracked the top 20 for the first time in program history and led the nation in man-up offense. In 2006, his squad finished second in the America East with a 4-1 league mark and was ranked in the top 20 in two weekly polls.

Tiffany arrived at Stony Brook after successful stints at Penn State, Dartmouth, Washington & Lee and LeMoyne. He spent his four years at Penn State (2000-2004) as the top assistant under head coach Glenn Thiel, who previously served as UVA head coach from 1970-77 and guided the Cavaliers to their first NCAA title in 1972. At Penn State, Tiffany was involved in all facets of the lacrosse program as the team’s defensive and recruiting coordinator. In 2002, the Nittany Lions led the nation in man-down defense. 

Prior to coaching at Penn State, Tiffany was an assistant coach at Dartmouth College, where he spent the 1999 and 2000 seasons under head coach Rick Sowell. In his two seasons as defensive coordinator, the Big Green’s goals allowed per game in Ivy League contests dropped from 15.3 to 9.0.

Tiffany was an assistant coach from 1997-98 at Washington & Lee University. In 1998, the Generals went 13-3 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament while finishing fifth in the USILA Division III national rankings. 

Tiffany began his collegiate coaching career at LeMoyne College, where he served as an assistant coach of men’s lacrosse and co-head coach of the women’s lacrosse program from 1994-96.

A native of LaFayette, New York, Tiffany graduated from LaFayette High School where he lettered in football, basketball and lacrosse. Upon graduation from Brown, he taught Marine Science and Marine Biology and coached lacrosse and football at the Robert Louis Stevenson School in Pebble Beach, California from 1990-94. 

A 1990 graduate of Brown, Tiffany was a two-time team captain and starter on defense for three years under the guidance of former Virginia head coach Dom Starsia, who served as head coach at Brown from 1982-92 before accepting the head coaching position at UVA. A Biology concentrator, Tiffany played on two Brown teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament (1987 & 1990). He was co-MVP of the 1900 Brown squad that captured its first-ever NCAA playoff victory, a 12-9 victory over UMass. Tiffany capped his career by playing in the North-South Senior All-Star game in 1990. 

Tiffany and his wife, Tara, reside in Charlottesville with their daughter, Charlotte.