BALTIMORE, MD – Tom Calder, Director of Athletics at Johns Hopkins University, announced today the signing of men’s lacrosse coach Dave Pietramala to a two-year contract extension. The extension pushes the agreement between Pietramala and Johns Hopkins through the 2015 season.
“We are fortunate to have the finest men’s lacrosse coach in the nation leading our program,” Calder noted. “Dave Pietramala’s coaching resume speaks for itself, but the success our players have had in the classroom and their extensive involvement in community service initiatives is something that we also take great pride in. The manner in which Dave and his players represent Johns Hopkins is exemplary and we look forward to many more years with Dave leading our program.”
Pietramala recently completed his ninth season as the head coach at Johns Hopkins and fashions a 106-30 (.779) record at Homewood. He led the Blue Jays to the national championship in 2005 and 2007 and runner-up finishes in 2003 and 2008. Hopkins also advanced to the national semifinals in 2002 and 2004 and has qualified for the NCAA Tournament in each of Pietramala’s nine seasons.
A tireless recruiter with an attention to detail, Pietramala moved into second place on the all-time coaching victories list at Johns Hopkins late in the 2009 season when he passed legendary coach Henry Ciccarone (105 wins from 1975-83). Only Hall of Fame coach Bob Scott, who totaled 158 wins in his 20-year coaching career from 1955-74, has won more games patrolling the sidelines at Homewood than Pietramala.
“The dedication our administration has shown to the men’s lacrosse program during my tenure is remarkable,” Pietramala noted. “Our coaches and players recognize the privilege it is to represent Johns Hopkins University and we take that privilege very seriously. It has been exciting to coach so many fine young men and we look forward to working with another outstanding group during the 2010 season. We look forward to building on the tradition of Johns Hopkins lacrosse under the leadership of our new President, Ron Daniels.”
Including his three seasons as the head coach at Cornell, Pietramala boasts an overall coaching record of 129-47 (.733). At Hopkins he has coached 51 USILA All-Americans, six of the seven players in program history who have earned CoSIDA Academic All-America honors, three MacLaughlin Award winners (midfielder of the year), one Tewaraaton Award winner (player of the year), one Enners Award winner (player of the year), one Kelly Award winner (goalie of the year), one Schmeisser Award winner (defenseman of the year) and one NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipient.
Pietramala has defied the logic that great players can’t be great coaches. Generally regarded as one of the finest defensive players in the history of the game, Pietramala is the only person in the history of college lacrosse who has won an NCAA Division I Championship as a player (1987) and head coach (2005, 2007). In addition, he is the only person who has been named the national player of the year (1989) and national coach of the year (2000, 2002).
After guiding his first team at Johns Hopkins to an 8-4 record and a trip to the NCAA Quaterfinals, Pietramala orchestrated one of the most dominant four-year runs in recent history from 2002 through 2005. During that stretch the Blue Jays posted a 55-6 record, claimed the 2005 national championship and advanced to the 2003 national championship game. A quarterfinal appearance in 2006 was followed by the 2007 national championship and an appearance in the 2008 national championship game. JHU’s four appearances in the national championship game since 2003 are the most of any school in the nation.
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