Ward Melville Alum Nagle Announced as Head Men's Lacrosse Coach at Stony Brook

Jim Nagle isn’t that old, but when he was a kid in the 1980s the lacrosse culture at Stony Brook was vastly different then it is today.

The massive athletic transformation the university has embarked on in the last decade is a major reason why Nagle left his post as the head men’s lacrosse coach at Colgate University and took the same position on his native Long Island, just seconds away from his boyhood home in the Three Village area.

He was announced as the men’s lacrosse coach, along with Joe Spallina, another Long Island native from Rocky Point, who was named the university’s new women’s lacrosse coach, at a press conference at the indoor sports complex on campus Tuesday afternoon.

“It’s not often you get to have a men’s and women’s program celebrate the future together,” said Stony Brook Athletic Director Jim Fiore. “With Joe and Jim we embark on an incredible new era.”

Nagle was an all-county player on Ward Melville’s 1988 state title team that finished 24-0. Former Patriots legendary head coach Joe Cuozzo was on-hand to congratulate Nagle and welcome him home.

“I can’t express how happy I am for him,” Cuozzo said. “All of these guys are like my sons. I’m so proud of him and how hard he’s worked to get to this point. I told him I’m going to do everything I can to help him be successful. As a high school guy, he was a team guy, goal oriented, and I’m sure he’s going to bring those same attributes to Stony Brook.”

The men’s lacrosse program has experienced a revolution of sort under former coach Rick Sowell, who took the Seawolves to national prominence and an NCAA tournament berth two seasons ago. He recently took the head coaching position at the Naval Academy. Nagle said he’ll be focused on making his team compete with the best of the America East Conference, not with the Stony Brook teams of the past.

“We’re going to worry about the journey and what we’re doing on the day-to-day basis,” he said. “If we get that in order, everything else will take care of itself. We’re going to try to compete for America East titles and advance to the NCAA tournament and those are our goals.”

Nagle coached for 10 seasons at Colgate and garnered an 86-64 record, earning two Patriot League Coach of the Year awards. He also spent seven seasons at SUNY Oneonta, where he led the Red Dragons to the NCAA tournament and was USILA Division III Coach of the Year.

Still, honors and lacrosse success aside, the old adage that there’s no place like home was a major theme in his decision to come back, especially since Stony Brook is on the rise athletically.

“Long Island cares about lacrosse, Three Village cares about lacrosse and now Stony Brook cares about lacrosse,” he said. “You’re not going to go anywhere ... where they care more about lacrosse than right here.”