Now in his eighth season as head coach of the Golden Flyers' men's lacrosse team, Rob Randall has worked diligently to carry on the program's successful tradition.
Randall took on the Nazareth lacrosse coaching challenge in 2001, succeeding Nazareth Sports Hall of Famer Scott Nelson, who won 177 games and three national titles in 15 seasons.
Randall's determined focus and attention to detail have been key ingredients in enabling the Golden Flyers to maintain their status among the elite teams in Division III.
Nazareth has made five NCAA Tournament appearances in Randall's seven seasons and made a trip to the Division III championship game in 2004. In 2005, Randall had the Golden Flyers once again on the brink of a national championship game appearance, but Nazareth lost a close game at Middlebury in the Division III semifinals. In '06, Nazareth finished 12-4 and scored decisive wins over Oneonta and Ithaca to win the ECAC Upstate Championship. In '07, Nazareth gained an automatic berth by winning the Empire 8 Conference Tournament, then defeated Geneseo in convincing fashion, 15-5, in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The Golden Flyers' season ended with a tough 9-6 loss to Wesleyan in the national quarterfinals.
Randall's seven-year Nazareth record of 94-23 (.803) includes a school-record 16 victories in 2004 and 2007. He has been named Empire 8 Conference Coach of the Year three times -- in 2001, 2003 and 2007. Last season, he also was selected to coach the North squad in the annual North-South Senior all-star game in Baltimore.
The Golden Flyers won their first 15 games for Randall in 2001, before falling to Middlebury in the national semifinals. Then after a somewhat disappointing season -- by Nazareth lacrosse standards -- in 2002 when the Golden Flyers finished 9-5 and missed the NCAA playoffs for the first time in 12 years, Randall steered the program back in the right direction in 2003 as the Golden Flyers finished 12-4 overall and captured the Empire 8 Conference championship with a thrilling 12-11 double overtime victory over Ithaca.
In 2004, after tough regular-season road losses at Cortland and Ithaca, the Golden Flyers regrouped in time to avenge both defeats come playoff time. A 7-5 win at Ithaca enabled Nazareth to win the Empire 8 Conference title for the second year in a row, and a 10-8 win at Cortland in the national quarterfinals set up a semifinal matchup at Middlebury.
Nazareth won at Middlebury, 12-8, snapping the Panthers' 45-game home-field winning streak and earning the Golden Flyers a trip to Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium to meet Salisbury in the national championship game. Nazareth's season ended there with a 13-9 loss.
In 2005, the Golden Flyers also seemed to peak at playoff time following tough regular-season losses to RIT and Ithaca. Nazareth was forced to go on the road for the Empire 8 Tournament and the Golden Flyers secured the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament with decisive wins at Ithaca, 14-4, and at Hartwick, 18-7. They won playoff games over Stevens Tech (13-10) and Cortland (14-7) before losing at Middlebury.
Randall was a logical choice to replace Nelson as coach since he played at Nazareth in 1987 and was an assistant coach for three seasons in the 1990s. He was on the staff in 1992 when the Golden Flyers won their first national title.
A native of Rochester, Randall spent the 2000 season as head coach at SUNY Geneseo. His coaching experience also includes a four-year stint as head coach at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn. and three seasons as a Division I assistant coach at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
At Sacred Heart, Randall, like Nelson, started from scratch, building a program that would eventually be ranked fourth nationally in Division II.
He compiled a record of 41-20 in his four seasons there and twice was a finalist for Division II Coach of the Year honors. His 1996 team won the ECAC Division II title.
As a player, Randall was a starting attackman and was named the Golden Flyers' offensive most valuable player in 1987, Nazareth's second season of intercollegiate competition. He had 48 points on 18 goals and a team-best 30 assists.
Randall was a scholastic standout at Irondequoit High School and went on to earn junior college All-America honors at Herkimer County Community College before enrolling at Nazareth.
He earned a degree in sociology from Nazareth in 1988 and a Master of Arts degree in teaching from Sacred Heart.
In addition to coaching lacrosse at Nazareth, Randall oversees game management operations during the fall and winter sports seasons. During the summer he will operate the popular Nazareth College Lacrosse Camp. This year's camp is July 7-11, 2008. Nazareth also will operate a camp for the first time in Indianapolis from June 16-20.
Randall resides in Rochester with his wife, Barbara; daughter, Carly; and son, Brett.
