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Caitlin Defliese Named Interim Head Coach of Women's Lacrosse

The Orange assistant will lead the program while a national search is conducted for a permanent replacement.
Mike McAllister|
Caitlin Defliese Named Interim Head Coach of Women's Lacrosse
Caitlin Defliese Named Interim Head Coach of Women's Lacrosse

On Monday, Syracuse Athletics made the official announcement that legendary coach John Desko was retiring and Gary Gait was leaving the women's team to become the new head coach of the men's lacrosse program. Included in that announcement was Caitlin Defliese being named interim head coach while the school conducts a national search for Gait's replacement. 

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Defliese could be someone Syracuse considers for the permanent job as well and would make sense. She has more than a decade of coaching experience as an assistant at Stony Brook and Syracuse. As the defensive coordinator at Stony Brook, she led one of the best defensive units in the nation. Since arriving at Syracuse in 2016, the Orange has bolstered one of the better defenses in the country as well. 

She is highly regarded in the lacrosse community, knows the schemes run under Gary Gait, and has the respect of current players and recruits alike. Defliese would bring continuity from a number of perspectives. 

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That said, Syracuse is a desired job. It is a name program within the sport and should have several quality candidates that want the position. But Defliese deserves to be considered, and she is the right person to lead the program in the interim. If Syracuse elects to go another direction, she could be someone the new head coach retains. 

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Mike McAllister
MIKE MCALLISTER

Title: Publisher All Syracuse Education: Roberts Wesleyan College Location: Syracuse, New York Expertise: Syracuse basketball, football and recruiting.  EXPERIENCE Mike McAllister has been covering Syracuse basketball, football and recruiting for more than a decade. Mike's career started with his own free blog as a way to vent following sporting events. Shortly thereafter, a network of basketball sites called Coast 2 Coast Hoops asked him to run their Syracuse site. That site was called Nation of Orange, and Mike quickly established it as a go-to for Syracuse fans.  After running Nation of Orange for several months, a position with the Syracuse site on the Scout network became available. After one year as the recruiting expert with Cuse Nation, he was named the publisher. Mike oversaw the transition from Scout to 247Sports, and ran the site on that network for years.  Presented with the opportunity to join one of the biggest names in the sports journalism industry, Sports Illustrated, Mike jumped at the chance. All Syracuse was started from scratch by Mike and the Fan Nation team. It has now become a staple for Orange fans of various sports.  Mike has broken news on recruiting, Syracuse basketball and football team information and has established himself as the top recruiting inside in the market. He has appeared on local radio shows, television broadcasts, national radio shows and much more. Mr. McAllister has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting and Information Management from Roberts Wesleyan College. 

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