Virginia Lacrosse Promotes Assistant Coach Kevin Cassese to Head Coach

Kevin Cassese is going to be replacing two time national champion head coach Lars Tiffany

The Virginia Cavaliers have a new head coach for their men's lacrosse program and it is a coach that has plenty of familiarity with Charlottesville.

After moving on from two time national championship head coach Lars Tiffany, Virginia announced this morning that assistant head coach and offensive coordinator Kevin Cassese is going to be replacing Tiffany as the head man at UVA.

Got our guy, and he's here to stay, @CoachCassese‼️ pic.twitter.com/Pww19CXW0C

— Virginia Men's Lacrosse (@UVAMensLax) May 26, 2026

This is not the first time that Cassese has been a head coach. He was the head coach at Lehigh from 2008-2023 and finished with a career record of 136-104 and Lehigh won the Patriot League regular season and tournament titles in 2012, 2013, and 2021 under his leadership. Cassese also has assistant coaching stints at Duke and Stony Brook before becoming the head coach at Lehigh. While at Duke, the Blue Devils made the national championship in 2007.

Virginia AD Carla Williams released this statement announcing the hire of Cassese as the head coach:

"“Kevin Cassese is the ideal leader, person and coach to usher in the next era of Virginia men’s lacrosse,” Williams said. “He embodies the integrity and competitive excellence that have defined this championship program for many decades. Kevin is highly regarded as a fantastic coach and an even better person. He is a winner on and off the field. We are excited that Kevin, his wife Katie, and their children Drew, Anna, and Claire will continue to call UVA and Charlottesville home.”

The right move?

May 27, 2023; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Virginia Cavaliers head coach Lars Tiffany (L) prepares to lead his team out of the tunnel for a game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Lincoln Financial. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

There has been a lot of scrutiny around the Men's Lacrosse program since it was announced that Tiffany was not going to be the head coach at UVA any longer and that had to do with his very good and very consistent track record.

While this year was a bit of a roller coaster in terms of consistency, Tiffany had a great run at UVA that included a national championship in 2019 after a 17-3 record and things kept rolling in 2021 with another national championship following the COVID year.

While Virginia has not been back to the national championship since winning it all in 2021, it is not like they have become a forgotten program. Tiffany was able to lead Virginia to the quarterfinals in 2022 and then back to back final four appearances in 2023 and 2024. The last two seasons (no NCAA apperance in 2025 and a first round exit this season) have not been up to the standard, but Tiffany did very well at Virginia and was considered one of the best coaches in the country.

That is not to say that Cassese cannot be a good coach and a winner at one of the top programs in the country. He has previous head coaching experience and has been with UVA for the past few seasons and knows the lay of the land. It seemed like this might be the choice and he was a logical candidate right from the jump.

Cassese has big shoes to fill and he will be expected to win big at one of the top programs in the country.