Syracuse women’s lacrosse: Regy Thorpe named new Orange head coach

The men’s alum and former women’s assistant is coming home to lead the program he was part of for a decade.

Syracuse alum Regy Thorpe has been named the fourth head coach in Syracuse Orange women’s lacrosse program history, the school announced on Friday afternoon.

Thorpe brings with him a vast amount of coaching experience at all levels of the sport, including college, professional and international. Most relevant on his resume is the 10 years he spent on the Syracuse women’s lacrosse coaching staff from 2010 to 2019.

Most recently, he’s been an assistant/associate head coach at Florida for the past four seasons, helping the Gators to back-to-back Final Four appearances the last two years.

In his official statement, Thorpe called this his ‘dream job’:

“I’m excited to come back home to Syracuse University. This is my dream job. I’d like to thank John Wildhack, Herman Frazier and the entire selection committee for giving me this opportunity. I’d also like to thank Amanda O’Leary and the University of Florida for the past four years. Now it’s time to get to work to ensure the continued success of Syracuse Women’s Lacrosse.”

Thorpe is Orange though and through. He played two years for ‘Cuse after starting his career at Herkimer Junior College. In 1993, he was a team captain, All-American and helped lead the team to the fifth national title in program history.

Perhaps more importantly, Thorpe has extensive experience and familiarity with the SU women’s program having served as an assistant on Gary Gait’s coaching staffs in the 2010s. He was associate head coach for five of those seasons. During that time, the Orange advanced to Championship Weekend six times, including two national title game appearances.

In addition to his time as a college coach, he’s also coached in the professional ranks in both the women’s and men’s games. He was the head coach for one season of the Long Island Sound of the short-lived United Women’s Lacrosse League, where he led them to an undefeated season and championship in 2017. On the men’s side, he coached and was the general manager of the NLL’s New York Riptide and was an assistant for the MLL’s Rochester Rattlers

Internationally, he has been the head coach of the US Indoor Box Lacrosse team at the last two world championships. In 2019, he led them to a bronze medal, and last year in 2024, he led the US to their first silver medal in indoor world championships history after taking the bronze in the first five championships. He was also an assistant coach for the Iroquois men’s national team at the 1998 Outdoor World Championship.

Athletic director John Wildhack put out this statement in regards to the hire:

“Regy is the right person to lead our program, with a vision for Syracuse women’s lacrosse that aligns with and supports our ambitious goals. He’s a championship-caliber coach with tremendous experience coaching both offense and defense, an elite recruiter and passionate mentor, and has deep ties to the Syracuse University and Central New York communities. I welcome Regy, his wife Amy and their children Gale and Ella back to Syracuse.”

Thorpe’s combination of Syracuse ties and coaching experience clearly made him one of the top options to lead the program moving forward.

Congratulations and welcome home to Regy!