EMORY, Va. - The Emory & Henry College Department of Athletics and Vice President for Athletics Dr. Anne Crutchfield are pleased to announce Joe Laird as the inaugural varsity head men's lacrosse coach. The team will begin play in the spring of 2025 and represents a rebirth and enhancement of men's lacrosse on the E&H campus as the sport existed in the form of a club team in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
"We are very excited to welcome Joe and his family to E&H," commented Crutchfield. "It was important to find a coach with the experience to build a new lacrosse program from the ground up and a passion for serving and mentoring our student-athletes. We could not be more pleased to have Joe as our first head men's lacrosse coach."
Laird began his duties on July 1 after a successful three-year run as the head coach of the University of Illinois's Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) program. Prior to his time in Champaign, Laird had a 12-year run as the head coach at Crown Point High School in Indiana, where he was named the Indiana Coach of the Year in 2019 by USA Lacrosse.
As an undergraduate at Eastern Michigan University, Laird was a member of the Eagles' MCLA squad. He graduated in 2012 from EMU with a Bachelor of Science degree in clinical laboratory science.
"I am honored to be given the opportunity to be the first men's lacrosse coach at E&H and I am looking forward to building the program from scratch. I also am looking forward to competing with some of the best in Division II as the SAC has a great lacrosse tradition," said Laird.
Fellow South Atlantic Conference institution, Lenoir-Rhyne University, claimed the NCAA Division II National Championship this past spring and was the national runner-up in 2021. Limestone University, also a member of the SAC, has won three national titles (2014, 2015, 2017) and posted three runner-up finishes in the past 12 years.
"The hiring of Joe Laird to be the first varsity head men's lacrosse coach marks the beginning of a new chapter for Emory & Henry lacrosse. We now have a quality bookend for our head women's coach, Tom Flynn," said Bill Naehle, an E&H alum and a member of the College's men's club lacrosse program of the late 1970s and early 1980s. "These two coaches will establish a culture of excellence on the field, in the classroom, and in the community. With this hire, we have a bright future ahead at Exit 26."
On February 4, 2022, Emory & Henry announced plans to build a multi-sport complex along the I-81 corridor which is set to serve as the home to the lacrosse, soccer and track & field programs. The College officially broke ground on the complex on June 26, 2023, announcing a $4 million lead gift with naming rights from locally-owned grocer Food City.
With these additions, E&H increases its varsity sport offering to 29 with 12 NCAA men's sports (baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, tennis, indoor track & field, outdoor track & field, wrestling), 13 NCAA women's sports (basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, rugby, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, indoor track & field, outdoor track & field, volleyball, wrestling), the Intermont Equestrian IDA & IHSA teams and competitive cheerleading & dance squads.
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