Rob Randall completed his 24th season as the head coach of Nazareth men's lacrosse team in 2024, guiding the Golden Flyers to 12 wins, their most since the 2016 season, and a fourth-straight appearance in the Empire 8 title game.
In his 29 seasons as a head coach (Nazareth, Sacred Heart, Geneseo), Randall has amassed 302 wins, compared to just 180 losses. Over 24 seasons at Nazareth, he has compiled a 259-148 (.636) record. Randall has guided the Purple and Gold to 12 conference championship games since 2004.
Through more than two decades, Randall has been able to make the necessary adjustments that have kept the Golden Flyers competitive with the elite teams in Division III.
In 2017, for example, Randall and the Golden Flyers claimed a pair of exciting overtime road wins to claim the Empire 8 Conference title in 2017 -- their ninth conference title and 22nd NCAA Tournament berth.
Included in Nazareth's 10 NCAA Tournament berths for Randall is a trip to the national championship game in Baltimore in 2004. The Golden Flyers also made deep post-season runs in 2005 and 2007 before falling in the semifinals and quarterfinals respectively.
In 2006 and 2008, Nazareth finished 12-4 and 10-6 respectively and won two post-season games each time in winning the ECAC Championship.
The program's winningest coach accomplishments include a school-record 16 victories in 2004 and 2007. He also has a record of 125-39 (.762) in Empire 8 Conference games. He has been named Empire 8 Conference Coach of the Year seven times -- in 2001, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2015 and 2017. In 2007, he also was selected to coach the North squad in the annual North-South Senior all-star game in Baltimore.
In his first season of 2001, the Golden Flyers won their first 15 games for Randall, before falling to Middlebury in the national semifinals. 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 match-up 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. It was Nazareth's sixth appearance in the championship game.
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 NCAA playoff games over Stevens (13-10) and Cortland (14-7) before fallng at Middlebury.
Randall was a logical choice to become Nazareth 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 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 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. His 1996 team won the ECAC Division II title.
As a player, Randall was a starting attackman and was named the Golden Flyers' offensive MVP 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. In 2019, he was inducted into the NJCAA Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
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 operates the popular Nazareth College Lacrosse Camp.
A member of the Rochester Chapter of the USILA Hall of Fame, Randall is active on numerous lacrosse committees. He formerly served as chairman of the NCAA Rules Committee; has been active on the USILA's All-American and national rankings committees; serves on the executive board of the Intercollegiate Men's Lacrosse Coaches Association; and is on the NCAA Championships Committee.
In 2022, Randall welcomed his son Brett, a 2021 Richmond graduate, to the Golden Flyers' roster as a graduate student. He led Golden Flyers in scoring (55g, 45a) and earned third-team All-American honors from the USILA. Randall and his wife Barb are also parents to a daughter, Carly.
