Drew Kelleher is coming home.
Vermont announced Monday that Kelleher, a 2009 UVM graduate and the Catamounts' team MVP that year, has been hired as the program's eighth head coach.
Kelleher spent the past four years as the head coach at America East foe UMass Lowell and before that was the head coach for seven seasons at Manhattan. He succeeds Chris Feifs, who left after 10 seasons to become the defensive coordinator at Virginia and is Vermont's all-time winningest coach.
"I'm thrilled to welcome Drew back to UVM as the new leader of our men's lacrosse program," Vermont athletic director Jeff Schulman said. "As a former Catamount, he's had a first-hand perspective on what makes UVM special and what it means to represent the Green and Gold and the State of Vermont."
Kelleher was the 2021 MAAC Coach of the Year at Manhattan. The next season, he led the Jaspers to the conference championship and an NCAA tournament appearance — against Vermont. He was previously an assistant coach at Boston University, Siena and Hamilton.
The Catamounts won consecutive America East titles and made the NCAA tournament in 2022 and 2023. They were 7-7 this year, falling to UAlbany in the America East championship game.
"This team is in an incredibly healthy place, and I am humbled by the idea of taking over a program that has meant so much to me," Kelleher said.
Kelleher compiled a 6-44 record in four seasons at UMass Lowell, a program that has not produced a winning season in its 12-year history. After back-to-back winless seasons, the River Hawks broke through to go 5-9 in 2025.
Kelleher's departure creates another vacancy in what's suddenly become a busy offseason for Division I head coaches on the move. UMass Lowell will now open a search for its new head coach, just the third since the program was reinstated in 2015 under Ed Stephenson's leadership.
