VMI Hires Three-Time NCAA Champion Mike Daly as Men's Lacrosse Head Coach

VMI announced Tuesday that it has tabbed Mike Daly as its new men’s lacrosse head coach, a splashy hire with NCAA championship pedigree.

Daly, who led Tufts to three NCAA Division III championships before making the jump to Division I as the head coach at Brown from 2016-24, did stints as the director of player development at Maryland and associate head coach for defense at Stony Brook the last two years.

At VMI, he will take the reins from Taylor Mendoza, who was recently named the head coach at Division III Trinity College. Mendoza lasted just one season with the Keydets, who finished 7-7 after a season-ending loss to Robert Morris in the Northeast Conference semifinals. That came on the heels of arguably the best season in program history under James Purpura (now the head coach at UMBC) in 2025.

“Coach Daly is the right fit at the right time for VMI lacrosse,” VMI athletic director Jamaal Walton said. “He is ready to embrace the VMI experience and has a track record of building championship programs. Throughout his time as a head coach, Mike embedded military leadership throughout his programs and that stood out throughout the search process.

“He has won multiple national championships, competed in NCAA tournaments and, more importantly, created a culture that produced lacrosse players that became great people and leaders within society. It’s an exciting time for VMI lacrosse.”

Daly’s track record includes establishing a winning culture at Tufts after inheriting a team that went 3-25 in the two seasons before he took over there in 1999. Now the Jumbos are the preeminent program in Division III, having won the last three NCAA championships under Daly’s disciple and successor, Casey D’Annolfo.

Daly, who never played lacrosse, also led Brown to the NCAA Division I tournament in 2022.

“We are excited about this team and their choice of this way of life. It's different, we're different and I feel strongly that the best teachers of teamwork, discipline and leadership are our men and women of service.”

Inside Lacrosse originally reported the news of Daly’s hire.