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Gary Gait Coaching Tree
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The Gary Gait College Lacrosse Coaching Tree

Editor’s Note: Gary Gait might be just as much of a legend in women’s lacrosse as he is in the men’s game. Cat Conway breaks down the Gary Gait coaching tree in women’s college lacrosse, and my oh my, is it impressive!

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Cindy Timchal, the Head Coach of the Maryland women’s lacrosse team from 1991 to 2006, hired Gary Gait in 1994. This was a bold decision, according to players, but she saw something in him; she knew that he would make an immediate and drastic impact on her program. That he did.

Gary Gait

Kelly Amonte (the legendary Northwestern Head Coach) has been quoted as saying that Timchal taught the team, “do not be afraid to take a risk.” And Gait added the flair and finesse that Maryland is now known for.

He ingrained stickwork and aggressive play into the program, and the results are obvious. Maryland, already an F5 tornado, went Cat 5 Hurricane on the lacrosse world. No other program could hope to keep up. In the years he was the assistant coach, Maryland went 164-16, won 5 straight national championships, and had 4 undefeated seasons.

Gary Gait then took the helm of the Syracuse women’s program in August of 2007. Like Maryland, he immediately turned the program into a consistent national contender. He has gone 76-26 with 4 NCAA appearances in only 5 years.

Gait has had a profound impact on the women’s lacrosse world – the programs that he worked with have produced some of the most prolific coaches in all of lacrosse. Attached is a chart of the DIVISION ONE coaches that were, at one point, coached by Gait. (This is not a slam against other divisions; it just took me 3 days of trolling through athletic department websites and old press releases to gather all this information… and that was just for D1!)

Furthermore, this should really be called the Cindy Timchal coaching tree, but since the audience here skews towards men, I am also going to shamelessly troll for views a bit in an attempt to help educate everyone on the women’s side of the game. (EN: we are impressed by this move! It’s so crafty! Was Cat coached by Timchal and Gait too?)

Click the image below to see the FULL Gary Gait (Cindy Timchal) Coaching Tree for Division 1 Lacrosse:

Wow. Some impressive stuff! That is a whole lot of top quality coaches, and Gait and Timchal must be proud. They are competing against many of their former assistants and players now, and the women’s college game is definitely better off for it.