Lelan Rogers was named the head coach of the Utica University men’s lacrosse program in June of 2022. Rogers will be in charge of all facets of the program including scouting, recruiting, game and practice preparation, as well as day-to-day operations in the office.
Rogers comes to Utica with more than 30 years of coaching experience. Most notably, he spent 14 years as the defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator at Division I Syracuse University from 2007-2021. While at Syracuse, the Orange won back-to-back national championships in 2008 and 2009. Rogers led the SU defense to a top-five national ranking in goals against in three straight years, including the Nation’s top defense allowing just 7.4 goals against in 2010. In all, 79 players were named USILA All-Americans during Rogers’ time at Syracuse and the Orange made 14 NCAA Tournament appearances.
“We are extremely excited to have Lelan at the helm of our men’s lacrosse program, “said Fontaine. “He knows what it takes to win at both the Division I and Division III levels and his résumé speaks for itself. I’m confident that his knowledge and over 30 years of lacrosse coaching experience will help our program make a postseason run year after year.”
Prior to Syracuse, Rogers was the head coach at SUNY Cortland where he guided the Red Dragons to five straight NCAA Tournament berths including a national semifinal appearance in 2003. Cortland won five straight SUNYAC regular season and four SUNYAC Tournament championships under the tutelage of Rogers. He led the Red Dragons to a program-record 17 wins in both 2003 and 2005 and 23 of his players were named All-Americans during his tenure.
Rogers coached professionally for one season as he was the bench boss of the Chicago Machine of the MLL from 2006-2007. Rogers also had stints at Ohio Wesleyan and Le Moyne College.
Rogers earned his bachelor’s degree in speech communication and his master’s degree in higher education administration/athletic administration both from Syracuse.
