Courtesy Amherst Sports Information

AMHERST, Mass. – Amherst College announced today that head men’s lacrosse and women's squash coach Tom Carmean will resign his position to become head coach of the Guilford College men’s lacrosse program.

Carmean led the Amherst men's lacrosse program to an 82-76 record and four NESCAC Championship semifinal appearances from 2000-10, including an impressive 32-14 stretch from 2003-05. Competing in one of the most accomplished conferences in Division III, the Lord Jeffs finished among the top four teams in the NESCAC six times during Carmean’s tenure, earning the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament in 2005 and 2010. This past season, Amherst posted a 7-4 record in its final 11 games and used notable wins over Bowdoin and Williams to once again finish as one of the conference’s top teams.

His experience coaching in such a respected conference will bode well for Carmean, who will move on to an Old Dominion Athletic Conference that features several nationally ranked teams each year. “I am looking forward to competing in such a well-established league,” Carmean says. “The ODAC has such highly respected programs, and I look forward to making Guilford more and more competitive in the conference.”

Amherst earned 10 men's lacrosse All-America honors and 14 All-NESCAC First Team selections during Carmean’s time, as well as two Conference Player of the Year awards. Notably, his nationally ranked 2004 squad featured a conference-high six All-NESCAC selections and the Rookie of the Year. Carmean spent the past six years with the women's squash program, leading the Lord Jeffs to the 2009 Walker Cup title and a 2010 national ranking of 13.

"Tom has served the College well during his tenure with the men's lacrosse and women's squash programs,” says Suzanne Coffey, Amherst’s director of athletics. “In addition to his coaching duties, Tom has been a leader in community service efforts and in helping develop the Athletic Department's leadership programming. His colleagues and I wish him well as he enters this new phase of his coaching career.”

Prior to Amherst, Carmean was a three-time All-America selection at the University of Massachusetts and an 11-year veteran of professional lacrosse. During a standout collegiate playing career he was recognized as one of the top attackers in the nation, twice leading the Minutemen to the NCAA Quarterfinals before graduating with a degree in English in 1988. From there, he tutored his former UMass teammates as a graduate assistant coach, earning a master's degree in education in 1992. Carmean coached three seasons at nearby South Hadley High School before accepting an assistant coaching position at Amherst in 1999.

“I have wonderful memories of my time at Amherst College,” says Carmean. “I have been fortunate to have so many great experiences and to develop such amazing relationships with players, coaches, parents and alumni these past 11 years."

"I'm very excited to get started and take on new challenges," Carmean adds. "I'm looking forward to a great summer of recruiting and to the outstanding opportunities that lay ahead at Guilford."