Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 8/6/18
From Press Release
Brendan Dawson has accepted the position of The Haverford School’s assistant athletic director, effective Aug. 27, 2018, and will succeed John Nostrant as head lacrosse coach in the 2019-20 school year.
“We are excited about Brendan joining the Department of Athletics at Haverford,” said Michael Murphy, Director of Athletics. “He has led and elevated three college lacrosse programs and earned Conference Coach of the Year recognition at each.
“Brendan’s desire to impact student-athletes at an early stage in their development and to further the tradition of Haverford School lacrosse made him a terrific fit for our program. We are fortunate to have such an outstanding coach to work with our boys, and to continue the strong legacy of Coach Nostrant.”
Dawson, a West Chester East alum, is currently men’s lacrosse head coach at Haverford College and was the 2018 Centennial Conference Coach of the Year. He led the college to its first postseason appearance in seven years in 2018; the team was ranked in the top 15 nationally.
Dawson will coach under Nostrant for the 2018-19 year.
“My family and I are eager to join The Haverford School community in this exciting new role,” said Dawson. “I would like to thank John Nagl, Mike Murphy, and John Nostrant for their faith in me. I am humbled by the opportunity to learn from Coach Nostrant in this coming year, and motivated to work at continuing the tradition of excellence that is Haverford School lacrosse.”
Prior to Haverford College, Dawson spent five years as head coach at Widener. His teams made the Commonwealth playoffs during each of his years at the helm, with two appearances in the conference finals. He was named the Commonwealth Coach of the Year in 2014 and 2016. Dawson also started men’s lacrosse at Aurora University in Illinois. Named head coach prior to the 2009-10 academic year, he led Aurora to 11 wins in its inaugural season on his way to being named the Midwest Lacrosse Conference Coach of the Year.
Dawson had a four-year career at Salisbury, helping the team to Division III National Championships in 2003 and 2004 when he served as team captain. He was named first-team All-Capital Athletic Conference in 2002 and was a member of the school’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Over his four seasons as a student-athlete, the Sea Gulls notched a 58-7 cumulative record. Dawson graduated from Salisbury in 2004 with a B.A. in history and political science. He got his M.A. in teaching from Salisbury in 2008.
John Nostrant, Director of the Lacrosse Program, said, “We were fortunate to interview and meet with some exceptional candidates and Brendan handled himself very well. He has a lot of experience for a relatively young guy. I am excited for him and feel very strongly that he will be a great fit for Haverford and that he and his family will be a part of the community for years to come. He is going to do great things here.”
Nostrant, who announced in June he would coach one more year and help in the transition, has won 475 and 14 Inter-Ac League championships in 27 years at Haverford School.
In 2018 Haverford School went 16-4 and fell to Malvern Prep, 17-13, in the Inter-Ac League championship. The Fords finished No. 2 in the final Phillylacrosse.com Rankings and were among the Top 20 in the National polls.
In 2011 and 2015 the Fords were undefeated and considered North America champions by all rankings. Nostrant was the Phillylacrosse.com Coach of the Year in both 2011 and 2015 and the National Interscholastic Lacrosse Coaches Association (NILCA) Co-Coach of the Year for the 2015 season. He was inducted into the Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the US Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2011.
