Richard Irving Edell (1944 – May 2, 2018) was an American

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

coach. He served as the head coach for the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

, and

University of Baltimore The University of Baltimore (UBalt, UB) is a public university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is part of the University System of Maryland. UBalt consists of four colleges in applied arts and sciences, Robert G. Merrick School of Bu ...

's men's lacrosse teams. Edell was inducted into the

US Lacrosse USA Lacrosse, a Recognized Sport Organization of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee, is the governing body of men and women's lacrosse in the United States. It provides a leadership role in virtually every aspect of the game and has ...

Hall of Fame in 2004, at which time he held the second-most NCAA tournament appearances of any head coach.Dick Edell HOF Biography
, US Lacrosse, retrieved March 24, 2009.

Early life

Born in Maryland in 1944, Edell attended

Towson University Towson University (TU or Towson) is a public university in Towson, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1866 as Maryland's first training school for teachers, Towson University is a part of the University System of Maryland. Since its foundin ...

, where he played lacrosse and was named an honorable mention

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

in 1967. He graduated in 1967 with a degree in physical education. Edell continued his education, earning a master's degree in education from

Western Maryland upright=1.2, An enlargeable map of Maryland's 23 counties and one independent city Western Maryland, also known as the Maryland panhandle or Mountain Maryland, is the portion of the U.S. state of Maryland that typically consists of Washing ...

(now McDaniel College) in 1970 and, later while coaching, a master's degree in science from the

in 1976.

Coaching career

Edell's first coaching position was as the freshman team coach at his alma mater,

Towson Towson () is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 59,533 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is t ...

, where he served for two years. He then held the head coaching position at Calvert Hall High School for three years, and led his team to the 1971 and 1972 Maryland Scholastic Association (MSA) championships. The

provided him his first collegiate head coaching opportunity, and, in four years, he led the team to three NCAA Division II

tournaments A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

. During that time, he also coached UB's soccer team, which he led to the 1975 NCAA Division II national championship. In 1977, Edell took over as the Army head coach. During his seven-year tenure, he compiled a 66–24 record and led the Cadets to four NCAA tournament appearances.Player Bio: Dick Edell
, University of Maryland, retrieved March 24, 2009. He also coached

Army Black Knights men's soccer The Army Black Knights men's soccer program represents the United States Military Academy (West Point) in all NCAA Division I men's college soccer competitions. Founded in 1921, the Black Knights compete in the Patriot League. The Black Knights p ...

from 1979 to 1981. Edell took over as the

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

head coach starting with the 1984 season. During his 18-year tenure there, he led the Terrapins to three

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

(ACC) titles and 13 NCAA tournament appearances, which included three appearances in the championship game. In his second year with the Terrapins, he led the team to a 2–1 conference record to secure the championship. The following season, Maryland finished with a 10–3 overall record and advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals before elimination. In 1987, Edell led Maryland to a perfect 3–0 mark for the conference title and led the team to the NCAA semifinals. From 1991 to 1998, the Terrapins secured an NCAA tournament berth each season. In 1995, 1997, and 1998, Maryland advanced to the tournament final before being eliminated. In 1998, the Terps again finished with a perfect conference mark, 3–0. In 2001, he retired from coaching due to a non-life-threatening health issue,

inclusion body myositis Inclusion body myositis (IBM) () (sometimes called sporadic inclusion body myositis, sIBM) is the most common inflammatory muscle disease in older adults. The disease is characterized by slowly progressive weakness and wasting of both proximal m ...

. The 57-year-old Edell said, "My mind and heart want to do this, but my body won't." In 2011, first-year Maryland head coach John Tillman led Maryland to the national championship game, and he contacted Edell for advice. Edell, whose teams lost their three championship game appearances, told ''

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"I said 'John, I tried practicing on Sunday. I tried not practicing on Sunday. I can't give you any help for Monday' ... We thought long and hard after the first one 13–9 loss to Syracuse I don't know if we made mistakes. I don't have the answer. Whatever he does on Monday, he's on his own.I will counsel people on the semifinals. I don't have a useful thing to say about the final."

Records and honors

At the time of his retirement, Edell, with 282 wins, was the fifth-winningest all-time head coach in terms of wins, and the sixth-winningest active head coach in terms of

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage or Copeland score is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the to ...

. He was also the second-winningest active head coach by wins, behind Jack Emmer of Army with 289, and the winningest all-time ACC coach, with 171 wins, ahead of Jim Adams of Virginia with 137. Edell had the second-most NCAA Division I tournament appearances, with 17, behind Roy Simmons, Jr. of Syracuse who had 18. He was the seventh head coach to reach the 400-game benchmark and the first ACC head coach to reach the 150-win benchmark. The

United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association The United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association is an association of member institutions and organizations with college lacrosse programs at all levels of competition, including the three NCAA divisions and non-NCAA schools, at both the varsi ...

(USILA) twice named Edell the National Coach of the Year: in 1978 with Army and in 1995 with Maryland. The Atlantic Coast Conference named him the ACC Coach of the Year three times: in 1989, 1992, and 1998. In 2004, Edell was inducted into the

Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the US Lacrosse Potomac Chapter Hall of Fame, the US Lacrosse Greater Baltimore Chapter Hall of Fame, the

University of Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame The University of Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame was established in 1982 by the M Club Foundation to honor student-athletes, coaches, and administrators who made significant contributions to athletics at the University of Maryland, College Park, U ...

, the University of Baltimore Athletic Hall of Fame, the Towson University Hall of Fame and the Army West Point Athletic Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Edell and his wife, Dolores, had four children. He died at a hospital in Columbia, Maryland from pneumonia on May 2, 2018, at the age of 74.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edell, Dick 1944 births 2018 deaths American lacrosse players American soccer coaches Army Black Knights men's lacrosse coaches Army Black Knights men's soccer coaches Baltimore Bees men's lacrosse coaches Baltimore Bees men's soccer coaches Deaths from pneumonia in Maryland Maryland Terrapins men's lacrosse coaches Towson Tigers men's lacrosse coaches Towson Tigers men's lacrosse players Western Maryland College alumni Lacrosse players from Maryland