Ed Comeau is a Canadian lacrosse head coach, best known for being head coach of the

Georgia Swarm The Georgia Swarm are an American professional box lacrosse team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area that competes in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). They have been playing at the 13,000-seat Gas South Arena since their 2016 season. Tea ...

of the NLL. He is the former head coach of the

Orlando Titans The Orlando Titans were a professional lacrosse team in the National Lacrosse League that played in the 2010 season. The Titans began as the New York Titans, and played for three seasons in New York before announcing the move to Orlando, Florid ...

, until they folded in 2010. Comeau began his NLL coaching career with the

Toronto Rock The Toronto Rock are a Canadian professional box lacrosse team based in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area that competes in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The team was the first Canadian franchise in the NLL. The Rock play their home ga ...

, as an assistant coach under the legendary

Les Bartley Les Bartley (March 11, 1954 – May 15, 2005) was a Canadian lacrosse coach. Bartley led the Buffalo Bandits to three of their four championships in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League (MILL), and won four more championships with the Toronto Rock i ...

. The Rock won four NLL Championships under Bartley (

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, and

2003 NLL season The 2003 National Lacrosse League season is the 17th season in the NLL that began on December 27, 2002, and concluded with the championship game on May 3, 2003. In 2003, the NLL became the first major men's sports league in North America to featu ...

). In November

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, Bartley stepped down due to his battle with

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel ...

, and Comeau was promoted to interim head coach. However, less than four months later, after a 2-4 start, both Comeau and interim GM

Derek Keenan Derek Keenan (born October 2, 1961, in Oshawa, Ontario) is a former lacrosse player, and current head coach and general manager of the Saskatchewan Rush of the National Lacrosse League. Keenan has won the NLL GM of the Year award and the Les Bartl ...

were fired by the Rock, replaced by Terry Sanderson. In 2004, Comeau joined the

Rochester Knighthawks The Rochester Knighthawks (also known as the K-Hawks) are an American professional box lacrosse team based in Rochester, New York, that competes in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The team plays its home games at Blue Cross Arena. The Knighth ...

as an assistant coach, and was then promoted to head coach at the beginning of the 2006 season, replacing Paul Day. Rochester finished with a 9-7 record, second in the Eastern division, but were eliminated from the playoffs by the

Buffalo Bandits The Buffalo Bandits are an American professional box lacrosse team based in Buffalo, New York, that competes in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The team plays its home games at KeyBank Center. The Bandits played in the Major Indoor Lacrosse L ...

in the division finals. In

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, the Knighthawks began the season 2-2, and then won a franchise record 12 straight games to finish the season with a 14-2 mark, tied for the best record since the NLL went to a 16-game schedule. They continued the winning streak in the postseason, defeating

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Buffalo, and finally

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

to win their first championship since

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

. After the season, Comeau was named the winner of the

Les Bartley Award The Les Bartley Award is given annually to the National Lacrosse League head coach of the year. The award was simply called the Head Coach of the Year award until 2004, when the award was renamed in honour of Les Bartley, the most successful coach ...

for coach of the year. After a disappointing 2008 season in which the Knighthawks missed the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, Comeau announced that he would not be returning to the Knighthawks. Only three days later, Comeau was announced as the new head coach of the New York Titans, after former coach Adam Mueller announced his retirement. The same year, he achieved a master’s degree in sports coaching from the

United States Sports Academy The United States Sports University is a private university focused on sports and located in Daphne, Alabama. It offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs as well as certificate programs. Founded in 1972, the academy has provided ...

References

Awards

{{DEFAULTSORT:Comeau, Ed National Lacrosse League coaches Living people National Lacrosse League major award winners Sportspeople from Hamilton, Ontario Toronto Rock coaches Rochester Knighthawks coaches Georgia Swarm coaches Year of birth missing (living people)