John Desko
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John Terry Desko is a retired lacrosse head coach. Desko coached the men's lacrosse team at
Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...
for 22 seasons from 1999 to 2021. Desko took over as head coach in 1999 from Hall of Fame coach Roy Simmons Jr.


Early life

The Desko family grew up in Camillus, a suburb of Syracuse. He played high school lacrosse at West Genesee, the 15-time state champions.


College career

Desko started out in the midfield but was switched to defense by assistant coach Jay Gallagher. He earned
All-America 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 ...
honors as he helped Syracuse to a 10–5 record in 1979 and the school's first NCAA playoff berth. His two younger brothers, Dave and Jeff, were also All-American lacrosse players at Syracuse.


As Coach

Simmons offered Desko an assistant job when assistant coach Jay Gallagher decided to leave Syracuse. Desko made only $1,000 a year as a coach, and waited tables in his spare time. He stayed on as an assistant for next 19 years. After taking over the top job from Roy Simmons Jr. in 1999, he became the first person outside of the Simmons family to coach Syracuse lacrosse since 1931. Desko won five
NCAA Championships The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and 1 in Canada. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and helps ...
as head coach and six more as an assistant coach. In his first eleven years as head coach, he coached the Syracuse lacrosse team to seven NCAA finals appearances and nine Final Fours. The most recent championship came in May 2009, when Desko led the Orange to their 10th National Championship with a 10–9 overtime comeback victory over
Cornell Cornell University is a private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson White in 1865. Since ...
. Under Desko, Syracuse won 4 straight
Big East The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...
championships from 2010 to 2013. After joining the ACC in 2013–14, Syracuse won back-to-back ACC Tournament championships in
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
and 2016. Syracuse was also the regular season champion in 2018. Desko also coached Team USA to a runner-up finish at the
2006 World Lacrosse Championship Canada men's national lacrosse team, Canada won its second gold medal at the 2006 World Lacrosse Championship, held in London, Ontario, from 14 to 22 July. The Canadians defeated the United States men's national lacrosse team, United States in th ...
. On June 6, 2021, Syracuse Women's Lacrosse team head coach
Gary Gait Gary Charles Gait (born April 5, 1967) is a Canadian retired Hall of Fame professional lacrosse player and currently the head coach of the men’s lacrosse team at Syracuse University, where he played the sport collegiately. On January 24, 2017, ...
was named as head coach of the Syracuse Men's Lacrosse team, replacing Desko, who retired after 22 seasons as head coach.


Awards

Desko was named USILA Division I Coach of the Year for 2008 after guiding the Orange to a
title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify their generation, official position, military rank, professional or academic qualification, or nobility. In some languages, titles may be ins ...
over Johns Hopkins. He was the ACC coach of the year for the fourth straight season from 2015 to 2018. Desko was inducted into the Upstate Chapter of the US Lacrosse Hall of Fame as of 1997, Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame in 2008, and the Camillus/West Genesee Hall of Fame in 2011. He was the FieldTurf Coach of the Year in 2013. Desko was elected to the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in May 2020. Desko is the third Syracuse head coach to be inducted into their respective sport's hall of fame after
Jim Boeheim James Arthur Boeheim Jr. ( ; born November 17, 1944) is an American former college basketball coach and current Special Assistant to the Athletic Director at Syracuse University. From 1976 until 2023, he was the head coach of the Syracuse Orange ...
and
Gary Gait Gary Charles Gait (born April 5, 1967) is a Canadian retired Hall of Fame professional lacrosse player and currently the head coach of the men’s lacrosse team at Syracuse University, where he played the sport collegiately. On January 24, 2017, ...
.


Personal life

Desko resides in Syracuse with his wife, Cindy, and their four children; Tim (Timothy), Nicole, Casey and Ryan. Three of his four children attended Syracuse University (Nicole attended Hobart & William Smith Colleges). Tim played on the lacrosse team for 5 years, the first being a
redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...
season (winning back-to-back national titles in
2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
and
2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
), and has been a lacrosse coach at several colleges, including Rollins College.


Head coaching record


References


External links


Syracuse profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Desko, John Living people Syracuse Orange men's lacrosse coaches Syracuse Orange men's lacrosse players 1957 births