Mike Pressler (born February 27, 1960) is 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, who is currently the head coach and general manager of Atlas Lacrosse Club of the

Premier Lacrosse League The Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) is a professional field lacrosse league in the United States. The league comprises eight teams. Its inaugural season debuted on June 1, 2019, and included a 14-week tour-based schedule taking place in 12 major- ...

as well as the varsity head coach for Highland Park High School's lacrosse team (Highland Park, TX). He was previously the head coach of the Bryant Bulldogs from 2007 until his retirement after the 2022 season. He served as the head coach of the

Duke Blue Devils The Duke Blue Devils are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Duke University, located in Durham, North Carolina. Duke's athletics department features 27 varsity teams that all compete at the N ...

for 16 seasons until he was forced to resign during the Duke lacrosse case in 2006. He received the F. Morris Touchstone Award for the men's college lacrosse coach of the year in 2005. In 2010, he coached the

United States men's national lacrosse team The United States men's national lacrosse team has won eleven of fourteen World Lacrosse Championships, the most recent in 2023. Team USA finished second in the other three field lacrosse tournaments, losing to Canada in 1978, 2006, and 2014. The ...

to a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

Career

Pressler attended

Wilton High School Wilton High School is a public high school in Wilton, Connecticut, U.S., considered "one of Connecticut's top performers" in various measures of school success in 2007,Cowan, Alison Leigh, "Play About Iraq War Divides a Connecticut School", ''The ...

, then

Washington & Lee University Washington and Lee University (Washington and Lee or W&L) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. Established in 1749 as Augusta Academy, it is among ...

, graduating in 1982. He was an outstanding lacrosse and football player, a four-year starter in both sports. Pressler was the head coach at

Virginia Military Institute The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) is a public senior military college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1839 as America's first state military college and is the oldest public senior military college in the U.S. In k ...

for one year before leaving to serve as an assistant coach at the

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 ...

under the tutelage of his former coach, Jack Emmer. After West Point, Pressler was the head coach at

Ohio Wesleyan University Ohio Wesleyan University (abbrevriated OWU) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1842 by Methodist leaders and Ohio Valley, Centra ...

(OWU). In October 2007, he was inducted into the Ohio Wesleyan University Hall of Fame. During his 5-year tenure at OWU from 1986 through 1990, Pressler amassed a 69–16 record, four NCAC championships, five visits to the NCAA Division III semi-finals, three NCAA Division III Championship game appearances, 29 All-American selections, and five NCAA Division III players of the year. His contributions to the OWU lacrosse program made him the winningest coach (.812) in OWU's over 50-year lacrosse history. Pressler was hired by Bryant University to lead their lacrosse team in 2007. In June 2022, Pressler announced his retirement from coaching. After his retirement, Pressler was announced as the head coach for Highland Park High School's lacrosse program. In his first season at the helm, he led the Scots to a Texas High School Lacrosse League Class AA state championship.

Duke

Pressler became coach of the

in 1991. Over 16 seasons he compiled a 153–82 record at Duke, winning the

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 ...

championship three times and leading his team to 10

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

tournament appearances as well as the men's national championship game in 2005. Pressler was voted ACC Coach of the Year three times and also was honored as the USILA National Coach of the Year in 2005. He was fired in 2006 in the wake of allegations of rape against three athletes in the program that proved to be baseless. Pressler's firing was publicly portrayed by Duke as a resignation, which gave rise to the implication that the coach resigned due to the students' presumed guilt. Pressler believed the players were innocent and had argued that the lacrosse season should not be canceled until the DNA test results were returned. Pressler has written (with co-author Don Yaeger) a book giving his view of the incident, ''It's Not About the Truth: The Untold Story of the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case and the Lives It Shattered''. Pressler demanded compensation from Duke for wrongful termination. In early June 2007, Pressler and Duke agreed upon a financial settlement for an undisclosed amount. Then in October 2007, Pressler filed suit against Duke, alleging the university broke the terms of the confidential settlement. Pressler asserted that Duke broke the terms of the settlement when he was slandered by Duke senior vice president John Burness, who made disparaging comments about him, saying the difference between Pressler and the current lacrosse coach was "night and day." The suit sought to void the settlement and to pursue damages in a trial rather than by arbitration, as specified in his contract. The trial judge ruled for Pressler's claims, and was upheld by the Court of Appeals on September 1, 2009. Pressler's obligation to submit his claims to arbitration was voided by the June settlement. Pressler was free to proceed with his suit, including

discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

. On March 31, 2010, the final day before discovery would start, Duke settled with Pressler. Although terms of the settlement were not disclosed, Duke issued an apology.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pressler, Mike 1960 births Living people Army Black Knights men's lacrosse coaches Bryant Bulldogs men's lacrosse coaches Duke Blue Devils men's lacrosse coaches VMI Keydets men's lacrosse coaches Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops men's lacrosse coaches Washington and Lee Generals football players Sportspeople from Fairfield County, Connecticut People from Wilton, Connecticut American male writers Wilton High School alumni