HOBOKEN, N.J. (June 10, 2009) – Head Men's Lacrosse Coach Byron Collins (Succasunna, N.J.) has accepted a promotion to Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance and Event Management in the Stevens Institute of Technology Department of Athletics, it was announced Wednesday.

Collins will continue to serve as the men's lacrosse coach as Stevens opens a national search for a replacement, but he will take over in his new role immediately. The 10-year head coach will make the move into athletic administration after leading the Ducks to an overall record of 111-53 and six NCAA Tournament appearances.

In his new role, Collins will be involved in a wide variety of department operations. He will be the department's NCAA compliance officer and the primary contact for all NCAA rule and policy matters/questions. Collins will manage and direct all intercollegiate event operations and event management.

Furthermore, Collins will provide direct oversight to a number of Stevens' intercollegiate sports and will monitor academic services for all Stevens student-athletes. Collins will also be a member of the department's senior administrative council to assist in major decision making and formulating departmental policies and procedures.

"I am excited that Byron has decided to take on what is going to be an essential role within our department," said Director of Athletics Russell Rogers (Branchburg, N.J.). "The tremendous growth our athletic program has undergone in recent years dictates the need for this position, and Byron is the perfect individual for the job. He already possesses great knowledge and understanding in so many different areas involving intercollegiate athletics and his outstanding leadership skills should help make for a smooth transition."

As the lacrosse coach at Stevens, Collins helped bring the men's lacrosse program back to prominence. In addition to his overall record of 111-53 and six NCAA Tournament appearances, Collins' teams were 64-9 in conference contests with six Knickerbocker titles. When Collins first took over as head coach in 2000, he inherited a program that had suffered through 11 losing seasons in the previous 13 years.

He recruited and coached 18 different United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) All-Americans from 2003-2009 after Stevens did not have a single player earn the distinction during the previous 35 lacrosse seasons. Collins was a head coach in the prestigious 2004 USILA Division III North/South Senior All-Star Game and 12 of his graduating seniors played in the game.

He finished below .500 just once in his time at Stevens, his first season, won two Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships, and had three of his athletes selected as members of the USILA Scholar All-America Team from 2004-2009. Sixty of his players were all-conference selections over the past 10 years in addition to coaching the conference Player of the Year six times and the Rookie of the Year five times.

"Byron has served Stevens extremely well for many years as the men's lacrosse coach and his success speaks for itself. We will miss him on the sidelines, but I can't think of a more deserving person to be elevated into this appointment," added Rogers.

Collins was a standout midfielder at Whittier College where he helped lead the Poets to a 54-4 record and three straight West Coast Lacrosse League titles. At one point, Whittier ranked as high as No. 17 in the country, which was the highest national ranking in the history of the program.

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2009-06-10