Former U.S. Naval Academy all-American Jeff Long completed his 21st season as head men’s lacrosse coach at Ithaca in 2008. Ithaca’s winningest lacrosse coach, Long has compiled an overall record of 196-103. He was voted the Empire 8 Coach of the Year in 2000, 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2008.
In 1988 Long took over a team that had gone 9-16 over the previous two seasons; four years later
the Bombers were in the NCAA playoffs. The 1991 team finished 9-3, winning the program’s first ICAC championship in seven seasons and earning league coach of the year honors for Long. The next year the Bombers won the conference (EAA) title, and once again Long was named coach of the year. He was also named the Division III Coach of the Year by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) in 1992.
Long had the Bombers back in the playoff hunt in 1997, thanks in part to a seven-game winning streak. In 1998 Ithaca took the next step and reached the NCAA playoffs for the first time in six years. In 1999 the Bombers posted a 7-6 record and followed that with an 11-3 record in 2000. In 2001 the Bombers were back in the playoffs, posting a 1-1 record in the postseason. In 2002 Ithaca made the NCAA semifinals for the first time in school history. In 2003 Ithaca finished 11-3 and four Bombers were named USILA all-Americans. In 2004 the Bombers won the Empire 8 regular season title, finishing with a 13-3 record and a year alter repeated as the league's regular-season champions while posting the program's first unbeaten conference record.
In 2007, the Bombers won a fourth straight Empire 8 regular-season title and also extended Ithaca’s conference record to 23 consecutive Empire 8 wins, which ties the conference record for consecutive wins in all sports. The Bombers earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the quarterfinals.
The 2008 team brought the program to new heights of success. The Bombers set a school record with 17 wins and defeated RIT 12-9 to win the program's first Empire 8 title since 2002. Ithaca defeated Williams 17-10 and Western New England 13-12 to advance to the NCAA semifinals. A school-record five Bombers earned all-American honors, and for the first time two Bombers (attack Matt Nelligan and long-stick midfielder Brandon Rose) were first-team selections.
Before coming to Ithaca, Long worked as an assistant coach at the University of Virginia for Jim Adams, the Cavaliers’ winningest coach. During Long’s three seasons at Virginia, the team won two Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) titles and was a participant in the NCAA playoffs in each of those seasons. In 1986 the Cavaliers played in the national championship game, losing to North Carolina, 10-9, in overtime.
Long’s first head coaching job was at the U.S. Naval Academy. He worked one year with the “B” team and another season with the preparatory school unit. Following his Navy tenure, Long was an assistant at Norfolk Academy for one year before moving to Alfred University, where he worked as a graduate assistant and earned a master’s degree in education. He also spent one season at Washington and Lee University before joining the Virginia staff.
As a player, Long was a three-time all-American at Navy. He is Navy’s career scoring leader and played on four NCAA playoff teams. Long graduated in 1977 with a bachelor’s degree in political science. He played on the U.S. national lacrosse teams in 1978 and 1986.
In 1990 Long coached the Syracuse Molson all-star team that lost by one goal to the U.S. national team. In the spring of 1998 Long served as an assistant on Princeton coach Bill Tierney’s staff for the U.S. team that competed in the International Lacrosse Federation World Championship.
In the fall Long is an assistant coach for the Ithaca women’s soccer team, working with the team’s goalkeepers. Ithaca has advanced to the NCAA playoffs in 14 of the last 17 seasons and won national championships in 1990 and 1991. The team was back in the national semifinals in 1998. In 2004, the Bombers lost to defending national champion Oneonta, 1-0, in overtime in the second round of the NCAA Playoffs. Ithaca hosted defending national champion Messiah in the second round of the 2006 NCAA Playoffs, falling 2-1 in overtime. The Bombers advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals in 2007 after upsetting undefeated Wheaton (Mass.) in the second round.
He and his wife, Cathy, reside in Ithaca with their children, Kelly, Katie and Molly.
