Duke Names Ron Caputo Assistant Men’s Lacrosse Coach

[Sonny]

Courtesy: Duke Sports Information
Release: 08/16/2007

DURHAM, N.C. -- Ron Caputo has been named assistant men’s lacrosse coach at Duke, announced on Thursday by Blue Devil head coach John Danowski.

Caputo spent the last four seasons on the Hofstra University men’s lacrosse staff as an assistant coach. He joined the Pride in 2004 as a volunteer assistant coach under Danowski, who served as the head coach at Hofstra from 1986-2006. During Caputo's tenure at Hofstra, the Pride compiled an overall record of 35-28.

"Ron is going to be such a great addition to our staff," said Danowski. "He’s a coach’s coach. He looks at the game very critically and in new and innovative ways, and he has a great sense of core values and family. We’re very excited to have him on our staff."

In 2006, Caputo worked alongside Danowski to help Hofstra to an overall record of 17-2, a mark that included a perfect 6-0 mark versus CAA opponents, and a final national ranking of No. 2. The Pride won the CAA Championship and reached the NCAA Quarterfinals while setting school single-season records for wins and winning percentage (.895).

Before his stint at Hofstra, Caputo served as a varsity assistant lacrosse coach from 1997-2003 at Syosset (N.Y.) High School, where he coached Blue Devil teammates and brothers Dan Loftus and Chris Loftus. A 1991 graduate of the University of Scranton, Caputo helped Syosset to three Final Four appearances and one Nassau County Championship game appearance.

"I am very grateful for the opportunity to work at a place like Duke University," said Caputo. "I am very excited to work with John Danowski again and to be around [assistant coach] Chris Gabrielli, and more importantly, I'm really excited about working with the Duke lacrosse players. I am looking forward to the challenges and I embrace them."

Caputo replaces Kevin Cassese, who accepted the head men’s lacrosse coaching position at Lehigh University in July.