Here is the info on Coach Meade from the Navy Sports web site:
15-Year Career Record: 115-84 (.570)
11-Year Navy Record: 88-61 (.591)
Back To National Prominence
After leading the Midshipmen to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time since the 1992, `93 and `94 seasons, 2004 National Coach of the Year Richie Meade enters his 16th season as a collegiate head coach and 12th at the Naval Academy knowing there is unfinished business. Though playing in the 2004 National Championship thrust Navy back into the national limelight, the Mids fell two goals short of claiming their first NCAA lacrosse title in 2004 and two goals shy of returning to the national semifinals in `05. The shortcomings have left a void for Meade and his Midshipmen, but they eagerly await the opportunity to battle for the 2006 National Championship.
Meade has led the Mids to eight or more wins in five of the last-six seasons, including the last two years in which Navy posted a school-record 15 wins in 2004 and the second-most wins in 2005 with 12. Navy owns a two-year 12-1 (.923) record in Patriot League action and has won at least a share of the regular-season title twice and has won the tournament twice.
The Rise of Navy Lacrosse
After playing in the 2004 National Championship, the hunger to make a return trip was a driving force throughout the 2005 campaign. It was that drive that helped the Mids overcome obstacles thrown their direction every step of the way, which included multiple injuries. Despite being short-handed and banged up most of the season, the Mids produced a 12-4 record, claimed their second-consecutive Patriot League Tournament title and made a return trip to the NCAA Tournament as the fifth seed. The Mids produced a first-round victory over Delaware at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, but dropped a two-goal decision against sixth-ranked Virginia at Homewood Field in Baltimore in the quarterfinals. The last time Navy won back-to-back first round games was the 1987, `88 and `89 seasons in which the Mids claimed opening-round wins over Brown, Harvard and Penn, respectively.
Seven of Navy's last eight games of the season were against nationally-ranked opponents and the Mids posted a 4-3 record which featured a pair of victories over arch rival Army. Navy has won nine-straight games against the Black Knights, claiming eight-consecutive N-Stars. The Midshipmen also posted a 9-8 win over Maryland during that eight-game stretch, their first win over the Terps in Annapolis since 1985. It also marked the first time since 1980 and `81 in which Navy has won back-to-back contests against Maryland.
Nine Midshipmen were named to All-Patriot League teams, while six players garnered All-America recognition. All-Americans Jon Birsner (Honorable Mention), Billy Looney (Third Team), Steve Looney (Third Team) and Matt Russell (Second Team) will carry the torch into 2006.
2004: A Season to Remember
The year 2004 will forever be etched into the Navy lacrosse annals. Most considered the Mids' season a Cinderella story. But the blood, sweat and tears spoke volumes for the Navy squad that fought to play in the program's first National Championship game since 1975. Over the course of the season, several milestones were achieved, including a school-record 15 wins. In addition to recording the most wins in Academy history, Navy earned its highest ranking -- No. 2 -- for five-consecutive weeks. Its 9-6 win over Maryland was the program's first win over a top-ranked program and one-of-six Navy wins over top-10 ranked teams. The Academy also attracted better than 18,500 fans to Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium to witness No. 1 Johns Hopkins battle No. 2 Navy in a 10-9 overtime Blue Jay decision. Along the way, Meade helped orchestrate Navy's seventh-consecutive Star Game victory against arch rival Army.
After sweeping through the Patriot League with a 7-0 record in its first season as a member of the league, Navy conquered Colgate and Hobart in the league's postseason tourney to earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Hobart win came with an added bonus, marking Meade's 100th-career victory.
By virtue of its Patriot League Tournament win, Navy earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, making its first appearance since 1999. The Midshipmen went on to gain the nation's support as they fought their way through the NCAA Tournament. First defeating Penn handily, 11-5, at home and then surviving a battle against seventh-seeded Cornell on the Big Red's home turf. Navy made it to the coveted national semifinals where it beat eighth-ranked Princeton, 8-7, before succumbing to Syracuse by a goal in the finale with better than 40,000 fans looking on.
By year's end, seven Midshipmen garnered All-America kudos, including keeper Matt Russell who was named a First-Team All-American and the winner of the Ens. C. Markland Kelly Award as the nation's top goalkeeper. Meade was the recipient of the Morris Touchstone Memorial Award, given to the National Coach of the Year. He is just the fourth Naval Academy coach to earn the Touchstone Award.
Navy Mainstay
In 1995, Meade became Navy's seventh head coach in its 96-year history of the sport at the Naval Academy. It was a homecoming of sorts, as he served as an assistant coach for the Mids for five years under then-head coach Bryan Matthews from 1983-87.
Meade has spent the past nine years renewing the tradition of Navy lacrosse and instilling an aggressive style of play that has been the program's trademark. Since coming to the Academy, there has been at least one Midshipman who has earned All-America honors, including three-time honorees midfielder Andy Ross and defenseman Chad Donnelly. Meanwhile, two-time First-Team All-America Mickey Jarboe was named the Kelly Award winner in 1999 and 2000.
In his first season at Navy, the Mids posted a 6-6 mark, as both coach and team adjusted to a new system. The Mids hoped to improve on that record in '96, but a mere four points kept Navy from celebrating a 7-5 record, and the team finished 4-8 overall. In 1997, Navy jumped out to a 4-0 record and a No. 4 national ranking, only to lose its final four games and finish at an even 6-6. In 1998, Meade's squad posted its first .500-plus season since his arrival, thanks in part to returning six of the top seven scorers from `97.
The year 1999 saw the Mids return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1994. The Mids earned an at-large bid after producing a 7-7 record with impressive wins over North Carolina and Georgetown.
In 2000, the Mids associated themselves with a conference -- the ECAC -- for the first time in program history. Meade's squad finished tied for first with Georgetown, however, the Hoyas posted a 14-10 win over the Mids in Washington, D.C. to win the head-to-head tie breaker. In 2001 and 2002, the Mids recorded identical 8-5 records and both years they finished third in the league.
The Journey To Navy
A native of Long Island, Meade played at Nassau Community College before becoming a Tar Heel. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from North Carolina in 1976 and his Master of Science from UNC in 1979.
After working in the recreation field and as an assistant coach at Duke, he was named an assistant at North Carolina in 1978. A year later, he earned his first head coaching job at the University of Baltimore, where he had a four-year record of 27-23. The school dropped its athletic program in 1983. He then came to Navy for five years (1983-88) as an assistant lacrosse coach and Assistant Professor of Physical Education. During that period, he served as defensive coordinator for the lacrosse program.
From 1988-90, he was an assistant at North Carolina, serving as offensive coordinator and attack and midfield coach. Meade moved on to Army in 1991 as offensive coordinator and attack position coach. Meade is the director of the Navy Lacrosse Camp and is a tenured Associate Professor in the Naval Academy Physical Education Department. He was the head coach for the South Team in the '95 North-South Lacrosse All-Star Game.
Meade and his wife, Sue, were married in the fall of 1998 and have three daughters, Jillian, Shannon Grace and Cassidy.
