Coach Emmer
Jack Emmer served as Army’s men’s lacrosse head coach from 1984 to 2005. During his tenure, Emmer coached 35 All- Americans, compiled a 186-131 (.586) record, won nine Patriot League Championships and made eight NCAA Tournament appearances in 22 seasons. A two-time Patriot League Coach of the Year selection, Emmer was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2005 and the Army Sports Hall of Fame in 2013. Emmer’s inaugural season along the banks of the Hudson was a resounding success as the team became just the second Army squad to reach the final four, edging Pennsylvania, 8-7 at Franklin Field in the NCAA Quarterfinals. That would be the first of eight postseason bids earned by Emmer’s Black Knights. When Army defeated Cornell in the 1996 season opener, Emmer joined Morris Touchstone at the time as the only coaches in Army history to reach 100 wins at the Academy. One of Emmer’s most successful seasons came in 1993 when a senior-dominated Army team finished the regular season with an 11-3 record before beating Maryland 15-11 in the opening round of the NCAA tourney.
Coach Edell
Dick Edell served as Army’s men’s lacrosse head coach from 1977 to 1983. During his tenure, Edell coached 28 All-Americans, compiled a 66-24 (.733) record and made four NCAA Tournament appearances in seven seasons. He was honored with the 1978 F. Morris Touchstone Award as National Coach of the Year by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) and is a 2004 National Lacrosse Hall of Fame inductee. In 2016 he was inducted into the inaugural class of the Intercollegiate Men’s Lacrosse Coaches Association Hall of Fame and in 2017 he was inducted into the Army Sports Hall of Fame. Edell forged a .733 winning percentage in his seven-year stint at the Academy. He guided the Black Knights to the NCAA Tournament in four of his seven years along the Army sideline. Three-time all Americans goalie George Slabowski and attackman Frank Giordano were the featured stars of Edell’s era. Both earned first team All-America accolades in 1983 — Edell’s final season — as Army put forth the first of two successive 11-3 marks.
Coach Pisano
Coach Al Pisano spent 7 years on the “Banks of the Hudson” from 1970-1976 finishing with a 48-32 record. Pisano, helped establish the Black Knights as an explosive offensive team. Tom Cafaro ‘71 lead the way with an 85-point senior season that vaulted his career point total to 167. With Pisano at the helm, the Black Knights played an instrumental role in the emergence of the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA unveiled its eight-team playoff format in 1971 and the Black Knights found themselves in the first lacrosse final four. Cafaro was the impetus behind that success, scoring 18 points in Army’s two contests. The Black Knights defeated Hofstra in the opening round (19- 6) but lost to eventual champion Cornell, 17-16, in the semifinals.
Coach Adams
Coach “Ace” Adams coached the lacrosse team from 1958 to 1969. In his first season, he led the Cadets to a perfect record and Army was selected as the 1958 national champions. Against Duke, Adams played 33 different players in a failed attempt to hold down the score Army won, 21–2. In 1961, in the first nationally televised lacrosse game, Army upset Navy, 10–8, to capture a share of the national championship. That season, Adams was awarded the F. Morris Touchstone Award as the USILA Coach of the Year. In 1969, the Cadets again defeated Navy to clinch a share of the national co-championship in Adams' final game at Army. The result was a 14–4 rout at Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in front of 16,056 spectators. In a dozen years at West Point, Adams’ teams won .777 percent of its games and shared the national championship four times, 1958, 1959, 1961 and 1969.