One of the top coaches in college lacrosse, John Danowski has helped lead the Duke men’s lacrosse team to unprecedented success during his four-year tenure. Danowski was introduced as Duke’s eighth head men’s lacrosse coach on July 21, 2006 and quickly led the Blue Devils to four of the most successful lacrosse seasons in school history.
In 2010, Danowski and the Blue Devils etched their names in the NCAA record book when they captured the program’s first NCAA Championship with a 6-5 overtime victory over Notre Dame.
The preseason No. 1 pick, Duke finished 2009 with a 16-4 overall record, winning 14 of its final 15 games. Under Danowski’s leadership in the NCAA Tournament, the Blue Devils outscored their opponents 55-32 and outlasted both Virginia and Notre Dame in heart-stopping one-goal victories on championship weekend.
In Danowski’s four years at the helm of the Blue Devil lacrosse program, he has compiled an impressive 66-13 record in leading Duke to three ACC regular season and tournament titles, four appearances in the national semifinals, two in the NCAA title match twice and ultimately the 2010 national title. A winner of nearly 84 percent of his games at Duke, the individual awards Blue Devil players have garnered is equally impressive. In only four seasons, Danowski helped mentor 25 All-America selections, 13 All-ACC choices, two Tewaaraton Trophy winners, two USILA Attackman of the Year award recipients, a USILA defenseman of the year, and six USILA Scholar All-America picks.
Much as he had done the previous three seasons, Danowski masterfully guided the 2010 squad through the ups and downs of a season and tutored some of the top players in Division I lacrosse. Under his watchful eye, senior attackman Ned Crotty cemented himself as one of the top Blue Devil players in program history en route to winning the 2010 Tewaaraton Trophy, the top prize in college lacrosse, and being selected No. 1 in the Major League Lacrosse draft.
In all, Danowski coached five All-America selections in 2010 with Crotty taking home first team honors for the second straight seasons. The Blue Devils landed three players on the All-ACC squad and five on the NCAA All-Tournament Team under the longtime coach’s tutelage. In the annual Major League Lacrosse draft, Duke set a benchmark with three players going among the top four picks as Crotty went No. 1, Max Quinzani at No. 3 and Parker McKee in the No. 4 spot.
Arguably, one of Danowski’s best coaching performances came in the 2009 season after the departure of the NCAA leading scoring duo of Matt Danowski and Zack Greer. The Blue Devils surprised some as they ran their way to a 15-4 record, an ACC title and a bid to the NCAA Semifinals.
Under the guidance of Danowski, Crotty introduced himself as one of the top attackers in the country as he garnered the USILA’s Attackman of the Year award as well as the ACC Player of the Year honor.
In all, Danowski mentored five All-Americas, two All-ACC honorees as well as the USILA’s pick for attackman of the year in 2009. The squad was also highly successful in the classroom as 12 players earned a place on the All-ACC Academic Team. Twenty-eight players overall achieved a 3.0 grade point average for the 2008-09 academic year to lead all ACC lacrosse programs and Max Quinzani picked up his second career ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-America award.
In 2008, he guided the team to an 18-2 overall record, the ACC regular season and tournament championships and the squad’s second consecutive appearance in the national semifinals. He mentored nine All-Americas, including three first-team honorees, the USILA Player of the Year as well as the USILA’s picks for attackman and defenseman of the year.
The Blue Devils achieved an equal amount of success in the classroom under Danowski’s watch as 15 players earned a spot on the ACC All-Academic Team and Quinzani collected ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-America honors. Duke also garnered the ACC Sportsmanship award during the 2008 season.
In his first year at the helm of the Blue Devil program, Danowski guided Duke to the finest season in school history. The Blue Devils went 17-3, captured both the ACC and regular season championships, earned the program’s first number one seed in the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the national title game.
For his efforts, he was named the ACC Coach of the Year as well as the Person of the Year by US Lacrosse. The 2007 campaign yielded four first team All-America honorees while attackman Matt Danowski was the consensus national player of the year.
A veteran coach entering his 25th season as a collegiate head coach in 2007, Danowski spent 21 campaigns (1986-06) at Hofstra, compiling an overall record of 192-123 (.609) with eight conference championships, eight NCAA Tournament bids and 17 final national rankings among the top 20 teams in the nation.
With an overall coaching ledger of 285-152 (.652), Danowski is one of just nine active head coaches in NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse to reach the 200-win plateau. He currently ranks third among active coaches in overall victories.
Danowski’s impact on the Duke program was immediate as the Blue Devils posted a cumulative grade point average of 3.45 in his first semester at the helm. In addition, the team provided over 500 hours of community service during the semester, continuing Danowski’s philosophy of college student-athletes taking advantage of the full experience.
“The coach-player relationship lasts a lifetime - so much more than two hours every afternoon,” said Danowski, the 1993 NCAA Division I National Coach of the Year who led Hofstra to eight conference championships. “It would be a disservice to the young men in the Duke program if we didn’t care about their futures. To take advantage of the opportunity to teach life lessons is a goal of ours.
“I have learned the importance of adapting to the talent you have on the field,” Danowski said. “You can’t put a square peg into a round hole. I am a firm believer in taking what you have and finding the best way to be efficient with that group.”
The 2006 season marked Danowski’s best in a successful tenure at Hofstra as the Pride matched an NCAA single-season record with 17 victories against just two defeats. In addition, Danowski’s squad captured the Colonial Athletic Association championship, finished the regular season ranked number two in the national poll and advanced to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals. The 17 wins and .895 winning percentage also set Hofstra single-season team records.
Danowski guided the Pride to East Coast Conference crowns in 1988 and 1989, and he was honored as the NCAA Division I National Coach of the Year in 1993 after leading Hofstra to the national tournament for the first time since 1978. The 1995 and 1996 seasons yielded North Atlantic Conference titles for Hofstra, and Danowski then led the Pride to America East Conference championships in 1997, 1998 and 2000.
Having directed the Pride to a record of 71-16 in regular season conference games with nine league MVPs and 90 all-conference picks, Danowski is the only lacrosse coach in Hofstra history to win an NCAA Tournament game (4-8 record), including a 2001 first round contest in which the Pride rallied from an 11-7 deficit with seven goals in the fourth quarter against Virginia en route to a 15-14 overtime win over the Cavaliers. Hofstra’s first tourney win was in come-from-behind fashion as well as the Pride outscored Massachusetts 6-3 in the second half for a 9-8 victory in 1993.
The Danowski Era at Hofstra produced 34 USILA All-America selections including first team choices Brian Spallina (2000), Doug Shanahan (2001), Nicky Polanco (2002), Brett Moyer (2006) and Chris Unterstein (2006). In addition, Shanahan was the recipient of the Tewaraaton Trophy as the nation’s top player in 2001. As well, Hofstra has sent 30 players to the annual North-South All-Star Game since 1986, with Shanahan (2001) and Moyer (2006) earning game MVP honors. Former Hofstra standout Blake Miller, a member of the 1998 United States squad that captured the world title and the 2004 MLL Offensive Player of the Year, Polanco and Shanahan are currently playing for the United States squad at the International Lacrosse Federation World Championships in Ontario, Canada. Polanco is a two-time MLL Defensive Player of the Year (2004 & 2005) while Shanahan was the MVP of the 2002 ILF World Championships in Perth, Australia.
Prior to his stint at Hofstra, Danowski spent three seasons as the head coach at Long Island University-C.W. Post, helping the Pioneers to a 27-16 (.628) ledger from 1983-85. He received his start in coaching in 1982 as an assistant coach at LIU-C.W. Post in 1982.
With four conference coach of the year awards to his credit, Danowski was inducted into the Long Island Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2001. He is a three-time winner of the Joseph “Frenchy” Julien Sportsmanship Award (1988, 1989 & 1994) presented by the Metropolitan New York Officials Association and received the James Adams Sportsmanship Award from the National Intercollegiate Lacrosse Officials Association in 1994.
A 1976 graduate of Rutgers University where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in environmental science/education, Danowski was a four-year letterman in lacrosse and continues to hold several Scarlet Knight records. He established school single-game records for assists (13 vs. Penn State, 1973) and total points (14 vs. Penn State, 1974) and a single-season standard for assists with 54 in 1973. He currently ranks second on Rutgers’ all-time list for assists (120) and is eighth in total points (177). Danowski, who helped the Scarlet Knights to NCAA Tournament appearances in 1973 and 1974, was a three-time recipient of the program’s Sasser Award, an honor presented annually to the team’s leader in assists. Born March 12, 1954 in Bronxville, N.Y., Danowski went on to earn a master’s degree in counseling/college student development from LIU-C.W. Post in 1978.
Danowski’s father, Ed, was an All-America halfback on the gridiron at Fordham in 1932 and 1933 who later starred for the New York Giants in the National Football League. The elder Danowski led the NFL in passing in 1935 and 1938, earning All-NFL honors in both of those seasons, and guided the Giants to league championships in 1934 and 1938. He later served as the head football coach at his alma mater from 1946-54.
Danowski and his wife, Patricia, have two children, Kate, a former lacrosse letterwinner and 2005 graduate of Quinnipiac University, and Matt, a 2008 Duke graduate and former captain of the lacrosse program.
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