University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Only three men have coached UMBC men's lacrosse since the program joined the USILA in 1970-71.

Dick Watts led UMBC from 1971-1993 and won an NCAA Division II national title in 1980. Don Zimmerman coached the Retrievers from 1994 through 2016, a run which included six NCAA Division I Championship berths (1998-99, 2006-09) and one quarterfinal appearance in 2007.

And, in 2019, in his third season at the helm, Ryan Moran piloted UMBC to its first America East title in a decade and its first NCAA Tournament victory (a 14-8 decision at Marist) since 2007. 

It was not an easy task. The Retrievers started the season at 1-6 overall and 0-2 in America East Conference play. Moran's team won four consecutive elimination games, all on the road, to advance to the NCAA Quartefinals at top-ranked Penn State. 

"I am really proud of our guys' resiliency all season," said Moran, after UMBC's 14-13 victory over Vermont in the America East Championship game. "What you saw on the field today was just not an isolated incident… I was extremely happy to see them rewarded on the biggest stage."  

A year after an injury-riddled offense produced a school-record low 6.85 goals per game, Moran and his staff directed the unit to a 74 percent improvement as the 2019 Retrievers scored 11.8 goals per outing. Ryan Frawley became the first Retriever attackman to earn America East First Team honors since 2014, linemate Trevor Patschorke earned the league's Tournament MVP award and crease attackman Brett McIntyre finished eighth in the nation in shooting percentage. 

At 4-1, the 2020 UMBC Retrievers produced their best five-game record since 2002 before the campaign was canceled.   

The 2021 Retrievers won games early with strong defense until the offense gelled and led the squad to three straight victories to close the season. The team captured the program's first America East regular season title since 2009 and earned Coach Moran the 2021 America East Conference Coach of the Year honor.  

In 2022, UMBC defeated a pair of ranked opponents (Drexel, Utah) and won four of its final five games to take on Vermont for the America East title. 

In his seventh season at the helm, the Retrievers roared out of the gates, winning their first four games, including the program's 400th in an 8-4 victory over Towson. UMBC received votes in early March 2023 polls and the team's eight wins (8-5) tied Moran's previous season high at UMBC. 

In 2024, Moran led the Dawgs back to the America East Tournament after the team tied for third-place during the regular-season. Four Retrievers earned 2024 America East All-Conference accolades. Senior attackman Mike Doughty, junior attackman Jordan Galloway, and senior defender Ethan Robinson were named to the America East Second Team, while Doughty and senior attackman Brian Tregoning also received All-Academic Team honors. Doughty led the America East with an impressive 4.45 points per game (14 goals, 35 assists). 

Moran was named head men’s lacrosse coach at UMBC in June of 2016. The Retriever mentor just completed his second season as assistant coach at Loyola of Maryland, where he helped guide the Greyhounds to the 2016 national semifinals. The Long Island, N.Y. native spent the previous six seasons on the staff at the University of Maryland. Moran joined the Maryland staff in September 2008 as an assistant coach, before being promoted to the position of associate head coach during his final two years in College Park.

His work with the Greyhounds’ offense in 2016 culminated with Loyola’s second trip to NCAA Championship Weekend in the last five seasons. At Maryland, Moran's offensive units averaged 10.92 goals per game over his six seasons while playing some of the toughest schedules in collegiate lacrosse. He also coached the Terrapins' faceoff unit that ranked in the nation's top seven for three of his years, including 2014 when Maryland won 64.6 percent of restarts, the third-best mark in Division I.

He helped Maryland reach the NCAA Championships in each of his six seasons in College Park, including three trips to Championship Weekend (2011, 2012 and 2013), the first two culminating in Championship Game bids. The Terrapins won 70 percent of their games while Moran was an assistant coach, going 70-30 from 2009-2014. During his six years, he coached seven Maryland players that earned a combined 15 USILA All-America honors.

Prior to joining the coaching staff in College Park, Moran was an assistant coach at the U.S. Naval Academy for current U.S. Men's Lacrosse National Team Coach Richie Meade from 2006-2008. He helped the Midshipmen to three NCAA Tournament appearances and two Patriot League titles (2006 and 2007).

He started his coaching career at the Naval Academy Prep School in 2005, leading NAPS to a 10-1 record that featured wins over the U.S. Military Academy's junior varsity team and the USMAPS squad.

Moran achieved his first victory as a head coach on February 25, 2017, when UMBC routed Marist, 15-4. The Retrievers won four of five home games in his 6-8 initial season and advanced to the America East Tournament for the first time in three seasons. The 2018 season (5-8) was highlighted by an improbable 11-7 victory over No. 1-ranked UAlbany, igniting a 3-0 start to the month of April. But a 9-6 loss in the finale at Vermont kept UMBC out of the playoffs in Moran's second campaign.  

Moran comes from a lineage of top lacrosse coaches, as his father, Jack has been the coach at Long Island power Chaminade High School for more than 30 years, winning his 500th career game in May 2014. Ryan's great uncle, the late Richie Moran, is a U.S. Lacrosse National Hall of Fame member and led Cornell University to three national titles.

As a collegiate player at Maryland, the Retriever mentor was a standout on the Terrapins' midfield units. In two seasons, 2002 and 2003, as an offensive middie, Moran scored a combined 39 goals and added 11 assists for the Dave Cottle-coached teams.

Moran was an All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection and member of the ACC All-Tournament Team as a senior in 2003, helping the Terrapins to a 12-4 record and appearance in the national semifinals. He finished the season with 24 goals, second-most on the team, and 31 points, tied for third on the squad, earning USILA All-America Third Team honors.

He was a third-round pick, 18th overall, of the Baltimore Bayhawks in the 2003 Major League Lacrosse College Draft. Moran played in eight games as a rookie and was traded to the Philadelphia Barrage at the end of the 2003 season. He then helped the Barrage win the 2004 MLL Championship before being traded to the Long Island Lizards for the 2005 campaign, in which he scored 10 goals and added six assists.

As a high school player, Moran was an All-American lacrosse player for Chaminade, and he also was an all-league defensive back for the Flyers' as a junior and senior.

Moran was a speaker at the IMLCA National Coaches Convention in 2010, 2012, 2015, 2018 as well as the USA Lacrosse Coaches Convention in 2024 He served as the America East Conference Representative on the IMLCA Conference Board from 2019 - 2023 and has been a Tewaaraton Selection Committee Member since 2022.

*America East Coach of the Year