JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Longtime Jacksonville University women's lacrosse head coach Mindy McCord is moving on from JU to try her hand at a new opportunity in the lacrosse world.
 
McCord, who was instrumental in starting lacrosse at Jacksonville University and growing the women's program from startup to perennial power, has accepted an offer to build a new program as head coach at the University of South Florida.
 
"There are very few coaches who have made an impact on Jacksonville University the way Mindy McCord has. Our lacrosse programs are nationally prominent because of her. She took the dream of an institution wanting to be a destination for lacrosse and made it a reality," said Senior Vice President/Athletic Director Alex Ricker-Gilbert. "Mindy has put our young women first each day for nearly fifteen years. She epitomizes what we look for in a student-centered head coach."
 
"I am truly blessed to have seen and contributed to the rise of men's and women's lacrosse at JU. Fourteen years ago, we built a program from scratch that became one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences of my life," said McCord. "Relationships were everything to making it such a rewarding experience. We developed lifelong bonds with alumni and current student-athletes who helped to build the legacy and history of this incredible program.
 
"I have unbridled enthusiasm for what we have done together and for all the possibilities that are yet to come."
 
After cutting her teeth as a head coach at Oberlin College in Ohio and then McDaniel College in Maryland, she moved to the First Coast in 2004 and immediately began to help grow the game in the region. She worked with youth leagues, officials groups and high school programs, most notably turning Nease High School in first a state, and then a national power.
 
From there she waded into the water at JU, helping launch the lacrosse programs, which began play in 2010. By year two, the women's team captured the program's first conference championship, claiming the regular season NLC championship, which started a stretch of 11 straight seasons (with 2020 excluded) in which the team won either a regular season conference championship, conference tournament title, or both.
 
With the move to the ASUN in 2013, she earned the first of her six Coach of the Year honors in that league (after one NLC COY honor in 2010), one that JU would dominate over the course of the decade. They went 4-0 in that debut season in the conference and advance to the NCAA tournament for the first time. Under McCord's guidance, the Dolphins advanced to seven out of the next eight NCAA tournaments.
 
In 2019, the program won its first ever NCAA Tournament game, prevailing over Mercer at home in a play-in contest. The next major breakthrough in the advancement of the program came in 2021. The team earned the most single-season wins with 17 and went a perfect 6-0 in the ASUN, before defeating Vanderbilt in the first round of the NCAAs to move to the Sweet 16 for the first time. That feat was replicated in 2022, with a first-round win over Stanford.
 
In her 13 seasons at JU, McCord won 170 games and led the Dolphins to eight NCAA Tournament appearances, while capturing 10 conference tournament championships and 11 regular season conference titles. She was a seven-time coach of the year and tutored 13 ASUN superlative winners: five Players of the Year, six Defensive Players of the Year, four Freshmen of the Year and a Midfielder of the Year. Two of her players were also recognized as IWLCA North/South All-Stars.
 
"The 17 players who earned degrees this year alone, with four of them being at the top of their respective colleges, represent the pinnacle of what it truly means to be a NCAA student-athlete," said McCord. "Earning back-to-back Sweet-16 games made it all the more special. This program has helped to create positive experiences, lifelong friendships and an impact on the student-athlete's personal lives that will go far beyond their college years."
 
Always a proponent of emphasizing the student-athlete experience, McCord's teams excelled in the classroom. A total of 81 student-athletes were named to the ASUN First Team, Second Team or Freshman Team under her tutelage, while 31 made the ASUN All-Academic Team and one was named Scholar-Athlete of the Year (twice). She had eight IWLCA Academic Honor Squad teams, with 35 making the Academic Honor Roll. The program boasted the department's best team GPA four times in the last decade, and both the team and individual players were routinely recognized for their hard-work and dedication to JU Athletics at the year-end student-athlete awards banquet.
 
"I am thankful for the vision, trust, and support of my husband and children, our Presidents, ADs, Trustees, Coaches, Parents, Donors, Friends and Family over the years who walked along side me and the program to make it "The Best Place to Play Lacrosse"," McCord said.
 
"As Mindy and her family embark on this next journey in their lives, I wish them nothing but the absolute best. I speak for the entire university community when I say that we will miss her dearly," said Ricker-Gilbert. "The University of South Florida is getting an extraordinary person and coach. Coach McCord is leaving an evergreen legacy at JU and I am forever grateful to her.
 
JU will conduct a national search for the next coach to lead the women's lacrosse program.
 
"As we look forward to the future, the program is in a phenomenal place," said Ricker-Gilbert. "This will be a coveted job and we are going to get to work immediately to find the next great head women's lacrosse coach at Jacksonville University."