John Galloway is the longest-tenured and winningest head coach in Jacksonville history. He’s been at the helm for 10 seasons, posting an 86-60 record and leading the program to its first-ever conference championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in 2026.
The 2018 and 2022 Southern Conference Coach of the Year and 2026 ASUN Coach of the Year has helped transform the Dolphins from an upstart program to a consistent player on the national lacrosse landscape.
In his 10 years at the helm, Jacksonville has had nine All-Americans, two Academic All-Americans, eight conference award winners, and 31 All-Conference first team members. Every All-American in program history has been coached by Galloway. The Dolphins have won three regular season conference titles between the SoCon and ASUN under Galloway’s leadership, reaching four conference championship games.
The 2026 season was the most successful yet for Galloway and the Dolphins. JU raised the ASUN Conference Championship, defeating Air Force 16-7. The Dolphins then went on to win their first-ever NCAA Tournament game, defeating Robert Morris 13-7 in the opening round. Jacksonville returned to the national rankings, reaching as high as #18 in the InsideLacrosse Media Poll and #20 in the USILA Coaches Poll. Galloway was named ASUN Coach of the Year after leading JU to a share of the regular season title and the top seed in the ASUN Tournament. Galloway and the staff coached up some of the best performances in program history, including Jack Taylor’s program-record 86 points and 45 assists in a single campaign. Taylor earned All-American honors from USA Lacrosse and Inside Lacrosse, and he became the third Premier Lacrosse League draft pick in Galloway’s tenure. The Dolphins had one of the best scoring defenses in the country, allowing a program-record 8.0 goals allowed per game. Graduate student goalie Ryan Della Rocco cemented himself as a program icon, ranking in the Top 10 nationally for Goals Against Average and save percentage en route to IL All-American honors. Sophomore Lucas Fraser became the eighth All-American in Galloway’s tenure, earning honorable mention honors from IL. Freshman Zane Czeschin became the second-consecutive Dolphin to win ASUN Freshman of the Year, while junior faceoff man Drew Rippeon won ASUN Specialist of the Year. The Dolphins had eight All-ASUN Honorees, four ASUN All-Freshman team members and six players named to the Academic All-ASUN team.
In the 2025 season, Jacksonville earned their second consecutive regular season title, finishing the season at 9-5, going 4-1 in ASUN Conference games. Galloway and the Dolphins had a number of standout performers, including junior Jack Taylor who was named an honorable mention All-American by USA Lacrosses. Freshman Daylin John-Hill became the 2nd player in program history to earn Freshman of the Year honors, while five players were named to an All-ASUN team.
The 2024 season ended with a run to the conference championship game, as JU Lacrosse was once again brought to new heights, sharing the ASUN conference's regular season championship, followed by a deep run into the conference tournament. Jacksonville finished the season 13-5, building a roster that boasted two All-America selections and six All-Conference selections, including the ASUN Defensive Player of the Year for the third straight season. Academically, the Dolphins were named as a USILA All-Academic team, with two Academic All-Americans, including the conference's overall ASUN Male Student Athlete of the Year Jacob Greiner. Jacksonville finished the season with one of the top offenses and defenses in the NCAA, leading the nation in assists per game and ranking near the top of the country in scoring margin.
In 2023, Jacksonville again had a top two overall season in the program's history. The Dolphins knocked off the at-the-time seventh ranked Duke Blue Devils in the second week of the season and finished the year with their second consecutive 10-win season. In what was their second season in the ASUN, and first since 2014, the team claimed the third overall seed and won seven conference games, the most in program history. JU had a plethora of statistics that were top 15 nationally, including being second in man down defense and caused turnovers per game, fifth in scoring margin, ninth in scoring defense, 11th in ground balls per game and 12th in scoring offense, assists per game and points per game. In addition to a wealth of top statistics in the country, the team also had five players named All-ASUN, one made the All-Freshman team in Aaron Toguri, and Troy Hettinger was named the conference's Defensive Player of the Year. Hettinger also was named an All-American from multiple platforms and was taken 12th overall in the PLL College draft.
2022 included prominent wins over #2 Duke and #14 Denver on the road and #17 Richmond at home, the first season in JU history with wins over multiple ranked opponents. The season was a "year of firsts" for the program, which included the first national ranking, first 10-win season and first regular season SoCon Championship. It concluded with the program's second ever appearance in the conference tournament final and the team was ranked #11 nationally at the end of its season after going 14-3 overall and a perfect 5-0 in SoCon play. The Dolphins finished the campaign in the top-three of eight different NCAA statistical categories, the most of any team in the country. The team was ranked as high as sixth in the country and was featured in a cover story by USA Lacrosse magazine. Colin Hinton earned SoCon Defensive Player of the Year recognition, and Jackson Intrieri was the conference's Freshman of the Year, as 10 total 'Phins earned SoCon recognition. Troy Hettinger, Colin Hinton, Luke Millican, and Max Waldbaum finished the year collecting All-American honors from multiple platforms.
Back in action after the coronavirus ended the previous season early, the 2021 team finished the season with a 7-7 overall record and a 4-2 conference record. The season’s biggest highlight was the team’s 11-5 victory in the nationally aired contest against Air Force in the Jacksonville Lacrosse Classic. Jason Yoquinto shined in the net this season for JU, his best performance came against Air Force where he accumulated 16 saves and was later named to the USILA team of the week for his efforts. The awards for Yoquinto did not stop there, as he and Matt Stagnitta were named the Southern Conference men’s lacrosse defensive and offensive players of the week, respectively, for their work during the competition. Halfway through the season, Jack Dolan was among the names added to the Tewaaraton Award watch list for his outstanding play. Dolan finished the season with 29 goals, 20 assists, 22 ground balls and four caused turnovers. After the season, nine athletes were placed on the SoCon All-Conference list. The list was highlighted by three first team selections; Dolan, Evan Tyler and Zack Deaken and four second team selections; Yoquinto, Conor Shears, Jordan Young and Colin Hinton. Rounding out the All-Conference awards, Nathan Kapp and Jacob Greiner were listed on the SoCon All-Freshman team. Off the field, multiple student-athletes dominated in the classroom. The program landed 44 players on the SoCon Academic Honor Roll list and nine to the SoCon Academic All-Conference team. Additionally, nine garnered the Commissioner's Medal honor, and two achieved a 4.0 GPA.
In the shortened 2020 season due to the coronavirus pandemic, the veteran-led Dolphins had showed signs of being well-balanced and versatile throughout non-conference play. After a difficult start to the season, big wins in three of the next four games highlighted the campaign. Dixon Smith became the program's all-time leader in Caused Turnovers during the win over Hampton and freshman Jacob Greiner was named SoCon Offensive Player of the Week after the team's win at Marquette and earned a spot on the College Crosse/SB Nation All-Freshman Team for his outstanding debut season. A total of eight players made the SoCon Academic Team at the end of the season, and the stretch of professional success continued, with former JU face-off man and graduate assistant Hunter Forbes joining the Chrome of the Premier Lacrosse League and LSM Hayden La Vangie signing with the Connecticut Hammerheads of Major League Lacrosse.
While the Dolphins finished 2019 just 6-9 overall, several notable milestones were achieved. A trio of program records were broken as Jack Dolan set the single-season points record (55), Evan Tyler set the single-season goals record (37), and Eric Applegate ‘19 became just the third player in program history to reach 100+ career points before he finished his career as the Dolphins’ all-time leading scorer with 143 points. Jacksonville also picked up its first-ever win against a top-10 opponent - a 12-10 win over No. 10 High Point during the regular season.
The 2018 season saw the Dolphins reach an unprecedented level of success. As a team, Jacksonville ranked in the top five nationally in face off winning percentage (3rd – .701), ground balls per game (4th – 33.20), and matched the program’s record for wins in a season (8).
After spearheading the revitalization of the Moe’s Lacrosse Classic, Galloway guided the Dolphins to a near upset in overtime of 2017 National Runner-Up and then-No. 4 Ohio State in the first nationally-broadcasted (CBS Sports) sporting event held on Jacksonville University’s campus.
Along with the team’s on-field accomplishments, Galloway has structured a vision of community involvement including the World’s Largest Outdoor Lacrosse Party, a fall exhibition against professional lacrosse players that benefits Nemours Children’s Specialty Care, and the JU: Lacrosse Capital of the South High School Series that features local high school lacrosse games played at Rock Stadium before and after the Dolphins’ home games throughout the season.
Galloway also played an instrumental role in revitalizing efforts in both fundraising and designing the Dolphins’ $1.875 million, 8,600-square-foot facility housing the men’s and women’s lacrosse teams’ locker rooms, film room, lounge, coaches offices, athletic training center, conference room, game room, and nutritional center.
One of the young legends in the sport, Galloway joined the Dolphins following a four-year stint as an assistant coach at Providence College. While at Providence, Galloway helped coach Peter Badgley to Big East Goalkeeper of the Year and All-Big East First Team honors. It was the first time in program history that a Friar had earned the accolade. He also mentored Jarrod Neumann to an All-Big East First Team selection.
A native of Syracuse, N.Y., Galloway played goalkeeper for Syracuse University and ended his college career with an NCAA-record 59 wins while playing a record 3,776 minutes. A two-time First Team All-American at the position and the only goalie in Orange history to earn the honor twice, Galloway is also the only goalie in NCAA history to win national championships in his freshman and sophomore years. A Tewaaraton Award Finalist, he also earned the Ensign C. Markland Kelly, Jr. Award for the nation’s best goalkeeper in 2010 and 2011. In addition to his on-field presence, Galloway was a two-time national Academic All-American and was twice named Big East All-Academic.
In his first season as a professional with the Rochester Rattlers (Major League Lacrosse), he was named Rookie of the Year, and twice earned Goaltender of the Year honors (2014, 2016). A two-time MLL All-Star in 2015 and 2016, Galloway helped lead the Rattlers to the three MLL Championship games in 2014, 2015, and 2018. From 2019-21, he played in goal for the Chrome of the PLL, announcing his retirement at the conclusion of the 2021 season.
In addition to playing professionally, he captained the U.S. Men’s National Team that won gold at the FIL World Championships in Netanya, Israel in 2018 and was an alternate member of Team USA in 2014.
Galloway married the former Christina Decker in October 2019. They reside at the beaches with their handsome dog, Maverick.
