On the same day Maryland found its new head coach, Towson struck a new deal with its current head coach.
Towson and Tony Seaman finalized a three-year contract Tuesday morning.
The new deal had been agreed to several weeks ago, but the length and terms of the contract had yet to be determined. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"I'm excited, especially for the 2011 season and the recruits we have coming in and the guys we have returning," Seaman said. "Two years in a row, we've been a couple goals away in the [conference] championship game from going on to the NCAAs. This was a little bit of a better year than the year before because we won the regular season [title in the Colonial Athletic Association]. We'd like to repeat that again, although the league is really challenging, as is the schedule. But we'll go from there and see what we can get in 2011."
In 12 years under Seaman, the Tigers have compiled a 96-83 record, captured four conference championships, and advanced to the NCAA tournament five times. The only coach to take three schools to the NCAA tournament (Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins and Towson), Seaman is 260-156 in 29 years of coaching. His 260 victories rank him sixth among active Division I coaches.
But the Tigers had not been to the NCAA tournament since 2007, and Seaman was under a not-so-subtle directive to get to the postseason in 2010. Faced with one of the most difficult schedules in the country, Towson opened 1-5.
The Tigers, however, closed the regular season by winning five of their last seven contests, collecting the CAA regular-season crown and earning the No. 1 seed in the league's tournament. Although the team lost to Delaware in the tournament final and was denied the automatic qualifier to the NCAA tournament, Seaman was voted by his peers as the CAA Coach of the Year.
"I'm pleased that we were able to reach an agreement to extend Tony Seaman's tenure at Towson," athletic director Mike Hermann said in a written statement released by the university. "He is well recognized as one of the most successful men's lacrosse coaches in the nation. He and his staff have done an outstanding job recruiting top-notch student-athletes and preparing them for success on the field of competition."
Attackman Tim Stratton was unaware of the news until a reporter called him Tuesday afternoon, but he expressed his happiness at Seaman's return.
"That's awesome," said Stratton, who ranked second on the team in assists (18) and third in points (33) this past season. "I'm really happy that he's coming back for my senior year because he's the guy who recruited me for Towson, and I didn't really want a whole new coaching staff coming in for my last season. So that's awesome for him that he gets a couple more years."
Seaman had drawn enormous support from past and current players, according to Hermann.
Towson schedule change
In a related note, the Tigers agreed to shift their annual series against Johns Hopkins from late April to the first game of the season in February. Seaman joked that he hoped the move would translate into a win since Towson had failed to beat the Blue Jays the previous 12 times toward the end of the regular season.
"Hopkins is Hopkins. We just don't get to see them play 10 times on TV before we play them," Seaman said. "It's the starting game for each one of us. I think we go into it pretty equal."
Hopkins opts out of 2 events
Johns Hopkins' involvement in the Face-Off Classic and the Day of Rivals — both at M&T; Bank Stadium — has ended for now.
The Blue Jays have moved their games against Princeton in the Face-Off Classic and Maryland in the Day of Rivals back to campus, a development that was first reported by D1scourse.typepad.com and confirmed by a Johns Hopkins school official Tuesday morning.
Johns Hopkins is scheduled to travel to Princeton in late February or early March and to College Park in mid-April.
Similarly, the Army-Navy contest, which was the second game of the Day of Rivals doubleheader, will return to campus, a Navy school official said Tuesday morning. Army is scheduled to visit Annapolis in 2011.
Andy Bilello, the director of business development for Inside Lacrosse, which runs both the Face-Off Classic and the Day of Rivals, said he has engaged in initial discussions with Johns Hopkins, Maryland and other schools about their involvement.
"We are still determining dates, matchups and venues for IL's events," Bilello wrote via e-mail. "Nothing is set, and anything is possible."