Craig Gibson, an 18-year veteran as a Division I assistant and associate head men’s lacrosse coach, was selected as the seventh head coach in the 28-year history of the men’s lacrosse program in July of 2023.
Having most recently served the previous four years as the associate head coach and offensive coordinator at Fairfield University prior to his appointment at Eastern, the South Salem, NY native led the Warriors to an overall record of 6-11 in his first season in 2024, 3-5 in the Little East Conference. Gibson secured his first victory as a collegiate head coach in his first game -- a 10-9 road victory over Gordon College -- and followed that up a week later with an 11-8 triumph at Curry College. Gibson's first home win came April 26 in a 13-6 Little East Conference win over VTSU Castleton and his first LEC triumph occurred March 30 in a 14-6 triumph at Salem State University.
Upon Gibson's appointment, Eastern director of athletics Lori Runksmeier said that "Craig’s proven expertise in developing explosive offenses emerged as a strength, and his ability to communicate with the athletes really made him stand out.”
Gibson's first team at Eastern featured one All-Little East selection in faceoff specialist Rick O'Neal and the departmental's Rookie-of-the-Year in Tanner Drobish. O'Neal set a program season record for faceoff attempts and was ranked third in the LEC in faceoff wins and attempts, second in ground balls and sixth in faceoff winning percentage. In addition to Drobish, Gibson's first recruiting class netted the program three LEC weekly Rookies-of-the-Week in 2024 in midfielder Connor Chirico (twice) and goalie Gregory Hilinski.
A former four-year starting midfielder at Springfield Coach (B.S. Degree in 2004), Gibson began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Division III Western New England University before moving on as an assistant coach at Colgate University for five years and as assistant coach and later associate head coach at Stony Brook University for eight years. In the summer of 2019, Gibson was named offensive coordinator at Fairfield under first-year head coach Andrew Baxter. In the spring of 2023, he was given additional responsibilities as associate head coach under Baxter. Fairfield topped the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) in scoring twice in Gibson’s tenure.
In 2022, Fairfield won half of its 14 matches – a seven-game swing for the better from 2021. With Gibson, the Stags led the CAA in 13.79 goals per game that year. The attack featured CAA Rookie of the Year Jack McKenna, who was the conference’s leading goal scorer as a freshman. The offensive midfield included All-CAA first teamer Taylor Strough and second team selection Mike Drake. That year, Fairfield also led the CAA and ranked fourth in the nation in man-up offense, converting 55 percent of its extra-man opportunities.
In 2023, McKenna ranked third in the CAA in goals per game (2.57) and junior attack Bryce Ford was fourth in points per game (3.04). Ford, junior defenseman Zack Antoniou and freshman midfielder Will Consoli were named second-team All-CAA, with Consoli being recognized as CAA Rookie-of-the-Year.
During the COVID-abbreviated 2020 season, the Stags ranked eighth nationally with 16.43 goals per game and sixth in the nation at 26.71 points per contest.
Before being named at Fairfield, Gibson served as associate head coach for Stony Brook’s back-to-back America East regular-season championships in 2018 and 2019, and was also on the sidelines for the team’s 2012 America East title and NCAA postseason appearance.
As a collegian, Gibson helped the Pride to four NCAA Division III tournament appearances, including an 11-9 win over Eastern as the No. 5-ranked team nationally in the first round of the 2001 tournament and a two-goal loss to eventual national finalist Middlebury College in 2003. With Gibson, Springfield had a winning percentage of 74.7 (65-22), including a mark of 16-2 in 2001. A first-team All-Pilgrim League player, Gibson competed in the prestigious USILA North/South Senior All-Star Game and still ranks among the Springfield Top 20 in goals (9
th/122), points (t-14
th/188) and assists (t-16
th/66).
Gibson and wife Kristi have two children – Hadley, 8 and Delaney, 6 -- and reside in South Glastonbury.
