Rob Harris Named Youngstown State Women's Lacrosse Coach

Youngstown State women’s lacrosse named former Davenport coach Rob Harris its next head coach on Tuesday, ending a nine-year run with Davenport in which he made history with the Division II program.

Harris led Davenport for nine seasons (2014-22). In 2021, Davenport made history, earning its first Top 25 ranking and Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference tournament championship game appearance.

Harris went 102-45 with Davenport.

“I am looking forward to exercising the love and dedication I have for the game of women’s lacrosse here at Youngstown State,” Harris said in a statement. “My goal is to foster a program that seeks excellence both athletically and academically and benefits our student-athletes, university and community.”

After joining Davenport in 2014, Harris led the team to back-to-back WHAC (Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference) regular season and tournament titles. In 2016, the Panthers were co-WHAC regular season champions and brought home the NWLL National Championship, as well as the NAIA Invitational Championship. In 2017, the team advanced to the NAIA Invitational semifinals after earning co-WHAC regular season champion regards. 

In 2018, Davenport transitioned into NCAA Division II and began competing in the GLIAC. In 2019, Davenport appeared in the GLIAC tournament in just its second season as a D-II program.

Prior to Davenport, Harris was an assistant coach for the Florida Southern women’s lacrosse team. Harris also spent time at Adams State and Grand Valley State.