Iona has hired Chad Surman as its inaugural men’s lacrosse coach, the school announced Monday.

Surman was the head coach at Mercer for two seasons before stepping down in July. He was an assistant coach for the Bears for five seasons before that. He comes to Iona following a four-month stint as an assistant at Manhattan.

Iona announced in August that it was adding men’s lacrosse to its platform of NCAA Division I sports. The team will begin competition in 2024-25.

“[Surman] has experience as a former sitting head coach and brings a great perspective on running a program,” athletic director Matthew Glovaski said in Monday’s announcement.
“He has a great vision for the program, recognizing the unique opportunity that we have here at Iona.  I am pleased to support him as he begins the assembly our first-ever recruiting class.”

“I look forward to hitting the ground running to build a program of national distinction,” Surman said.

Surman played lacrosse at Le Moyne, Onondaga Community College and Salisbury, anchoring the defense for the Sea Gulls’ NCAA Division III championship teams in 2011 and 2012. He was an assistant at Salisbury for two seasons and at Lehigh in 2015 before going to Mercer.