WHITTIER, Calif. (Oct. 17, 2024) – As the much-anticipated resurrection of the Whittier College Men's Lacrosse program as a WCLA club team nears, the athletic department is proud to announce Todd Francis as its first head coach.

After years of coaching high school players, indoor national players, and professional players in his native New England as well as down south, Francis will be tasked with bringing energy, excitement, and a competitive edge to the men's club lacrosse team at Whittier College.

"We are beyond excited to add Todd to our staff," Director of Athletics Rock Carter said. "His passion for the game is infectious; he's succeeded at every level of coaching he's experienced and has a keen attention to detail that's going to be key to rebuilding our men's lacrosse program as a club team."

Including his youth, Francis brings with him more than 40 years of lacrosse experience. He was an All-State goalie and three-sport athlete in football and ice hockey for Williston Northampton School in Easthampton, Mass., then went on to Cornell University where he was converted to an long-stick midfielder halfway through his sophomore year. By his senior year, Francis came into his own as a lacrosse player. He became an All-Ivy League player and a Division I All-American as the Big Red made the NCAA Championship game. He then went on to play for the Boston Blazers professional indoor lacrosse team through its entire existence, serving as captain in 1998, the team's final year.

Following the Blazers' shuttering, Francis then turned to coaching. He went from captaining a defunct indoor team in its final season to coaching the Newburyport high school program in its inaugural season in 2002 back in his native Massachusetts. He spent the next 15 years at Newburyport, winning two Coach of the Year awards along the way. In the offseason, he served as the Defensive Coordinator for the U.S. Men's Indoor Lacrosse team that won the Bronze Medal in the 2007 World Championships in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Soon after, he returned to a revamped Boston Blazers indoor lacrosse franchise as its defensive coordinator in 2009. He also coached the U.S. U19 Indoor Lacrosse team in 2015.

Francis then moved south to Florida, coaching seven seasons at Plant High School in Tampa, Florida. He accrued an incredible winning percentage of 80 percent and led his teams to three-straight state semi finals, four district championships and six different county and state awards recognizing his teams' exemplary GPAs. He took another defensive coordinator position in the offseason as well, this time for the Atlanta Blaze of the MLL in 2019, helping the team to its first playoff berth in franchise history. Francis was recently inducted into the Williston Northampton School Athletics Hall of Fame.
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