BUILT FOR THIS

R

egy Thorpe knows what comes with being a lacrosse coach at Syracuse University. It surrounds him every day.

In Thorpe’s Lally Athletics Complex corner office, several plaques rest on a large shelf against the back wall. Some read “Big East Champions.” Others honor one of the program’s 67 All-Americans.

In the center of the room, Thorpe sits at an L-shaped desk. When he looks forward and peers toward the window, his view is interrupted by several trophies sitting on the windowsill. Atlantic Coast Conference Champions. NCAA Final Fours.

Thorpe’s daily view reflects where he wants to be. But it’s also a reminder of the expectation placed upon his program — and the piece of silverware missing from the collection.

Several coaches have been in his same spot. Four, to be exact. Their teams won the trophies that surround Thorpe every day. But they all failed to bring Syracuse the big one — its first national title.

When Kayla Treanor, SU’s coach from 2021-2025, suddenly left for Penn State in May, Syracuse turned to Thorpe — who’d been Florida’s associate head coach since 2022 — to be the women’s lacrosse program’s fourth head coach.

“There is no better person for this job,” said SU assistant coach Nicole Levy, who played under Thorpe from 2016-19 and coached alongside him at Florida. “He’s done great things in his career, and he’s going to continue to do that and get this program back where it needs to be.”

Thorpe knows that desired destination well. Between his playing career at SU in the 1990s and his decade as an assistant coach for the Orange in the 2010s, Thorpe helped craft what he described as “the Syracuse standard,” an expectation of program excellence. In his first year as the Orange’s head coach — what he described as his “dream job” — he wants to lead Syracuse back to Championship Weekend for the first time in two years.

“It’s Syracuse lacrosse. Expectations are always gonna be high, but I think the kids know that,” Thorpe said. “That’s why they’re here. You come to Syracuse to play on Memorial Day weekend.”

Under Treanor, the Orange made two Final Fours in her four-year tenure. Still, it ended on a sour note with a 10-9 campaign last year — the program’s most losses in a season since 2018. Treanor left shortly after SU was eliminated by Yale in the NCAA Tournament Second Round.

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On May 21, 2025, Thorpe’s dream position was suddenly vacant. Syracuse always felt like home for the Auburn, New York, native. After serving as an assistant for a decade and a half, Thorpe knew this was his chance to jump to head coach. Though he couldn’t quite pinpoint why, the timing just felt perfect, he said.

“An opportunity to come coach for a program that you helped build for 10 years, let alone play for on the men’s side, being from the area, it was an opportunity my wife and I thought we couldn’t turn down,” Thorpe said.

Several alumni admitted it was difficult to see Treanor — one of SU’s greatest players ever — leave the program for another northeast foe. But Thorpe’s hiring was an instant remedy.

Former Orange goaltender Liz Hogan, who played under Thorpe in his first few seasons as an assistant, said it takes a certain type of coach to understand the expectation at Syracuse. Thorpe’s history at the university made him “the perfect fit.”

“You really have to be a part of the ‘Syracuse club’ to know what you need to bring to it,” Hogan said. “He knows the Syracuse way. He genuinely knows what this team is about and how to push them.”

It stems from the 1990s, when Thorpe first set foot on SU’s campus.

Thorpe transferred to Syracuse from Herkimer Community College in 1992. He played for the Orange for two seasons, earning All-American honors as a defenseman while helping the Orange to two national title games. In 1993, he helped SU beat North Carolina, winning the men’s program’s fifth NCAA championship.

Thorpe spent the next decade and a half with two professional squads in Rochester: the National Lacrosse League’s Knighthawks and Major League Lacrosse’s Rattlers. But, in 2010, then-Syracuse head women’s lacrosse coach Gary Gait reached out with an offer.

As Hogan recalls it, then-Syracuse assistant coach John Battaglino — who Hogan described as “a cornerstone of the program” — had just left to be UAlbany’s head coach. Thorpe was his replacement.

When Hogan first saw Thorpe — who was listed at 6-foot-1, 203 pounds in his playing days with the Orange — her first thought was: “Yo, who is this guy?”

Hogan said she knew Thorpe was one of Gait’s good friends but questioned his knowledge of the women’s game. That changed when Thorpe knew every player’s name and number at the first practice.

“I think that really stood out to me as, like, this wasn’t another job for him,” Hogan said. “He was already invested from day one.”

From that point on, Thorpe, a defensive coach, proved to be the ideal complement to Gait’s offensive genius. He won over the locker room with his companionship and motivation.

Several alums described his coaching style as fatherlike. Levy said you knew he wouldn’t berate you for slip-ups, but you still didn’t want to disappoint him. She added he creates a “healthy learning environment” where players understand the expectation but still know it’s OK to play freely and make mistakes. Sam Swart, a midfielder from 2018-21, said Thorpe brought optimism by emphasizing that players get to work rather than have to.

“A lot of coaches are great coaches and motivators, but he just brings that grit and that grind out of people,” Swart said. “I think that’s the best trait about him.”

When game-time rolls around, Thorpe knows how to set the tone. Alums remember Thorpe giving a fiery speech each game to prepare his squad for battle. The themes varied based on opponents, but Swart remembers Thorpe often encouraging his players to “be a dog, be gritty” and to focus on themselves rather than the outside noise.

Hogan doesn’t remember most of the speeches’ messages. She just remembers “wanting to run through a wall” after each one. Levy said, when the two reunited at Florida in 2022, Thorpe’s first pregame speech made her eyes water. Florida head coach Amanda O’Leary said Thorpe “just had a way of finding the words to fire a team up.”

Thorpe, in turn, became a key part of Syracuse’s identity for a decade. But he left after the 2019 season to become the general manager and head coach of the NLL’s New York Riptide. Swart said his departure disheartened the team, yet the consensus in the locker room was that Thorpe had left his mark. Swart said she knew he’d be back one day.

First, though, Thorpe returned to college lacrosse at Florida.

When O’Leary added Thorpe in 2022, she said he was “the full package” and could’ve easily been a head coach. She predicted Thorpe probably turned down numerous head-coaching gigs just to stay as then-head coach Gait’s assistant.

While at Florida, though, Thorpe leaned on the “championship mindset” he learned at SU.

He primarily led the Gators’ defense, though O’Leary said he “had every tool in his toolbox,” and Levy said he assisted everywhere. Thorpe said a major point of emphasis was “changing the mindset” to mold the Gators into a hardworking, strategically-prepared squad. It resulted in back-to-back Final Four appearances in 2024 and 2025.

Regy Thorpe addresses his team in practice. Thorpe, who played at SU in the 1990s and coached in the 2010s, returns to his alma mater for his first Division I lacrosse head coaching gig. Courtesy of SU Athletics

Two days before Florida played UNC in the Final Four, Treanor informed Syracuse of her departure. Thorpe interviewed for the position soon after the Gators were eliminated and was hired on June 5, 2025.

“It was just a good fit for everyone and the timing was right,” Thorpe said. “It’s a situation where I think a lot of boxes could be checked for everyone.”

His first order of business was reintroducing himself to the program. Thorpe met the team and their families over a Zoom call within a few days of his hiring, where he discussed his background, family and expectations.

Thorpe’s first few months in charge were focused on relationship-building and ironing out his new-look roster. Levy, who was hired a month after Thorpe, said the new coaching staff met with players one-on-one as they moved in over the summer. They often discussed life outside of lacrosse to build bonds.

Familiarity in other aspects of the program also made the transition smoother, Levy said. Two assistants from the Treanor days — Caitlin Defliese Watkins and Maggie Koch — returned to the Orange, which made it easier to retain high-caliber recruits and even flip a few of Thorpe’s own from Florida.

On the practice field, Thorpe had his work cut out for him. The departures of Olivia Adamson and Emma Ward shook up SU’s attack. Thorpe’s staff spent most of fall ball experimenting with the roster, and Levy said they implemented some new concepts on both ends of the field. Thorpe said his squad certainly answered some questions but some remain in the final days of the offseason.

But, for now, Thorpe’s just excited to be back home. When the Orange face Maryland on Feb. 6, he’ll enter a familiar place — the JMA Wireless Dome — with perhaps an unfamiliar feeling.

He’ll walk across the field he played on three decades ago. He’ll toe the sideline he spent nine years on as an assistant. He’ll watch a team he invested 10 years in. But this time, he’ll be the one in charge. He’ll wake up the next morning and head to the office he once dreamed of occupying.

Thorpe insists he doesn’t want to look too far ahead. His squad is just focused on the season-opener. But if he takes a peek up from his desk and looks around at the history that hangs in his office, he’ll remind himself what he was brought here to do.

He just hopes he’ll have to make some room on the windowsill for the big one.

Photos courtesy of SU Athletics

Published on January 29, 2026 at 12:00 am