Haus Out of Lacrosse Job

Posted on May 29, 2008

John Haus ’83 will not return for a ninth season as head coach of the men’s lacrosse team.

The coach’s overall record was 58-52, and his team was 8-6 this spring – winning its first five games but losing four of the next seven. The Tar Heels lost to Duke in the first round of the ACC tournament and to Navy in the first round of the NCAAs.

“John and I have had several discussions in the days since the season ended, and the result of those talks is that we agree a change is in the best interest of reaching the goals we all have for Carolina lacrosse,” Athletics Director Dick Baddour ’66 said in a statement. “John has spent the past eight years giving everything he had to our program. I have a great deal of respect for him as we arrive at this decision. John and his family love Chapel Hill and the University, and it is regrettable a change had to happen. We are thankful to him for all he has given to his alma mater.”

Also in a statement, Haus said: “I am disappointed to no longer be coaching at Carolina. We have built a solid foundation for future success, but this is the best way for the program to take that next step, and I wish my successor the best in doing that. My family and I have really enjoyed the eight years we have spent in Chapel Hill. It was a great honor to coach here. I wish the young men who played for me nothing but the best.”

The team’s record was 10-6 last year, 4-10 in 2006 and 5-8 in 2005.

As a player, Haus was a four-year starter as a defenseman at Carolina, helping the Tar Heels capture the 1981 and 1982 NCAA championships in undefeated seasons, the first national titles in the history of the program. In 1982, he earned first-team All-America honors from the U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association, and he received the Turnbull Trophy as the UNC team MVP. The team had an overall record of 43-8 and made the NCAA tournament each year during his playing career.

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Related coverage is available online:

• John Haus Comes Home to Revive a Lacrosse Legacy
  From the May/June 2001 issue of the Carolina Alumni Review, available online to Carolina Alumni members.

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