William G. Tierney

Bill Tierney is one of the sport's most successful coaches ever. He began his coaching career at Great Neck (N.Y.) South High School, and coached there from 1976 to 1979. He then coached at his alma mater, Levittown Memorial, from 1980 to 1981 where he coached future Hall of Famer Larry Quinn.

Tierney began his college coaching career at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), compiling a record of 34-7 from 1982 to 1984. Bill was then an assistant coach at Johns Hopkins fom 1985 to 1987 and when he was there, they won the national championship in 1985 and 1987.At the time of his induction, his greatest success was at Princeton, where he compiled a record of 238-86 from 1988 to 2009. He guided the Tigers to six national championships (1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, and 2001).

In 2010, he became head coach at Denver, and led the Pioneers to the 2015 NCAA championship, his seventh. He entered the 2021 season with a career record of 404-134.

Tierney, who played on a national championship team at Cortland State in 1973, had the playing field at USA Lacrosse national headquarters named in his honor in 2016.

In 1998, Tierney coached the U.S. Men's National Team to the International Lacrosse Federation World Championship. Tierney was inducted to the Long Island Chapter Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1994, and the New Jersey Chapter Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1999. He joined the Hall of Fame as a truly great coach.