Hired in September of 2021, Richard Carrington joins the Amherst College men’s lacrosse program as an assistant coach and defensive coordinator.
Before joining the Mammoths, Carrington served as the first director of lacrosse and head men’s lacrosse coach at Tusculum University. Under Carrington, Tusculum qualified for the conference postseason in four of his last five tournaments, including three semifinal appearances.
In 2017, Carrington led Tusculum to its best season in school history as the Pioneers posted an 11-4 record and finished runner-up in the South Atlantic Conference in only their fourth season of competition. Additionally, the 2017 Pioneers climbed as high as 18th in the USILA/Nike Division II Coaches Poll and ranked among the national leaders in 10 team statistical categories. The team’s 8.93 assists per game earned the 2017 NCAA Division II National Statistical Championship. During Carrington’s tenure at Tusculum, he also mentored an Academic All-American, 13 all-conference honorees, three National Lacrosse League draftees and the 2019 South Atlantic Conference Men’s Lacrosse Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Carrington came to Tusculum after serving the 2011-12 campaign on the coaching staff at Division I Virginia Military Institute. While at the Lexington, Virginia, school, Carrington helped to institute a revamped Keydet defense that allowed the fewest goals in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play since 2009. The defense was crucial in several contests in holding opponents under 10 goals in three of the last four games and helping VMI win those three games. The Charlottesville, Virginia, native also directed VMI’s man-down unit, which killed off 70.8 percent of the Keydets’ penalties and finished the season ranked 19th in the country. The leap to 70.8 percent on the man-down was a 20-point jump from 2011, where VMI finished last in the country in that category.
Prior to VMI, Carrington served as the head men's lacrosse coach at Division III Alvernia University in Reading, Pennsylvania, and Division II Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia. Carrington founded the men’s lacrosse program at Chestnut Hill and was responsible for recruiting the 37-member inaugural class representing 10 different states and Canadian provinces.
Carrington has also had assistant coaching stints at Mars Hill University, his alma mater, and Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. In 2008, Carrington helped Mars Hill to the program's first conference championship.
Carrington earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mars Hill in 2003 and he will complete his Master of Sports Administration degree from Tusculum in spring 2022. As an undergraduate, Carrington competed as a four-year defensive starter for Mars Hill and graduated as program's career ground ball leader (268).
