Maryland announced the addition of Jake Bernhardt as the new offensive coordinator for the 2023 season, filling the vacancy following Bobby Benson's departure to become the head coach at Providence last month
"I am very excited to have Jake Bernhardt return to College Park," head coach John Tillman said in Wednesday's press release. "Jake is one of most accomplished players to play for Maryland in the last decade and he has established himself as one of the top lacrosse coaches in the country. His character, leadership, knowledge of the game and passion for Maryland Lacrosse and the University of Maryland will be very beneficial for our program. Jake will work hard to help our student athletes strive to be their best as people, students and players."
Bernhardt came to Maryland under former Head Coach Dave Cottle in 2009 and stayed when Coach Tillman took over the program for his last two seasons. He was a team captain in the 2012 and 2013 seasons under coach Tillman and helped take the team to two national championships in his time at Maryland. Bernhardt had 43 goals and 13 assists in his time at Maryland as well as winning 50% of the faceoffs he took throughout his career.
"I would like to thank Coach Tillman and everyone at the University of Maryland for the opportunity to return to College Park and work with the men's lacrosse program," Bernhardt said. "It is an incredible opportunity to continue this program's rich tradition and work with their exceptional student-athletes. Now it's time to get to work in College Park. Be The Best."
Jake was the first of three Bernhardt's to play lacrosse at Maryland. His younger brothers Jesse and Jared also played under coach Tillman and Jared won a national championship in the 2017 season. Jesse is also currently the defensive coordinator for the Terps and has been on the coaching staff since 2017. Both Jake and Jesse play in the PLL, Jake is a short-stick defensive midfielder for the Whipsnakes and Jesse is a close defender for the Chrome.
Jake began his coaching career at Maryland as director of lacrosse operations in 2014 but then left for Vermont back in 2016. During his time at Vermont, Jake has helped the team to the last two NCAA tournaments but was knocked out by the Terps both times. Under Jake, the Vermont offense was 9th in the country in goals scored per game in the 2021 season and 25th in the country in the 2022 season.
With Jake joining the new-look Terps' lacrosse staff, Maryland will look to continue their success on the offensive side of the field after being the best offense in the country last season and try to become back-to-back national champions with just one loss over the last two seasons.
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