After serving for five years as the top offensive assistant coach, Brian Kelly begins his seventh season as head coach of the Goucher men’s lacrosse program in 2019. He is only the fourth head coach in the 22-year history of the program.
In 2018, Kelly led the Gophers back to the Landmark Conference playoffs for the first time in four seasons, as Goucher finished the year with a 10-6 overall mark and a 4-2 ledger in the Landmark Conference. Throughout the course of the year, Kelly's Gophers knocked off both Catholic and Scranton in the same season for the first time in four years, while Goucher won at least 10 games in a campaign for the first time since 2012.
Kelly led the Gophers to an 8-8 record in his debut season in 2013, with a perfect 6-0 mark in the Landmark Conference regular season. The Gophers reached the Landmark Conference playoffs in his first two seasons at the helm, including a championship appearance in 2014. Under his leadership, Goucher has a record of 41-35 and his players have received 21 all-conference selections, including nine who garnered first-team accolades. While being at the helm of the Gopher program Kelly has coached two players who have been recognized as honorable mention All-America.
Goucher has also been successful academically under Kelly’s watch, a priority for him and the College. 40 different Gophers have earned a spot on the Landmark Conference's Spring Academic Honor Roll, while defender Bryce Carson was named the conference’s Senior Scholar-Athlete for men’s lacrosse in 2013.
As an assistant to Head Coach Kyle Hannan from 2008-12, Kelly coached a total of seven All-Americans while helping Goucher win conference championships in 2010 and 2012. The Gophers finished 18-2 in 2012, including a first-round NCAA tournament win over Washington (Md.) and a second-round loss to the national champion, Salisbury University. Kelly also coached a 2009 man-up unit which was fourth-best in the country with a scoring percentage of .487 for the season. Goucher had an overall record of 64-22 during his time assisting Hannan.
Kelly played collegiate lacrosse both at the junior college level at CCBC Essex and at perennial national powerhouse Johns Hopkins. A midfielder, Kelly was a second-team NJCAA All-American with the Knights in 1991, helping lead CCBC Essex to an NJCAA national championship that year. Kelly was honored in 2015 with induction into the NJCAA Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
At Johns Hopkins, the Blue Jays reached the NCAA semifinals in each of his final two seasons at the school (1992 and 1993). Kelly was named an honorable mention All-America in the midfield by the USILA in 1993, and he was also the recipient of the Turnbull-Reynolds Award which is given to a player who displays outstanding character and leadership. He graduated from Johns Hopkins in 2003 with a degree in social and behavioral sciences.
Outside of Goucher, Kelly recently took over as the Director of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Maryland Club Lacrosse Program. This speaks to his consistent connection to the sport since leaving Johns Hopkins. He served as an assistant coach with the MLL’s Washington Bayhawks in 2008. He coached in the Baltimore Crabs Club Lacrosse Program for nine years, coaching many current and former Division 1, Division 2 and Division 3 standouts. He also worked in commercial real estate, serving as Vice President of Asset Management for Deutsche Bank RREEF from 2005-12.
Kelly currently resides in Lutherville with his wife, Holly, son, Will, and daughter, Grace. In his spare time, he serves as a Student Ministry Leader at the nearby Church of the Nativity.
Joe Pille joined the Goucher Lacrosse staff in the fall of 2020 as an assistant coach.
Pille is a native of Oakland, New Jersey and was previouslty with Roanoke College in Salem, VA for 2 seasons. Joe Pille specialized in defense and face-off fundamentals.
Prior to that he played for four years at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh, N.Y. Pille graduated from Mount Saint Mary with a degree in History and Political Science. Pille is currently pursuing his Masters in Athletic administration and Leadership.