Men’s lacrosse head coach Kyle Hart resigned from his position after 5 years of coaching and leading last year’s team to its first NCAA Division III Tournament appearance.
Hart will be switching to a similar position at Wheaton College in Norton, Massachussets.
Hart’s decision was based on more personal matters since he is from the East Coast, having attended high school at Massapequa High School in Massapequa, New York.
“It was the right time to make the move,” Hart said. “A big part of it was a personal move. It was an opportunity to get close to home.”
During his 5 years at Augustana, Hart had a record of 42-24 in the team’s first four seasons of play and coached the team to a CCIW conference tournament win last year.
The tournament win and the NCAA Division III tournament appearance were the highlights of Hart’s career.
“There’s no question, winning the CCIW Championships and advancing to NCAA tournament were some of my favorite memories,” Hart said. “To win the championship was just unbelievable.”
Hart is grateful for the chance to have had these experiences at Augustana.
“My experience at Augustana was fantastic,” Hart said. “It was very rewarding and felt like it was a process I enjoyed.”
Athletic director Mike Zapolski recognized that some of the players would be disappointed with the coach leaving.
“The returning guys are disappointed because the coach that they either played for or for the incoming freshmen the coach that recruited them is not going to be here any longer.”
Senior and defenseman Cody Speroff understood why Hart is leaving.
“I understand where he’s coming from since he wanted to be closer to his family,” Speroff said.
The season without Hart will be a challenge for the team.
“Every new season you face new obstacles,” Speroff said. “We’ll be fine as long as we maintain the positive team culture.
While Hart is gone, assistant men’s lacrosse coach Zach Olsen will be filling as an interim coach and a possible head coach candidate.
Speroff supported Olsen as a possible new head coach.
“I think he’d be a good coach,” Speroff said. “He already knows our team and our team dynamic.”
Other candidates besides Olsen are being interviewed.
“We’ve gotten about twenty applications so far,” Zapolski said.  “We’ll start with some initial phone reviews with some perspective candidates and then follow that up by inviting some candidates to campus for a more official interviews.”
Zapolski is hoping to get a new head coach by the second or third week of September and make an announcement then.
Though Hart is joining a new team, he’ll still have the support of some of the players.
“Obviously we wish him the best of luck,” Speroff said. Though, he also joked on the side that maybe the team would see their old head coach again in the playoffs.