Richie Moran, lacrosse coach at Cornell for 29 years, dies at 85

There are influential coaches who have fields and even buildings dedicated in their name. Then there is Richie Moran.

Moran, the legendary lacrosse coach from New Hyde Park who built the Cornell men's lacrosse program into a national powerhouse during his 29 years at the helm, has a job named after him.

Moran was so successful at the upstate Ivy League university, the position of head men’s lacrosse coach is officially known as the Richard M. Moran Head Coach of Men’s Lacrosse.

“The name Richie Moran and Cornell lacrosse were interchangeable for many years, even now,” said Bob Rule, 73, of Rhode Island, a former goaltender at Cornell. “He was a legend. ... He was the face of Cornell lacrosse. It took a very important person, like Richie Moran, to create the atmosphere at Cornell where you assumed you were going to win a championship.” 

Moran, who coached at Manhasset and Elmont High Schools before transforming Cornell into a force in the 1970s and '80s, died April 24, the university announced earlier this week. The Ithaca resident was 85.

“Richie, probably, would be the ultimate players' coach,” said nephew Jack Moran, the Chaminade High School boys lacrosse coach. “[He was] very knowledgeable [about] lacrosse and a great motivator, but was a guy who generally cared and knew how everybody on his team was doing. He knew the subjects they were taking, knew their family members. If the last man on the roster's parents walked past the field, Richie would go out of his way, would know their names, know what they did, and know where they lived.”

Moran’s 1971 Cornell team beat his alma mater, Maryland, 12-6, at Hofstra to win the sport's first NCAA Championship. Cornell would win two more national championships under Moran, 1976 and 1977, and lose in the championship game in 1978, 1987 and 1988. 

Moran’s teams were 257-121 during his tenure from 1969 to 1997, including 124-50 in the Ivy League. His teams made the NCAA Tournament 14 times, won 15 Ivy League championships and had 11 undefeated seasons in the conference. He coached three undefeated teams and three one-loss teams. From 1976 to 1978, Cornell won 42 straight games, still the Division I record, the school said.

Moran’s legacy only started with wins and losses. He was beloved by almost everyone who played for him and almost everyone he met. Earlier this month, over 400 people joined a Zoom call with him, Jack Moran said.

“His ability to have people genuinely feel that he cared about them was instrumental in the way that Cornell played,” said Jack Moran, 69, of Setauket.  “They played as a team all the time. They really worked hard for each other. There was really esprit de corps throughout any Cornell team and still is today.”

Eventually, Moran became so well respected and known within the lacrosse community, that it became nearly impossible for him to travel anywhere within the sport inconspicuously.

“He knew everybody and everybody knew him,” said Vin Salamone, 80, of Bethpage, a friend and cousin by marriage.  “We were on the NCAA lacrosse committee together and we were working a quarterfinal at Hofstra. Richie and I were at the scorer’s table and I think Richie had his back to the field 90 percent of the time because right behind us was the stands and everyone who came through was like, ‘Hey Rich, how ya doing?’ He turned around and knew every one of their names and would talk to them.”

His nephew had a similar experience at a lacrosse convention.

“If you wanted to go from one room to another, it would take you 15 minutes because he knew everybody and what they were doing,” Jack Moran said.

The youngest of eight siblings, Moran came of age when lacrosse was a relatively new sport on Long Island. He played for Bill Ritch at Sewanhaka High School, where he was a midfielder on four undefeated teams. After high school, he played at Cortland before transferring to Maryland and winning a national championship there in 1959. 

“He was one of my favorite sons. I loved him,” said Marc Martone, 95, of Ridge, who coached Moran in football at Sewanhaka.  “He was tough, hard-working, and never knew the word quit. He was a coach’s dream.”

Following service in the Marine Corps, he coached lacrosse, football, and basketball at Manhasset and Elmont in the 1960s.  At Manhasset, he won two Long Island championships, Rule said.

“His imprint on Manhasset is still there,” Rule said. “The discipline, the hard work, the attention to detail, all that stuff still exists and it started with Richie Moran.”

In the late 1960s, Moran interviewed at Cornell to be an assistant football and lacrosse coach. When it was decided that Ned Harkness, who was coaching hockey and lacrosse at the time, would concentrate solely on hockey, Moran got the head lacrosse job, his nephew said.

“He took a lot of basketball concepts and fundamentals and applied them to lacrosse,” Jack Moran said.  “A lot of what he did offensively and defensively came from some of the connections that you might see in basketball. ... I had the opportunity of  working a summer camp with him for about 15 years and it was like getting a PhD in lacrosse.”

Moran, who wrote an autobiography titled ‘It’s Great to be Here,’ also had international lacrosse success, coaching Team USA at the 1978 World Games, and he was the founder and president of the Irish national team. He is in nine halls of fame, including the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame, the Cornell release said. 

Moran is survived by wife of 61 years, Pat of Ithaca, son Kevin Moran of Connecticut, daughters Jennifer Sposito of Ithaca and Kathy Rogers of South Carolina, and eight grandchildren, his nephew said.