Pfeiffer moves Nelson up from interim to head men’s lacrosse coach
Contributed by Pfeiffer University
Pfeiffer University has elevated Tucker Nelson to the position of head men’s lacrosse coach.
Nelson guided the Falcon program on an interim basis from mid-December to mid-March before the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic forced the NCAA to cancel spring sports. Pfeiffer competed in just six games to that point while compiling a 2-4 overall record.
“I am thrilled to announce the promotion of Tucker Nelson as our next head coach of the men’s lacrosse program,” said Pfeiffer University Director of Athletics Danielle Lafferty.
“There is no doubt that Tucker is the right person to lead our men’s lacrosse program due to his expertise and passion for the game and his willingness to do all the things that make a program great. It’s clear that our men’s lacrosse student-athletes support him and he has support of the administration across campus here at Pfeiffer. We are excited to see our program success under his leadership as we move into a new era of Division III membership this upcoming fall,” she said.
Nelson’s first win at the helm of the Pfeiffer program came in his first game on the sidelines on Feb. 22 2020. In that game, Pfeiffer earned a 19-17 home win over Birmingham Southern.
Prior to being named interim head coach, Nelson spent three seasons as assistant coach, helping the Falcons to a 10-3 record and a perfect 8-0 USA South mark in 2018. That year, Pfeiffer finished the season on a seven-game winning streak. In 2019, the Falcons finished 8-8 overall and 5-2 in league play.
During his time on the Falcon bench, he has worked extensively with the Falcon offensive and man-up squads. During that time, he helped mentor his younger brother Jared Nelson to USA South Player of the Year accolades in 2019 along with a complete rewriting of the Falcon offensive record book, including career points and career assists. He also helped oversee John Allen’s single-season record of 65 goals scored, also achieved in 2019.
“I’m humbled and excited to take over this storied program,” said Nelson.
“For more than 25 years, Pfeiffer has competed at a high level and it is my intent to continue that tradition,” he said.
Excited about a tremendous group of players returning for next season and a strong recruiting class he continued, “I’m excited to work with them and help guide them to graduation and finding a career in the professional world.”
“I want to thank Danielle Lafferty, and President Scott Bullard for trusting me to lead the men’s lacrosse program and for this tremendous opportunity. I also want to thank all the players that I have coached and all the other coaches I have worked under to help me get to this point.”
Prior to coming to Pfeiffer, he had a phenomenal playing career, spending one season at Marist before finishing his career at Binghamton. While at Binghamton, he was named the Male Athlete of the Year and was one of 70 NCAA Division I players to be named to the Tewaaraton Watch List. He was also selected to the USILA North/South All-Star Game and was named the MVP in 2015. He set program records in career assists, points-per-game, season assists, single-game assists, and assists per game (career and season).
Following his collegiate career, he played professionally with the Ohio Machine of the MLL. (Major League Lacrosse). He also has experience playing at the semi-pro level.
Nelson graduated from Binghamton in 2015 with a degree in history