University of Denver Athletics

University of Denver men's lacrosse assistant coach John Gallant will begin his sixth season with the program in 2025. Gallant filled the defensive coordinator position following the departure of John Orsen after the 2019 season, and was retained when head coach Matt Brown took over after Bill Tierney's retirement in 2023. 

2024: In Brown's first season in charge, and Gallant's fifth with the program overall, the Pios got back to Championship Weekend for the first time since 2017, defeating Michigan and Syracuse en-route to punching its ticket to Philadelphia. Denver rode its defense to the third-highest winning percentage in the country in 2024, a defense that held opponents to a 9.41 goals against average, good for fourth in the country. In the NCAA Quarterfinals at Towson, the Pios held Syracuse to just eight in their two-goal win, the first time the Orange finished in single digits in 2024. DU was efficient on both sides of the ball in power play situations, scoring on 46.5% of its offensive chances to finish 10^th in the country in the category, while leading the nation man-down, holding opponents to just a 15.2% success rate. Gallant and the Pios won their first BIG EAST regular season title since 2021, going 5-0 in the conference slate. 

2023: Denver's defense ranked eighth in the country and first in the BIG EAST in scoring defense en-route to a 10-5 season. The Pioneers allowed just over 10 goals per game, and in its four wins over top-15 programs, held the opposition to 8, 12, 6 and 9 (8.75/game). Denver finished second in the BIG EAST regular season and reached the BIG EAST Final once again, avenging last season's BIG EAST Semifinal loss to Villanova with a 16-9 victory over the Wildcats on May 4. Starting LSM AJ Mercurio earned a spot on the BIG EAST First Team for his performances in his senior season. 

2022: Denver opened the season with wins over Utah and Duke before dropping four of the next five, with all four losses coming against nationally ranked opposition. The Pios then picked up a win at No. 7 Ohio State to kickoff the second half of the season, earning their first top-10 road win since the pandemic. Gallant helped lead the Pios to a 6-1 record in the last seven, including another ranked road win at Villanova to kick-start a four-game winning streak to end BIG EAST play. 

2021: Gallant coached the 11th-ranked scoring defense in the country in the 12-5 campaign, a record that included a 9-1 mark in the BIG EAST and another regular season title for the Pioneers. 

2020: COVID-19 shortened the 2020 season. The Pioneers were young and starting to turn the corner when the season was cut short after just six games. Denver ended the season with a win at No. 10 Notre Dame, a 14-11 victory that included a 7-0 run in the middle of the game. 

Pro Career: Gallant was a two-time captain for the Colorado Mammoth, and wore the 'A' on his chest in two other campaigns during his 14-year National Lacrosse League career. A member of the Mammoth's All-Decade Team in 2012, Gallant moved with the franchise from Washington to Colorado in 2002, completing his career with a single franchise. In his career, the Mammoth defenseman played in 209 games, scored 14 goals and added 86 assists for 100 points. Gallant also picked up 953 loose balls and caused 54 turnovers.

Prior to Denver: Gallant was a science teacher and lacrosse coach at Rock Canyon High School before joining the Pioneers staff. In his three seasons in charge at Rock Canyon, the Jaguars went 12-4 in 2017, 12-4 in 2018 and 14-3 in 2019 (38-11 overall). The Jaguars reached the 5A CHSAA Quarterfinal in 2019.
 
The 2001 Lake Superior State graduate directed the Colorado Collegiate Box Lacrosse League player combine each of the last two years and served as a guest coach for multiple franchises. Prior to his time at Rock Canyon, Gallant was an assistant at Valor Christian, under former teammate and current Air Force assistant John Grant Jr. Gallant has also served as a Jr. Mammoth instructor.