University of Denver Athletics

Former DU men's lacrosse stand out Matt Brown joined the Pioneers' coaching staff in 2007 as the volunteer assistant coach and has since moved from assistant coach to associate head coach and is now the program's William G. Tierney Head Men's Lacrosse Coach, effective July 2023. Brown will enter his second season in charge of the program in 2025. 

AS THE HEAD COACH (13-4, 1 SEASON)
2024:
In his first season in charge of a program that he’s spent nearly all of his adult life with, Brown led the Pioneers back to Championship Weekend for the first time since 2017, defeating Michigan and Syracuse en-route to punching its ticket to Philadelphia.

The Pios opened the season with a win at No. 6 Johns Hopkins (13-12 OT), its first of three wins against the No. 6 team in the country during the 2025 season. Denver raced out to a 5-0 record to start the season before its first set back against Yale. DU responded with a win at Ohio State before a neutral site loss to Duke before going 5-0 in conference play to win the program’s first BIG EAST regular season title since the 10-game conference slate in 2021
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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.

PRIOR TO BECOMING HEAD COACH:
After three seasons under the former coaching staff, Brown was asked to join the legendary head coach Bill Tierney's coaching staff, upon his arrival to DU in June 2009. During his time as an assistant at DU, Brown helped the Pioneers to a 190-82 overall record, and transitions from the Great Western Lacrosse League to the Eastern College Athletic Conference to the BIG EAST.

The Pioneers have reached Championship Weekend six times, including five as an assistant, most notably the 2015 National Champion Pioneers, the first program to sit atop the national plateau from a state not sharing a border with the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. 

In his 14 seasons under coach Tierney, Brown served as the offensive coordinator. Under his guidance, the Pioneers' offense has consistently been ranked within the top -10 in scoring offense, even ranking as high as No. 3. Brown has also helped the Pioneers to make it to the NCAA Tournament 11 times as well as help DU claim its first-ever NCAA Tournament win and trip to the Semifinals in 2011. 

In combination with Tierney, Brown's impact on the student-athletes at Denver has already resulted in 11 USILA First Team All-America (program's first 11), nine USILA Second Team All-America, six USILA Third Team All-America, 25 USILA All-America Honorable Mention selections, 10 USILA Scholar All-Americans, one ECAC Offensive Player of the Year, four BIG EAST Attackmen of the Year, six BIG EAST Midfielders of the Year, two ECAC Rookie of the Year award winners, 57 all-conference first team selections and 35 all-conference second team selections.

Since Brown took over as the offensive coordinator, Denver has finished in the top-10 in the country in scoring offense nine times, including in the top-5 six times and a program-best third in the country in both 2014 and 2016. The shot clock era has seen Denver's goal production increase, as the Pioneers offense capped off the 2021 COVID-19 altered season with 14.18 goals per game, a program best. 

After coaching Wesley Berg in the summer on the FIL World Lacrosse Champion Team Canada side, Brown coached Berg and the Pioneers to a national title in 2015, a tournament that also saw Berg named the MOP. Berg was also a 2015 Tewaaraton finalist, the first in program history.

Brown's 2015 offense was seventh in the country in scoring (13.74), first in man-up percentage (0.603), second in scoring margin (+5.26), seventh in points per game (21.95), seventh in turnovers per game (11.63) and third in shooting percentage (0.357).

COACHING OUTSIDE OF DU:
Brown is one of the founders and directors of Denver Elite Lacrosse and directs the Denver Elite Box Lacrosse Program, which is a founding member of the USBOXLA. USBOXLA began the Colorado Collegiate Box Lacrosse League (CCBLL) in the Summer of 2017, which has led to the creation of five leagues nationally.  

Brown's coaching experience extends beyond the collegiate sphere, as he serves as the head coach for the Canadian National Lacrosse team. Brown served as the offensive coordinator for the 2012 Under-19 Canadian Men's Field Team and was an assistant coach for Canada when it defeated the USA 11-9 at the Duel in Denver in September of 2012. In Oct. of 2012, Brown was named the offensive coordinator once again for the 2014 team that won the FIL World Lacrosse Championship in Commerce City, Colo. Brown was named the head coach of the Canada U-19 Team in June, 2019, ahead of the 2020 U-19 World Championships, which went on to be played in 2022, and the full Canadian National Team in 2023 in San Diego. 

PLAYING CAREER: 
Brown was a four-year starter for the Pioneers from 2002-05. While at DU, Brown played 56 games and accumulated 137 points, the sixth-best total in Pioneers' history, and 113 goals, fourth on the DU's career goal list. As a senior, he was named First Team All-Great Western Lacrosse League at attack, earned Preseason All-American honorable mention honors and was selected to the USILA North/South All-Star Game. 

Brown was a three-time Face-Off Classic All-Tournament team member. Brown was named the GWLL Newcomer of the Year in 2002 after leading the team in points and goals and was named to the All-GWLL Second Team as a junior.

Led by Brown, the Pioneer lacrosse program gained national attention, tying for the GWLL title in 2003 and 2005 and finishing with a then school-high ranking of No. 18 in 2005.

Upon completing his DU career, Brown was drafted fifth overall by the Arizona Sting of the National Lacrosse League, where he played in all 18 games and accumulating 40 points. Brown spent his first two summers playing for the Denver Outlaws of Major League Lacrosse, recording 63 goals and 72 points.

PERSONAL:
A native of Burnaby, British Columbia, Brown graduated from DU with a B.S./B.A. in finance/marketing in 2005. He resides in Denver with his wife Jewel and daughters Mackenzie, Peyton and Sydney.