Lars Tiffany

Lars Tiffany (born June 15, 1968) is an American lacrosse coach. He was most recently the head coach of the Virginia Cavaliers men's lacrosse program at the University of Virginia from 2017 to 2026, where he led the program to back-to-back national titles in 2019 and 2021 (the 2020 tournament was cancelled due to COVID-19). He was named 2019 ACC Coach of the Year. As with his predecessor Dom Starsia, Tiffany came to Virginia after coaching his alma mater at Brown. There, he was the 2015 and 2016 Ivy League Coach of the Year. On November 1, 2022, he was named as the head coach for the Haudenosaunee men's national lacrosse team for the 2023 World Lacrosse Championship.

Early life Born in LaFayette, New York, Tiffany attended LaFayette High School, where he played football, basketball, as well as lacrosse. At Lafayette he was classmates with members of the Onondaga nation which strengthened his love for lacrosse, a sport that their indigenous ancestors pioneered. Tiffany's father owned a ranch adjacent to Onondaga land that also had wild buffalo on. His father made a treaty with the Onondagans to allow eleven of his buffalo to live on their land with all of the calves born to stay on their land. In 1986, he enrolled at Brown University, where he played lacrosse and served as captain for two years. He played in the NCAA tournament in 1987 and 1990. In 1990, he was selected to play in the annual North-South Senior All-Star Game.

In 1985, Tiffany became the first white man to play for the Haudenosaunee national team, then called the Iroquois Nationals.

During Tiffany’s first season at UVA, his Cavalier offense finished No. 1 in the ACC and No. 3 in the nation in three offensive categories: goals per game (14.40), assists per game (9.13) and points per game (23.53). Aitken shattered UVA’s freshmen midfielder record of 29 goals and 40 points. Aitken broke the goals record in eight games. Attackman Kraus was named ACC Freshman of the Year and was the only rookie on the All-ACC team after leading UVA with 34 goals and 56 points.

In 2018, Tiffany’s Cavalier team ranked No. 1 nationally in ground balls (38.0). Defensively in 2017, Virginia led the nation with 43.33 ground balls per game, averaging nearly seven more ground balls per game then No. 2 Brown (36.56), Tiffany’s previous program. Prior to Tiffany coming to UVA, his Brown squad in 2016 led the nation in ground balls as Tiffany’s staff three years in a row has led the nation’s best team on the ground.

In 2018, Tiffany’s Cavaliers were No. 5 nationally in assists (7.72), No. 7 in points per game (20.33) and No. 7 in scoring offense (12.61). Michael Kraus became the third Cavalier in program history to reach 80 points in a season, finishing with 83, ranking No. 8 nationally. First-team All-American midfielder Dox Aitken set a midfielder program record with 51 points in 2018. In 2018, the Cavaliers were runners-up in the ACC tournament.

In 2019, the Cavaliers won both the ACC tournament as well as the NCAA Tournament. This marked the sixth NCAA tournament championship for the University of Virginia, and Tiffany's first as a head coach.

In 2021, Tiffany led the Cavaliers back to the national championship game defeating top-seeded North Carolina in the national semifinals. In the final, Virginia defeated the previously undefeated (and historic rivals) Maryland Terrapins 17–16 to earn Tiffany back-to-back NCAA Championships and the ninth national title overall for Virginia men's lacrosse.

Tiffany was relieved of his duties on 18 May 2026, eight days after the fifth-seeded Cavaliers' 14–10 home loss to Georgetown in the NCAA Tournament. He was replaced by associate head coach/offensive coordinator Kevin Cassese on 26 May.

Personal life Tiffany resides in Charlottesville, Virginia with his wife and their child. He has been a vegetarian for over thirty years.