Email coach
Jim Berkman
The all-time winningest coach in NCAA men’s lacrosse history, Jim Berkman enters his 36th season at the helm of the 13-time national champion Salisbury University in 2022-23. Berkman has been the head of Salisbury men’s lacrosse since 1989.
Honors/Accomplishments as Head Coach
13 National Championships (1994-95, 1999, 2003-05, 2007-08, 2011-12, 2016-17, 2023)
620 wins as head coach – most in NCAA history
National Lacrosse Hall of Fame – Class of 2013
Intercollegiate Men's Lacrosse Coaches Hall of Fame - Class of 2023
34 straight NCAA Tournament appearances (1989-present)
29 NCAA Final Four appearances
Eight undefeated seasons (1994-95, 2004-05, 2007-08, 2012, 2020)
Four-time Division III National Coach of the Year (1991, 2008, 2012, 2023)
35 Conference Championships
15 consecutive championships from 1995-2009
253 All-Americans
56 National Players of the Year
26 Conference Players of the Year
12 Conference Coach of the Year awards
Longest winning streak in NCAA history - 69 games
Second-longest winning streak in NCAA history – 55 games
105-game conference win streak
2012 Howdy Myers Man of the Year
14 Professional Lacrosse Draft Picks
Notable Games as Head Coach
May 29, 1994 – Salisbury beats Hobart, 15-9 in College Park for the program’s first NCAA Championship and caps off an undefeated season.
May 28, 1995 – Salisbury takes down Nazareth, 22-13 to repeat as national champions, the first of eight repeat championships for the Sea Gulls.
May 29, 2005 – Salisbury beats Middlebury, 11-10 to win their third consecutive national championship. The 2005 team is only the third team in NCAA Division III to three-peat as national champions.
May 16, 2012 – Berkman collects his 400th SU win in 14-4 NCAA semifinal win against Cabrini
May 17, 2017 – Berkman becomes the only coach in NCAA history with 500 wins with a 17-5 win over Cabrini in the NCAA quarterfinals.
May 28, 2017 – Salisbury wins the 12th national championship in program history with a 15-7 win over RIT in front of the largest crowd for a Division III championship in NCAA history (31,560).
Feb. 18, 2023 - Berkman becomes the first coach in NCAA history with 600 wins with a 25-10 win over Scranton
May 28, 2023 - Salisbury wins its 13th national championship to tie Hobart for the most Division III Championships with a 17-12 win over Tufts.
Coaching Career Prior to Salisbury
After graduating from St. Lawrence in 1982, Berkman spent two years at SU while he earned his master's degree. He served as the Gulls' assistant lacrosse coach during that time as SU compiled a 23-7 record. Following one season at SUNY Potsdam (1985), where Berkman coached the team to a school-record nine wins, he returned to St. Lawrence from 1985-88. As head basketball coach, Berkman directed his 1987-88 Saints to the ICAC league championship. Berkman also guided the SU women's soccer program for seven seasons (1994-2000) and posted an overall 102-28-5 (.774) record and two CAC championships.
Playing Career
An All-American midfielder at St. Lawrence University in 1982, the Watertown, N.Y., native starred on the basketball team as well as the lacrosse squad at St. Lawrence, earning MVP honors in basketball as both a junior and senior. He also was selected to play in the prestigious North-South All-Star lacrosse game in 1982. Berkman was inducted into the St. Lawrence Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001.
Personal Life
Berkman currently resides in Salisbury, Md., with his wife Jennifer. Their son, Kylor, was a four-year member men's lacrosse team and their daughter Keli won a national championship with the Salisbury women's lacrosse team in 2010.
show more