Tony Mackin, Assistant Coach

Tony Mackin is entering his second season on the VMI coaching staff this year, and will assist with the team’s face-off unit, recruiting, and day-to-day office activities.

Mackin played an instrumental role in the continued emergence of face-off specialist Stephen Robarge in his first year on Post, as the junior secured the NCAA statistical title in face-offs as well as ground balls, becoming only the second player in NCAA history to win both the face-off and ground ball category. Robarge’s 10.15 ground balls per contest ranks No. 8 in NCAA history and is the highest ground ball per game average in Division I lacrosse since 2006, when Denver’s Geoff Snider averaged 11.41 grounders per contest.

Additionally, Mackin was responsible for the revolution of junior Chris Rossie in a face-off wing position, as VMI had the only duo in ranked in the top-25 nationally in ground balls, as junior Chris Rossie collected 65 ground balls on the year primarily in a face-off wing position. As a team, VMI was No. 2 in the country in face-offs as a team, coming in second behind Jacksonville.

Mackin joined the Keydets after a year as a graduate assistant coach at Marymount University in Arlington, Va., earning a master’s in secondary education. He is a 2008 graduate of Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pa., where he played a pair of seasons under VMI head coach Brian Anken. Serving as a team captain senior year, his season was cut short after suffering a career-ending knee injury.

Following the injury, Mackin took on a role as an assistant coach, where he headed the man-down defense and assisted with team conditioning and scouting.

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