Randy Mearns
Current teamRochester Knighthawks
Overall record(NCAA)
Birth dateMay 28, 1969 (age 57)
Birth placeSt. Catharines, Ontario, Canada
Alma materCanisius College
Championships

As coach: 2x MAAC Tournament (2008, 2012)
3x MAAC Regular Season (2006, 2008, 2022)
2x World Lacrosse Championship (2006, 2014)

As player: 2x NLL Champion (1993, 1997)
5x Mann Cup (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996)
1x Minto Cup (1990)

Player years 11990-1992
Player team 1Canisius College
Player years 21993
Player team 2Buffalo Bandits
Player years 31995-2001
Player team 3Rochester Knighthawks
Player years 42002
Player team 4Buffalo Bandits
Canlaxhof2013

Randy Mearns (born May 28, 1969) is a Canadian former lacrosse player who is the interim head coach of the Rochester Knighthawks of the National Lacrosse League (NLL). After a 9-year career in the National Lacrosse League, Mearns became the head coach of the Canisius Golden Griffins men’s lacrosse team, where he would coach for 19 seasons before leaving in 2017 to coach for the newly created lacrosse program at St. Bonaventure.

Mearns, along with the entire 2006 Canadian National lacrosse team, was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame, following a lengthy career in the Ontario Lacrosse Association, Major Series Lacrosse and Western Lacrosse Association Canadian professional box lacrosse leagues as a player.[1]

Canadian box career

Mearns played for the St. Catharines Athletics for 5 years. In 1990, Mearns led the team to their first Minto Cup championship since 1950, and was awarded the "Jim McConaghy Memorial Cup" for Minto Cup M.V.P. He was later given the "B.W. Evans Award" for Top Graduating Player.[2] Mearns ranked 36th all time in Canadian Junior A lacrosse assists (regular season and playoffs combined) with 348.[3]

With the Brampton Excelsiors, Mearns won Mann Cup championships in 1992 and 1993, and also won three with the Six Nation Chiefs (’94, ‘95’ ’96).

College career

Mearns was an All-American NCAA lacrosse player at Canisius College from 1990 to 1992 who is currently 20th all-time in Division I career points-per-game (PPG), having scored 95 goals and 95 assists for 190 career points in 39 games. He is also the all-time leading scorer at Canisius.[4]

Professional career

Mearns played professionally for the NLL's Buffalo Bandits and Rochester Knighthawks, acting as captain of the 1997 NLL champion Knighthawk team. Rochester also played in the 1995, 1999 and 2000 finals.[5] Since his retirement from professional lacrosse, he has served as the color commentator for the Bandits' radio broadcasts alongside play-by-play man John Gurtler.

Coaching career

College

He coached the Canisius men's lacrosse team through 2017, and also was an assistant coach on the Canadian national team that won the gold medal at the 2006 World Lacrosse Championship. Mearns won 94 games in his 18 years of coaching at Canisius, and led the Griffins to their first ever NCAA tournament bid in 2008 where they lost to Syracuse in the first round, and second in 2012 where they lost against Loyola in the first round.[6] Mearns has provided development for his players towards the professional ranks, including Mark Miyashita who graduated from Canisius in 2003 and was the first overall selection in the 2003 National Lacrosse League draft. In a preseason coaches poll, Canisius was picked to repeat in 2009 as MAAC champions. However after a rough start to the season where they lost six straight including 3 one-goal losses, the Griffs ended 2009 on a 4 and 3 run.

Mearns was Head Coach of the Canadian national team that won the gold medal at the 2014 World Lacrosse Championship.

Mearns was named the initial head coach for the St. Bonaventure men's Division I lacrosse team, in June 2017. On April 28, 2025, the University announced that Mearns would not return as head coach.[7]

National Lacrosse League

On March 10, 2026, Mearns was named the interim head coach of the Rochester Knighthawks. Mearns took over from Mike Hasen, who was fired by Rochester after a 5–6 start to the 2026 season.[8]

Head coaching record

NLL head coaching statistics

TeamSeasonRegular SeasonPlayoffsPlayoff result
GCWLW%GCWLW%
Rochester Knighthawks2026*716.143––––Did not qualify
Totals:1716.143––––

* - Interim head coach

Statistics

NLL

  Regular Season Playoffs
SeasonTeamGPGAPtsLBPIMGPGAPtsLBPIM
1993Buffalo8336274200082
1995Rochester829112982055102
1996Rochester10102434638123580
1997Rochester109172655182066160
1998Rochester1172027446102222
1999Rochester10918275042066180
2000Rochester11620268962224192
2001Rochester12217197512102230
2002Buffalo15142438664------------
NLL totals9562152214498701342630848

OLA

  Regular Season Playoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGPGAPtsPIMGPGAPtsPIM
1985Niagara WarriorsOLA Jr B21120----------
1985St. Catharines AthleticsOLA Jr A42240----------
1986St. Catharines AthleticsOLA Jr A201525408103582
1987St. Catharines AthleticsOLA Jr A2533701032391020308
1988St. Catharines AthleticsOLA Jr A1528336166713202
1989St. Catharines AthleticsOLA Jr A243161921711718252
1990St. Catharines AthleticsOLA Jr A1839621011191639558
1991Brampton ExcelsiorsMSL1314142826--66--
1992Brampton ExcelsiorsMSL141212242121411256
1993Brampton ExcelsiorsMSL15223153109710176
1994Six Nations ChiefsMSL2015334843187243131
1995Six Nations ChiefsMSL1815334829144202419
1996Six Nations ChiefsMSL181222343361910--
1997Niagara Falls GamblersMSL15122941121616153124
1998BuffaloMSL107111849513184
1999Brampton ExcelsiorsMSL2134--19926352
Junior A Totals1061482534016545439513822
Senior A Totals1251101882981351096313419792

Canisius College

   
SeasonGPGAPtsPPG
1990164549945.58
1991133018483.69
1992102028484.80
Totals3995951904.87 (a)
(a) 20th in NCAA career points-per-game

See also

References

  1. ^ "Power's bible of Lacrosse Stats". Power's Bible of Lacrosse. Archived from the original on 2007-10-13.
  2. ^ "O.L.A. Junior A Trophy Winners". wampsbibleoflacrosse.com. Archived from the original on September 21, 2017. Retrieved November 18, 2009.
  3. ^ "Top 100 Career Leaders For Goals, Assists, And Points In Canadian Junior A Lacrosse". wampsbibleoflacrosse.com. Archived from the original on October 1, 2017. Retrieved November 18, 2009.
  4. ^ "Canisius Griffins Coach Bio". Canisius University.
  5. ^ "Rochester Knighthawks History". Rochester Knighthawks website.
  6. ^ "Canisius Defeats VMI to Claim Its First MAAC Title". LaxPower.com. May 4, 2008.
  7. ^ "St. Bonaventure Announces Men's Lacrosse Leadership Change". St. Bonaventure University Athletics. April 28, 2025. Retrieved May 8, 2025.
  8. ^ "Knighthawks name Randy Mearns interim head coach". Rochesterknighthawks.com. Rochester Knighthawks. March 10, 2026. Retrieved March 12, 2026.