Doug Bartlett enters his first season as an assistant men's lacrosse coach at Denison University in 2024. Denison Head Men’s Lacrosse Coach Eric Koch announced the hiring of Doug Bartlett as the program’s newest assistant coach on December 5, 2023.
Barlett served as the head coach of the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) men’s lacrosse program for 21 years (1986-2006) and saw some of the most success the program has enjoyed since it became an NCAA program in 1983. Under Bartlett, the Keydets had some of the highest scoring seasons in program history (in rank order, 1995, 1992, 1988, 1996, 1987) and earned the most wins the program had in a single season when his 1988 squad earned 11 for the year. The program had the most consecutive .500+ seasons in school history (1987-92) and earned a school-record five consecutive wins during both the 1988 and 1990 seasons.
Bartlett, who retired from VMI ranked 13th amongst active Division I lacrosse coaches with 127 career wins, had a host of major accomplishments since taking over the program in 1986. In 1992, Bartlett's Keydets went 9-5 and were ranked in the Top 25 national lacrosse poll, becoming only the fourth team in VMI history to achieve that feat. A few years later, the 1995 VMI team also went 9-5 and once again received votes in the national poll. But certainly his most monumental achievement came in 2003, when Bartlett engineered the program's move from independent status to a conference affiliation. Prior to the start of the season, the Keydets joined the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC).
Many of the VMI program's greatest achievements occurred during the Bartlett era as he coached 12 of the 17 members of VMI's 100-Point Club, 10 of 13 of the 70-Goal Club and 7 of 10 of the members from the 50-Assist Club.
Respected among his coaching peers, Bartlett was named head coach of the South team for the annual USILA North/South Game for both the 1992 and 1998 seasons, was selected to serve as chairman of the Division I North/South Lacrosse game, and was inducted by the USILA as a USILA/Nike North/South Legendary Coach. Bartlett has been a featured speaker at the Southeastern Region Lacrosse Coaches Clinic, and has also been a keynote speaker at the United States Lacrosse Association national convention. Furthermore, Bartlett has been actively involved in summer lacrosse camps throughout his tenure at VMI, and annually hosts several of the nation's top players and coaches at his camps.
Most recently, Bartlett was an assistant lacrosse coach for the Luxembourg Men’s National Team since 2019 and has been the Vice President of Development for the VMI Keydet Club since 2006, allowing him to stay heavily involved with fundraising for VMI athletics.
Bartlett is a 1970 graduate of SUNY-Geneseo, where he started on the lacrosse team for four years. He is also the father of another current Denison assistant men’s lacrosse coach, Maiah Bartlett.
