Michael Baggetta became the first head coach in program history and will patrol the sidelines in his first season with the Running Eagles during the 2023-2024 academic year.
Prior to joining the Running Eagles staff, Baggetta brings 15 years on the sidelines coaching at the club, high school, collegiate, and international levels. Most recentely, Baggetta enjoyed a five-year stint as the head coach at NCAA Division III Ferrum College. Before heading to Southwest Virginia, Baggetta had stops at Bridgewater (VA) College, Salisbury University, earning a NCAA Division III national title in 2016, Herndon High School, and the University of South Carolina.
During his tenure at Ferrum College, Baggetta saw constant improvement, instilling a strong team culture and closing out his career as second on the list for all-time career wins in program history.
While at Ferrum, Baggetta fostered a tradition of academic success as every four-year player graduated. The men’s lacrosse program held the 2nd highest team GPA in the athletic department, two players gained VaSID Academic All-State honors, and 14 Ferrum student-athletes were named to the Academic All-ODAC team. Additionally, six were named to the USA South’s All-Academic team. In 2020, Bagetta saw graduate Jack Sheehan become the first Panther lacrosse player to receive the Ferrum College Presidents Cup. The annual award is presented to a graduating student-athlete for outstanding citizenship, leadership, academic achievement, and athletic performance.
In 2018, Baggetta oversaw Ferrum’s transition from the USA South to the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. His passionate and intense approach to the game helped mold the team’s relentless identity, garnering respect from some of the most storied programs in college lacrosse. Throughout his time at Ferrum, the Panthers reached several milestones, including five team records set, eight individual records, and seven players earning All-Conference honors.
The 2021 campaign was record-setting once again as goalkeeper Patrick Martinek finished the season ranked 3rd in the country for saves with 231 and 1st in the ODAC with 163 conference saves. That season, the star keeper set records for most saves in a single game with 28 and most saves in a single season.
In Baggetta’s final season at Ferrum, the Panther’s defense ranked 3rd in the ODAC in man-down defense (74.6%) holding opponents to 17 goals on 67 extra-man opportunities.
During the Summer of 2019 Baggetta was selected to coach the USA College Lacrosse tour team in Australia. The USA team, which included 21 student-athletes from 12 different Division II and Division III higher education institutions across the States, finished a perfect 3-0 during the trip with wins over The Camberwell Lacrosse Club, the U-19 Aussie National team, and the Altona Lacrosse Club.
An expert recruiter, Baggetta brought in over 60 athletes at Ferrum, fundraising exceptionally, while remaining very involved with the campus community. During his time in Virginia, he served on the Presidential Innovation Team and was voted Co-Chair of the Staff Council.
Prior to Ferrum College, Baggetta spent time as the recruiting and offensive coordinator at Bridgewater College, overseeing the goalies and face-off Units. Baggetta’s offensive unit finished the season ranked 1st in the ODAC for shooting percentage as he increased the teams' goal production by 25%. The face-off unit won 54% of their face-offs finishing the 2017 season 7-9 with two All-ODAC Selections. As a recruiting coordinator, Baggetta fostered two future All-Americans and six All-ODAC team members. Many of those recruits went on to play major roles for the Eagles, ending their careers in the program's first appearance in the ODAC Semi-Finals.
Before Bridgewater, Coach Baggetta served four seasons as Scout Team Coordinator at Salisbury University under the mentorship of Coach Jim Berkman, the all-time winningest coach in NCAA men’s lacrosse history. The Scout Snipers’ reputation began with Baggetta, as Baggetta aided with the development of players that eventually became starters and major contributors to the program with former Scout Snipers going on to earn All-Conference, All-American, and Position Players of the Year honors. During Baggetta’s time on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, the Sea Gulls posted a 78-14 overall record, won two Capital Athletic Conference Championships, appeared in four NCAA quarterfinals, three national semifinals, and two NCAA National Championships.
Playing beyond college has been a reality for several of Baggetta’s former student-athletes. Several have been drafted by a professional team in the Major League Lacrosse, the National Lacrosse League and the LXM Tour, with Rob Kaminski (Ferrum College, 2019) most recently continuing his playing career at the international level winning the 2021 European Championship on the Polish International Team.
Baggetta’s student-athletes spend time logging hours volunteering and getting involved with the community. With former teams raising money for those in need to go to college as well as managing the Lax for Leukemia Youth Day. Baggetta is also the founder of the Blackshirts Lacrosse Club, a non-profit organization that helps grow the game of lacrosse.
Prior to coaching, Baggetta was a highly touted face-off midfielder as Inside Lacrosse Magazine ranked Baggetta the number one blue-chip face-off recruit in the 2003 class.
Baggetta attended the University of Massachusetts, as UMass’s 2003 recruiting class proved to be the group that would be instrumental in leading the Minutemen to their first national title appearance in 2006.
While at UMass, Baggetta had the opportunity to line up and scrum with some of the greatest face-off men of all time including 2018 member of Team USA, five-time all-star, and 2015 MLL MVP Greg “the Beast” Gurenlian.
After beginning a collegiate playing career at UMASS, Baggetta ultimately decided to transfer to Hampden-Sydney College to play lacrosse and football. At the face-off X, he ranked top 25 in the program with ground balls in a season.
After college Baggetta enjoyed a semi-professional stint from 2007 to 2012 in the American Lacrosse League for the Arlington Six Shooters. As a free agent in the Major League Lacrosse player pool, Baggetta was invited to try out for the Chesapeake Bayhawks and Denver Outlaw, earning a spot on the reserve squad for the Bayhawks. He has also competed in the Ocean City Lacrosse Classic, and Lake Placid Summit Classic on multiple occasions.
Baggetta has had the privilege to speak at various coaching summits, clinics, and conventions including the US Lacrosse Coaching Convention. Currently, Baggetta serves as a member of the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA), the Intercollegiate Men’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IMLCA), and US Lacrosse.
Contributing to the growth of the game has been a source of motivation for Coach Baggetta with both coworkers and student-athletes joining the life of coaching after spending time with Baggetta.
Before entering his coaching career, Baggetta was the owner and Director of Sports Performance at PROformance Edge Athlete Training in Columbia, SC and holds several strength and conditioning certificates. He has also gained professional experience working in admissions at Salisbury University, as well as owns PROformance Edge Sports an instructional sports camp company, PROformance Edge Media a marketing and events firm that focuses on small business and small college athletic departments marketing campaigns, and PROformance Edge Retrievers a canine training and breeding company.
The Oakton, VA native earned his bachelor’s degree in marketing, education and coaching from Salisbury University and is currently pursuing his Master’s in Business Administration from Louisiana State University – Shreveport.
Baggetta resides in Marietta with Shadow his black Labrador retriever enjoying his time away from lacrosse by cooking, reading, video editing, graphic designing, and spending time working with Shadow. As an outdoors enthusiast he finds solace in spending time on a beach, on the water fishing, or in a tree stand and duck blind hunting.
