Dave Cottle "unlikely" to take Harvard men's lacrosse job

Updated, July 6, 10:15 a.m.: Notre Dame top assistant Gerry Byrne is the leading candidate for the vacant men’s lacrosse coach job at Harvard, according to a source familiar with the situation, who added that Byrne may have already been offered the job. Complicating matters is that Byrne’s wife is highly-regarded doctor in the South Bend, Ind., area and is understood to be about to join a practice there.

Former Maryland men's lacrosse coach Dave Cottle remains in "a holding pattern" about the job, but two sources in the lacrosse community, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said it is looking increasingly unlikely that he will not take the job and added that Harvard has started to re-examine other candidates.

Cottle was at the top of Harvard's list, numerous sources in the lacrosse community said in June. But he is unlikely to take the job in part because one of his daughters is entering her senior year of high school in the Annapolis area. Another daughter is a freshman at Maryland. Thus Cottle was reluctant to move the family to the Boston area.

Among the leading candidates now is Notre Dame assistant Gerry Byrne. The Fighting Irish advanced to the NCAA title game this past season and Byrne is considered a top recruiter and defensive coach. Byrne also has experience as a head coach -- from 2003 to '06 he was head coach at St. Anselm (NH), a Division II program.

The other finalists include Dartmouth Coach Andy Towers -- a finalist the last time Harvard had an opening, before the 2007 season -- and Brown Coach Lars Tiffany, who was offered the Penn State job earlier this summer but turned it down.