Dave Cottle withdraws from consideration to coach at Harvard

Former Maryland men's lacrosse coach Dave Cottle said on Tuesday that he has withdrawn from consideration to be the next coach at Harvard. Cottle said he plans to "take a year off" from coaching and will focus on other business interests.

Cottle resigned as Maryland's coach following a 7-5 quarterfinal loss to Notre Dame in mid-May. He then emerged as the leading candidate for the Harvard job, which came open after John Tillman left Harvard to replace Cottle at Maryland.

With Cottle out of the running, a source in the lacrosse community said that Harvard's focus will turn to Gerry Byrne, the lead assistant at Notre Dame. Also in the mix are Dartmouth Coach Andy Towers and Brown Coach Lars Tiffany.