Peter Milliman is an American lacrosse coach and former professional player. In 2020, he was named the 23rd head coach in

Johns Hopkins Blue Jays men's lacrosse The Johns Hopkins Blue Jays men's lacrosse team represents Johns Hopkins University in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college lacrosse. Since 2015, the Blue Jays have represented the Big Ten Conference. Overview The ...

history after serving as the Richard M. Moran Head Coach for the

Cornell Big Red men's lacrosse The Cornell Big Red men's lacrosse team represents Cornell University in NCAA Division I men's lacrosse. History As a member of the Ivy League, Cornell has won 30 conference championships (18 outright, 12 shared), more than any other school (Princ ...

for three seasons.

Early life and education

Milliman was born and raised by a single mother in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

. While attending Brighton High School, Milliman began playing lacrosse in order to stay in shape for football season. He was also inspired by Indigenous coach

Sid Jamieson Sid Jamieson is an American former lacrosse coach. He is the only Native American head coach in the history of NCAA Division I lacrosse. He was Bucknell University's initial head coach for the men's college lacrosse team, serving from the incepti ...

at a summer camp to continue playing the game. Following high school, he attended

Gettysburg College Gettysburg College is a private liberal arts college in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1832, the campus is adjacent to the Gettysburg Battlefield. Gettysburg College has about 2,600 students, with roughly equal numbers of men and women. ...

where he was a three-time Division III

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

and three-time All-Centennial Conference pick. However, he struggled academically at Gettysburg and dropped out of the school with no more athletic eligibility and a few credits short of graduating.

Career

Upon leaving Gettysburg, Milliman was drafted in the fifth-round, 26th overall, by the

Rochester Rattlers Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom * Rochester, Kent **City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area **History of Rochester, Kent **HM Prison R ...

in the 2003

Major League Lacrosse Major League Lacrosse (MLL) was a men's field lacrosse league in the United States. The league's inaugural season was in 2001. Teams played anywhere from ten to 16 games in a summertime regular season. This was followed by a four-team playoff f ...

’s (MLL) Supplemental Draft. He went on to play professionally for four years with Rattlers, winning an MLL Championship in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. While playing professional lacrosse, Milliman served as an assistant coach for the

RIT Tigers The RIT Tigers are composed of 22 teams representing Rochester Institute of Technology in intercollegiate athletics, including men and women's basketball, crew, cross country, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, and track and ...

and

Siena College Siena College is an American private Franciscan college in Loudonville, New York. Siena was founded by the Order of Friars Minor in 1937. The college was named after Bernardino of Siena, a 15th-century Italian Franciscan friar and preacher. St ...

. After winning an MLL Championship, Milliman was named men's assistant lacrosse coach at

Pfeiffer University Pfeiffer University is a private university in Misenheimer, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. History Pfeiffer originated from a home school operated by Miss Emily Prudden in the late 19th century. The school ...

for the

Pfeiffer Falcons The Pfeiffer Falcons are the athletic teams that represent Pfeiffer University, located in Misenheimer, North Carolina, in Division III intercollegiate sporting competitions of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The school trans ...

. While serving in this role, he was the recipient of two Conference Carolinas Coach of the Year awards. He stayed in this role until 2012 when he accepted an assistant defensive coordinator position at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

. As the assistant defensive coordinator, he helped the Tigers to a 9–6 record overall and a mark of 3–3 in the Ivy League during the 2013 season. After one year at Princeton, Milliman was named Princeton's offensive coordinator but chose to leave and accept an assistant coach position for the

team. During the 2014 campaign, Milliman helped the team to a 9–0 record to begin the season and 11–5 overall. As a result, he was named the Mario St. George Boiardi '04 Associate Head Coach of Men's Lacrosse. During the offseason, he chose to serve as a volunteer head coach for Team Russia at the

2014 World Lacrosse Championship The 2014 World Lacrosse Championship was held July 10–19 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park outside Denver, Colorado. 38 nations played 142 games in this international field lacrosse, men's lacrosse championship tournament organized by the Federation ...

after being recruited by Eugene Arkhipov. Prior to this, he had been unaware Russia had a lacrosse team and had never seen any of the players compete live. Milliman was made Richard M. Moran Head Coach of Men's Lacrosse in 2018 and in his first season, the team qualified for the NCAA quarterfinals for the first time in two years. The team went on to finish second in the conference and won the program's first Ivy League Tournament title since 2011. The following year, he was named an assistant coach for Team USA at the

2019 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship The 2019 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship (WILC) was the fifth international box lacrosse championship organized by World Lacrosse every four years. It was held 19-28 September 2019 at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, British Columbia, Can ...

where he helped them to their fifth straight bronze medal. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Milliman was named the 23rd head coach in

history.

Personal life

Milliman is married to Megan Milliman (''nee'' Fox), a lacrosse coach at

Wells College Wells College is a private liberal arts college in Aurora, New York. The college has cross-enrollment with Cornell University and Ithaca College. For much of its history it was a women's college. Wells College is located in the Finger Lakes reg ...

. They have two daughters together.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milliman, Peter Living people Rochester Rattlers players American lacrosse players Gettysburg College alumni Cornell Big Red men's lacrosse coaches Johns Hopkins Blue Jays men's lacrosse coaches Year of birth missing (living people) Sportspeople from Rochester, New York