Jesse Bernhardt - Men's Lacrosse Coach - Princeton University Athletics

Jesse Bernhardt

Title:
Defensive Coordinator
Email:
jb54@princeton.edu
Phone:
258-4978

Jesse Bernhardt is in his second year as defensive coordinator for the Princeton men's lacrosse team.

In his first season with the Princeton defense, Bernhardt helped produce a first-team All-Ivy League goalie, a first-team All-Ivy League defenseman and two freshmen defenders who were named freshmen All-Americas by College Crosse.

Bernhardt has been a Major League Lacrosse champion, a World Championships runner-up and a coach and player at the NCAA Final Four. He spent the last two years as an assistant coach at Rutgers, helping the program back into the national spotlight while coaching defense and face-offs.

A Maryland graduate and current defenseman of the Chesapeake Bayhawks of Major League Lacrosse, Bernhardt has spent the last two years on the staff at Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights defense was ranked 48^th in Division I the year before Bernhardt arrived and since has improved to 35^th in 2015 and 29^th this past season, at 9.88 goals against per game.

Rutgers went 11-5 in 2016, with a pair of wins over Johns Hopkins and a spot in the Big Ten championship game. The Scarlet Knights were ranked 16^th in the final poll of the year.

Bernhardt was a two-time All-America, including a first-team selection as a senior, as well as a two-time Tewaaraton Trophy nominee, USILA Scholar All-America and first-team All-ACC selection before graduating in 2013. As a junior he helped Maryland to the NCAA final.

He began his college coaching career with his alma mater in 2014, when he helped the Terrapins reach the Final Four.

Bernhardt, whose brother Jared was recently named the Most Outstanding Player at the U-19 World Championships, won an MLL title with the Bayhawks in 2013 and was an MLL all-star the following year.