Staff Directory

Jon Torpey

Title:
Rothman Head Coaching Chair for Men's Lacrosse

Brown University's Chancellor Samuel M. Mencoff '78 Vice President for Athletics and Recreation M. Grace Calhoun '92, Ph.D. has named Jon Torpey the Rothman Head Coaching Chair for Men's Lacrosse in May 2024. He enters his third season at the helm of the program in 2027.

Brown captured the program's ninth Ocean State in 2026 after claiming wins over Providence and Bryant. Marcus Wertheim concluded his career in 2026 with a memorable year. Wertheim was selected 26th overall in the PLL College Draft by the California Redwoods, becoming the second player in program history to be selected by the PLL franchise. Overall, Wertheim was the 22nd player to be selected by a PLL or MLL franchise. Wertheim was also named First Team All-Ivy, a USA Lacrosse Honorable Mention All-American, an Inside Lacrosse Third Team All-American, a USILA Third Team All-American, and NEILA First Team All-New England.

Along with Wertheim, Henry Brayer and Trey Taylor were named Honorable Mention All-Ivy and Ben Scandone was named Academic All-Ivy. Taylor was named an Inside Lacrosse Honorable Merntion All-American. Brayer was named NEILA Second Team All-New England while Charlie Cave was named NEILA First Team All-New England.

Brown's 17-16 overtime win over Dartmouth resulted in Brady O'Kane being named Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week and to the USILA National Team of the Week.

The Bears captured the program's eighth Ocean State Cup in 2025 after taking rivalry wins over Providence College, the first under Torpey, and Bryant. Brown also took a thrilling 8-7 road win over 16th-ranked UMass to close out non-conference play.

Charlie Cave continued his stellar career and earned Inside Lacrosse Third Team All-America honors along with Second Team All-Ivy recognition. Aidan McLane joined Cave on the Second Team All-Ivy. The program continued to excel in the classroom and earned the highest GPA in the country with the USILA Academic Team Award. Six Bears picked up USILA Scholar All-American honors and 12 Bears picked up NEILA All-Academic recognition.

Torpey joins Brown after leading High Point University since 2010. Leading the HPU men’s lacrosse program since its inception (NCAA season began in 2013), Torpey took just three seasons of NCAA competition to lead the Panthers to their first NCAA Tournament berth when the team defeated Richmond in the 2015 Southern Conference Championship game. He led the Panthers to their second NCAA tournament appearance in 2022 after defeating Richmond in the SoCon final, 11-8.

Torpey becomes the seventh Brown men’s lacrosse head coach since 1963.

A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Torpey led High Point to 89 victories in seven winning seasons. Under Torpey, High Point had six wins over ranked opponents, including wins over #2 Duke and #9 Virginia in the 13-win 2019 season.

Before arriving at High Point, Torpey spent two seasons as the associate head coach at Dartmouth under head coach Andy Towers ‘93 and five seasons before that as an assistant at the University of Denver under Jamie Munro ‘89.

A 2000 graduate of Ohio State, Torpey was a three-year captain of the Buckeyes under head coach Joe Breschi, an assistant coach at Brown from 1993-97, and current head coach at North Carolina.

Torpey earned Smith & Street’s All-America honors as a senior and was a three-time Big 10 All-Academic honoree and four-year Scholar-Athlete Award winner.

In the professional ranks, Torpey won a NLL title with the Colorado Mammoth in 2006 and a MLL title with the Philadelphia Barrage in 2004.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT JON TORPEY
“I have known Jon a long time and I am a big fan. He has great energy, is outgoing, and personable, and possesses one of the most creative lacrosse minds in the game. In a lot of ways, he has always seemed like a Brown man. I am very confident that Bruno lacrosse fans are going to thoroughly enjoy getting to know him.”

Dom Starsia ‘74, Brown Athletic Hall of Famer, four-time NCAA champion, and former Head Coach at Brown and Virginia

“This hire puts the Ivy League on immediate notice as well as the rest of the country. I applaud Grace Calhoun and Tim Fitzpatrick on their search process and for doing all of their respective due diligence on a tremendous candidate pool. It paid off. The fact is, they couldn’t have hired a bigger winner in Jon as he leads with humility and character, which complement his integrity and hyper-competitive spirit. This is a MASSIVE win for everyone passionate about seeing Brown men’s lacrosse return to national prominence.”

Andy Towers ‘93, Brown Athletic Hall of Famer and Head Coach of the Carolina Chaos (PLL)

“Brown Men’s Lacrosse is getting a great coach and mentor in Jon Torpey. Coach Torpey’s work ethic and commitment to excellence are phenomenal. I could not be more excited to welcome Coach Torpey into the Brown Lacrosse family.”