Updated 5/25/07

University of Delaware head lacrosse coach Bob Shillinglaw, one of the nation's most respected and successful coaches, will begin his 31st season as head coach of the Blue Hen men's lacrosse program and his 34th season of college coaching overall in 2009.

He leads a Blue Hen program that has posted 10 or more wins four of the last seasons, has five straight winning seasons, has advanced to the Colonial Athletic Association championship game three times in the last five years, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament twice in the last four campaigns.

Shillinglaw owns a career record of 249-223 (.527) at Delaware that includes 13 conference titles, including seven East Coast Conference titles, three North Atlantic Conference titles, a 1999 America East Conference title, the 2005 Colonial Athletic Association regular season title, the 2007 CAA Tournament title, and NCAA Tournament appearances in 1984, 1999, 2005, and 2007.

He holds the NCAA all-time, all-divisions record for most career coaching appearances with 513, breaking the record of 510 set by Jack Emmer at Cortland State, Washington & Lee, and Army from 1970 until 2005. Shillinglaw, whose overall career coaching record stands at 273-240, will enter the 2009 season ranked fourth in total victories among active NCAA Division I coaches, trailing only Dave Urick of Georgetown, Glenn Thiel of Penn State, and Dom Starsia of Virginia. With his next victory, Shillinglaw will become just the eighth coach in NCAA history to win 250 games at one school.

He led the Blue Hens to their finest season in school history in 2007. The Blue Hens went 13-6 overall, captured the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament title, and advanced to the NCAA Final Four for the first time in school history. Delaware stormed past defending national champion and No. 2 seed Virginia by a 14-8 score in the first round, defeated No. 13 ranked UMBC 10-6 in the quarterfinals at Navy, and trailed eventual national champion Johns Hopkins 3-2 late in the third quarter before falling to the Blue Jays 8-3 in the national semifinals before a record crowd of 52,004 fans at Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium. Delaware was ranked No. 15 in the final USILA poll - based on the regular season - for the second straight year.

Shillinglaw, 55, is the winningest coach in Delaware's 61-year lacrosse history and his past accomplishments also include coaching his 1984, 1999, 2005, and 2007 teams to NCAA Tournament appearances, including the 2007 Final Four appearance, and leading his 1979 squad to a 13-2 mark and being named United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Coach of the Year.

The 1999 season was also one of the finest ever in UD history. The team broke several records, including most wins in a season (14-2); most goals in a season, consecutive wins (11), and best start (8-0). For his efforts, Shillinglaw was named America East Coach of the Year and earned his second USILA Coach of the Year award.

Shillinglaw received another big honor in June, 1999 when he was selected as head coach of Team USA for the 1999 inaugural World Cup of Lacrosse. Team USA that defeated Team Canada in a best of three series July 14-17 at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD.

The Blue Hens have enjoyed outstanding campaigns each of the last four seasons, recording four straight seasons with 10 or more victories for the first time in school history. Delaware is one of only four schools in NCAA Division I who have won 10 or more games each of the last four seasons (2004-07) and only two teams have won more than Delaware's 46 games during that span. Delaware's .667 winning percentage is eighth best among teams during that four-year period as well.

In 2004, the Blue Hens went 10-6 and advanced to the CAA semifinals. In 2005, the Hens went 11-6 and captured the CAA regular season title. The Hens fell to Towson in the CAA title game in 2005 but earned an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament where they fell to No. 5 seed Navy 9-7 in the opening round. For his efforts, Shillinglaw was named CAA Coach of the Year. The Blue Hens were ranked nationally both seasons, moving up as high as No. 11 during the 2004 season.

In 2006, Shillinglaw led the Blue Hens to a record of 12-5 and a berth in the CAA Championships game before falling to No. 2 ranked Hofstra in the finals.

Shillinglaw has been named league coach of the year five times, earning the award in the North Atlantic Conference in 1992, 1993, 1994, and as part of the America East in 1999. His teams have failed to post a winning record in league play just four times in his 30-year tenure, posted an undefeated record 10 times, and won over 72 percent of its league regular season contests.

A native of Severna Park, MD where he was a standout football and lacrosse player at Severna Park High School, Shillinglaw is a 1974 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina. Shillinglaw lettered four years in lacrosse for the Tar Heels and served as team captain as a senior.

Before coming to Delaware, he was 24-17 in three years as head coach at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. He earned his master's degree from Boston University in 1978.

He earned his 200th career victory with an 8-7 overtime win over Hofstra Apr. 14, 2000 and his 200th win at Delaware in 2004 when the Hens downed 18th-ranked Air Force March 20. He earned his 250th career victory in 2006 as the Hens defeated Robert Morris in the final regular season game of the year.

He has twice been selected to the coaching staff of the North-South Lacrosse Senior All-Star Classic, serving as South Team head coach in 1987, South co-head coach in 1997, and as an assistant in 1981.

Shillinglaw is a past president of the United States Lacrosse Coaches Association and is actively involved in the All-America Advisory Board, and the Rules and Equipment committee of the USLCA, and with the USILA Top 20 Coaches Poll.

An Assistant Professor at the University of Delaware, he has published numerous articles in athletic journals as well as lectured at various coaching clinics. He resides with his wife, Tina, and their three daughters in Elkton, MD.