Peterborough’s Paul Day to focus solely on GM duties with NLL
Day led the Lakers to four Mann Cup, five MSL titles in seven seasons as GM
After 30 years of coaching, Paul Day says it’s time for another focus.
Day, 55, has served in the duo capacity of head coach and general manager of the National Lacrosse League’s Philadelphia Wings since they re-entered the league in 2017. This week, Day and the Wings announced he is giving up the coaching role while announcing a twoyear contract extension as Wings’ GM. The team holds an option on a further two-year extension through 2027-28.
The Peterborough native started coaching junior-A lacrosse in 1994 and went on his first NLL bench in 1995.
“It’s been a long time,” said Day. “Between junior, senior, NLL, Team Canada, minor lacrosse, at some point you exhaust your coaching hats. I’m quite happy to work full-time as a GM. Sometimes when you’re coaching, you’re just worried about coaching and you’re not a full-time GM. This gives me the opportunity to really focus on watching a lot more junior lacrosse.”
The Wings possess the first-overall pick in next fall’s NLL draft after acquiring the Colorado Mammoth’s pick from the New York Riptide earlier this season.
The Wings are coming off a 6-12 season in which they missed the playoffs after going 9-9 the previous two years.
Day admits to disappointment at not getting the job done this year.
“It was an inconsistent year,” he said. “We had a lot of injuries early and a lot of guys at the exact same time. It was hard to battle back from that. One positive thing is we used seven or eight rookies, which I’ve never been involved with a team, even with expansion teams. We got some young guys experience, which will really help this team in the future.”
He may not be able to start his coaching search in earnest until the NLL playoffs conclude.
“I want a coaching staff that has a lot of NLL experience either as players or coaches or a mix of both,” Day said.
“Paul and I have been in constant communication since I arrived three years ago,” said Wings president Marc Zamarin in a news release. “I can honestly say that he has been singularly focused on one thing, and that’s putting this organization in the best position to win championships. Not once has it ever been about him, and so as this season progressed, our discussions naturally brought us to considering this new dynamic. With the roster and draft assets that he’s already assembled, I’m enthusiastic about the future of the franchise.”
A member of the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame, Day has appeared in the National Lacrosse League finals nine times, capturing five titles as a player, coach or general manager. His coaching career began with the Rochester Knighthawks, where he helped lead the team to a championship in 1997. He was then promoted to head coach in 1998, leading the team to three more NLL finals through the end of his tenure in 2005.
He then helped launch the Edmonton Rush as their inaugural head coach and general manager from 2006 to 2008. In 2010, he joined the Orlando Titans as assistant coach before returning to the Knighthawks as an assistant coach to support their consecutive championship runs in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
After leading the Wings to a record of 8-6 in the shortened 201920 season — a dramatic improvement over 2018-19 (4-14) — Day was named NLL general manager of the year and recipient of the prestigious Les Bartley Award as coach of the year. Day became just the fifth coach in NLL history to reach 100 head coaching wins in 2022 and finishes with 118.
Day also led the Peterborough Century 21 Lakers to four Mann Cup championships and five Major Series Lacrosse titles in seven seasons as GM before retiring earlier this year.