Experienced lacrosse coach Will McMinn named to lead Crean Lutheran boys team

Will McMinn has been named new boys lacrosse at Crean Lutheran. (Photo courtesy Crean Lutheran High School)

Crean Lutheran officials have selected Will McMinn, who has coached championship caliber Orange County high school and college programs, to be the head coach of the school’s boys lacrosse program.

“I am both blessed and honored by the opportunity to serve students and their families at Crean Lutheran, equipping, empowering, and encouraging future servant leaders to impact the world for Christ,” McMinn said.

Crean Lutheran Athletic Director Eric Olson said McMinn brings more than 30 years of coaching experience. McMinn’s teams have won championships on the youth, high school and college level.

“I would like to welcome Coach Will McMinn to the Crean Lutheran Saints family,” Olson said. “Coach McMinn is a well established and very experienced lacrosse coach who is also a faithful follower of Jesus Christ.

“Coach McMinn looks forward to training players in preparation to play at the next level and will be a great addition to our excellent coaching staff at CLHS. Our administrative team could not be more excited about the boys lacrosse program and this upcoming season.”

McMinn has been coaching at various levels from youth to college in Orange County since 1988. He was co-founder of Orange County Youth Lacrosse and had head coaching stints at Trabuco Hills, Tesoro (where he was county coach of the year in 2005) and JSerra high schools. He helped JSerra and Tesoro reach top five Orange County rankings. McMinn was also named to the Greater Los Angeles/ OC U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame.

The Saints’ new coach later coached at Concordia University in Irvine where he was the head coach and director of lacrosse from 2009-2013. McMinn was the Southwestern Lacrosse Conference collegiate coach of the year in 2010 and 2012 and the men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association National Division 2 Co-Coach of the Year in 2012.

From 2014-2018, he was head coach and director at Montreat College in North Carolina.

Now, he’s ready to lead Crean Lutheran.

“It’s all about developing young people,” he said. 

McMinn played college lacrosse at UC Santa Barbara and later played club lacrosse for about 20 years. McMinn helped the sport of lacrosse grow in the county and believes there are many benefits for those who play.

“It’s the most enjoyable game on two feet, there’s no question about it,” he said. “It requires ultimate athleticism from a strength and agility standpoint to a hand-eye coordination standpoint.”

McMinn’s wife is Christine. McMinn has a son, Kelly, who was a high school All-American at JSerra, and went on to play NCAA Division 1 lacrosse at Virginia Military Institute and a daughter Kylie, who is currently the head women’s lacrosse coach at Corban University in Salem, Oregon.