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CHAMPION PLAYERS TURNED CHAMPION COACHES

Gait joins Resch as second to win title as both player & coach

09/30/2006

When the Colorado Mammoth defeated the Buffalo Bandits 16-9 in the 2006 Championship Game, Mammoth Head Coach Gary Gait became just the second person in league history to have won a Championship as both a player and as a coach. In doing so, Gait follows in the footsteps of the coach he played four seasons for during his Hall of Fame playing career, Tony Resch. Gait played for Resch from 1994-1997 and the two won championships together in 1994 and 1995 with the Philadelphia Wings. As a player, Resch was on the 1989 and 1990 Wings championship teams.

Barry Powless is also worth noting as he won a championship as a coach with the Rochester Knighthawks in 1997. Powless also played three games for the 1992 Champion Buffalo Bandits, but did not play in the championship game or any postseason games that season.

With Gait's 2006 Championship, he also joined a short list of coaches to win championship in their first season as Head Coach. Since Bob Griebe led the Baltimore Thunder to the first ever league championship in 1987, only three coaches have since gone on to win a championship in their first season; Les Bartley, Tony Resch and Gary Gait.

Les Bartley won two consecutive championships to begin his career, including an astonishing win streak of 22 consecutive games. Bartley's win streak included the 1992 and 1993 Championship Games and was his first 22 games as a coach in the league, a win streak still stands as an all-time record.

Tony Resch, who played for the Philadelphia Wings from 1988 to 1993 and won two championships (1989, 1990), coached the Wings to titles in his first two seasons as coach of the team. Resch, along with Mike French, led the Wings to the 1994 championship, and when he gained complete control of the head coaching duties in 1995, he again led the Wings to a title.

The only two coaches before Gary Gait to have won a championship in their first season behind the bench, have gone on to win again the following season. Bartley won in 1992 and 1993, and Resch won in 1994 and 1995.

Gait, who was the MVP of the 1995 Championship Game playing for Tony Resch, won three championships as a player, winning in 1991 with Detroit and in 1994 and 1995 with the Philadelphia Wings. Heading into his second season as a Head Coach, Gait now begins a title defense in just his second season as an NLL coach.