Bill Pilat

Entering his 37th season at the helm of the Roanoke College program, Bill Pilat has over 400 career wins, while his 70% win percentage is also the best in the history of the ODAC.

Pilat ranks fourth all-time in career wins for active men's lacrosse coaches (all levels) and seventh among all coaches, active or retired. He is third in Division III for wins among active coaches and fifth overall.

When the Maroons punched their ticket to the NCAA Division III Tournament last season, the Maroons became the 13^th team to do so under Pilat’s guidance.

In 2015, Pilat earned his 300th career win, becoming the 15th men's lacrosse coach in all of NCAA Divisions I, II or III to accomplish that milestone. During his tenure as coach, Pilat has led the team to 11 ODAC Championships and now 16 NCAA Tournament appearances after appearing in the NCAA Tournament yet again in the 2015 season. The Maroons finished the season with its program record-setting seventh consecutive 10-win season.

Pilat has been named the ODAC Coach of the Year in a vote of his league peers, the most of any ODAC coach. He has claimed nine Old Dominion Athletic Conference Championships, the latest coming in 2013.

Pilat is an integral part of Roanoke’s lacrosse excellence both as a player and a coach. As a player, Pilat was a three-time All-American, two-time ODAC Player of the Year, and the 1985 Roanoke Male Athlete of the Year. Also in 1985, Pilat received the C. Markland Kelly Award and the Hero’s Award as the nation’s top goaltender. With 710 collegiate saves, he has 29 more stops than any other keeper in school history. In addition to leading the program in career saves, Pilat has also coached six of the nine other players ranked in the top 10 all-time saves list at the school. Three of those goalies have earned All-American status.

In addition to coaching and recruiting, Pilat has been very active in the lacrosse community. A former member of the Division III Advisory and All-American committees, he has served as the president of both the ODAC and Division III Coaches associations. He has been the chairman of the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association’s Century Club and was a member of the U.S. World Lacrosse Team player selection committee. Pilat is also one of the nation’s most recognizable summer camp directors, running several camps in Virginia, Florida, Connecticut, Ohio, and New York. The Bill Pilat Goalie School is regarded as the nation’s best camp for goalies. Pilat’s latest venture is a new goalie video aimed at improving the skills and fundamentals of both novice and advanced keepers.

Pilat graduated cum laude from Roanoke in 1985 and earned a master’s degree from Alfred University in education in 1986. While at Alfred, he served as a graduate assistant with the Saxons’ lacrosse program. Pilat spent the 1987 season as a member of the Washington & Lee University staff, helping the Generals to a national semifinal appearance, before returning to Roanoke as an assistant in 1988.

He currently resides in Roanoke with his wife, Diana, also a 1985 Roanoke graduate. Their two children are Will and Emily. Will was a multiple time All-American at Roanoke, graduating in 2016 and won the 2018 National Championship as an assistant coach at Wesleyan.