Men's lacrosse will begin its inaugural year at the University of Detroit Mercy in 2008-09 and athletic director Keri Gaither has named Matt Holtz as the first head coach for the new program.

Holtz comes to Detroit from Michigan State University, where he was the men's lacrosse club head coach from 2005-07. Under Holtz's reign, the Spartans posted a 22-10 record and had its highest national ranking of 17th in 2006. In that same season, MSU was a Central Collegiate Lacrosse Association (CCLA) finalist and, in 2007, Holtz earned CCLA Coach of the Year honors.

"I am extremely excited and honored about this opportunity to serve as the first head men's lacrosse coach at Detroit," Holtz commented. "I am looking forward to developing the program, as well as becoming a part of the Titan family."

In his two seasons at MSU, Holtz coached five All-Americans, including three Academic all-Americans. He was also successful in raising extra money for the club team in two annual fundraising campaigns.

"Matt has a solid background in college lacrosse based on his success at Michigan State. He brings a great knowledge of the game with him to UDM. The fact that he has long-standing ties to lacrosse in the State of Michigan should be very beneficial," Gaither said. "I'm sure he'll do a terrific job of getting the program off the ground. We're all looking forward to seeing his team take the field next fall."

Prior to becoming the head coach of MSU's club team, Holtz served as offensive coordinator for the Spartans from 1997-2005. In this role, Holtz designed and taught offensive strategies, as well as assisting in off-field management with travel arrangements, recruiting, scouting and budgeting.

While a student at State, Holtz played club lacrosse all four years and served as team captain his last two seasons. In addition, Holtz was a member of the Motor City Lacrosse Club from 1997-2000. Holtz is also a local product as he graduated from Detroit Catholic Central in 1992.

Holtz graduated from MSU in 1996 with a bachelor's degree in electrical and computer engineering.