Doug Seites has stepped down from his multiple positions in Aquinas athletics, as the longtime men's lacrosse head coach and associate sports information director recently resigned from both duties. An AQ alum, Seites played in the first-ever men's lacrosse game for the Saints before serving as an assistant coach and then as the program's head coach since 2014.
Seites made his decision to leave Aquinas due to personal reasons. He was one of the longest-tenured AQ athletics employees, serving his dual roles for several years. In his seven seasons as men's lacrosse head coach - including a COVID-shortened 2020 season - he led the Saints to a 53-35 record and an appearance in the 2019 NAIA National Invitational championship game.
"I'd like to thank Doug for everything he did for Aquinas athletics during his time at AQ," commented Nick Davidson, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Athletics. "He turned our men's lacrosse program into one of the top teams in the country, evidenced by the team's incredible run to the national championship game two years ago. He also was very valuable as the associate sports information director and was able to fulfill both that role and his coaching responsibilities very effectively. We're very thankful for Doug's service to Aquinas over the last decade and wish him all the best in his future endeavors."
In 2014, Seites took over as head coach of the men's lacrosse team, a program that had just one winning season in its first five years of existence. He immediately posted consecutive winning seasons, including a 10-5 mark in his inaugural campaign. AQ repeated the 10-5 record in 2017, while finishing eighth in the country. Playing in one of the toughest conferences in the country, the Saints went 6-6 in 2018, but finished with a #15 ranking to close the year.
Aquinas started the 2019 campaign with a 31-3 domination of Asbury in the team's first official game. After suffering two close losses, the Saints won seven of their next eight games, with just a one-goal loss to #3 Indiana Tech as the only misstep. AQ bounced back to upend #2 Madonna and clinched a share of the WHAC regular season championship by defeating Concordia. Seites was named the WHAC Coach of the Year after the 2019 regular season.
The Saints earned at an-large bid to the 2019 NAIA National Invitational, which was hosted at Aquinas for the second year in a row. AQ took down a pair of WHAC rivals in #3 Lawrence Tech (10-9) in the quarterfinals and earned a bit of revenge by defeating #2 Indiana Tech (14-8) in the semifinals, clinching a spot in the title game. The Saints fell to #1 Reinhardt in the National Invitational championship game, but set a program record for wins (12) and made the program's first-ever appearance in the NAIA National Invitational Tournament. Naturally, AQ finished the year ranked second in the final NAIA poll.
Aquinas won both of its games in 2020 before the season was cancelled due to the COVID pandemic, giving Seites six years of a .500 or better winning percentage in his seven-season tenure.
He also served as the athletic department's associate sports information director for several years, playing a valuable dual role. Seites covered a number of Aquinas athletics teams in his sports information director role, as he maintained historical records and knowledge of the department, and updated and managed the athletic website and social media accounts. Among other duties, he worked at various home events, kept in-game statistics and wrote recaps and stories, and nominated student-athletes for weekly and yearly athletic and academic awards.
Peter Treppa and Stephen Treppa will serve as the men's lacrosse program's co-interim head coaches for the 2021 campaign, after having been on Seites' coaching staff for the past few years, including the historic 2019 national runner-up season.
