Jesse Foss is in his eighth season as the head coach of the Concordia University Irvine men's lacrosse program. He was a critical leader in CUI becoming the first men's lacrosse program to play at the NCAA DII level in the entire state of California. He also helped guide CUI in 2023 to the top of the mountain as MCLA D1 National Champions which was a fitting end to the program's final year at the club level.
CUI has made the conference tournament championship game in each of its first two seasons at the NCAA DII level. Concordia was also the only RMAC school to earn 8 First Team All-Conference selections in 2025 and nearly swept the end of the year awards.
The program also reached new heights academically in 2025, with All-Conference honorees Jake Cloutier being named Summit Award leader among all men's lacrosse players in the league, and CUI being the only program to be honored nationally on the USILA Academic Award list. All-Conference defender Colin O'Connor even represented Concordia at the USILA All-Star game
In their first year at the NCAA level, the Golden Eagles finished strong with an upset win over Westminster in the 2024 RMAC Conference semifinals. The Golden Eagles became the first lower seed to win a RMAC Men’s Lacrosse Tournament game. CUI then narrowly lost to Colorado Mesa in overtime of the RMAC Conference Championship. The Golden Eagles set records in 2024 with the No.1 Man Down Percentage in all of NCAA D2.
In 2023 the Golden Eagles capped a successful run in MCLA D1 by winning the MCLA D1 National Championship. CUI set records during their run through the National Tournament for most goals scored in a game (24 against Liberty in the semifinals), lowest seed to win the Championship (7 seed), and the smallest enrollment school to win the National Championship. The Golden Eagles are the second team in MCLA history to win the MCLA D1 National Championship and move on to the NCAA (University of Michigan).
He came to Concordia with extensive coaching experience. He spent the two seasons (2017-2018) at the helm at San Diego State University where he was the 2018 SDSU Club Sports Coach of the Year. Before joining the Aztecs, Foss spent 14 years coaching lacrosse at La Costa Canyon High School in Carlsbad, Calif. After serving as an assistant coach for the Mavericks for eight years, Foss was promoted and compiled a record of 103-31 as LCC's head coach during a six-year span. While in charge, Foss led the Mavericks to three CIF championships, two additional CIF championship appearances and six straight league titles.
A graduate of Stony Brook University, Foss was a starting midfielder for the Seawolves in 2000-2001. Prior to that Foss was a starting attackman at Nassau Community College in 1998-1999, where he helped NCC win a NJCAA National Championship in 1999. He now lives in Carlsbad, CA with his wife and two kids.
