DETROIT (10/4/2019) -- University of Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse head coach Chris Kolon '09 (MBA) has announced that Jake Padilla has joined the program as an assistant coach.

Padilla will serve as the Titans' offensive coordinator and recruiting director. 

"Jake brings a wealth of knowledge of the game and has worked at the club, high school and collegiate levels, experiencing success everywhere he has been," said Kolon. "His coaching philosophy fits right into our program and he will be a great asset to help build the championship culture we strive for."

He comes to the Motor City from Colorado Mesa University, where he was the lead assistant for the Mavericks, helping guide the program to a conference championship appearance supported by an offensive unit that finished the season as the fourth-highest NCAA D-II scoring offense per game with a 15.78 average.

Prior to that, he was an assistant coach at Rutgers from 2016 to 2018, working primarily with the Scarlet Knights faceoff and goalie units. During that time, he coached goalie Max Edelmann to All-Big Ten honors and his faceoff unit saw an increase in winning percentage as primary faceoff specialist Joe Francisco improved from a 43.0 percent to a 57 percent clip. 

He was also the recruiting director and offensive assistant at Oberlin College and recruiting director and defensive assistant at Wabash College. He has also been heavily involved at the prep scene coaching high schools and clubs around the greater Chicago area.

Originally from Western Spring, Illinois, he played collegiately at Hobart College.