Jimmy Quinlan wins NLL Coach of the Year
May 14, 2025Saskatoon, SK – Saskatchewan Rush co-head coach Jimmy Quinlan has won the National Lacrosse League’s Les Bartley Award, handed out annually to the Coach of the Year.
“I think it's a credit to our players and the work they put in the all season, every week,” said Quinlan. “I'm just the guy whose name gets brought forward, so again, it's something that I'm obviously proud of, but it's the guys in room and the people that I'm surrounded with that deserve all the credit.”
Quinlan, the pride of Edmonton, Alberta was up for the Les Bartley Award for the first time in his coaching career. With his number 81 hanging in the rafters following his playing days, he led the Rush this season to a record of 13-5 in the regular season, five more wins than the previous year, bringing Saskatchewan back to the playoffs for the first time in six years.
The Rush saw major improvements in multiple categories this season, but mostly in goals against where the team average dropped by almost two goals per game, while the offensive output remained relatively similar to the previous season. Quinlan ran the most disciplined bench in the season, averaging a league low 8.2 penalty minutes per game, three full minor penalties less than the league average. Saskatchewan’s penalty kill also rose from 13th in the NLL at 47% in 23/24, to 3rd best in the league at 61% in 24/25.
“He's always positive. Like that's his main thing that he says to us all the time is stay positive,” commented forward Brock Haley. “We could show up to a Friday practice, guys are tired from flights and he's rolling in like he's about to teach a third-grade class with so much enthusiasm, so much excitement and we just feed off that.”
The 43-year-old is the second Saskatchewan Rush to win Coach of the Year, following Derek Keenan who took home the honours in 2018.
Saskatchewan is back on Co-op FIeld Sunday when the Buffalo Bandits are in town for game two on the 2025 NLL Finals presented by PlayNow. Faceoff is at 6PM and tickets can be purchased here.