MEDIA RELEASE Atlanta Blaze
December 18, 2017
Kennesaw— Today, the Atlanta Blaze suffered a terrible loss, as Head Coach Dave Huntley passed away suddenly at the age of 60 while coaching a clinic. He was known as a player’s coach first; when reached for comment, General Manager and Assistant Coach Spencer Ford said, “To me, there was Huntley and then there was God.”
Coach Huntley, a Toronto native, grew up playing box lacrosse, but played field lacrosse at Johns Hopkins University where he won National Championships in 1978 and 1979. While he was in school, Huntley played for Team Canada and won a World Lacrosse Championship in 1979. He went on to win another World Lacrosse Championship for Canada as a coach.
Dave Huntley began his coaching career in box lacrosse, coaching in a precursor to the National Lacrosse League (NLL). When he moved to the NLL he was the General Manager and Head Coach for the Philadelphia Wings, until the team faced injuries and he stepped down in order to play. He went on to coach four more NLL teams.
Huntley is a member of the US Lacrosse Hall of Fame, National US Lacrosse Hall of Fame, and Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame, served as Assistant Coach for Loyola and Offensive Coordinator for Calvert Hall HS (MIAA).
As an MLL coach, Coach Huntley 
won the MLL Championship with the Colorado Mammoth, the Chesapeake Bayhawks and Toronto Nationals. He was named Atlanta Blaze Assistant Coach on November 25, 2015, and became Head Coach following the inaugural season.
He touched many lives along the way, and has been described as a legend, genius, and the reason that lacrosse is gaining major attention. Coach Huntley (1957-2017) is survived by his wife Nancy and their two children. We ask that you keep his family in your thoughts as they take in this terrible loss.