​(Photo Courtesy VMI Athletics)James Purpura is back at the helm of a Division I program, as he was announced as the head coach at UMBC on Tuesday.It comes just over a year after Purpura made the move from VMI head coach to offensive coordinator at Ohio State and a month after his departure from the Buckeyes. His leaving Columbus was part of a surprise overhaul of the Buckeye staff alongside assistants Travis Crane and Justin Tuma, who both left college coaching.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementA head coach for five years with the Keydets, Purpura’s stewardship led VMI to improve their single-season win total in each of his five years in Lexington, Va. He’ll look to bring that to a Retrievers program coming off a turbulent season in which Craig Chick led the squad as interim head coach while former head coach Ryan Moran was suspended indefinitely in the fall before being ousted completely on April 9.“I can’t tell you how excited I am to become the next Head Coach of UMBC Men’s Lacrosse,” Purpura said in a release. “ I have always followed the program from afar, and the opportunity to lead such a proud program is a tremendous honor. I want to thank President Valerie Sheares Ashby, Director of Athletics Tiffany D. Tucker, and the entire search committee for placing their trust and confidence in me to coach, teach, and mentor the student-athletes in our program.”AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementPurpura returns to the state of Maryland, where he was an assistant at DII program Frostburg back in 2015. Ohio State finished 2026 10-4 but crashed out of the Big Ten Tournament in the quarterfinals vs. rival Michigan, ranking 58th in DI in scoring offense.Prep Lacrosse’s Ty Xanders and Nothing Near Post’s Max Silberlicht were first to report the news.Elsewhere, coaching staffs in the northeast at Fairfield and Dartmouth also have taken shape. After hiring Syracuse defensive coordinator John Odierna as its next head coach, Odierna tapped Denver offensive coordinator Dave Metzbower last week then hired UMass Lowell defensive coordinator Connor Samuelson (as Xanders reported) in those same roles. Odierna also reportedly brought on Billy Dwan III, the former ‘Cuse All-American defenseman and Whipsnakes rookie who he coached while with the Orange, on as his third assistant.Meanwhile the Big Green, who lost offensive coordinator Mikey Herring back to his alma mater Virginia, filled that role with Tufts assistant and former Jacksonville/Jumbos star Max Waldbaum, Xanders reported on Tuesday.