Curtis Jaques begins his fifth season on the sidelines as an assistant coach for the VMI lacrosse team, a program near and dear to the 2007 alumnus.
In September 2013, Jaques was elevated to associate head coach as he begins his fourth season on staff with head coach Brian Anken.
Jaques' returned to his alma mater on Sept. 9, 2009. Jaques served as interim head coach during the summer of 2010 while a nationally search was conducted that resulted in the hiring of Brian Anken took place.
In year one under Anken, Jaques worked primarily with the team’s offense, playing a major role in the emergence of junior Drew Leonard, who tallied 31 goals, the most since Leo McInerney’s 34 in 2005. Also, Jaques also engineered an extremely balanced offense, as 18 Keydets scored at least one goal on the season, a school record. He also serves as the program’s recruiting coordinator.
Switching ends of the field for his third season, Jaques worked closely with the offensive unit, helping revamp the offense and its production. Jaques implemented an offense that averaged 10.33 goals per game in MAAC action, a full goal better than the 2011 campaign and the program’s best since 2005. The Keydet offense buried 62 goals in conference play in 2012, the most since 2008. Jaques was also responsible for the team’s top offensive producer, Keith Long, who became the first Keydet to earn MAAC First Team plaudits since Tim Moran in 2010. Long was later selected by the Rochester Rattlers of Major League Lacrosse in the Supplemental Draft. He was the second VMI player in program history to be selected by an MLL team, joining classmate Stephen Robarge, who was taken in the Collegiate Draft by the Denver Outlaws.
“Curtis is an outstanding coach who has played an important part in our new level of success in recruiting,” said Anken of his top assistant. “We are bringing in large talented classes of cadet-athletes that truly understand what it takes to be successful at VMI. Having him on board as a coach, as well as an alumnus, has helped us embrace our past traditions while making important changes for our future success. In addition to his recruiting responsibilities, Curtis has helped design and implement a new up-tempo offense that will become a staple of our program for many years to come.”
Jaques returned to VMI after a two-year stint at SUNY Geneseo, where he worked with the defense and served as top assistant to head coach Jim Lyons. At Geneseo, Jaques helped guide the squad to a No. 13 ranking in the final 2009 USILA Division III poll. The team also went undefeated in regular season conference (SUNYAC) play, before falling to No. 7 Cortland in the title game, 14-13.
Jaques graduated from the Institute in 2007 with a double major in International Studies and Modern Languages and Culture (German). He was a team captain in 2007, and was the Keydets’ No. 1 defenseman during then-coach Jeff Shirk’s first campaign in Lexington, when Jaques was named preseason All-MAAC selection as well.
“It's an honor to continue to coach at my alma mater, and give back to the place that has given me so much,” offered Jaques. “I was once a rat, I pushed on the same stoops, climbed the same mud hill as our current cadet-athletes and now I wear my ring with pride. The VMI lacrosse program will certainly be heard from today. Rah, Virginia Mil.”
College athletics runs through the Jaques family. Ali Jaques, Curtis’ older sister, was a former student-athlete on the New York University women’s basketball team, where she helped her team to a national championship in 1997. Ali is currently the head women’s basketball coach at Siena College in Loudonville, N.Y. Sidney, the youngest of the Jaques family, recently graduated from Scranton University where she was a standout women’s basketball player. Curtis’ older brother, Parker, was a wide receiver on the University of Rochester football team.
A native of Rosemont, N.J., Jaques now resides in Lexington with his wife, Alecia. The couple welcomed their daughter, Ava, into the world in on March 27, 2013.
