Las Vegas Desert Dogs: Newly named franchise hires Williams as GM & coach
Shawn Williams (Photo: Jack Dempsey)
The National Lacrosse League’s 15th franchise now has a name, general manager and head coach.
As first reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal late last night, the highly anticipated Las Vegas franchise will be known as the Desert Dogs.
“The Desert Dog represents all that Las Vegas Lacrosse embodies – scrappy and cunning, friendly but fierce, and powerful alone but unstoppable as a pack,” a statement on the team’s website explains. “Desert Dogs Lacrosse moves fast and innovates quickly. We operate with a pack mentality, which means we look after our own -- especially our community here in Las Vegas.”
Although you’re likely already well aware, the newly named team’s high-profile ownership group includes Joe Tsai, Wayne Gretzky, Steve Nash and Dustin Johnson.
The Desert Dogs also confirmed that NLL Hall of Famer Shawn Williams would be the franchise’s first general manager and head coach. Williams had been rumoured to be the chosen candidate soon after he stepped down from his assist-coaching role with the Colorado Mammoth a few months prior to the start of the current NLL regular season.
“I want to thank our owners for entrusting me to lead this franchise and introduce the game of box lacrosse to the great fans of Las Vegas and I want to build a team and culture of excellence that this city will be proud of,” Williams said in today’s team statement. “Desert Dogs lacrosse will be gritty, hard-working, and community-first.”
Williams was inducted into the NLL Hall of Fame in 2021 after 17 years playing in the NLL with the Ontario Raiders (1998), Toronto Rock (1999), Buffalo Bandits (2000-2001, 2013-2014), Rochester Knighthawks (2002-2011) and Edmonton Rush (2012). Williams later scouted for the Bandits and served as the Mammoth’s assistant coach from 2018-2020.
There are now seven head (or associate head) coaches in the NLL that played with Williams during his first two seasons in the league: Mike Accursi (Halifax), Glenn Clark (Albany), Pat Coyle (Colorado), Chris Gill (Vancouver), Derek Keenan (Saskatchewan) and Dan Ladouceur (New York). Others on those teams, like Steve Toll (Fort Worth), Colin Doyle (Toronto), Brian Beisel (Calgary), Bob Watson (San Diego), Mat Giles (Rochester) and Pat Jones (New York) also currently serve as assistant coaches, while Jim Veltman is the GM of the New York Riptide. Both of those early Raiders and Rock rosters were coached by the late Les Bartley.
Williams with the Whitby Warriors last summer (Photo: Ontario Lacrosse Association)
“He brings an incredible amount of expertise to the marketplace,” Desert Dogs CEO Mark Fine told the Review Journal. “You’re going to see Shawn out and about in the community.”
Williams sits within the NLL’s all-time Top 10 for career regular-season games played (257, 9th), assists (708, 7th) and points (1,152, 8th). He was an NLL Cup winner with the Rock (1999) and Knighthawks (2007).
In recent summers, Williams served as the Whitby Warriors head coach and assistant GM, last year guiding the highly regarded Ontario Junior Lacrosse League club to the province’s final four. There he coached his son, Dyson Williams, a standout attackman at Duke University, who led the Warriors in scoring in 2021, and will be eligible for the 2023 NLL Entry Draft. Many analysts anticipate he’ll be taken first overall.
During a 2017 Major Series Lacrosse game, Shawn and Dyson played alongside one another with the Brooklin Lacrosse Club. The father-son combo combined for 6 goals and 4 assists.
The league and team statement also confirmed that the Las Vegas Expansion Draft would take place in July, while the league’s Entry Draft, which prior to last year typically occurred in September, would again happen in August.