By Reid Coleman

Andrew Stanley. Photo courtesy of Collegiate School.

You might see him walking the sidewalks of the Upper School with his renowned Baltimore Orioles ball cap and a large smile, or you might have heard his booming voice from the sidelines of Grover Jones field. Either way, if you are familiar with Collegiate School, it is very likely that you know Andrew Stanley, more commonly known by students as Coach Stan. 

Collegiate first welcomed Stanley in 1996 as a Lower School assistant teacher for two years while he worked on his master’s degree in education at VCU. Then he was a third grade teacher for four years, and eventually he moved out of the Lower School and worked in Collegiate’s admissions office for seven years. Stanley’s last job change came in 2013, when he became a full-time Associate Athletic Director for Collegiate and an Upper School advisor. Members of the athletic department are usually not Upper School advisors; however, Stanley chose to do so because he loves “being able to interact with students every day, as they are ultimately the foundation of Collegiate School.”

In addition to teaching, working in the admissions office, and being an athletic director, Stanley has also coached sports every year that he has been at Collegiate, because he believes sports gives kids the opportunity to “fall on their face, get back up, and find personal growth.” When he arrived at Collegiate back in 1996, Stanley was a seventh grade football coach, seventh grade wrestling coach, and assistant varsity lacrosse coach. In 2005, Stanley became the head boys varsity lacrosse coach, and since the beginning of his time with the lacrosse program, he has been a part of four prep league championships and two state championships. At the moment, Stanley serves as the head coach for boys varsity lacrosse and head 8th Grade Cub football coach. 

Stanley’s love of sports dates all the way back to his childhood, when he played soccer and lacrosse at Gilman School in Baltimore, Maryland. Stanley was not a star athlete. In fact, he never picked up a lacrosse stick until 9th grade. Through perseverance and hard work, he found his way onto the Gilman varsity lacrosse team, which was, according to Stanley, “loaded with Division One players.” Despite never once starting for his high school lacrosse team, he wanted to continue playing the sport, and eventually, he found his way to Randolph Macon College in Ashland, Virginia, where he played both soccer and lacrosse. Stanley thrived there and actually started his first-ever lacrosse game his sophomore year. In fact, when Stanley’s coach changed jobs the summer before his senior year, the former coach named Stanley interim head coach, even though he was a player on the team. So for six weeks Stanley ran practices and scheduled recruiting visits as a 22-year-old college student, while also playing in the practices. This stint ultimately helped Stanley discover his “passion for coaching.”

However, after college, Stanley’s first job offer was as a salesman for Bethlehem Steel in Allentown, Pennsylvania. After realizing there “would not be any community outreach involved,” Stanley turned down the job, a move he declares “the best decision I’ve ever made.” 

Stanley then worked as a psychiatric technician at Charter Westbrook, a psychiatric facility and school for emotionally disturbed children in Richmond, before eventually finding his way to Collegiate a year later. 

Stanley enjoying the outdoors. Photo credit: Andrew Stanley.

Now, in his 26th year at Collegiate, Stanley lives with his wife Meaghan and three kids, Drew (‘23), Fitz (‘24), and Ty (’28). Outside of school, he enjoys “spending time with family, going to the beach, surf-fishing, lifting, and going to sporting events.”

Stanley has been involved with sports all of his life, but for him it has never been about “wins and losses.” Instead, Stanley says that one of his favorite parts about sports is its ability to give “kids an opportunity to learn and grow.” 

Three-year member of the lacrosse team Sam Evins (‘22) admires how Stanley “cares more about how much the team learned and grew rather than the outcome of the game.”

When I asked Stanley for insight about the lacrosse team this spring, I expected a response filled with player breakdowns and analysis at each position. However, Stanley’s response did not once mention an individual player, and he spoke of the team as a whole. Stanley replied that the team “could be very good if everyone is willing to buy into our values, build safety, share vulnerability, and establish purpose.”

Owen Fallon (‘22), a former advisee of Stanley and current varsity lacrosse player, says that Stanley has taught him “the value of hard work and perseverance in all aspects of life.”

Along with Evins and Fallon, Upper School English teacher Vlastik Svab also appreciates Stanley’s impact on students, and Svab has always admired Stanley’s ability to “shape boys into leaders and thoughtful young men.”