Joe Bucci

Biography

Joe Bucci is set to begin his fourth season on the Penn State men's lacrosse staff in 2026, after being promoted to associate head coach in September 2025. He joined the Nittany Lions in June of 2022 after spending the past six seasons at UMBC, where he helped the Retrievers' defensive unit establish itself as one of the best in the country. In his role as the defensive coordinator, Bucci has developed the Nittany Lions defense over the last three seasons, elevating the unit into the national rankings in several statistical categories. Penn State finished first in the Big Ten and fifth in the nation in caused turnovers per game (10.47) in 2025 and first in the conference and 21st in the country in ground balls per game (32.65). Bucci helped guide the team to a second Final Four appearance in his three seasons in Happy Valley, guiding the defense to hold Notre Dame scoreless for the final 20 minutes of the NCAA Quarterfinal enroute to an offensive comeback to punch their ticket to the national semifinal. He also mentored a 2025 fourth round PLL Draft pick Kevin Parnham as well as second team All-Big Ten and USILA All-American defenseman Alex Ross. Bucci joined the UMBC coaching staff as a volunteer assistant in 2017 and spent two seasons in that role. He was elevated to assistant coach in 2019 and then took over the defense for the 2021 and 2022 seasons. The Retrievers had the sixth-ranked scoring defense in the nation and were the America East regular season co-champions in 2