The Columbus Landsharks have formally hired Marty Cooper as their first head coach and general manager, and have named a veteran league scout and a former Columbus-area high school coach as his assistants.

Cooper was the general manager of the Buffalo Bandits in 1998, the first year of the NLL era, and was an assistant coach there for several years prior to that.

NLL scout Keith McLeod and one-time Thomas Worthington head coach Chris Gallagher were hired as Cooper's assistant coaches. Gallagher compiled a 184-82 record, four state titles, and three state coach of the year awards in an eleven-year stint which ended this past spring.

The Landsharks are an expansion team owned in part by former NLL commissioner John Livsey, and will share the new Nationwide Arena with the NHL's expansion Columbus Blue Jackets.