The Colorado Mammoth announced earlier this week that head coach Gary Gait has resigned to pursue other interests.

While nothing is official, it has been widely reported that Gait will become the women's lacrosse coach at Syracuse University, his alma mater.

"Gary is an icon and has laid the foundation for the growth of lacrosse in Colorado," Mammoth general manager Steve Govett said. "He will always have a place in Colorado sports history and we all wish him the very best."

Gait's departure has been a long-running whisper around the league, one which Govett was able to dismiss as "a rumor" until now because it wasn't official.

It's official now, and the news did not take Colorado by surprise.

"I've known about the possibility for a couple of months," Govett told the Rocky Mountain News. "We've been preparing for the worst, hoping for the best."

To that end, Govett had already begun searching for a new head coach, with no rush to make a hire.

"We start training camp the first week of November and we'll have to have someone there," he said.

Gait coached Colorado for two seasons, winning the NLL Champion's Cup in 2006 and following up with a 12-4 mark this past season. Including postseason action, Gait compiled a 25-11 record with the Mammoth.

Prior to coaching, Gait played in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League and National Lacrosse League for fifteen seasons, winning six Most Valuable Player awards and retiring as the alltime leader in goals scored (596) and points (1091).

Gait spent the final three years of his playing career in Colorado, where the financially-distressed team finally found a home after bouncing from Baltimore to Pittsburgh to Washington.