The Buffalo Bandits will enter the 2000 season with a new head coach.

Les Wakeling, who coached the National Lacrosse League team to a 10-15 record the past two seasons, will not be offered a contract to return, according to general manager Kurt Silcott.

"For some reason, the guys just didn't perform for Les," Silcott said. "It was a very rough decision for me personally. Les is a good person, a good friend, a good coach. But it was a business decision for the good of the team."

Wakeling, a 39-year-old fleet manager for Canadian Building Materials who has spent 14 years coaching at various levels, had a tough act to follow in Buffalo.

He succeeded the highly successful Les Bartley, whose Bandits teams won three championships during his six seasons. Bartley's squads were a cumulative 45-16 (.738), but he left to coach the first-ever team in Canada and led the Toronto Rock to the 1999 NLL championship.

"I really don't know the whole story yet," said Wakeling, who is scheduled to meet with Silcott on Wednesday. Wakeling said he was informed of the Bandits' decision by telephone. "All I know is they're going to make a change."

Prior to being named Bandits head coach on 2 September 1997, Wakeling coached five consecutive Mann Cup championship summer teams with the Six Nations Chiefs and Brampton Excelsiors in Ontario. But the Bandits suffered both on the field and at the turnstiles under his leadership, which began at the same time the Buffalo Sabres assumed ownership of the Bandits.

"It bothers me because I failed and I have an ego just like everyone else," Wakeling said. "I was very close to a lot of the guys and I've coached them for a lot of years. I feel bad for them and I'm sure they feel bad for me."

Buffalo finished 4-8 last season and missed the playoffs for the first time in the team's eight-year history. After an encouraging 4-3 start, the Bandits lost their last five games and went a league-worst 1-5 at home.

Attendance at Marine Midland Arena plummeted -- from an average of 17,533 in 1997, to 12,256 in '98 to a franchise-worst 9,638 in '99.

"I wasn't surprised, not really, after the type of year we had," said Bandits captain Rich Kilgour. "You can't fire all 20 of the players when things go wrong; its always the coach who gets it. But it certainly wasn't all Les' fault. A lot of us veteran players had off years for one reason or another and it's tough for any coach to be successful when that happens."

Time after time, following defeats during the '99 season, veteran Bandits players admitted to less than an all-out effort.

"When you get to this level, it shouldn't be up to the coach to have to get you motivated to play for a paycheck," Kilgour said. "That part really isn't fair."

Wakeling said he doesn't plan to pursue another NLL coaching job. According to a source, Bandits associate coach Ted Sawicki, who has been with the organization for four years, has been given permission by Buffalo to talk with the Syracuse Smash about a coaching vacancy.

Silcott said the Bandits hope to name a new head coach by 1 July, and that he has already begun the interview process.

Thanks to Bandit for providing this article.