“Last night I spoke to about 20 odd alumni who played for Coach ‘E’,” said Sabino Rodano, a former longtime Edwards MKA assistant coach and this past spring’s interim head coach for the Cougars. “One common thread emerged from all my conversations: Coach ‘E’ did not just teach them lacrosse; he taught them all invaluable life lessons they use every day.  

“They do not make them like Coach ‘E’ anymore.  He was a positive influence in the lives of everyone he coached and everyone he coached with.  

“Rob Strain (MKA Class of 2016) said something to me a few months ago that I think is fitting at this time: "The bonds of the MKA Lacrosse family extend far beyond the lines of Van Brunt Field." 

“According to laxnumbers.com Coach E is #37 all time in NJ for wins at 202.” 

“Coach E played for two legendary coaches: Coach Gibbs in high school and Coach Scott in college (at Hopkins).  I would say that Coach E was influenced heavily by these two great coaches and today one can say that Coach E represented these two great coaches with honor and distinction.  

“Every other coach I have spoken with in the last day said the same thing about him: that he was a class act, that they enjoyed competing against him, and that they have nothing but respect and admiration for him as a coach and person.  

“For me personally, losing a friend and mentor like Paul hits very hard.  I can honestly say that being an assistant under him for 16 seasons prepared me for this past season. Anytime I found myself in a difficult situation, I just asked, ‘What would Coach E have done?’

”Paul Edwards made me a better coach. Like those who played for him, I learned many lessons from him that I use in my day-to-day life. All of those who played for him or coached with him had their lives enriched by Paul's presence. He will be missed but never forgotten.” 

The way Edwards arrived on the scene at MKA was unique in its own way, and even though the circumstances were certainly mixed with sadness, the resulting very positive situation for the Cougar lacrosse program would certainly have made the coach who passed away at the time very pleased indeed.

Noll Klank, who was a popular teacher and very likeable person plus a talented coach, passed away suddenly in April of 2003 just as the new spring high school season was about to commence with MKA’s first game.

Edwards, who had enjoyed a very successful business career on Wall Street, had the best lacrosse playing pedigree one could ever imagine, having starred for the immortal coach Gil Gibbs at Montclair High on some of the better Mountie teams before graduating in 1970. He then moved on to excel for highly-regarded coach Bob Scott at Johns Hopkins where he was a key performer for the three Blue Jay teams that reached the NCAA final.

Hopkins won the national championship in 1974, defeating Maryland, 17-12, for one of seven national crowns that the Blue Jays won during Scott’s Hall of Fame coaching career.

Edwards came aboard at MKA in 2003 ready to serve as a volunteer assistant to his friend Klank on the MKA coaching staff; however, after a fairly typical March that included the team’s annual, pre-season trip in the South, a big change was on the horizon once the team was back in school as a turn of events that nobody had envisioned came about with Klank’s sudden passing from an apparent heart attack.    

“Noll was such a great person, and he was someone who I admired so much in the game of lacrosse,” Edwards had said at the time. “At the time of his passing, when I was asked to take over on an interim basis, I really did not know how long I would remain as head coach, but I quickly came to admire everything about MKA and the people there, and I really liked the way the players worked so hard and were dedicated to helping the program remain successful."

AD Todd Smith made sure he invited Edwards to become the full-time head lacrosse coach in the off-season in 2003, and the school and the program certainly never looked back on that fortunate decision. 

Among the stars on the Cougars’ 2012 state champs were then future college standouts in all-state defenseman Pat Karole, who started on coach Bill Tierney’s University of Denver NCAA national championship squad, and very adept 6-foot-8 attackman Matt Lane, who went on to a fine career at perennial college lax power Syracuse and is now the head coach at Don Bosco Prep.

The 2011 squad, which was also outstanding, included standout seniors such as Jack Strain (Bates College) and Kyle Duca (Colby College).

The 2016 Cougars reached the Non-Public B final before falling to Pingry and also won the state prep B-Division Tournament crown.

After that season Edwards was presented with the Len Roland Award from the state's Lacrosse officials for outstanding sportsmanship.

MKA won five prep B titles and three league championships during Edwards’ tenure.

Jack Strain’s younger brothers Rob (Bates) and Joe Strain (Gettysburg) were among the key performers on that ’16 squad along with others such as Chris Sibilia (Skidmore), Max Hall (Gettysburg) and Ethan Fusco (Dickinson for football).

Edwards’ long and ultra-successful lacrosse career may have come to an end at MKA in 2021 as he has retired and Dave Giarrusso took over the reins for the next five seasons, but perhaps his biggest influence on the game in the Garden State occurred more than a half century before as a scholastic Mountie laxman looking to embark on a college career.

He was part of a signature event in 1970 as a member of a New Jersey all-star team of high school standouts who went to Washington & Lee University in Virginia and knocked off a highly-touted Baltimore County all-star squad, 11-8, setting off an absolute firestorm of recruiting right on the scene in Lexington.

Edwards of Montclair High along with Michael Perez of the Maplewood Lacrosse Club (Columbia HS) were offered scholarships on the spot by Johns Hopkins, while David Hallock of Fair Lawn and George Martz of the Maplewood Lacrosse Club were University of Maryland bound.

All four aforementioned players went on to win national championships for their respective colleges and were all later inducted into the N.J. Lacrosse Foundation Hall of Fame.

From 1970-74, eight Montclair players received scholarships to either Maryland, Hopkins and Navy and played in 42 NCAA Final Fours, with six players winning D-1 national championships.

Edwards, a supreme faceoff artist at Hopkins, helped propel the Blue Jays to that 1974 NCAA title. 

“From that moment on, D-1 lacrosse powers recruited Jersey players every year,” said Bob Ott (Montclair High Class of 1974 and University of Maryland Hall of Famer), who was the state’s most valuable player his senior season, and continued what would be a trend germinated by Edwards and his ’70 fellow Jersey all-stars, where scholarships kept coming for the Garden State’s best laxmen. “  

A trailblazer first as an outstanding high school and then as a national championship college player, a success in the business world and then an unforgettable coach and mentor.
Paul Edwards did so much with grace, dignity, intelligence and compassion.

He will be sorely missed.

Obit Information From James A.McAllister Funeral & Cremation, Johns island, S.C.:

Paul G. Edwards was born on March 12,1952 in Montclair, NJ. He was the middle of three sons born to long-time Montclair residents Robert F. and Kathryn Edwards. Paul attended Montclair public schools where he was a two-time All State lacrosse player and part of the group of men credited with turning Montclair into a state powerhouse. He then attended Johns Hopkins University, where he was part of teams playing in three consecutive NCAA national championship games, culminating in a national championship victory in 1974, his senior year.

While at Hopkins, he earned a lifelong nickname "Rabbit." Paul married his high school sweetheart, Elizabeth Costello, shortly after graduating Johns Hopkins and they remained lifelong partners, having celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary shortly before his passing.

fter his time at Johns Hopkins, Paul started his professional career in commercial banking while pursuing his MBA at Loyola University, leading to a long and distinguished 22-year career at Lehman Brothers, from which he retired in 2002.

After his retirement from Lehman Brothers, Paul returned to his true joy, lacrosse, when he was asked to take the reins of the Montclair Kimberley Academy's Men's Lacrosse program in 2003 while he was a volunteer assistant coach. Paul successfully coached the MKA program to various conference, divisional, and state honors during his 19-year tenure, including a 2012 NJSIAA State Group Championship. He was especially proud of the players he was able to have an impact on, their various accomplishments on and off the field, and his stewardship of the longstanding culture of the MKA lacrosse program.

Paul was inducted into the New Jersey Lacrosse Foundation Hall of Fame, Class of 2002 and the Montclair Kimberley Athletic Hall of Fame and was the NJ Star Ledger "Coach of the Year" in 2012, among other honors. Paul retired from coaching lacrosse in 2021 and began spending more time at his and Liz's longtime residence in Kiawah Island, South Carolina, where he remained active with his various interests. These included keeping up to date with technology and other topics with his "Caveman" group and regularly defeating his sons and extended family members in any golf format suggested at The Golf Club at Bryar's Creek, where he was a founding member and known by other members as "Coach". He also continued to make emeritus coaching appearances on the MKA lacrosse sideline when he and Liz were in residence in New Jersey.

Paul also held numerous leadership positions in the community including being a member of the Board of Trustees at Montclair Kimberley Academy from 1996-2000 and President of Montclair Golf Club from 2003-2005.

Paul is survived by his wife of 50 years, Elizabeth Edwards (neé Costello), and two sons, John Edwards with his wife Erin and their three children Giuliana, Daniella and Ryan and Kevin Edwards. He is also survived by his two brothers, Robert and his wife Joyce, and Daniel and his wife Barbara.

Viewings will be held on Monday, August 10, 2026, from 10:00 to 10:45 AM with a Mass of Christian Burial to follow at 11:00 AM, both at Holy Spirit Catholic Church, 3871 Betsy Kerrison Parkway, Johns Island, SC 29455. There will also be a celebration of life held in Montclair, NJ, later in the fall.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions to the Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke, DUMC 3624, Durham, NC 27710, with a notation "In Memory of Paul G. Edwards."                                  

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