Laz Mitjans Jr., who joined Harvard as an assistant coach in March 2023, completed his second season in 2024, coaching the Crimson running backs. The 2023 fall campaign marked his first season in a full-time capacity after serving as a quality control coach in 2021.
Mitjans helped Harvard win the 2024 Ivy League championship by coaching a running back group that featured three players who logged 40 or more carries and scored at least one touchdown. The group was part of an offense that ranked 21st nationally in scoring offense and 31st in total offense. Mitjans also tutored Xaviah Bascon, who led the team in rushing and collected All-Ivy Honorable Mention accolades.
In 2023, Mitjans coached the Ivy League rushing champion in Shane McLauglin, who finished with a conference-best 830 rushing yards (92.2 ypg) en route to unanimous All-Ivy first-team honors.
Mitjans returned to Harvard for his second stint after spending the 2022 campaign at Amherst College as its wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator. Mitjans was part of a Mammoths program that won 81 games over the last 13 completed seasons (81-28; .743).
Prior to his time at Amherst, Mitjans was an offensive quality control coach for the Crimson in 2021, helping Harvard go 8-2 (5-2 Ivy League), while ranking second in the Ivy and 22nd nationally in points per game. The Crimson’s eight wins overall marked the program’s highest total since 2015.
Before arriving in Cambridge, Mitjans spent two seasons at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, serving as its running backs/special teams coordinator (2019) and wide receivers/offensive coordinator (2020). In his first season in Buzzards Bay, the Buccaneers posted a 6-4 record, its best performance since 1999.
A UMass Amherst graduate, Mitjans worked for three seasons with the Minutemen as a student assistant (2016-18), working with the offensive line and running backs, while assisting with football operations.
