PHOENIX -- The Grand Canyon men's lacrosse program has announced the hiring of Tate Linford and Cody Petillo as assistant coaches for the 2017 season.

Linford, who will assist defensive coordinator Jeff Guy, comes to GCU after serving as an assistant coach at Pinnacle High School in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Linford was a four-year starting defenseman and a three-year captain at Grand Canyon. In his senior season in 2015, Linford was an Honorable Mention All-American defenseman. He was named to the Southwest Lacrosse Conference all-tournament team and the MCLA all-tournament team, leading the 'Lopes to the 2015 MCLA National Championship. Linford graduated from GCU in 2015 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology with an emphasis in pre-medicine. Linford was also named an MCLA Scholar Athlete.

Petillo, who will run the substitution box and coach the faceoff specialists, arrives for Hartwick (N.Y.) College, where he was the Hawks' third-leading scorer and served as team captain in 2016.

Petillo began his college lacrosse career at Rutgers University after a successful prep career at Sachem High School North in New York. At Sachem, he was a four-year varsity player, served as team captain his senior season, led his team in points and goals and earned All-Suffolk County honors. He graduated from Hartwick with a degree in Business Administration.