In June 2005, Gait was named head coach of his former NLL team, the Colorado Mammoth. After a 10-6 season in which the Mammoth finished second in the Western Division, Gait led them to an overtime 18-17 win over Calgary and a 13-12 win over Arizona before shutting down the East Division champion Buffalo Bandits 16-9 in the Championship game. Gait became the first rookie head coach to win a championship since Tony Resch did it with the Philadelphia Wings in 1994, a team on which Gait played.