A Conversation with Montevallo University Lacrosse Coach – Jason Lange

SPEAKER_03 0:07

Welcome to another episode of In the Crease, the coast-to-coast discussion of D2 Men's Lacrosse. I'm your co-host, Kevin Spenstrom, and I'm joined by our podcast, D2 Lacrosse connoisseur, Danny Moran. Hey Danny, you get you see, we you get platitudes all the time, Danny, in these intros, right?

SPEAKER_01 0:26

I'm gonna have to introduce you on one of the next podcasts. I'm gonna have to come up with something good. I'm doing well, Kevin. How are you doing tonight?

SPEAKER_03 0:33

Doing well. It's a little rainy down here in Northern Virginia, but uh all is good. All is good. So, you know, Danny, as I prepared for this podcast, I kind of realized that we are talking to another coach who started his program from scratch. Yeah. In the school he's in right now. And I and I started to think to myself, how did I do this? Did I I don't I had no plan when I was reaching out to coaches that that's the way it was going to work out? So how did this happen? You know, and I personally feel that part of it is what we've talked about a lot, right? It's the growth of D2 lacrosse in the past five years.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

Correct, absolutely. I mean, each coach that's come on with us has start uh, well, a number of them have started their program there, and they're seeing phenomenal growth in a short amount of time. And and tonight is no different. We have another coach with us that that has started his program, and we're really excited to have him with us.

SPEAKER_03 1:30

Right, and and added to that fact is that it's also in a brand new conference he's in, right? And that we that is the other part of the growth. You bring in new new schools, they they they change around, they they start a new conference, and even better, this is the added bonus that I can't wait to talk to him. In the inaugural season of this conference, his team won the championship. So we are really, really excited to talk with Montevel Falcons coach Jason Lang. How are you doing, coach?

SPEAKER_00 2:02

I'm great, guys. That thanks for having me. I'm I'm really excited to uh to talk shop with you guys. Hi, coach.

SPEAKER_01 2:09

Thanks for thanks for coming on with us. I know you're a busy man. Uh you're taking some time with us tonight. We really, really appreciate it. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 2:18

So let's let's get started here. Um you know, you played at Mars Hill. We discussed that just prior to the the podcast with you. You coached there then, and then you coached at Pfeiffer before taking over for Montevelo. So it seems like to me you have D2 in your blood. So what what draws you to stay in D2?

SPEAKER_00 2:42

You know, it's uh I just think like the balance, you know, I think uh, you know, most most athletes, young athletes, uh I think they they crave structure, right? And I know like me personally growing up, I did best when you know I knew I had practice and I knew I had meetings, like I played high school football. And when we were in season, it is when I did best in school and did best outside of athletics. And I think Division II um really gives you that. You know, it's it's the scheduling you know aspect that allows coaches to be with their athletes and uh you know build build relationships. I know when I played, you know, I I loved every aspect of you know individual sessions to team practice to weightlifting, um, and it really helped keep me on track academically. So, you know, I think that's what draws me to stay in Division II is is the fact that we're able to you know to continue to monitor guys and uh you know really help them be the best versions of themselves throughout the course of the year.

SPEAKER_01 3:55

That's great. That's really interesting, you know, that you mentioned that my sons were the same way. When they were in season and structured, they did much better academically, you know, for sure. For sure. That's really cool.

SPEAKER_03 4:09

Yeah, so now let's kind of switch a little bit and talk about starting a program from scratch. You know, we've talked about, like I told you, and I said in the beginning, we've talked to several coaches that have done that at kind of at different periods. Um and certainly where you're at, it's a it's not only a different period, but it's in a different area, right? Down down in Alabama. So walk us through what it took for you to do that. It's it's always seems to me, the ones we've heard from so far, the coaches, it's always a fascinating story of how you build that, what you start with and what you're trying to go to.

SPEAKER_00 4:42

Yeah. So I think the the first uh first thought I had was, you know, before I accepted the job here, I said to myself, Am I really gonna go start a college lacrosse program in Alabama? Um and uh, you know, and from Connecticut too, right?

SPEAKER_01 4:58

Right.

SPEAKER_00 4:58

And uh, you know, Alabama and lacrosse are are two words that are usually not used in the same on the same page, let alone the same paragraph or same sentence. So um, you know, the one of the first things I did when I when I got here um was I reached out to uh Greg Paradine at Lenore Rhine and uh Richard Carrington, um, who started the program at Tusculum College in Tennessee, and I just asked them for advice. You know, how did you do it? Um, what were some things that you know you wish you could go back on having gone through the experience? Um and I the two things I took away were you know from from well from Coach Paradine was uh he he didn't really go with a ton of transfers in in the first year. Um and Coach Carrington gave me the same advice. I think he went more with transfers um in that first year. And he he was a little bit different. He started in January and had six months to build the program. I was fortunate enough where I was hired in July and I had the full year to recruit. So I made the conscious decision, you know, when I got here that we were gonna build it with freshmen. We had two transfers our first year. Uh, one was a graduate student, one guy came with me from Pfeiffer. Um, and we had 38 guys and 36 of them were freshmen. And we uh we took our lumps, and that was by design. You know, I wanted guys that you know were were invested and and had some skin in the game. And uh my whole goal going into it was it wasn't a one or a two-year plan. Um it was more of like a four to eight-year plan. Um as far as you know, bringing in four-year guys and you know, giving them the experience of playing as freshmen and hoping that by the time they're seniors that you know they've played in enough games and have been in enough situations where they're battle tested. Um you know, we've been open to more transfers now. Um we have a few on the team, um, which I'm not against transfers. I just didn't, I just didn't think building the program uh with 25 transfers uh was something that uh that I wanted to do. And you know, I think now that our culture's in place um and we have some older guys that are established, I think now we're more open to recruiting outside of just the high school, you know, the high school senior.

SPEAKER_03 7:44

Right.

SPEAKER_00 7:45

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 7:46

Yeah, that so what did your first team, how many players did you have that first year?

SPEAKER_00 7:53

Uh we had in the fall, we started with 38.

SPEAKER_01 7:56

Uh and then that's a good number, though. That's a good number.

SPEAKER_00 8:00

Yeah, so we started with 38, and then uh we uh, you know, in the spring, you know, we had some attrition, you know, we lost some guys, so I think we were about 32 guys uh going into the spring of that of that first year.

SPEAKER_01 8:14

That's yeah, that's a good number for a first-year team. That's a really good number because we had a coach just on the other night, had 12 kids on his first roster. They called him the tenaceus 12.

SPEAKER_00 8:26

That's uh wow, yeah. You gotta be really creative and practice with 12 guys. That's what he said.

SPEAKER_01 8:33

You have to listen to the podcast. You have to check that one out. That one is a good one.

SPEAKER_03 8:38

So so talk to me. I I find it interesting you say four to eight year plan. You know, what did that look like in your mind? Um and and where do you feel you're at now? Are you right on track? Did COVID kind of mess it up a little bit?

SPEAKER_00 8:56

Yeah, I think I think COVID definitely, you know, threw threw a wrench in there. Um, but you know, I thought after year one, you know, you know, we we were very fortunate. In our first year, there were five other Division II teams that started. Um, and I think we played four of them. Um, and we were we finished seven and seven that first year, um, which I you know looking back at it, I think that's probably a win. Um, you know, year two, you know, we actually made our conference tournament, made we were in the GLVC then. Right. Right. And uh we made the conference tournament that our second year, which I thought was a little bit ahead of schedule. Right. Um and then COVID, you know, three and four, one and oh in the conference, and we got shut down. You know, we did have some injuries that year. Um, and we were we were kind of at like uh crossroads of our season. You know, we we had you know one won a couple games and we had lost some tough ones, and you know, we were it was getting down to the nitty-gritty of like where our season was gonna go, and it got shut down. Um so I'm not sure how that that COVID year would have ended. Um, but then you know, coming back last year, um the goal was always to to compete for a conference championship in in the fourth year. And uh, you know, although we moved to the peach belt, um, you know, we we accomplished the goal. Um and uh I was I was extremely happy with with that. So now looking forward, you know, now the goal is NCA tournament. And I think you know, we we have some some guys now that are uh you know older, and uh we have some graduate transfers back, and I think that you know they are gonna help us you know get to that next uh get to that next level.

SPEAKER_03 10:46

Well, coach, that you kind of did a good segue for me on another question I had because I was really kind of intrigued about going from the GLVC to the Peach Belt conference and what that was like. I mean, I did not realize that you in your second year had made it to the the tournament. I I I didn't do my due diligence and my research well enough. I should have done it, darn it. But that was uh I'm just curious. I mean, if Peach Belt, a new conference, what was that like switching and going to that?

SPEAKER_00 11:15

Yeah, I I think first, you know, it was, you know, we kind of looked at all the travel, right? Like with you know, with Lewis adding um in Chicago and Davenport and Grand Rapids, you know, we we kind of asked ourselves, you know, administration, you know, it's like, how much time do we really want to spend on a bus? You know, are are we really gonna fly to you know to Kansas City, which is a 13-hour drive? Grand Rapids is about 14 hours, and manage this um with the academic piece, you know, and so we I I think the ADs kind of got together and and decided that the peach belt was the right move. And I I was I was pumped because you know now we're we're playing games more in our geographic footprint. Um and I think that that kind of helps us in recruiting. Um, you know, playing games in Indianapolis and St. Louis and the Midwest are great. There's a lot of good kids there, but we were getting a lot of interest from those kids, and it's like, you know, man, they got to drive past Lynnwood, Maryville, like they got to drive past all these schools to get to Montebalo. Yeah. You know, is that really you know, is that looking at it from that point of, you know, from that point of view, um I was extremely happy that the Peach Bell added. Um, and then the the travel time. You know, it's you know, our our longest trip now um in conferences is either Flagler or Lander, which are about eight hours, where you know, we were fortunate enough not to have to like return up to Chicago or Kansas City um just because of COVID and how everything you know played out. But you know, we're talking two, two or three 12 to 14-hour bus rides a year. Wow. Um so I I think from that standpoint and like student athlete well-being and experience, um, it's uh is a very positive move.

SPEAKER_03 13:16

Yeah, it sounds it sounds without a doubt. I mean, that makes so much sense. I I knew that would really help from a location standpoint, but I hadn't done the math on the the travel time. And not only from you know, the primary thing from an academic's, but geez, you your kids before they even play the game are wiped out from the from the travel, it would seem if you're doing so many of those.

SPEAKER_00 13:38

Yeah, a lot of a lot of nights in hotels and uh you know Olive Garden and and a lot of pasta dinners on on Friday nights, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_03 13:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:49

Right.

SPEAKER_03 13:50

Yeah. So oh, go ahead, Danny.

SPEAKER_01 13:53

So it's a it's a positive move moving to the Peach Belt 100%. Um, a lot of teams in that GLVC do a lot of traveling. They they really do. And um I think it's a really good move that you, you know, I get the ADs got together, and you know, it's it's it's financial, of course, to the school and and the budget and all of that. Um, so what do you think of the peach belt? Let's talk about the Peach Belt conference a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 14:19

Yeah, I I think it's fantastic. You know, it's uh it's it's taking place in a region of the country that high school lacrosse is still growing at you know a crazy level. Um, you know, there even in in our home state of Alabama, you know, lacrosse is not sanctioned yet as a as a varsity sport. Um, but since I've been here, I think there've been five or six kids to go play Division I lacrosse. You know, one at Denver, one at Marquette, uh Carolina, uh, one at Carolina, uh, one at Mercer, and uh, you know, the the latest like recruiting rankings of 2023s, the the best goalie ranked goalie in the class is from Alabama, um, and plays high school across in Alabama. So I you know that's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 15:11

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 15:11

It's crazy to think about, you know, and and I think the fact that we have a conference now where there's two schools, you know, in Alabama in the conference, and it's I think it's it's growing. And the conference, it's young, it's it's not the best conference in the South yet, but we have extremely talented players and some really, really good coaches um in our conference that that are doing a fantastic job. And you know, most of the programs are less than 10 years old. You know, they're eight, nine, five, you know, four. We got a couple of guys coming in. And you know, it just takes time. And I think our the coaches that we have are are extremely motivated. They do a great job with their kids, and the conference is just going to continue to get better and better.

SPEAKER_01 16:00

You know, I think uh one of the reasons Kevin and I decided to do this podcast is because we both feel that Division II is just exploding. I used to be the red-headed stepchild, and and many coaches that we've had on have even said those words. Uh, you know, D2 is the was the red-headed stepchild. And now in D2, we're we're it's just exploding and with new teams and new conferences and and teams re-re you know, switching conferences to make it better for them. Uh the game is just growing. And to to hear that the top uh 2023 goalie uh in the class uh is from Alabama is that's mind-boggling to me because uh I'm on Long Island and there's 50,000 goalies out here, you know, and the best one in 23 is from Alabama goes to show you the growth of the game. What do you think about that?

SPEAKER_00 17:00

I think it's fantastic. Uh I mean, uh you know, even you know, my my stops at at Morris Hill and Pfeiffer. I mean, I I you know people would ask me, you know, where do you recruit from, or you know, what are you looking for? And you know, just looking for guys that can play lacrosse. You know, when I was at Pfeiffer, one of my best midfielders was from Salt Lake City. Like he was he was incredible. And you know, you know, and here, like we have guys from all over the place. And uh I just think you know, nowadays, like yes, you want to you want to hit your hotbed areas, you know, Canada, New York, Maryland. I think Atlanta is now, you can consider that a hotbed area. Um and uh, you know, there's there's kids everywhere that can play the game. And you know, I think right now, if if you're a Division II or Division III college or cross coach, you have really good job stability because there's not enough spots at the Division I level for the amount of talented high school kids that are playing right now. Um, and every Division II team or 95% of them have kids on their teams from obscure areas that if they grew up in on Long Island or in New England or in the mid-Atlantic, they play Division I lacrosse.

SPEAKER_01 18:15

Right. That's that's true.

SPEAKER_03 18:17

That that is. I mean, I think we've seen that. I mean, you know, I remember when my son was in high school. I mean, in Northern Virginia isn't a as big a hotbed as obviously Maryland and and um New York. I know a lot of his travel, one of his travel coaches told me, like, look, it he's competing against kids for D1. This is back when he was, you know, like a U-13 player that um, you know, that that have had a stick in their hand since they were two, three, four, five. And your son picked it up at 11. Your son's got skills, but he's just behind in that. And then add the fact that all the good schools in the Northern Virginia, D.C. area that the coaches really look at, like you talked about, you know, where are they gonna look? They're gonna look at the private schools in this area because they're really good lacrosse programs. I there's nothing but my son went to public high school, so he's not gonna get that look from D1, whereas in D2 and D3, he did, and he's playing for a team that is a is a really, really good team, you know, that's always at the top and playing good lacrosse, and and that's what Danny and I talked about. That's not the only teams that are doing that. You know, you look at across a lot of the um the conference and even non-conference games, you can't rest your laurels that you think, oh, like, oh, I'm gonna play a peach belt team, so this is gonna be easy, right? They're gonna come at you and they're they're ready to compete. I think your your championship game against Uah is a just a perfect example of that, right? That was a phenomenal game to watch.

SPEAKER_01 19:56

That was a great game.

SPEAKER_03 19:58

Great lacrosse, great lacrosse, and you guys were up and and they kind came at you at the end and you were able to hold them off. That's what made it so exciting.

SPEAKER_00 20:06

Yeah, and and and you know, I I think you know, for like Coach Doyle up there, he he actually helped me start the program here. He uh he he was my first hire and he worked with me here for three years. And uh we played them three times last year. And uh, you know, it's like every time I got notes like, what is he gonna do? You know, it's it was insane. Uh like the preparation and and stuff like that. Um but you know, it just goes to show you, it's just like the that game, you know, for our conference, I think was awesome. You know, it had you know, you know, there were some lead changes, there was some adversity for both teams. Yeah, there was great goalie play in that game.

SPEAKER_01 20:50

Yeah, it had all the elements of a great lacrosse game, no doubt.

SPEAKER_00 20:53

Yeah. And and I think, you know, games like that, you know, only help. You know, and and you know, if there's a high school kid or or a you know, a seven-year-old in the stands watching that, you know, like hopefully that get that gets him hooked, and it's like, man, like this is pretty cool. And you know, mom and dad are in the stands and they're like, you know, this is awesome, peach belt lacrosse.

SPEAKER_01 21:18

Yeah, it's exciting. It was an exciting game, and uh it was down to the wire, and it got a little chippy, even a little bit. Yeah, of course.

SPEAKER_00 21:27

I mean it was the third time we played him, you know. And you know what I mean. You know, we knew each other very well. I think uh, you know, I think our guys and their guys, you know, knew more about each other than they care to admit, and and they probably talked about it a little bit on the field uh, you know, during the game. Um, but that that adds to it, you know. It's it's it's part of college athletics. I was it was just a great, you know, great experience.

SPEAKER_03 21:53

Well, the other thing that I loved about the game, I'm watching it on live stream, was you could hear the crowd and how much the crowd was into it, right? That is the other thing that's just phenomenal. Seeing that or listening to it actually, because you couldn't see the crowd that well, but you know, really hearing them get into the game, you know, was was great. It must have been great for you guys, too.

SPEAKER_00 22:14

Yeah, you know, it's uh it's like it was crazy because like we, I mean, we we get decent crowds, you know, but when we play at night and uh you know we don't have football here, you know, oddly enough, you know, we're one of the few schools in Alabama uh that has a lacrosse team that doesn't have football. Um so the the student body is really taken to uh you know the the guys that run around with sticks and and helmets uh in the spring. Um it's funny, like our our and hit people. And hit people, yeah. Yeah. So our facility kind of backs up to the baseball facility. And uh, you know, like they play for hours, right? So like you know, we have a game, they have a double header, like you see some people like look over, like, oh what's what's going on over there? Those people running around with sticks in each other. Let's go check that out and we'll come back, you know. So but the student body's really gotten behind it. Um, we have a women's team here, that's great. That they support us, and uh the the local community too. Like there's uh a youth program that just started um you know in the town just north of us in Alabaster, and and they bring their youth kids out to games. Um and then there's some local high schools about you know 20 to 40 minutes north of us, and and you know, we start seeing some of their kids at games, so it is growing, and I think that that's the important thing is we just have to keep working with the youth in the area and keep promoting the game.

SPEAKER_01 23:42

And right. That's what it's all about. The promotion is it's that's huge. Now, tell us about Montevala, the school, the school. Tell us about the school. Where in Alabama is it? What kind of uh are we in rural Alabama? Is it like towns? Tell us about the school itself.

SPEAKER_00 24:02

Yeah, so we're we're just south of of uh the Birmingham metro area. So Birmingham Metro is about 1.5, 1.6 million people, um, and anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes south, just depending on on traffic. Um, as you guys know, living on Long Island and you know in northern Virginia, that you know, you leave at the wrong time of the day, that can increase your commute.

SPEAKER_01 24:29

Um boy, I know it and well.

SPEAKER_00 24:31

Yeah. Um and and so we're we're considered a rural campus, but uh we're in a in the city of Montevallo. Uh we have about 3,000 students that that attend school here. Um and we're we're actually a public university. Uh we're one of 27 public uh liberal arts colleges in North America. Um so that that's kind of unique to Division II. Uh there's not there's not many public uh universities um in Division II. So that's something that's unique. Um the the campus is gorgeous. Um a lot of brick, uh a lot of red brick, like you would expect in a southern uh you know, in a southern college campus. Um facilities are great. You know, our guys uh have access to everything they need. So it's it's a really really cool college town.

SPEAKER_03 25:27

Um then let's go because you started to talk about it uh before. Now we're talking about the school. And you started to get into kind of what you're what do you look for in in a player that you want to recruit?

SPEAKER_00 25:43

Yeah, I I think you know that that's kind of a lower question. You know, I know a lot of a lot of guys have different opinions on this, but if I'm if I'm sitting at an event in my recruiting chair, you know, the the number one thing I look for is is athleticism and stick work. Um and then from there, I I look at size. You know, I think at our level, athleticism and size are some of the hardest, the two hardest things to defend. Um and then, you know, in the recruiting process, you know, we we obviously try to build relationships with these guys and talk to their club coaches and high school coaches, and um, you know, and you know, we we want good people here um that you know foremost. Like if if you're a good player, but you know, you're not a good person and we don't think you're gonna fit well uh in our locker room, you know, we're gonna move on. There's plenty of good players um from all over North America that we can recruit. So um, but you know, you you gotta be a good player, and I think that's where it starts. You know, if you can run fast and and shoot the ball hard and defend, you know, defend on GLE and and you know get to a guy's hands-on defense and pick up ground balls, you know, that's I think the basis of what everyone's looking for. And then, you know, you have certain guys, you know, do they fit our system? So um you know, it's no secret, like we're heavily involved in Canada. We have like 13 Canadians um on our team. So, you know, we recruit heavily out of Canada. Um, and that's just something I've always done since I, you know, started coaching.

SPEAKER_01 27:28

And um like those box players, huh? You like those box players?

SPEAKER_00 27:33

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I I think even even defensively, we have a couple polls um on the team um that that are from Canada. And I think uh you know it's just it's just different. You know, they they play a different style, and absolutely, you know, and I think it they depending on like what you do offensively, defensively, like what your your style of play is, I think that they they can really increase the level of of your program. Um but uh but yeah, I want good people, I want guys that that fit well, you know, within our systems, and uh guys that are passionate about you know just getting better. You know, whether it's you know, I want to come to Montevallo and I want to major in accounting and I want to be a CPA or or I want to go work for a big four accounting firm, or you know, I want to be, I want to, you know, be a strength and conditioning coach, you know, guys that kind of have that drive uh academically, but athletically as well.

SPEAKER_01 28:36

Well, you know, when you when you're recruiting players, you know, I think year year to year, uh I'm sure that changes your wants and needs change. You know, this year I need polls, so I'm gonna go out looking for polls, or hey man, I'm looking for a FOGO. And those needs can change, but I always saw I always found that teams that had those Canadian kids always kind of did well. They were always those those Canadian box players. They're good in tight, they're fast, they're athletic, they can shoot, they can get the ball off from all different kinds of crazy angles. And and you know what? That's where lacrosse is going. It's going in an athletic type of, it's not just bulldozing guys over and knocking guys down anymore. I mean, they're moving the ball quick, and and these guys, it's it's a the game is it's evolving in speed, just like I guess any other game is, and having those Canadian kids. Now, other than going to Canada, where are some of the other places you like to recruit? I'm sure you recruit right at home too, right?

SPEAKER_00 29:41

Yeah, we we actually uh I I don't know if the number off the top of my head, but I think this this year uh we have eight eight guys from from the state of Alabama um on our team. Um you know, for for us, like Atlanta is a huge area that that we like to get into. Um the Nashville area. Um there's a a really nice pocket of of high schools in the Nashville area um with some really good players. You know what?

SPEAKER_01 30:10

That's the first time I'm hearing this. I never heard that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:13

Yeah, I you know, and you know, I probably shouldn't say too much. Um but um no, I mean we have we have uh we have three guys on our team right now um from the I think it's three. It's been a long day, but three, I think it's three guys from uh from Nashville on the team now. And uh you know, we just had a prospect day over Labor Day weekend, and you know, we had another four or five, and we're just it was great. Yeah, yeah, it was great. It was great. Um, but the the Nashville high schools, you know, there there are some really good players, and uh it's it's a recruited area, but it's uh it's not one that you would think. Um and then obviously like we do have guys on our team from Maryland, from New York, from New Jersey. We just graduated a kid from uh you know Stanford, Connecticut. Um, we want to get into those areas, um, but we're not going, I'm not going like all or nothing, like, oh, we got to bring in five kids from you know Maryland or New York every year. It's just I just don't think it's realistic. You know, it has to be a right fit for the kid. They want to go to school in the south, you know, they want to have to they want to have to go away, you know, and hop on a plane to get down to school. You know, that has to be something that that them and their parents are willing to be okay with. Right. Um, and that's not every kid, you know, and I think that's why we you know we did a lot in Canada when we first started is those kids got to get on a plane regardless if they want to go play college across. So um, you know, I think to them sometimes like there's no difference between Alabama, North Carolina, you know, Indiana, St. Louis, New York, you know, they're getting on a plane to go play College Across. It doesn't matter where, um, you know, because that's what they have to do. So um, yeah, and then, you know, we a little bit out west, we have two guys from Seattle. Um you know, we we have had some guys from California in the past, um, maybe a kid from Arkansas. I mean, wow. I mean, literally, like we we we kind of just, you know, if you can play and that's awesome, coach. I do not discriminate based on your zip code. That's awesome. That's good.

SPEAKER_03 32:33

Well, it's it's interesting perspective in the fact that Danny and I have talked about this. We had two recruiting podcasts, right? And we basically one of the things we lined out is it's two things. A, does the student want to travel? And B, do the parents want this their student to travel? Right. And um, so you're uh that was so you kind of uh I'm really kind of glad they kind of justified what we talked about, Danny, right? He looks at it, you look at it where you are down in Alabama, you got to find um the kids that want to do that. And so that when you say Canada now, it makes a lot more sense to me, right? It's just a logical thing.

SPEAKER_00 33:11

Yeah, I mean, you you know, the first question, like when I call a kid from Massachusetts or Maryland or you know, anywhere that's 12 plus hours drive, the first question I ask them, you know, we're in Alabama, does that excite you or does that scare you? Um, you know, and I don't beat around the bush because you know, if if they're like, nah, coach, that's too fucking, you know, if they're like, no, that's pretty cool, you're in Alabama, let's hear more about it. I'm like, all right, let's let's do it. You know, what questions do you have? So um yeah, that's I mean, and you know, they might be excited, and then mom's like, whoa, Alabama, you know, and then you know, then that process starts. But uh yeah, it's uh it's it's good. I I enjoy recruiting.

SPEAKER_03 33:58

Um so so just to go back, I want to go back just a second and um talk about the Peach Belt again and the growth. I guess there's two two teams coming on board this season, right? Flagler and Young Harris. Yep. Do you see that? First of all, uh just your opinion on being able to do that. I think that to me, that would be something that you think is fantastic because now you're going from four teams to six, you're building a bigger conference, bet you know, more competition. That's question number one. Number two is do you see even even more growth in the future for the Peach Belt?

SPEAKER_00 34:34

Yeah, I I think you know the Flagler and Young Harris, they're welcomed and they're gonna be great additions uh to our conference. You know, Flagler's in a fantastic area um in St. Augustine, Florida. Um, and uh Young Harris uh is in like the mountains of you know mountains of Georgia and uh two like really cool places. Um and young Harris did have lacrosse and and then you know they took the pause and brought it back, but you know, I think they're you know that they're gonna be good. Um I think Flagler is gonna be good. They're in good areas, they have really good, knowledgeable, experienced head coaches. Um and I just think it's a matter of time before you know we're we're talking about you know you know them uh towards the the the top of the conference. You know, I I think um administratively I think they're gonna support it well and um you know they're they're gonna be you know fierce competitors. So we're we're definitely excited um to have those guys join us. Um you know the the other part, I think a lot of schools now are starting to look at ways to uh to get more students to campus um and increase their geographic footprint. Um I do see there being growth in the peach belt because most I don't think there's any peach belt school that has that has football. Um and I think that's a huge component of it. Um you know, when you talk about Title IX and resources, um you know, most most Peach Belt schools don't have football. So I think there could be quicker growth that way. Um, because of that. But you know, I'm not an expert on on Title IX or what people are looking for to you know at the administrative level of higher education. Um but I think with the growth at the high school level, it's uh I would not be surprised if you didn't see more schools in the Peach Belt or in the Gulf South Conference, um, which we play in the Gulf South Conference for uh all of our other sports. Um and uh there's some schools in the Gulf South that I think could add as well. Um but you know, I think the growth is gonna come. It's just a matter of time. It's inevitable. It's inevitable.

SPEAKER_01 37:02

If you look at if you just look at the path of the Division II collars lacrosse in the past 10 years. And then the last five years. There's been an extreme uh gr amount of growth just in the last five years. And in the last 10 years, when you put it together, it's a lot of growth. It's inevitable that D2 is gonna grow. It's inevitable that the peach belt will will get uh more teams and more schools joining that. And you're gonna see uh even more better lacrosse across the country now. It's it's not just Long Island, it's not just uh Maryland, it's not just upstate New York anymore. You know, like coach said, these are teams out of Atlanta, teams out of Nashville. We had coaches saying that just teams out of high school kids out of state, you know, Utah and Salt Lake City, and just look at you know what the JLVC, you know, and then Meryville and Lindenwood just putting out great teams and in a short period of time. In a short period of time. So, you know, Montevello got they have a conference, you know, championship under their belt already in a short period of time with a coach that started a program and it's growing and it's going in the right direction. Right.

SPEAKER_03 38:20

And now you're the you're the one they want to knock all the other peach belt teams want to knock off the block, right?

SPEAKER_00 38:26

Yeah, yeah. We we we yes.

SPEAKER_03 38:30

So I mean, yeah, I'm sure it's a kind of a dual question, you know, uh, because I didn't get to ask that, but what did it feel like? How'd your team feel after that that Peach Belt Conference Championship win?

SPEAKER_00 38:41

Yeah, so uh we were we were in like not in a great place um in the beginning of March. We were actually one in four um the after the first weekend in March. Um we had we had won our first game. Um and then we you know we we went and played some some some big dogs in Conference Carolinas in the sack, and um you know we got taught a few lessons and and uh you know we we had a road trip up to the Carolinas for a Wednesday Friday on the road. Um and I think that trip really turned our season around. Um we were able to get two tough wins on the road, and I don't care where you play or or who you're playing, like when you got to travel 11 hours and you know, drive through the night, get out get into a hotel, play the next day, you know, drive another couple hours, switch hotels, you know, and play another game when you know the team on Friday you played like didn't play on Wednesday. You know, that that's a tough, that's a tough stretch. And uh, you know, we knew we had to do it. And uh I think that that trip, um, looking back at it, really changed our season. You know, it gave us confidence. Um, we had some injuries early on, and we were plugging some younger guys in at some different roles, and they really started to get comfortable. Um we just kind of went on a run. And I think uh the thing we talked about you know throughout the year was just making sure that you know we we did everything we could to make sure that we we finished the job on May 1st. Yeah, and you didn't, you know, that final buzzers.

SPEAKER_03 40:30

Yeah, you didn't lose after that.

SPEAKER_00 40:32

No, no, it was nine in a row, which was pretty cool. Um and it was just like complete buy-in from the guys, and and you know, it was they did a great job. You know, the players, it's the players' game, you know, we we gave them you know, this is what we want, you know, you guys have to make the plays, and uh they did. And uh it was just it was exciting, man. It was just like, you know, you you come down with a vision and you build it, and then you know, you get to the point where it's like it's possible and you see it through, and it's just like it was not not that it was a relief, but it was like accomplishment, you know, like absolutely we did it, you know, like it was something that we've dreamt about and talked about and set goals for, and you know, and and personally, like it was something that I, you know, I I really thought we could do it in year four and you know the accomplish it was it was unbelievable. It was it was you know great experience.

SPEAKER_01 41:29

Oh, that's good for you, man. That's that's great. That's a great story. I love that. I love that.

SPEAKER_03 41:34

Yeah, that's that's what it that that's phenomenal to to to not only hear but see. I mean, like I said, watching the game and and watching how you guys won and watching, and I think I talked about this in the podcast. You know, here's the peach belt that is is not a known entity, right? Even in D2. You want two things. You watch your players when you won, and the excitement on their faces, and then you look at the the University of Alabama Huntsville players and uh distraught how how bad they felt that they couldn't come back. I mean, that is the ultimate in competition, and it was it it, you know, it's it's not any, you know. So what if it's not the N? It's the Peach Belt. This is their the new conference, and you guys pulled it off. It was just it was great to watch your kids celebrate.

SPEAKER_00 42:27

Yeah, yeah, thank you. And you know, for for a lot of them, I mean, like when when we were they were freshmen and sophomores, I mean, like I'll never forget. We we went uh our first season, like we went up to Lindenwood uh one weekend, and we got taught a lesson. I think it was 17 to 6. Um, and that was before they were in the GLVC, and we had to go right back next weekend to play Maryville. Um and we lost in overtime. And you know, I was just like, man, those are that's really tough. And uh and then like in year two, I mean, we played like Rockhurst, you know, in GLVC, and they you know, they taught us some lessons. Uh and then uh you know, we we try to play good teams back then, and we still try to play good teams, you know, every year, but I think like we kept telling the guys after every season, like this is a process, you know, if you commit to this process, you know, you're not gonna get instant gratification. You know, it's it will come, but you have to stick to it. And for them to like experience all those hard losses and tough games, and and then for it to come out the other side and and really win, you know, playing anyone, beating anyone three times is like extremely hard in the same season. No, and to do that, um you know, it was just like It was almost like you couldn't script it any other way, right? It was always going to be extremely hard. It was always going to be Alabama Huntsville. It was always going to be the third time. And I think like you know, that's why you saw the jubilation on their faces and how they celebrated, because a lot of those older guys had been through the butt whoopins um early on. And you know, they they were they were extremely motivated to get it done.

SPEAKER_01 44:30

So well that that adversity builds character, you know. 100%. And you learn from your mistakes. And I just think that I think young programs kind of have to go through that kind of thing. Again, what coach had uh last podcast, the Tenacious 12, is 12 players going out and getting their butts beat up, but coming back week after week, you know. And he said he was giving them days off so they would rest their knees and you know, rest their ankles, where he he didn't want to give them, but he had to, you know. And right. So what you've done in a short period of time, Coach, is amazing. I love the stories. It's it's it's awesome. And I wish you nothing but luck. I'm gonna be watching Montevello for sure.

SPEAKER_03 45:13

Yeah, and I think the other thing that I that I think is indicative of probably your program, what you just said and what you're trying to build, right? You didn't say uh we went up to Rockhurst and got whooped. You said we learned a lot of lessons, right? And as you're building that program, it sounds like that's what you try to do, and that's where you why you got to where you're at. And now you are the top dog in the peach belt that everyone's gonna be gunning for. So it's gonna be really exciting to to watch this next season.

SPEAKER_00 45:42

Yeah, I yeah, I agree. I think so. And like we have a we have a saying here, like make the next play, and you know, don't let things snowball like academically. You know, if you fail a quiz or a test, don't fail the next one. Um, but you know, it was I don't know if it was told to me or like reading a book over the summer, like fail forward, right? Like, you know, if you lose a game, the that's fine. Like we just we got to make sure that we don't make the same mistakes the next time around, uh the next time we're out there. And I think that is something we've talked about here from day one. And and you know, the the kids are great leaders and and great guys in the locker room. And you know, if they don't buy in, none of this works. Um, but you know, credit to them and you know, and their commitment to each other. And uh I think that's that's what college athletics is is about, right? You know, you're part of something that's bigger than yourself, and you know, it's all about sacrifice and compromise and you know, maybe taking a different role than what you want because it's better for the guy next to you. And you know, I I there's if there's five stories, there's 15 of guys on my team last year that you know came in as a we had one guy who was a a D middy. Halfway through the year, we had some injuries, we were deep in that position. He picked up a pole and he started in the conference championship game. You know, another defensive. Yeah, you know, he he came in as a as an offensive midfielder. He played defense for two years in high school. His high school team needed to play offense. You know, the COVID year we had some injuries. He went down to close, you know, he started in a conference championship game. And it's like, you know, the the sacrifice, you know, offensively, we had an attackman get hurt. Right. We're playing midfield. We moved him back down to attack. You know, he made big plays. It's just, you know, and every every team, every, you know, everyone does it, but you know, it's just getting buy-in from everybody, and it's just really special. It was just really special to be a part of. And guys is doing whatever they could to help the team win. Um, and that's what it came down to.

SPEAKER_01 47:53

So phenomenal. Phenomenal.

SPEAKER_03 47:55

Yeah, that's gonna be, I'll tell you, you you you just this whole past hour or so, now you've got me all excited about watching Peach Belt uh next year. It's great, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:03

It's it's a great conference. I mean, like there's some talented kids all over the place, and and like we we are like the the our strength as a conference is is the offense. There are a lot of goals scored in in Peach Belt games. I think we I think we finished uh like top with goals against average last year, and it was just under 11 uh defensively. Um and if if you're into fast-paced lacrosse and and uh you watch peach belt games, they are up and down and sideways, and there are a lot of goals getting scored all different kinds of ways. And you know, sometimes I'm you know we're on the sidelines and I'm like, man, that was that was a really good goal by them. Like I don't know if like we should have stopped that, you know what I mean? And there's just a lot, a lot of you know, a lot of good up and down the way the game should be played, I think. You know, the the coaches in this conference let their kids go and let them play, and it's it's extremely fun to be a part of and fun to watch.

SPEAKER_03 49:06

Well, we'll be watching next season without a doubt. And and I hope, coach, that uh if you're willing to come on, I've I I say this every time. I say this to all the coaches, if you're willing to come on for a few minutes for a podcast during the the spring season where we can catch up with you after a game, not right after a game, but you know, during that week or whatever, and and talk about uh how the season's going or some X's and O's or what happened in the last game. That's we would love it if you'd be willing to do that.

SPEAKER_00 49:35

100%. Um, I I really appreciate you guys you know giving me the opportunity to you know showcase our program and our conference and you know our institution. And uh, you know, thank you guys for all you're doing to help promote you know division two lacrosse because it's uh it it's a fun brand of lacrosse. There's you know extremely talented kids that uh that that play Division II, and there's some some of the best coaches in our game. Um coach at this level. And uh yeah, I just really appreciate you guys for you know what you're doing to help promote it. You know, it's it's great.

SPEAKER_01 50:14

Well, thank you. That's why we kind of started it a little like again, we started it on a whim. It was kind of like a joke back and forth. But now that we've gotten this far, I'm glad that we could help somebody like you and and and and Montevallo and and and and grow the game. And and you know what people are learning about schools that they didn't know about, you know, a week ago or two weeks ago or a month ago, just from listening to the podcast. Because some people might have never heard of Montevallo before, but they will now. And right that's that's what we're trying to do is promote the game. My oldest played um D2. He was at St. Leo. He was a freshman when you were a senior at Mars Hill. And I had gone down to Mars Hill to see him play, and you guys put a whipping on them boys that week. And my middle guy plays D2, well, played D2, um was uh one of the top scorers on Long Island his senior year. Never saw the offensive side of the field at college. He he was a D midi. He was a D midi. I think he had five career goals, I think, and and almost he was one of the top goal scorers on Long Island at the time. And my youngest is committed to D2 lacrosse, and um and all for good reasons because it's the way to go, I think. I think, and that's just one dad, one guy, one guy talking. But Kevin agrees with us. It's uh that it's where to go. I mean, uh it's the money that's available for some of these kids, you know, whereas D1, you know, you're getting either academic money or athletic, not one or the other. D three, you know, Ivy League, of course, you know, Patriot League, again, different D2, they can stack scholarships. If you're a good student and you have a decent GPA, you could, you know, get a nice piece of change from a university just on the academic side.

unknown 52:20

Uh huh.

SPEAKER_01 52:20

And then you add a little bit of athletic money on top of that. Uh schools become a lot more attractive uh to uh division one type players. And you know what? I I find that division one type players are coming to D2 now. They're there they there's players out there that can play on Division I teams. I don't care what you say. Are you telling me that Dickinson can't play on a Division I team? You are you telling me that Andrew Q couldn't have played on a Division I team? These kids can, yeah, but they're choosing they're choosing D2. And more and more these kids are choosing D2. And I think in the next five years, D two is gonna be as big as D one and D three. I think it's I think it is. And that's just my opinion. But I I think D2 is the way to go. And I'm so happy that you're doing well at the school. You're you know, a couple of years you got them in the right direction. And you were great tonight, coach. I really appreciate you coming on. You were great. I I think you're the type of guy I could see myself uh hanging out and having a chicken wing or two. Yeah, and and absolutely talking lacrosse, you know.

SPEAKER_00 53:32

Absolutely. I I you know, I'm I I love talking lacrosse. My my wife sometimes tells me, you know, let's hang up the phone, you know, let's hang out, watch, watch something on TV, you know, put the iPad away. Um you know, but uh yeah, I love it. It's uh it it's it's a great game. And uh I'm glad that it's growing and that I can just help, you know, help the process of keeping it going. Um, because it's uh it's it's truly an avenue for kids to to get to school and and have some structure. And I'm glad that it's growing at the pace it is.

SPEAKER_03 54:07

Yeah, I think, coach, with uh you know, coaches like you and what you're doing in that program and and maybe even a little bit of us in In the Crease, the In the Crease Boys, will start to help that and and and continue to grow it in D2 because like like Danny said, we're we're true believers. Um, and it's been phenomenal tonight um with you. Once again, we learned so much from the coaches. Um, so we can't thank you enough.

SPEAKER_00 54:33

Yeah, thank you guys. I I really appreciate it and uh looking forward to doing it again, hopefully in the spring. Sounds good. So what do you say, Danny?

SPEAKER_03 54:42

Think that's a wrap for tonight?

SPEAKER_01 54:43

That's a wrap. And and coach was great. Uh uh that was awesome. I that was the quickest hour ever.

SPEAKER_03 54:51

Goodbye fast. All right, so until next time, this is in the crease.