A Conversation with St Leo University Lacrosse Coach - Brad Jorgensen

SPEAKER_02 0:24

Welcome back to another episode of In the Crease, a coast-to-coast discussion of D2 Men's lacrosse. I'm Kevin Stenstrom, and I'm joined by my co-host and passionate lacrosse dad, Danny Moran. How are you doing, Danny?

SPEAKER_01 0:37

I'm doing good, Kevin. How are you doing tonight?

SPEAKER_02 0:40

I'm I'm doing really well as we move forward in this season. As you know, Danny, our first episode of the season was, you know, we opened up and we were out on the west coast talking to Coach Kerwin of Westminster University. And now we were a good one. But now in true coast to coast fashion, we're going all the way from the west, we're traversing via Zoom to the Florida coast. And I know you're excited as me to talk with our guest tonight because he started the first NCAA lacrosse program in the state of Florida, which I find fascinating. I'm really excited and interested to hear what he has to say. So from St. Leo University, we have Coach Brad Jorgensen. Hey coach, how you doing?

SPEAKER_00 1:26

I'm doing great, guys. How about you?

SPEAKER_02 1:28

Good, good. Really welcome to the show. We're really happy to have you. Um, so we might as well just uh get started. And I'll start off right with that question there. You know, um, you were hired as the first head coach for St. Leo. And as your website says, and I love this, I love this thing saying you're the original, the original in Florida for an NCA lacrosse program. So not only starting up just a college, you know, a college team, but really the first one in the state. I did what was that like? Can you tell us a little bit about that back in the early 2000s?

SPEAKER_00 2:00

Yeah, it was uh it was a daunting task, probably. I look back at it now and uh uh wonder exactly what I was thinking at the moment. Um and quite frankly, probably a lot of my colleagues wondered uh if I had lost my mind at the time. Um so uh I I saw an article, uh I want to say it was in lacrosse magazine uh about St. Leo starting a program. Sent my name and my resume down and didn't hear anything uh for a long time. Uh and uh about Christmas time my phone rang and it was the athletic director uh at St. Leo, uh Fran Reedy, and and he wanted to know if I was still interested. Uh and I said, sure, I'll I'll I'll take a look around. Um and you know, getting to come down and look at campus and getting to talk to people about their vision uh of the program. Uh I I it was one of those weird feelings. I got back on the airplane uh and called my wife and said, I think I got to take this if they offer it to me. Uh I kind of was going down on a whim, uh, and it turned out to be one of those things that as I left, it was like, I think I got to do this if I get the chance to do it. Um that being said, uh I say yes. I get down there in mid-February uh and have to have a team together by mid-August. Um our nearest opponent was uh in the northern sections of South Carolina. Uh we didn't have a goal, we didn't have a bucket of balls. Uh I had my first uh team meeting, right? So this is almost 20 years ago, so it's old school. Uh put up flyers around campus and said, hey, if you're interested, uh if you've got lacrosse background, come to our team meeting uh and and we'll see if if you're fit. Uh and I had exactly one guy uh show up to that meeting.

SPEAKER_02 4:06

Um so yeah, there was certainly that's a slow recruiting season right there.

SPEAKER_00 4:11

Yeah, I it I came uh I came to the realization very quickly that I wasn't gonna find my first team on campus. Um so uh definitely uh logged a lot of miles in the car and a lot of uh high school across games uh in the state of Florida early on, um and was able to piece together a 28-man roster uh on relatively short notice. Um and then obviously the second part becomes how do you put together a schedule? Um, we're uh and I and I will give my colleagues at the time uh a huge tip of the cap. I think there was a lot of guys um that saw what could be uh and decided to take spring break trips uh down to Florida to play us. Um I think partly to support us and partly because it was uh a week in the sun and you got a guaranteed win. Um it went both ways. Um you know, and as we got better, that phone stopped ringing on those spring break trips uh more and more. Um but yeah, it was it was definitely the wild, wild west. It was uh it was a really interesting time. And uh again, almost 20 years later, looking back at it now, I I'm not quite sure I fully understood what I was jumping into at the time.

SPEAKER_02 5:33

That's that is a wild ride, without a doubt. I just to go with that, um, and we what was the um the level of uh play or number of high schools that really had it uh in Florida? Florida's got a lot now in in lacrosse, right? In high school teams and whatnot, but what was it like 20 years ago to try to find because I assume you're trying to recruit, like you said, you're in the car, you're probably trying to do it as much local as possible within the state of Florida to begin with.

SPEAKER_00 6:08

Sure. I I I would say uh early on, I realized that at that point, uh Florida lacrosse wasn't there. Uh, it wasn't gonna be something that you could build a program around. Um, I think you could find good players, and we did. Um, we're inducting a Florida native into the St. Leo Athletics Hall of Fame uh this fall, uh Matt Obermeyer from Winter Springs. Um so there was definitely diamonds in the rough. There were definitely kids who could play um nowhere near as deep as it is today. Um they were uh it was a a little bit more few and far between, um even in what now are considered pretty deep areas of talent, uh, whether it be Orlando, whether it be southeastern Florida, whether it be Jacksonville, um it was pretty slim pickings early on. Uh and quite frankly, uh the philosophy was never to build it with Florida kids. Um one, you know, one of the things, uh and I'm sure Danny can back me up on this, uh, one of the things that was attractive to me when I looked at the job was our cost of attendance compared to Northeastern schools, was really low uh at the time. Um, and it gave us a foot in the door on Long Island in New England, in upstate New York, in Pennsylvania, um, when we could walk into a kid's living room and say, hey, our starting price tag is $26,000 a year. And if you've got decent grades, you're really starting at $20,000 a year, which was about SUNY school price at the time.

SPEAKER_01 7:48

Right. Right, correct. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 7:51

So uh I think for us from a recruiting standpoint, that first year, that first sort of five-month scramble to put a team together, yes, we definitely went out and visited the Florida high schools and tried to mine Florida as much as we could. Uh, but realistically, the long-term uh goal was to recruit the Northeast. Uh, and realistically, a lot of Florida kids think we're expensive, right? It's a very it's a very state school culture down here, yeah. Um, as opposed to the Northeast uh or even the Midwest. So uh short term, yeah, we spent a lot of time driving around Florida. Long term, we always knew the traditional hotbeds were probably our way to go.

SPEAKER_01 8:33

I know when in the year 2009, 2010 year, uh you won your conference that year. That that roster was filled with players from all over the country, and you had Canadians on that team, coach, and a couple of all Americans on that team. So in the short period of time, you guys came a long way.

SPEAKER_00 8:53

Yeah, I again I think um we had a good product to sell. Uh it's a great university, it's a great way to play. Uh, you know, as a New England guy who never lived outside of New England before taking this job, uh I don't miss uh February and March uh in the Northeast uh at all.

SPEAKER_01 9:11

Um blame you.

SPEAKER_00 9:13

You know, it's it's really nice having our first day of practice on January 10th in t-shirts and shorts. Um that that still isn't old, uh almost 20 years later.

SPEAKER_01 9:23

No, it's a big selling point with uh uh young recruits. It's a that's a big selling point.

SPEAKER_00 9:28

No, it's it's it's a difference maker. Um, you know, uh I I think I always tell guys we we traded seasons. So like for us, fall ball is a little bit tough. It's hot, it's steamy, uh, there's thunderstorms. Uh it's definitely sort of the the time of year to stay inside. Um, but the trade-off is uh the spring is pristine, it's perfect every day. Um, so I'll take that trade-off every day. Um you know, and and I think talking about that roster that of that first group, that 2009 through 2012 group um that was in the national rankings, was nipping on the heels uh of limestone for an NCA bid. Um, you know, those those years are indicative of not just our student body. Uh it's a very national student body, um, but where we still are today. I I think we have 17 different states and two Canadian provinces on our roster today.

SPEAKER_02 10:30

I would that's exactly what I was gonna point out that uh looking at your roster, it is still across the country and uh really North America. You know, obviously it's not you don't have anyone playing from Mexico, but both Canada, all over, I mean Texas, uh Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia, Florida. Are you hit it there? There's not many gaps except even you have guys from the West Coast, I think.

SPEAKER_00 10:55

Uh yeah, we've we've definitely had some success in Colorado, we've had some success in Utah. Um you know, we've got Canadian West Coast guys, British Columbia guys, uh, we've had Washington State guys come and have great careers here. Um, you know, again, I think to me it was important to have our roster reflect our student body. Um, you know, I I one of my biggest concerns when I interviewed for the job was I didn't want to have 40 guys from Long Island and everybody else in the schools from Florida and going home to do their laundry. Um, I I wanted to be able to build a roster that reflected the general population. And fortunately, St. Leo has a national footprint uh in terms of its student body. Um, you know, and I also think the other thing I always try to point out to guys uh is in-state out of state is a really misleading uh statistic in a state like Florida. Um you can be seven hours away from home and still be an in-state student. Right. Um it's I grew up in Connecticut. You know, seven hours put me in DC. Um exactly. So it's a it's a little bit of a different perspective when you're in such a gigantic state uh that stretches for so long that you know, even our students who are in-state guys, if they're from Miami, they're six hours away from home. If they're from the panhandle, they're seven, eight hours away from home.

SPEAKER_01 12:19

Right.

SPEAKER_00 12:19

Um, so it's it's a big place, in-state, out of state. It's kind of a meaningless statistic at our place.

SPEAKER_02 12:25

Right. And so let's talk about that for a second. If you look at the state of Florida and really the growth of lacrosse, especially college, NCA lacrosse, since you started on all the D2 programs that are in the state now, you got to see that growth. I'm just interested from your perspective, how you saw that coming about, what you've seen to fuel that growth is kind of what I'm asking.

SPEAKER_00 12:57

Sure. I I think um I'll be honest, I felt a lot of pressure early on, not just to be successful at St. Leo and build my program, uh, but I was well aware there was a lot of eyeballs on us. Um just like my colleagues thought I was crazy taking the job. There was a lot of college presidents in the state of Florida that were looking uh at Dr. Kirk, our president at the time, uh, and thought he was nuts. Um and you know, it was sort of that risk reward. Uh, I think you see a lot of uh you know, smaller enrollment-driven schools uh love the byproduct uh of having a men's lacrosse program of having 45-50 guys um on their campus. Um, but you factor in the cost of travel and the feasibility of a schedule. I I think it scared some people off until somebody could come in and show that not only was it possible, but it was possible to do it really well. Um so uh early on, yeah, I I I felt the eyeballs. Our our other Sunshine State Conference uh presidents and athletic directors were really sort of watching from afar to see if this was a good idea or if it was going to be a disaster. Um, you know, seeing it grow and seeing it pop up uh in the conference and at like institutions in the state of Florida, it's been great. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a little pride uh in that. Yeah, it's creating competitors. Uh it was really easy when I was the only show in town. And if you wanted to play in uh in the palm trees, it was me or or nobody else. Uh sure. That was a uh that was a nice space to live in for a while. Um but the the fact of the matter is uh the competitiveness of our conference, the top to bottom uh density uh is the way I describe it. It's just a dense conference. There is very little room between the best and the worst. Uh and really truly, on any given day, um, anybody can beat anybody. Um it's been a good thing, uh, you know, I uh on any given Saturday afternoon. I might not enjoy it as much as I'm able to enjoy it right now. Um but yeah, I I take a little pride in in how much it has grown in the state of Florida and in our conference.

SPEAKER_01 15:28

You should you should be proud, coach, because that conference has come a long way. Uh in the even in the last five or six years, I've seen it grow. Um, teams like Lynn now are putting together squads. Now you have Emery Riddle in there. And just you know, the game is exploding at the D2 level. It really is. And we've discussed this in a couple of our podcasts. We I know that Kevin and I kind of gave the Sunshine State Conference not the best rating this year. And you went ahead and tweeted after Tampa had come out so strong in the NCAA tournament. You would come out and tweet it and said, Well, who's talking about the Sunshine State Conference now? And you know what, coach, you made us eat our words.

SPEAKER_02 16:12

That's yeah, we we ate crow after that. I'll tell you that.

SPEAKER_00 16:15

And and yeah, I uh I no, I and I think the reality is this anybody that goes undefeated in our conference is an NCA team. Uh and I don't think we were done any favors um by having to just play each other round robin uh as a result of COVID and and not wanting overnights, and and and those were real things that our administration had to deal with. Uh, and I don't blame them for that, but I think from a purely competitive nature, from a seating the tournament nature, um I I understood why people questioned whether or not um some folks were worthy. Um but I think I I think anybody that that can run the table in our conference, like Tampa did last year, that's an NCA caliber team. Um like I like I said, I I I don't know that we are the best conference, but I know top to bottom we are. Um I know that if you put the bottom two or three teams in our conference against the bottom two or three teams in any other conference in Division II, it would be a massacre. Um there's there's no days off.

SPEAKER_01 17:32

Um no doubt, coach. There's five or six schools that jump out right away, you know, St. Leo, uh Tampa, Lynn. Um Florida Southern has put out a couple of good teams in the last couple of years. Palm Beach Atlantic made a little bit of noise uh about two, three seasons ago. You know, they were putting out some good teams. The conference has come a long, really long way. It definitely is a good conference.

SPEAKER_00 17:56

Yeah, and one of the things I enjoy about the conference the most is I think um while we're all in Florida, we really don't have that much in common as institutions. Um, you know, I always tell guys when they come down on visits and they're doing two or three visits, uh, and it happens, right? We recruit the Northeast, a kid comes down and he's gonna visit us and he's gonna visit Tampa and he's gonna visit Florida Southern. Um we really don't have much in common other than geography. Um I always I always tell kids you should never like both of us. Um you should you shouldn't be uh questioning which one you like better. Um, and it's not because one's better than the other one, it's just we're all very different than what we offer. Yeah, it's not better or worse, it's setting, it's academic offerings.

SPEAKER_02 18:50

Um, the you know yeah, you hit the nail right on the head, coach, because that's exactly what we did with our son. You know, he did he did the Florida swing. Um and interestingly, the his favorite was St. Leo out of all the Florida schools he went to, and and he did exactly what you thought. It was in one trip over about a week, visiting one school after another, and it it's just a connection, right? It's what connection you make. You can make it with the coach, the school, the program. They've all got something to offer, which is the other great thing, right?

SPEAKER_00 19:20

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 19:20

Um, it it so that's why I think that makes your conference so so desirable, because you a lacrosse player can find his fit, I think, within a Sunshine State conference.

SPEAKER_00 19:36

Absolutely. I mean, we you know, if you want to study uh aeronautical engineering, I can't help you out, but Coach Wims over at Embry Riddle can. Um you know, if if you want to go to school uh in a downtown city atmosphere, uh Coach Clark will be have have help uh happy to help you out. Uh downtown.

SPEAKER_01 19:55

Yeah, JB's going at Tampa. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:58

So you know, I I think we we all offer very different settings, very different academic offerings. Um, so yeah, we're competing against each other, but I I find myself recruiting less and less against other Sunshine State conference schools because we we really shouldn't be recruiting against each other. Um we we we have less and less in common uh the more you look.

SPEAKER_01 20:24

Understood makes perfect sense. How's how's recruiting been for you through throughout COVID? I'm sure Kevin Kevin and I were talking, discussing some stuff before you came on, and I was saying, man, these coaches really must uh want to just forget the 2020 and the 2021 season. It must have been so uh extremely difficult for a coach, you know, 10 kids in the in the locker room at one time and you know, making sure they're not going to the chicken wing place after practice. And it must have been really, really hard. How how did you deal with it? And you know, Florida, as we know, was a pretty hard hit COVID area.

SPEAKER_00 21:06

Yeah, still are, still are, unfortunately. Um you know, I I think it was uh I I I'm with you. I I second your motion to forget 2020 and 2021. Um, you know, it it was not uh a fun environment. Um, you know, we were in pods of six playing catch pretty much all last fall. Um we had freshmen that pretty much didn't meet upperclassmen until almost February. Um, because really it's amazing. You know, we we really never got on the field as a full group until then. Um we were really, really on the guys about social gatherings. Um you know, and I know I felt like our guys were absolute princes through it. Uh, they really were. We weren't the guys that threw the party, we weren't the guys that caused outbreaks. Uh, we did not cause one single game to be moved in the spring. Um, our guys were angels, um, but it's where we used our energy. We didn't use our energy on making them better at lacrosse, we didn't use our energy on on bringing them together as a team. Uh and you know, these kids have limited bandwidth. Um, and when you spend all that bandwidth on COVID compliance, um, and don't get together on a Saturday night and those things, by the time it gets down to what we really want to be using the bandwidth on, we were out of it. Um and and the it was a really crummy way to go. And and look, I I gotta give my kids uh all the kudos in the world. They they took it like champs, they probably handled it way better than I did. Um but but it wasn't a lot of fun. Um, you know, to your point on the how do you recruit through it, um, that was hard as well. Um, you know, I really rely on my players and their interaction with our recruits to be a major part of the process. Um I I fully believe that that should be part of anybody's recruiting process, right? Like I love St. Leo, I've been there a long time, but they pay me to say nice things about St. Leo. Uh they don't pay my players to say nice things about St. Leo. Um, I I don't know what it's like to play for Coach Jorgensen. I don't know what it's like to be 18 and go to St. Leo. Um, I I think that's a critical part of the recruiting process. And with COVID and the inability to have kids in for overnight visits, um, it it made it challenging. It made giving those kids that full experience um challenging. Uh, you know, I'm I'm not a hard sell recruiting guy. Uh I want kids to really want to be here. I want guys to bleed green and gold. Um, I don't want guys to say yes to me because I call them every day or or because I browbeat them into it or I give them a deadline or any of those other things. I really want them to want to be here. Uh and you know, kids not being able to do the true visit, the true official visit, the come hang out with the guys, go to class, spend the night in the dorm. That was a real challenge. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:18

And then add to that during the season, that you know, I think uh your conference had the most postponements, cancellations. I mean, I I look at your schedule from last year, and it wasn't just one game and then you go you have the next one set. I mean, you went two or three weeks trying to reschedule. Add that to the fact that your team really didn't get together as a full team until February. You guys, I think, didn't even start until March or April, right? I mean, you started late too as a conference. That must have been another just really tough piece of the puzzle when you've got your guys probably up to the level of ready to compete and then cancellation and then getting ready to compete and cancellation or postponement.

SPEAKER_00 25:01

Yeah, I mean, uh it was definitely challenging. Half of our games got moved um the over the course of the season.

SPEAKER_02 25:08

Um that's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 25:10

It was a lot, it was a lot, and and you know, I sat down with my athletic director uh probably mid-February, um, as we kind of got word that we were gonna actually be allowed to play, because that was certainly up in the air at that point. Um, and I told them we're not moving any games or canceling any games or anything uh for competitive advantage. I'm telling you right now. Um, if we have 20 guys uh in a goalie, uh we're playing. Um and that was kind of the way we attacked it was that our guys just want to play. Um, it might not be the best for us from a competitive standpoint. Uh, we might not have our guys. We had a game where uh we had 22 guys coming out of quarantine the day of the game. And we still rolled out the balls and played. Um it but here's the other thing, and and and I don't want anybody to misunderstand what I'm saying. Every single team in our conference had the same challenges. Um, everybody we played had restrictions, everybody we played had guys that weren't available for practice or game day. Um, it wasn't an excuse. Um, everybody was dealing with it. Uh it was the world we were living in, uh, and you could cry about it or drag your feet about it or uh whatever, or you could you know, wipe your nose, stand up, and play. Um so the you know, it was it frustrating? Uh absolutely. Was it definitely uh a place where you never felt like any of your plans were ever going to come to fruition because something always changed? Uh absolutely. Uh, but everybody we played was dealing with the same thing. So, you know, we kind of told our guys we don't want to hear about it. Everybody's dealing with the same problems.

SPEAKER_01 26:59

Right. So, how's it looking this year now with recruiting? And uh look a little better, I'm sure, right? A little bit more freer, and uh you were able to get to like tournaments this year and that type of stuff.

SPEAKER_00 27:11

Yeah, no, so yeah, getting out to summer travel was huge. Um, I think one of the challenges of the geographic location uh for me uh is uh I I always feel like I never want to sacrifice time with the guys I have for time with the guys I want. Um, what that translates into is once my guys are on campus, I'm staying. Um we don't do a boatload of fall travel. Um so that means my staff and I you know kiss our wives and girlfriends uh goodbye in early June, and we see them August 1st. Uh, and we spend pretty much the whole summer uh driving around the Northeast uh watching kids play. Uh and and having that ability this year was was certainly uh good, if not just good for the soul to get back on the trail, um, but certainly help with our evaluations uh and and getting to you know people seeing the guy in the St. Leo t-shirt sitting in the campchair. Um that's got value.

SPEAKER_01 28:14

My my youngest is a 2022, and his uh, you know, his season was completely cut off. And then his junior year, they condensed all the games into like a month. They were doing like three or four games, they're playing St. Anthony's, they're playing Chaminot. I mean, they had no time for anything. They my son got beat up this year, you know. It was a quick uh condensed season, and but uh his tournaments last year, no coaches were allowed to attend. About half half of the tournaments were rescheduled, and it was in the fall at a different part time of the year, coaches weren't really traveling. And I know the 2022 class has suffered a little bit through that. How did you do for the 2022 class?

SPEAKER_00 29:01

Yeah, so uh we're still well into the 22s. Um, you know, my I think our institution being done on September one doesn't make sense for us. Um, I I've always felt like we should have guys who should be playing division one who don't land at a division one school for whatever reason. Uh, you know, maybe they were number two on everybody's list uh and all the number ones said yes.

SPEAKER_01 29:30

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 29:31

You know, they we should be a place where kids land who somehow didn't have a chair when the music stopped. Um, so we've never been obsessed. Um, and the other part is I I want kids who think they're going to UMass. I want kids who think they're going to Hofstra. Uh I don't want uh I don't want a 23 whose dream it is to play at St. Leo. Um, those kids are nice and that's great. And and and we certainly have those guys. Uh, but the reality is if we're gonna get to where we want to go at this level, uh, we should have kids um who should be playing D1 but are playing for us instead. Um so uh I I think the 22 class, the hardest part, uh, what was already a really narrow funnel for those kids, um, right? There's already way fewer college roster spots uh than there are really good players. Um so the funnel was already narrow. Uh, and we're still two years left of these kids with the free COVID year. Um the grad student, the fifth year who decides to stay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:41

Um wants to finish out his final, you know, final year of playing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:45

Yeah, you get the rest of your life to work. You know, you you hang out and get your MBA and play your fifth year. I mean, that's true. You know, I think uh that funnel for the 22s and the 23s um has even gotten more narrow. And and for me, that's music to my ears, right? If I'm already catching kids who should be playing D1 but aren't, uh I'm gonna catch more of them because there's gonna be fewer of those D1 roster spots uh uh available for worthy kids.

SPEAKER_01 31:17

Absolutely. And and Kevin and I have been discussing this over several podcasts. The amount of kids that are coming to the D2 level that are D1 caliber players are more and more. You know, the the fact that D2 schools can stack their scholarships and you know, go to a school in in in not too far from uh in Zephyr Hills over there and uh St. Leo and nice and warm there, close to Clearwater Beach. It's got a lot of attractiveness to these players that may not want to sit at a UMass for a year or a Hostra for a year, you know, and and I find that especially in the last five or six years, D2 has really got a lot of D1 caliber players.

SPEAKER_00 32:08

But I I mean, you look at you know, guys playing in the PL, you look at a kid like Charlie Bertrand going to Virginia and playing in the PLL. You you look at a kid like Andrew Q. Um, you look at the NLL draft.

SPEAKER_02 32:24

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:25

There's a boatload of Division II Canadians that end up getting drafted in that draft. Um, yeah, you know, I I think Division II spent a while as sort of this sort of weird, like what are you? Um situation. And I think as the divisions grown in numbers and grown in geography, uh grown in resources, um, you know, there's a lot of division two schools that have more scholarship money than division one schools. Uh not just the stacking and not just the lack of equivalencies uh that D1 guys have to deal with, but just flat out more scholarship money. Uh I uh I know that there's plenty of Division II schools that have more actual scholarships than a lot of Division Ones. Um, right. It's not sort of that that redheaded stepchild that people aren't sure what to do with anymore. It's the it's a legitimate option and and a appealing one, both from academic offerings and geographic offerings.

SPEAKER_02 33:25

Yeah, so that that's a great point. I mean, we like Danny said, we've talked about that a lot and and what D2 can offer and where it is competitively, but let's switch topics for a second. Uh well, more than a second, I hope. We'll probably talk about it for a few minutes. You know, um, in 2018, you were able to get your team all the way to the national championship, and that is so difficult to do. That I mean, there are obviously there are a lot of teams that never get there, right? What was that like? And I'm sure you're trying to replicate that. You won one as a player yourself at Springfield College, but what was that like to get your team there and what your thoughts were? I mean, what a great experience.

SPEAKER_00 34:11

No, it it it was uh it was a heck of a run. Um, it and you know, the the thing everyone's got to realize is just how much has to go right um for something like that to happen. Um, I think that season from beginning to end, uh, we had five or six one goal wins uh over the course of that season. Um and the really interesting one for us uh is it was almost exactly the same roster as the year before where we failed to even make our conference tournament. Um so uh almost the same personnel, uh uh uh one or two really nice additions. Um, but for the most part, uh it was the same kids deciding to do it better. Um, you know, we sat down at the beginning of that season uh and and really talked about the you know how much meat we had left on the bone the year before uh and why and and how that came to be. Um and you know, that was a very senior heavy team uh that in 2018 that went to the national championship. Um I think you know, they really we really confronted the harsh truths of why we had underachieved uh in our minds the the previous two years. Um and they really sort of bought into okay, we we we put it all out there on the table. We know exactly what we did wrong. Now let's do it right. Um, so I I think it was a combination of that senior heavy team uh really sort of buckling down and and and not um not falling prey to the things that had caused them to underachie. Uh and uh again, a lot of things going right. Um you know, it it's we got we got bounces, we got balls finding their way to the net. Um, that you know, maybe the year before when we lost a couple of those one goal games didn't happen. Um I always felt like we had the talent, but uh it kind of pieced together that year.

SPEAKER_01 36:19

Yeah, that was a good run. I I I I remember you guys, you played NYIT, they were nationally ranked at the time and put a beating on them, and that was in the beginning of the season. Uh, you know, you kind of put the the everybody on notice, like pretty much early on in the season, took a took a small loss uh uh Mount Olive, I think, and then the rest of the season you were just on a roll.

SPEAKER_00 36:43

Yeah, and really the turning point in my mind for that whole season was the game after the Mount Olive game, right? So we drove up to Mount Olive, it's a heck of a drive, it's way up there. Um, you know, Coach Murphy did what he always does, had an excellent goaltender, uh, a really good defense, uh, put them all within 10 yards of the cage and dared us to beat their goalie. Uh, and we couldn't do it that day. Um and then we went and met Queens for our next game. We met them in Savannah at a neutral site, uh, a very game Queens team, uh, and was really sort of that opportunity for us to either, you know, sort of shake off the Mount Olive game and get back to business, or fall prey to some of the things that had cost us in the years prior. Uh, and we went up and and really put together uh what I thought a really good game, executed the game plan, bought into the game plan, um, you know, really did what we wanted to do uh and played a really, really good game against a tough team and sort of reset. You know, I don't think right anybody on that bus ride home from Savannah thought once about Mount Olive. Um you know, so I I think if we don't put that sort of effort together in the next game, uh we're not in Foxboro in 2018.

SPEAKER_01 38:05

Yeah, and Queens is always a top-notch team every year, every year, year in, year out. They put out great teams. Um, so the future for St. Leo, how's it looking?

SPEAKER_00 38:17

Good. Uh I I think um we've been able to build on some things. Uh, you know, we made the decision when coronavirus hit um to stay young. We didn't go out and spend uh a lot on one-year guys to come in and play for grad school. Uh, I think last year I had two grad students and they were St. Leo guys that just wanted to play their fifth year. Uh, we didn't really uh we wanted to develop the guys that we had. We felt really strongly about the guys that were in our program in the younger groups. Um and sort of when when coronavirus hit, we adopted a three-year plan instead of a three-month plan. Um so, you know, hopefully that bears fruit this year. So, you know, last year was a little bit dodgy and didn't get to maybe spend as much time with the guys as we would like. Um, but hopefully this year is a complete sort of teaching progression. Uh, and we really have those guys that are now, I don't even know what to call them anymore with the eligibility being so murky. Uh, but our guys who are academic juniors and academic sophomores, um, we feel really good about that group, and that this is where they really need to start uh bearing some fruit.

SPEAKER_01 39:33

Excellent, excellent, Kev.

SPEAKER_02 39:35

Yeah, so I and what I saw on your roster too, it looks like that when you talk about that building not for a three-month, but for a three-year, the several players, not only a freshman coming in, but it looks like you have several players from junior and community college, which adds to that, right? It adds to that two to three year um window. With all that said, and with all the time last year you lost and not really able to build the team and the team culture, what type type of culture are you trying to foster with these these new and new infusion of freshmen, the community college kids, and really the freshmen from last year that really probably didn't get to know their team. It wasn't in February, they got to see him for the first time, but it was probably by the end of the season. What are you trying to foster there as far as the culture to get them all back together and and and play as one team?

SPEAKER_00 40:26

Sure, and I I think that's the really big challenge, right? We had kind of hit a point where uh it fed itself. Uh, our guys knew what to do what during freshman move in, our guys knew how to fold in the new guys into the way that we operated. Um, it it did get to a point where it was kind of running itself. Uh, and then this happens. Uh, and now we're we're looking at uh probably half of the guys on our roster never having that normal progression from move-in day to putting a uniform on in February. Um so I think fortunately, um starting the program from scratch at St. Leo, I've done this before. Yeah, I've I've had I've had to build sort of how we operate and how we treat each other and uh and what it means to be a player at St. Leo. Uh I I've I've I've seen this movie before. Um, and we really do need to get back to where we were when we started the program on setting those expectations, setting those standards, um, and teaching guys that are now sophomores and juniors um what it means to be a veteran and what it means to bring the new guys on board. Um, I think you know the we did absolutely go after a significant number of junior college kids for various reasons. Uh, and that's always a challenge as well. These are guys who are longer in the tooth, who are a little bit more ingrained in their ways, um, who may be a little bit more of a challenge to get them to do it our way versus the way they did it. Um, so is that challenge amplified a little bit? Yeah, probably. Um, but we've definitely spent a lot of time, you know, one of the positive byproducts um of the the COVID world is, you know, old guys like me who like three ring binders and paper have gotten awful used to things like Zoom and Google Docs and um ways to uh sort of always be in touch uh and and and uh get more touches over the summer with the guys who are on your roster mentality was, you know, by the time May comes, they're sick of hearing from me uh and they need two months uh away from me so that my voice uh doesn't sound like Charlie Brown's teacher uh when I uh when I get back to it. Um the and you know the world now is I don't the you know a zoom every 10 days with your team over the summer is now the regular. Um, you know, a Google Doc of what returning player is reaching out to what new guy um is uh a regular thing. Um so uh you know, some of this remote work and uh you know using the cloud for shared work and all this other stuff that uh you know guys like me probably weren't real great at. Uh we've had to, uh and it I think it's helped uh sort of bridge that gap that's been created by COVID.

SPEAKER_02 43:38

Well, I'll tell you what, I am really excited to watch St. Leo this next year, and that's because I've always loved watching your team play. I I really have. I mean, I I think your offense is always incredibly exciting. Cut couple that with you usually have a uh great defense, and you've had several years in a row where your goalie seems to stand on his head every game. Um, and it's it's just an exciting and actually I also love your field. I love watching home games in your field, I have to admit that. I just think that's the one of the coolest fields I've ever seen.

SPEAKER_00 44:09

So and the best, the best play-by-player announcer in all of Division II, Frank Britton.

SPEAKER_02 44:13

He is good. He's pretty good. He is very good. He's outstanding. We love him. Um, so with that, uh, you know, we've done this with every coach that we've talked to so far. And I really, you know, part of us, you coming and talking to us, and we really appreciate you doing this, taking the time to sit down with us. I want to give you a little time to say anything we haven't talked about, St. Leo, um, that you'd like to impart uh for our audience.

SPEAKER_00 44:41

Yeah, I think um, you know, St. Leo is a unique community. Um, it's uh I always tell recruits that I don't tell them it's a family atmosphere until after their tour. Um, I think every coach tells you it's a family atmosphere. Um I let guys walk around campus and get a hug from Miss Savon, the cleaning lady, in our building, uh, and uh, you know, get an omelet made by the folks in the dining hall or a salad from Meg, the salad lady. Um and then they come back to the office, and uh more often than not, they tell me it's a family atmosphere before I tell them. Um, you know, it's a unique little campus. Uh, it's in my mind the best of both worlds. Uh, it's got a safe rural campus uh where when you're on campus, you're on campus. Uh, but it's got the beaches and it's got downtown Tampa and it's got bush gardens within grasp. Um, so you're not dealing with the minuses, just the pluses. Um, it's uh a place that's committed to winning. Um, look, we're not here to work for the admissions office. We're here to win games. Uh, and and that's an important piece of the puzzle uh at our level. Um and it's it's a place that's just it's been my home. Uh I raised my kids on that campus. Uh my wife works on campus. Uh, we've been here almost 20 years. I moved uh a pregnant wife and a and a one-year-old uh halfway across the country to come down here, and uh, we don't regret it for one second.

SPEAKER_01 46:13

Well, you made the right move, coach, because Florida's a beautiful place to be. I I lived in Florida for uh a little bit myself down South Florida in Hollywood. Uh, been to Tampa many, many times, been on campus at St. Leo many times, always, always loved the campus. I found it to be just spacious and clean and and just open and beautiful. And as a recruit, how could you not want to stop and and say hello to Coach Jorgensen and check out the campus at St. Leo and see everything it has to offer because my son went there, he chose St. Leo, and uh I think he made the right choice at that time. And I wish you nothing but success in the future, Coach.

SPEAKER_00 47:00

I appreciate that. Thanks so much. Our grounds guys do kill it. It's uh it's it's quite a picturesque place.

SPEAKER_02 47:07

Oh, it's beautiful. Well, Danny, I'm I tell you, uh these seem to get better and better every week. I I I can't ask for anything more than what we're doing. Uh, I once again had a fantastic time having this discussion with Coach Jorgensen. So, coach, once again, thank you so much for taking your time and talking to us today.

SPEAKER_00 47:26

Thanks, Kevin. Thanks, Danny. It was a pleasure.

SPEAKER_01 47:29

Coach, thank you so much. And again, good luck this uh this season, and uh, we'll be rooting for the Lions.

SPEAKER_02 47:34

That's so Danny, that's a wrap for uh this week, and we'll be seeing everyone again on In the Crease.