Coaching Carousel (Part 2)

Intro

SPEAKER_05 0:32

Welcome, welcome, welcome to another episode of In the Creek with Danny Pebble. I'm your co-host, Kevin Stencer, and with me as always is D2 Lacrosse's most dangerous drummer, Danny Moran.

SPEAKER_03 0:49

Oh, man, I wish you would have told me I would have had a little drum solo ready, a little something, something, sticks, a pad, or something. I got nothing next to me, Kevin.

SPEAKER_05 0:58

I apologize, but you know, half the fun of these things is seeing your reaction when I do it.

SPEAKER_03 1:04

They are. They're pretty funny. You do a great job. How's everything tonight, my friend in Northern Virginia? What's going on? Second, second one of the year, moving right along.

SPEAKER_05 1:15

Yeah. A third episode, second one for Coaching Carousel. It's it's getting to that time, Danny, where we're starting to see the leaves change, and we're getting in the midst and in the middle of fallball for a lot of these teams. So it's a lot of fun. Once again.

SPEAKER_03 1:34

And tonight we do another carousel of coaching changes in Division II. And the carousel of coaching changes continues, Cove.

SPEAKER_05 1:45

I'm going to let you say that every time because I'll mess it up. So tonight we've got two within one conference: Bridgeport and Caldwell of the C A C. And then we're going to head a little south and sprinkle a little love with the Peach Bell. Love the Peach Bell.

Caldwell Coach Dom Scorcia

SPEAKER_05 2:10

Danny, I'm really excited for our first guest tonight.

SPEAKER_03 2:14

Yeah, me too. Me too.

SPEAKER_05 2:15

This is gonna be fun. This coach is no stranger to the pot. He's been on as a player and as one of our first guest analysts back in the day, a few years ago.

SPEAKER_03 2:29

That's right, that's right.

SPEAKER_05 2:31

And now he's the coach of the Caldwell Cougars. Now we know the Cougars, Danny. They've had some turnover the past few years uh with coaches. I mean, I think there's been four since we started the podcast. Yeah. We've talked to two of them, Alex Lopes and Blaise Montinio, and now we've got the third one on. But this coach has some real D2 creds. Sure does. Played at Mercy and helped them bring them to a championship. And then he coached there. Like he knows what a winning program looks like. Absolutely. Why don't we just bring him on and see what he has to say about becoming the head coach of Caldwell? Let's go! Let's go. Let's welcome in Dominic, or we like to call Dom Scorsha. Hey coach, how are you?

SPEAKER_00 3:20

Yeah, coach. Good. Doing well. How are you guys?

SPEAKER_03 3:24

We're doing great, man. Good to have you back on the show, my man. And we are so happy for you to get Denada Caldwell. Congratulations.

SPEAKER_00 3:32

Thank you. It's great to be back. Always, always great to talk to you guys, you know. Especially the last two or three times. It's always my pleasure.

SPEAKER_05 3:40

Yeah, it's funny. We're actually uh, you know, Danny and I have been off most of the summer. We're gonna warm up our vocal cords here as we get going into the season and starting off with the coaching changes. Let's just start off with where you've been. You played and coached at a D2 program that knew how to sustain really a top 10 team in Division II. How much does that translate to the other side of the ball and what it can mean for Caldwell?

SPEAKER_00 4:08

Yeah, I mean, honestly, it's great. I uh I posted a video of our first practice here at Caldwell in the fall the other day, and uh Coach Carassi. Coach Karasi, our old coach at Mercy, was uh he swiped up on the story and goes, Oh, stealing drills, I see. So little things like that are gonna definitely come over and um you know we're gonna uh try to incorporate a lot of things that we did over there and and bring the good culture over here.

SPEAKER_03 4:33

Absolutely, you know, that was a winning program, you know, and you guys were just an amazing team to watch. And those that thought that run that year, a couple of years ago, and that was an amazing run. I was there up there watching guys beat up on Le Moine that day. It was great. And uh just I know what Mercy has done on the lacrosse field. I know that culture. And you've been there a while. Now you're bringing that culture over the bridge into Jersey, and you're gonna I I tell you, man, you know, like like Kevin said, Caldwell's had a little struggles in the last couple of years. What do you intend to do differently that hasn't been done at Caldwell yet?

SPEAKER_00 5:14

Yeah, uh honestly, I, you know, you guys have seen me in person. I'm not the biggest guy. I'm not, you know, the the strongest, most athletic. I just I like to take the mental approach of things, you know, really slow the game down for the guys and just have them learn that way. I feel like that's the best way to do it. You know, our first day, I didn't want everyone going a million miles an hour. I wanted them to take the extra thought and realize what they're doing with the ball. And and, you know, um it was it was good because it wasn't too sloppy, you know. I was expecting a little bit worse on the stick skills than we got and stuff like that. So guys, guys really want to be here and they're you know, they're they're working their tails off on the early fall.

SPEAKER_05 5:51

That's awesome. That's awesome. What drew you to take the job? What drew you to the school and the program?

SPEAKER_00 5:58

Yeah, uh honestly, I I was looking for, you know, and I knew I wanted to be a lacrosse coach because uh, you know, my dad back in the day, Coach Levine when I got to Mercy, just a lot of guys that made me want to be a college coach. Um and then, you know, the job search hit, and Mr. Kilcullen, the Mercy Athletic Director, um, was friends with the Caldwell Athletic Director. You know, they know each other very well. And um we got we got put on that way. I I came for an interview and it was just honestly it was a really good match. The school here is very much like Mercy. I know we keep um going back to it, but you know, they're very similar small schools. Um, you know, we we we we do well with commuters and and everyone well uh uh around campus. So uh being similar in that aspect, it was just a very good fit for me.

SPEAKER_03 6:46

Excellent. Now you only got the job what in July, right? Correct, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:51

In the middle of July.

SPEAKER_03 6:52

Were you able to get any like last minute recruiting going on, or was it difficult?

SPEAKER_00 6:57

For this year it was tough. We hit we have about 21, 22 on the roster for this year, so I kind of just went full fledged at the 26s, and um, you know, we we hopefully gotta have a big 26 class. That's that's the goal.

SPEAKER_05 7:10

Yeah, so you like your you said, your roster is about 21 or 22. That's tough. It's it's tough in practice, and it's tough, you know, getting through a whole season. Yeah, hopefully not having injuries and everything. It's just you just don't have fresh legs. So I assume that's one of your major goals. I think you already said it is recruiting, recruiting, recruiting. What do you think the selling points are to lure those candidates, those recruits, to Caldwell? How are you gonna sell your program? Except we're saying that you're gonna be coached by Dom's Gorchow. The coach is pretty big right now.

SPEAKER_00 7:48

Yeah, um honestly, it's you know, I you guys say it like that, but people the you know, guys from Long Island email me and tell me, you know, we see you're from Long Island being from Carrie High School, you know, still live there, everything, and and it just interests them that it's not so far away from home, but that we're kind of away from home, that they don't have to still live at home and and all that kind of stuff. So yeah, me being a local guy from Long Island does have stuff to do with it, but you know, also that it's a home away from home that's only about an hour, hour and a half away from the island as well, is uh also a very good selling point to those guys.

SPEAKER_03 8:26

Absolutely. And you know what? Jersey's got a whole ton of real difficult players and PM too, you know, you're right there, but in between it all. I think you're I think you're in a good spot to where recruiting could be could be very uh very good for you guys. Yep, for sure.

SPEAKER_05 8:44

So what do you think about going to the CACC?

SPEAKER_00 8:50

Yeah, um, you know, honestly very familiar with them playing, you know, Georgian court every single year, uh Wilmington almost every year, Chestnut Hill almost every year. So, you know, we we we we played those top teams, and you know, I think being that it is a strong conference, that two teams that made the NCAA tournament last year, um you know, I think that we have our work cut out for us, but you know, once once we get this thing rolling and some recruiting classes start to come in, I think we'll definitely be able to compete for uh for the conference championship. You know, I don't believe I believe that we're a strong conference, but you know, the NE10, ECC, those powerhouse conferences are a little bit different than where we're at.

SPEAKER_05 9:34

Yeah, so you talked about your players and what you thought of them so far. And what do they think of the change, the the you coming in? I know that's always tough. Like we've talked to other coaches. Sometimes part of it is trying to keep you know those guys and keep them there. Um, but it sounds like your guys are kind of already bought in. What do you think about that?

SPEAKER_00 9:59

They are 100% bought in. I mean, before our first practice even happened, I had guys lining up at my office door saying, like, I can't believe we went on with 12 last year. This is totally unacceptable, it's not gonna happen again. And you know, as soon as we would as soon as we hit the field for our first practice, they were fully focused, 100 miles an hour, picking up every ground ball, making the right pass, you know, trying to do everything, everything right in my eyes to make sure that they knew that, to make sure I knew that they were fully bought in.

SPEAKER_03 10:28

Oh, that's excellent, Don. That's good to hear. You know what? I think I think your pedigree, I think you're gonna bring a lot to this uh university and this lacrosse team, just just knowing your past and knowing what you can do. And again, your ties to Long Island and you're right there in Jersey and close to PA. I don't think it's gonna be long before you could turn this Coldwell program around.

SPEAKER_00 10:52

Yeah, I agree. I couldn't, I couldn't say it better myself, honestly.

SPEAKER_05 10:56

Well, and it's interesting because I had that as one of my notes, going 0-12. I was gonna talk to you about that. But what I love hearing is that your players came to you and said, that was unacceptable. That you know, I can't believe we did that. That's tough on a team. You know, they've had some seasons where they seem to they weren't close to 500, but they seemed like they were getting closer, right? You know, like they were building. And then last year was just really down year, really tough. Even if you look at the scores, maybe a couple close games, you know, it's just it's tough for them. And for them to say that, I think says a lot for where their head space is at, right? Like they're in.

SPEAKER_00 11:33

Oh, yeah, definitely. I could have couldn't agree more, honestly. When when I was looking at the schedule and scores and everything like that, I was having the same thing, you know, what what what really am I walking into? You know, what's the talent level here? All those questions definitely popped into my head, but as soon as I got here, they they answered right away, and they they showed me that, you know, honestly, they're ready to play this year, and we're gonna be going after some games for sure.

SPEAKER_05 11:58

So have you looked at any uh past games from last year film and and see any tendencies or things that uh as a team you have to work on, or is that kind of like you're just taking what you have now, starting this fall ball with practice, and see what you can do?

SPEAKER_00 12:13

Um yeah, number two. I've uh I've definitely I've thought about it. I've thought about watching a couple of films. Yes. Um it it, you know, uh I don't know. I don't know if I want to go down that road. I I started watching a quarter of one of the games and then it I just yeah, it just so I'm I'm I'm gonna I'm starting over new. They all everyone knew that already when I was coming in. So it's not a surprise to anybody if I don't really do anything they did last year. Um I'm trying to make the guys as as comfortable as possible with what they did last year in terms of like routine, like times of lift and everything like that. But right obviously changed and all the drills and practice have obviously changed and everything like that. So I'm trying to keep them as comfortable as possible while changing everything as well.

SPEAKER_05 13:01

So that's how do they like the changes in the drills? How many practices have you had? They probably love it. That's what I would say. I'm like something fresh, something different.

SPEAKER_00 13:11

So we've had three practices so far, and yeah, they they honestly love it. So I named two captains already just based off of um you know first impressions. These guys were texting me every day that uh when I got the job, you know, they congratulated me, they asked me if I needed anything whenever I was here, you know, two upperclassmen, one junior, one senior. Um after one after one of the practices, one of one of them came up to me and was like, that was the best practice I've ever had in the four years here. I've never seen any of those guys that focused for an hour of practice. So um to hear someone say that to me after one of our first or second practices of the fall, I mean, it just shows that like they are focused and they're bought into what we have in front of us, honestly.

SPEAKER_03 13:50

Oh, that's great news, man. That's awesome. You're all to a good start. Any uh any fall scrimmages set up or yes, I we do have one.

SPEAKER_00 13:59

We're gonna play SUNY Purchase. Okay. So someone that also I played with at Mercy, Coach Fitzgerald is the head coach at SUNY Purchase, and they are um they're right around the block from us. They're about 45 minutes away, too. So we're we'll play them in the fall.

SPEAKER_03 14:13

Okay, that's awesome. Awesome, awesome.

SPEAKER_05 14:16

Yeah, that's that's a great way to start. I mean, you're you're just trying to get reps for your team, right?

SPEAKER_00 14:23

Right. So also the fall is fall is a little tough. Uh we don't really have everybody because we have sprint football here.

SPEAKER_03 14:30

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 14:31

And about five of the 21 guys are on the sprint football team, so they are only really at like a practice a week for an hour in the fall. So I I we do what we can with them while they're while they're here in the fall, but really we're only mainly at like 15 guys for the fall, and then we're gonna really regroup at back up for the spring.

unknown 14:50

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 14:51

So that sounds like a lot of fundamentals that you can get in in the fall, right? Which there's nothing wrong with that, right?

SPEAKER_00 15:01

And you know, one thing that I really like about it is, you know, some of those sprint football guys are are gonna be the the the cream of the crop guys on the field in the spring. So right now it gives some of those other guys a lot more time to, you know, get better, work on their stick skills, learn what I'm gonna bring in before, you know, so so they get a little bit of a head start before he starts. It's it's good for them as well.

SPEAKER_05 15:25

Yeah, it's a that's great. Yeah, that's awesome. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 15:29

So you have uh an assistant? Uh I do. I do actually. He just got hired last week. Uh you guys know him. He I coached him at Mercy. His name is Owen Stevenson. He played defense I believe he was uh all American last year. Yeah, he just graduated last year.

SPEAKER_05 15:49

So I remember him.

SPEAKER_00 15:52

Yeah, yeah. He's gonna be helping anyway.

SPEAKER_05 15:55

We talk about uh Mercy Carbon copy down at uh Caldwell Cougars.

SPEAKER_00 16:01

Yeah, yeah. So we got him. We we brought him over. He's he's uh he's only about like 20, 30 minutes away. He's local, so it works well for him. We practice early in the morning, and and he was really excited to join us.

SPEAKER_03 16:12

Oh, that's great. He bring the defensive side, you got the offensive side. Yeah, that's probably who's gonna run the box. Yeah, we gotta see. Well, Tom, I wish you all the best of luck, man. I'm gonna be watching Caldwell a lot, I think, this year, you know, and uh really appreciate you coming on and taking the time. Kevin, you have any more questions for me?

SPEAKER_05 16:34

No, I wouldn't no, I that's exactly where I was going. This has been phenomenal. Always great to have you on. I guess we've got to call you Coach Scorchon now. I can't call you Tom. I mean I gotta I I gotta give him the props, right? I can't he gotta give him the respect. But he earned it. He does. It's phenomenal to see you again. It's great. I think it's great that Caldwell picked you up and and took you. I mean, having a young guy like you with the pedigree, the credentials that you bring, um, I I think that's great for your your team and your squad and and for recruiting.

SPEAKER_00 17:08

Thank you. I really appreciate it. Thank you guys for having me. It's always a pleasure being on the show with you guys.

SPEAKER_03 17:13

Uh Coach Gosh, I wish you all the best of luck, like I said, and uh thanks again for coming on. You're the best, and uh we'll get you back on before the end of the season. We'll talk again.

SPEAKER_00 17:25

Definitely have to, for sure.

Bridgeport Coach Ryan McAleavey

SPEAKER_05 17:28

All right, Danny. We're moving on to another CACC team, the Bridgeport Purple Knights, and their new coach, Ryan McAlevy. He's the second ever coach for Bridgeport. He took over for Steven Tempone, but he's another coach, like we just had Don Scorsha on with a lot of D2 pedigree. I didn't know anything about this until I saw his his bio. He played at Dowling. Oh yeah, and then he was the head coach of Florida Tech from 2010 to 2018.

SPEAKER_03 18:06

That I know.

SPEAKER_05 18:07

Yeah, so most recently he's been he was coaching uh the boys' team at Newsom High School in Lithia, Florida. So I want to get him on and see what changed his mind to come back to D2 and head north.

SPEAKER_03 18:20

Yeah, he's crazy. He's an Irishman, he's an Irishman that left Florida to go back up to Connecticut. So let's love him already. He's an Irishman.

SPEAKER_05 18:31

Hey coach, how are you?

SPEAKER_02 18:33

Hey guys, thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_03 18:35

Oh, it's great having you. Yeah, thanks so much for coming on tonight. We really appreciate you taking the time. Oh, no problem.

SPEAKER_05 18:41

But you heard what he said first. What motivated you to come back and coach at the D2 level and leave Florida for New England?

SPEAKER_02 18:48

Well, my dermatologist said it was time for me to get out of the sun.

SPEAKER_05 18:54

I hear you on that one.

SPEAKER_02 18:56

Yeah. Well, um, you know, like you like you said, I mean, I I've been a D2 guy my whole life, and and you know, this is my 20 this will be my 26th year of coaching. And uh you know, uh I've been a D2 guy, and uh when I I was I was fortunate enough to take over Florida Tech and Um I loved every every second of it. And uh I left. Um my father-in-law was sick, so that you know, my wife was from New Jersey, I'm from Long Island. Um so my father-in-law got sick, and uh we made a choice uh decision to to be with him, you know. Uh he had cancer, so we decided to to get up there and and spend time. We actually moved in with him. Um wow. Uh yeah, we we it was it was uh I have I I don't regret the decision that I made because my wife got to be with her dad for the last year of his life and my daughters got to be with their grandfather, but um it was tough to leave, you know, what we were building down to Florida Tech, you know. Um so when we, you know, we we moved up here uh after that and uh when he had passed, we uh we took a little detour to Connecticut. I actually have some family up here. My wife um got a phys ed job and then uh then COVID hit. So um we we my wife's sister was still down in Florida and COVID hit and she was like, You want to move back to Florida? Wow. Yeah. So that's how we wound up going back down there. Um and then, you know, I but I I always had the itch. I always wanted to, you know, I coached high school down there, and you know, I I I was working with Chris Verdick at in Weber University and get that started, and you know, that was fun. And um, you know, then coaching high school down there, and you know, there's a lot of great kids, but you know, it I I just I just missed being at the college level. Uh I just nothing better. And you know what? I I'm I'm a D2 guy. I love, you know, I I went to Dowling. Um I had a lot of fun there, met met a lot of great people. I mean, I I met my wife there, you know. Okay. My first year, so my year, my first year was 96. And, you know, that was kind of like the the start, you know, it was the first year that they had scholarships from what I've heard. And then, you know, by year three, you know, we we had a really good run and and we had three All Americans on the team. And um, you know, then my coach Kia, you know, Tony Chiazza was our head coach, and uh he wound up retiring, I think, two years after uh I finished up, and then Coach Boyle took over. And I mean, just did phenomenal things with the program.

SPEAKER_05 21:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 21:44

Yeah. So let me ask you, you you've been in D two since uh ninety six, and now back in it in twenty twenty five. What do you think of the landscape of D two men's lacrosse now?

SPEAKER_02 21:57

It's uh it's unbelievable. I mean It is. It really is. So when I played, you had Southampton. It was it was uh uh Dalling and Southampton were the two Suffolk County teams, you know, then you had New York Tech, CW Post, Adelphi, Malloy, Queens, you know, Westchester, you know, uh uh it the Nyack conference. I mean, it was the best Lafrosse, you know, D2 in the country. You know, I think I every every national champion, my four years in college, came out of our conference. I think it was you know New York Tech, Adelphi, maybe New York Tech again, or I don't remember what this what the sequence was, but I mean it was unbelievable lafroste.

SPEAKER_03 22:40

Yeah, and Limestone kept getting pissed off because they were getting overlooked, so they started regions. Oh, because of that.

SPEAKER_02 22:48

Absolutely. And then and and because of that, look at the growth of it. I mean, yeah, you know, I had the the you know, the the I guess the the luck to be up here um as a player and then as a coach, uh you know, see the growth from the south side, you know, from and just being on the recruiting circle and listening to these kids. And I mean it's tr it was tremendous, like the the amount of growth in the south. I mean, and even even in the north, but going out to the west coast. I mean, my my recruiting board, I've got kids from California, um Alberta, uh, Michigan, and I have I have I have no New York kids yet.

SPEAKER_05 23:34

Yeah, well, and look at this. There is a team joining in from Idaho into D2 this year.

SPEAKER_02 23:41

Right. It's crazy.

SPEAKER_05 23:44

Yeah, it's just awesome. So let's turn to Bridgeport. Coach Tempone is known for starting programs and making them really competitive. He did that at Bridgeport. You know, they're right at you guys were right at 500, just a game below for a couple years. Really strong program coming on. What do you see in this team taking it over?

SPEAKER_02 24:04

Well, um, I'm still new. We just uh tonight we just finished our second practice, so it was my second time working out with these guys, and what a great bunch of of young men. Um, you know, I'm very impressed with their work ethic and um their the the leadership that this senior class is showing. Uh it's it's it's unbelievable, you know, for lack of better words. Um but it's it's it's the fourth year of the program, and those those young men came in as freshmen and they've they've been through the the the gauntlet and and grown and matured, and now that they know that hey, this is it for us. This is year four, we've got to get this together and and really get over the hump. And um I I can see it the way they're working, it's it's gonna be something.

SPEAKER_05 24:53

That's awesome to hear. Because that was my next question. How do you see the how are the players adjusting to the change with you taking over?

SPEAKER_02 25:02

Um they're very receptive. And and you know, I I'm uh I'm I'm a very detail-oriented guy, so I've I have like calendars for my calendars, you know. So they were a little bit uh they were a little bit shocked about that. And you know, I've got apps, you know, for my playbook, and I've got another app for you know our our team, our our team um group. I've got another, you know, I've got apps for all this stuff, and they were they're they're like, wow, this is this is you know, I'm not trying to be overkill, but um, you know, we're we've got a lot of things in motion, and I'm very organized with everything. So they're they're a little bit uh they're excited about.

SPEAKER_03 25:48

All right, it's good. It's new and it's catching them off guard a little bit, but you know what? New is good, you know. And they're you know what? I like Bridgeport. I like the team. I like the Napoli boys. James is a good, he's a good player. He's a midfielder for you guys. He he he can play. I've watched him since he's about in sixth grade. And uh watched a couple of good Bridgeport games. They they they played really well in a few games last year. I was really impressed with their play. Only four years out, you know, in in the deep end of the pool, coach. So I think you got something good going there. What's your plan moving forward now? Um recruiting, recruiting, recruiting.

SPEAKER_02 26:29

Okay. I I you know, we have a small, a smaller roster. So so basically when I I was hired after well, after you know, I met with our trainer and our strength coach, and I said we have to take an approach of we have to keep everybody healthy. You know, we we can't take any injuries or it's gonna be a long year. But um, you know, we're just recruiting, trying to bring kids in, uh, let them know what we're trying to build here. You know, the guys are very receptive to all this, and the our my administration has been great and very supportive. Um they want to see us succeed, so it's been it's been fun.

SPEAKER_05 27:07

What's your roster size at right now for this next season? And are you still trying to get some players in for this this year, or are you just really looking more at 2026?

SPEAKER_02 27:16

Well, I'm I'm looking, I mean, definitely I would if I had an opportunity to bring mid-year guys in, we would definitely do that. I mean, our roster right now is at 28. Um you know, we only had two freshmen and a transfer come in. So wow.

SPEAKER_05 27:31

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 27:33

I mean, when I was when I was hired in July, that's that's what we had. And and believe me, I I I for the first time in my career was on the uh the transfer portal. I didn't even know I've never been on the transfer portal. When I was in Florida, I never had to use it, you know. Right, right. Our compliance officer had to show me how to how to use it, you know. But I think I I think I reached out to probably uh about 95% of the kids in the portal. And at that time I was hired, it was you know, they were already committed to places and uh it was it was tough. So we are you know hoping for some mid-year transfers. Um and yeah, we're you know, my roster, like I said, is at 28. We're looking to build it to you know 40, 45 guys eventually. I mean, not overnight. Yeah, but that's what I'd like to get it to.

SPEAKER_05 28:20

That's great. Yeah, that's I like that number. Now I gotta ask you, you were in the Sunshine State for several years. Now you're in the C A C C. Can how much familiarity do you have with this conference and any comp can you compare it to what you had down in the Sunshine State?

SPEAKER_02 28:38

Um well the you know, the the CACC is new, new, you know, young. Uh you know, the the but you know when I when I first started at the uh you know the Sunshine State, you know, our first year we were deep south. So at Sunshine State in year two. Uh and it's competitive. I mean, you know, the sun, you know, the Sunshine State is, you know, Tampa, Florida Tech, uh, you know, Rollins has had great years, Leo. I mean, they're all great teams down there. They are. But I'll tell you one thing, what really uh excited me about being up here is we had two teams from the CACC made the tournament, you know. So it's it was huge for me. And and that, you know, people are noticing. So um I I think with the with the administration that I have and and the fact that they want us to see succeed and the fact that that people are noticing what we're doing and and you know, getting not only the the you know the the conference winner getting the automatic bid, which we didn't have when I was down there, by the way. Right, right, right. And then you know, we had an at large. I mean, that's huge. That's huge.

SPEAKER_05 29:47

Yeah, that's a good uh so uh just follow-on question for that. Danny and I talked about it. I'd like to get your perspective. I mean, we think that the AQs helps for recruiting for all teams. Oh, there's no and then now, what do you think as you recruit? Are you saying, look at two of the teams in the CACC made it to the tournament? That's a big deal. That because if you look at like NE10 and the SAC and Sunshine State, the ones you would expect to have two or three, CACC, and that we heard a lot of things on on social media about that wasn't right. I personally think both teams deserve to be in. And it was it was well deserved. And let them see what they can do in the tournament, right? That's what it's all about. So is that another do you think that's another uh tool in your recruiting belt uh to talk about that?

SPEAKER_02 30:35

I think I'd be crazy not to. You know, that you know, you have to do because what the bottom line, you know, these student athletes, they want to play for something. And if you're able to to play for not only a conference championship, but uh a shot to to play for a national championship, you have to you have to let people know that that's where you're going. And absolutely, you know, I think these these um at-larges are definitely gonna help every you know, all these conferences.

SPEAKER_03 31:05

Yeah. Yeah. I love the automatic qualifiers. I think it was great. And Kevin, like you said, you know, there was some you know, some spatter on social media, like, you know, Chestnut Hill doesn't really belong there, or whatever. You know what I mean? They got there. They won their conference, they got there, they got a chance to compete. And you know what they say. Any given Sunday, you don't know where that ball's gonna go, how many pipes are gonna bang off, you know. Anything can happen in tournament time. It's 60 minutes, you let it all hang out. You know what I'm saying? Survive and go on. So I think it's a great thing, the AQ. And you know what? I thought that this they were deserving of both.

SPEAKER_05 31:43

Yeah. I mean, you look at it. Wilmington and Georgian Court play tough schedules throughout the year. And so because they do that and they they play competitively, and they don't, you know, it was it was deserved that they got in there. Now, the other thing I think for you, coach, is look at Bridgeport made the CACC tournament last year. Right? That's another thing you say. Look at we are that this is what I would be saying, we are that close. We're that close. You can make a difference here and maybe get to the NCAA is if we keep building like we are, right?

SPEAKER_02 32:16

I mean Absolutely. I mean, we you know, when I you know, my fourth year at Florida Tech, we were in the state uh the the conference championship with Tampa, you know, and and we you know we we were there a couple times. And I I think that and I had this conversation, you know, with a couple of the parents, you know, we're a ferry ride away from Long Island. You know, it's an hour and fifteen ferry ride, and you don't have to fight through that traffic. And literally, we're the the ferry is 10 minutes from campus. You know, uh I had a kid come and he actually walked uh walked from the ferry to campus.

SPEAKER_05 32:55

Oh, that's awesome. I hear you, coach. My daughter goes to school on Long Island. I live in Virginia, she goes to Hofstra. And as soon as I get on that parkway, it's it's like half my travel is getting on the island, and half my travel is getting off the island.

unknown 33:14

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 33:14

Well now, you know, now you can sit back and you know, enjoy the view of of the boat crossing the sound and you know to the birds chirping and nice way to get there for sure, for sure. So my kids love to fish. They go in between classes. We're right, we're literally right on the sound. Like you can walk to the you know, we're we're five minutes away where they can just walk and and go fishing between classes, before practice, whatever they want.

SPEAKER_03 33:44

Wow, that's great, that's awesome. So let me ask you this tell us about your assistance.

SPEAKER_02 33:51

Well, I I I I I've just hired a uh assistant coach, his name is Brian Reiner, um, and he couldn't be any more uh perfect um for what this program needs. He was a three-year starter at Stonybrook at defense. Um he's coached at the college level, D3 level for six years. He was a defensive coordinator. He worked at uh Wooster, um, Gettysburg. Okay. You know, he's he's you know, he was on that team uh, I think it was 2010 when Stonebrook went to the quarters and lost to over uh to Virginia by one. Um so he he's he's actually out there practice right now. So he's been good. I'm really, really excited for.

SPEAKER_05 34:37

Yeah, he's got the I mean you talk about Worcester and and Gettysburg, those are championship type programs in D3, right at the top, usually a lot of times. And then, like you said, coming from Stony Brook, he's gonna really add a lot. And you bringing the D2 knowledge and experience, I I think that goes a big way too in trying to sell the program and sell D2, right? Yeah, knowing that you've been there and done that because you know, obviously Danny and I do this podcast because we love D2. Uh and we don't we never coach, we've never played, but our sons played D2, and we're we're staunch supporters because we just think it's it's just really underrepresented. There's no love for it in any of the media except for this podcast, I'm gonna say, is where we really try to show because I just think it's just great lacrosse.

SPEAKER_02 35:28

It is, and it's getting better and better every year.

SPEAKER_05 35:32

Yeah. Yeah, you look at even your conference, right? I mean, look at teams like Holy Family and and Post and Dominican trying to come back up and St. Thomas Aquinas, who's got a very aggressive coach in recruiting and other things. I mean, then you've got the stalwarts, right? Chestnut Hill, Georgian Court, Wilmington. I mean, that's just a great, great conference.

SPEAKER_02 35:53

Yeah. Yeah. Oh, it's it's it's gonna be fun.

SPEAKER_03 35:57

It's the blue-collar conference. I call it the black and blue conference at the old NFC Central. You remember, Coach? The old NFC Central, the black and blue conference. It's it's a blue-collar conference, it really is. It's uh a bunch of blue-collar kids getting after it on you know during the week on Saturdays and stuff, and it's it's good lacrosse. Like I said, I watched a lot of CACC last year. I watched a lot of Bridgeport. I watched at least three or four Bridgeport games. And the one game at the end of the season was a really good game. Wounded up losing by like one or two, but it was a good game, and I see a lot of positives there. Again, programs have only been up four years, you know. These kids that were seniors now were the starters. They were the freshmen that came in and got the program going. And, you know, they're a 500 team last year. It's not too shabby for a four, you know, four-year program.

SPEAKER_02 36:49

Not at all. Not at all. You know, they're they're the foundation. You know, they and that's what I told them that you guys, you know we might not win a national championship this year, but when that happens, you know, we're gonna look back to this group and what you've done to push this program forward. And, you know, we nobody will be ever to take that ever be able to take that away from you guys of being the pioneers to get it started. The inaugural class, you know, which is like pretty cool, if you ask me. It was like um when Dowling won the national championship. You know, I'll never forget, I was I was laying on my couch in Florida watching the game, and after they won, you know, I had my laptop on my what my my lap. We had we had just had our first baby, and uh I started crying. And my wife, what's wrong with you? And I said, We just won. And she's like, You didn't win anything.

SPEAKER_03 37:48

That's your alma mater, you know.

SPEAKER_02 37:50

It was all the the blood, sweat, and the tears that we we uh, you know, the early teams helped build the program. Help build that program, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 37:58

That's awesome. What did Boyle say? It was daisies and dust. What did he say the field was, Kevin?

SPEAKER_02 38:05

We I mean, and you know what is funny because we were in my you know, we had a bunch of lacrosse players who were the field maintenance crew, and uh I mean, or a crew of derelicts, you know, trying and you know, between shovel in the field and line in the field, and but I'll tell you one thing, what really and what really sets um you know D2 apart from from you know division one, and I said this in my interview, um, you know, I I like to lead, you know, I'm a servant leader and and I lead by example, and I learned that from our athletic director, you know, Bob Dranoff when you know when I was young. And I'll never forget we were playing CW Post, I think my junior year, and it was pouring out. And Bob Dranoff and Chris McKnight, who was our assistant athletic director, are out on the field, you know, scattering cat litter in the creases to dry him out. And that to me sums up D2 that you know, there are no egos. You've got to, you know, yeah, no glitz and glamour. It's a blue-collar atmosphere, you've got to grind, and when you do and get it done, it'll be well worth it.

SPEAKER_03 39:10

Yeah, it's I love D2. My all three of my boys, and my boy, my oldest is at St. Leo 2009, 2010 when you were at Florida Tech. So you guys banged heads a few times. And uh I it D2's come such a long way, and it's it's getting better and better, and there's Division I caliber players all over the place. You know, there's some really, really good lacrosse players. So, coach, we really appreciate you coming on tonight. We we wish you the best of luck this year with the Knights. Uh again, Napoli's a player, man. You'll see, you'll see, he's a player. Uh I hope to get you back on the show. And uh again, thanks for coming on.

SPEAKER_02 39:50

Awesome. I really appreciate you having me, guys, and I'm really looking forward to being a bigger, big fan of this show.

SPEAKER_05 39:55

So

UAH Heac Coach Jordan Warren

SPEAKER_05 39:57

all right, Danny. Let's move on to the Peach Belt and the University of Alabama Huntsville. I was gonna say just UAH, but let's get formal here and say Alabama Huntsville Chargers and their new head coach, Jordan Warren. He takes over for Coach Fry. And I don't know if you've looked at his background. He has a really interesting resume. He went into the Marine Corps instead of going to college. But get this, he played for the Marine Corps lacrosse team and played against, and he coach is gonna have to tell me if I get this right. He'll know what it is. Ryuku University in Okinawa, Japan. Talk about international world lacrosse right there.

SPEAKER_01 40:42

Well, thanks for having me on. Uh longtime listener, I can say first-time interviewee. Um, but yeah, I uh I enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2008, right out of high school, and I immediately found out that you know there's a lot of lacrosse within the Marine Corps. Um initially, uh right out of boot camp, I went to Fort Belvoir for training and got involved with the Potomac chapter um in northern Virginia and kind of got in with that. And then when I got orders to Okinawa, um we had a service team out there where we met up kind of pickups every Sunday. Um and then while we were in Japan, the local university started a lacrosse team. This was in 2009-2010, and Ryuku University is in Okinawa, Japan, um about a a a good flight south of mainland Japan, um, close to a thousand miles. And they would host uh local universities from mainland Japan and kind of do tournaments, and they would be part of a you know an exhibition schedule, and they would go to mainland, so we would just kind of scrimmage them every week. Um, and we got lucky that you know they would have translators and kind of we would do little clinics with them, like positional skill sets and and work with them, and then we would scrimmage every every Sunday. And we we were a lot bigger than the Japanese team uh or the Ryuku team, but they were very fast and amazingly cut skills, and their stick checks were phenomenal. And uh, I've been I've been singing that tune since 2009. Whenever we talk international across, I've always been uh known of that Japan was gonna be on on the up and up, and over the past 10 years just watching them progress and develop Japan has been great.

SPEAKER_05 42:37

You look at their world team and they played in the sixes, right? They were phenomenal.

SPEAKER_01 42:43

They're like number three in the world, really, right? Yeah. I just think lacrosse and Japanese culture honestly go to what together really well, kind of the Bushido warrior creed and and how they live their life for you know community over self, and it just kind of falls right into their culture, and just to see the growth of it internationally everywhere um is great. But seeing it from boots on the ground, you could say, in Oakanley and watch it progress has been amazing.

SPEAKER_05 43:13

That that's awesome. Well, well, so as a veteran myself, I just want to say thank you for your service.

SPEAKER_01 43:19

Thank you for your service as well.

SPEAKER_05 43:20

You you went so you went uh after getting out of the the core, you went uh uh to college, you played V three laps at Houghton College in Western New York, right? And then now you've been an assistant uh for four years at at uh Alabama Huntsville. How does that unique journey help you with your players at at Alabama Huntsville now? What do you think?

SPEAKER_01 43:45

Uh so honestly, sometimes it it doesn't help me. Um my wife didn't will tell me often, you know, you you were in a different situation when you were 19 or 20, you know, so you gotta you gotta have grace when you're you know. leading young man in in today's society and and kind of really step back and look at you know the life experiences of the guys on your team now versus maybe what I went through when I was 19 or 20. But all in all I think it definitely helps just really holding guys accountable. Last week we had a call with one of our graduates who just graduated in May and he was on the phone with our staff and he was like you know you guys weren't kidding when when you told us you know when you graduate the real world doesn't care about excuses and and you know you gotta wake up every day so you might as well put a smile on your face and and you know just carrying on about real life as a you know 23 year old man in the workforce and and he said that we kind of set him up to get ready for that by by being so tough every day. And I think many athletes face that same kind of structure and that's what you know kind of puts athletes at the top of a lot of recruiting boards right now with the workforce.

SPEAKER_05 44:58

Yeah you you make a great point there coach uh just a little bit about my family my son who played lacrosse at Wingate he now is going through Air Force special forces training and one of the things I tell him that he has kind of a a step up on a lot of people doing that was the discipline he learned getting up early for those five o'clock lifts you know at day after day practice or lift at Wingate helped him prepare for what he's going through now right so I think I think you bring in that discipline from your your time back as a 19 year old as uh in the Marine Corps I I get your point about it sometimes it goes against you because you're so ingrained of like why don't in my mind because you know I was in the Navy for 23 years why don't you just get it like why don't you just but but you've got to balance that and I I I like that perspective. So let me ask you this you're been you were the assistant for four years. How excited are you to take over the program now as head coach being there for four years?

SPEAKER_01 46:11

Obviously uh it was exciting for for me and my family um my wife and I my wife is from the de uh the Huntsville area and and we met um the year that I started at UH so you know it's been a ride with her a while. But I I mean I have a very unique story you know I was I was coaching high school across in Atlanta working for the you know Georgia Power Company and and uh wanted to go back to school and finish up you know took a break as a as a veteran student see her buddy workforce um and you know the the VA kind of put UH on my radar and and I came to town in 2016 um and kind of started working with the local high schools and youth in the area and um got on as a volunteer assistant with coach Doyle and that was a great experience and you know I've I've just showed up to work every day and and just kind of prove that that we can have the right culture that UAH wants and and that fits Huntsville and it's going to be a you know successful program uh moving forward.

SPEAKER_05 47:21

That's pretty cool. Uh the other thing I'd say coach is your roster as I look at it for 2026 is pretty darn large. I'm looking at it right now I'm like oh my god a lot of freshmen and sophomores too and we've heard from other new coaches right that one of their first jobs when they take over is getting those talking to those players to try to keep them out from going into the portal because they don't know what that new coach is like.

SPEAKER_01 47:49

Obviously you haven't had that problem and was it because you took over and brought it's the same consistency players know you like what you like what you brought to the to the program uh I believe so you know uh um not just me at all um you know we kept the same offensive coordinator uh Keegan Maxwell on as the assistant coach um and kind of going through this this change of of culture and leadership I I thought it was a great idea to bring on um a graduated senior who was with me all four years to be our grad assistant. Oh awesome I see him as you know he can he can help with the defense but first and foremost you know he can help with the substitution box and games and he can he can really help the culture as he sees you know being invested four years of the past and now he's getting his masters with us. You know he's one of the loudest voices at practice um just because you know he can see it from the coach's side now about the little things that we are always harping on and you know he just was saying yesterday how you know after practice he gets it now from the coach's side and and he wishes the players would get it and I I was like not till they graduate will they understand what we're talking about. But you know keeping keeping those two here and then with me being here since you know our seniors the guys who are seniors on the team when they were on their recruiting visits I was giving them their tours of campus. Yeah so so the seniors and I have a long relationship and then a lot of the freshmen um who are here you know myself or Coach Maxwell gave them the recruiting tour or one of us recruited them to to come to the university so I think from top down you know we have a good uh a good relationship and a good trust between you know the players and the staff and everybody all together.

SPEAKER_03 49:37

Wow you got like 60 kids on the roster that's amazing I'm working it's like Redondo Beach California Phoenix Arizona we got Washington Boston and that's not the Canadians just the Americans from every corner of the country Matomedai Minnesota Oh my lord how do you how wow I'm just so impressed with this roster dude just from everywhere that's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 50:12

You know I tell I tell the athletic director and and the other coaches at the university if you see anybody who's American from outside of six hours away they're here for engineering right so um the redondo beach the the Boston the Seattles the Chicagos the Floridas they're all here for mechanical aerospace engineering um Matamidai Minnesota the one you just named Tommy Pierce his name um him and another junior number number 19 uh from upstate New York the Rochester area Mikhail Hillman you know they just got on to a to do a research project here on campus with NASA through UH so you know I found a good recruiting model where if if the majority of guys we recruit are engineers they're there for the degree and they're gonna build um to make a good lacrosse program. So we've kept we've kept transfer rates pretty low by you know finding guys who want to be here first and foremost.

SPEAKER_05 51:12

Yeah you know the guys who are here for engineering are you know they may wait a year or two years to get on the field um but they're seeing that after four years you know they're playing meaningful minutes of their junior senior year they're getting amazing internships while they're here they're getting amazing jobs when they graduate so you know it's kind of an amazing package that you can offer with great academics and our ties to NASA with Space Force come to town it's Huntsville is just trending up you know and it's Marshall right is that the Marshall is like across the street from UAH is I've stayed at that Marriott right right there in between the the Marshall and and your campus many times.

SPEAKER_03 51:56

You know that's just a recruiting a recruiting win win win and then you add the southern weather you know you add the weather in the Minnesota kids those upstate New York kids are going to be like yeah that that counts too you know yeah they were not like in 85 degrees today it's still summer down there it's getting a little cooler up here at night now coach up in New York but um the beach belt has really been some kind of uh well if if you've heard the podcast you know how much we love the beach belt and what it's done we've added Virginia State to the Beach Belt.

SPEAKER_01 52:33

Yeah we had what do you think about that? I I think it's it's great um you know I obviously for Virginia State and the conference together for all the teams involved um you know just have another team in the conference add another conference game we worked uh I think the conference and and all the universities to to make sure that Virginia State you know we're was welcomed to the conference and and we made everything kind of as as fair as we can as far as distance and travel and every every bit goes. So I know that that's going to be our one of our bigger trips for the year is is heading out to to Virginia and playing VSU at their campus but you know be able to take uh a team from Alabama and travel all the way to Virginia for a conference game uh it it's really just full support from our university and our administrators you know to to see the game grow so we love it.

SPEAKER_05 53:28

Yeah we we I was excited to see that I I texted Coach Church about that. I think it's great we just got to get one more team in the peach belt coach that's what we need we need that six team.

SPEAKER_03 53:39

I have to ask you first of all what's the name of your graduate assistant let's give him a shout out uh Michael Lindsay yes he's uh doing his MBA got his undergraduate in mechanical engineering uh wow he's he's looking to get a good engineering job uh hopefully in town but wherever he can get one so that's awesome that's awesome and it just goes to show you know when you hear that Kev and coach uh you know a kid can go to a school and play lacrosse and get a great education in the engineering field you know engineering sometimes the the kids are like oh I I I the workload can be a little bit much you know and sometimes they bail out you know of sports to to to continue on with their major but I think that's great that these kids are coming their engineering they got they they have it in their mind they're they want to be successful and getting into the engineering field is amazing and all the ties to NASA and everything just it's a recruiting home run.

SPEAKER_01 54:41

I mean it's a grand slam if you ask me it you know it's a uh it's a niche I get excited about um you know as as a coach at UH I I have a Saturn V Lego set in my office right niche just to get outside of space camp you can see it all over campus and I I think it's okay to to kind of show that recruits come in and they're like you know oh the head coach of the lacrosse team is also a you know Lego space guy and not only one Lego set that's it but you know it's that I think is is great for the office and it really you know allows guys to be themselves when they come on recruiting visits if they you know if they want to work at NASA or they want to do aerospace engineering it it it takes a lot of I think a lot of courage and bravery to be able to say that when you're 16 and 17 you know because there's aspirations and I I feel a lot of them maybe people in their community cut them short and when we hear that we say okay you know we have alumna at NASA what do you want to do there? We have alumna at United Launch Alliance building rockets what do you want to do with your degree and we'll set you up to do it.

SPEAKER_05 55:48

That's that is amazing. Uh and I think the other thing really is the lacrosse the the team the program as Danny and I have talked about it one of the things we loved about the Peach Belt um is how tight the competition is in the comments right now you guys had a little bit of a down year last year but if you look at your last few games yeah even though you you know you lost to Montevalo by one in your last by land or by two I mean it it was it was anyone's game both of those and some of them and so I think you know I I guess what I'm what are your goals in your first year as the head coach to try to like I know your whole your goal is to be alright now we're gonna just beat those guys and win the peach belt championship.

SPEAKER_01 56:41

Of course um you know I I think I think the goal as as a team and a coach you you know got to be to win your next game right so we're we're kind of getting ready for our first fall scrimmage here um but you know even as cliché as it sounds on the other end of the pet spectrum you know I I think if you're not if you're not going after the season with the goals to win your conference then you're you're setting yourself up for failure. Right? You're not setting yourself up for a successful goal. And and I think that's really been the goal since I got here with Coach Doyle at the beginning was to win conference. And yeah so far we've we've had you know we haven't attained that goal and we failed every year but if we don't have that as the goal then you know I never want to sell ourselves short because we wanted to win so many games and we got there and we rested on the laurels. So just win the next game and then uh overall goal is to win conference you know this season is our biggest goal right there.

SPEAKER_03 57:38

Right.

SPEAKER_01 57:38

What do you think about the uh automatic qualifiers it worked out pretty well didn't it uh you know I kind of I sat in on a lot of meetings with the other head coaches and obviously you know Coach Duncan and Coach Lapore and Coach um Lang have I've known him for years and they've you know always been really great. But in a lot of those meetings it was really just listening to those three kind of talk and and list them as a head coach as to kind of all the aspects that go into you know adding teams to conferences and and you know logistics and everything that behind that. But I think we're excited. It just feels great to be in a conference where you know you kind of you hold your your future in in your own hands right the winner of the peach belt can can go make their own destiny without having to play a playing game with another conference or or this or that it's just you know a straight road all you gotta do is win the games right so now is there going to be the same now that the RMAC has six teams are you set up this year again with the RMAC and the Peach Belt or uh I think I I don't believe so um I know that they were also kind of deciding all all of that and getting all situated but from from where I understand um is that the Peach Belt is is going along with its five team conference and the RMAC is going with their six team conference.

SPEAKER_05 59:06

Interesting so that's I guess eventually it was gonna happen I mean right that's why we need a six team in the Peach Belt to get you guys an automatic qualifier. That's what I say.

SPEAKER_01 59:22

That's that's the plan that's the goal um you know I know the the conference and the athletic directors are always talking to to other schools and and kind of you know kicking tires as they say to see where the interest may be and who's going to add next. But I I think with you know with Tennessee the high school the state of Tennessee going you know varsity at the state level and then with the growth of lacrosse in Georgia um it really shocks me that the state of Georgia doesn't have a public school with a varsity D2 lacrosse team you know Alabama has two yeah where Georgia has such great lacrosse and such numbers at you know that level you think a public school could get behind it. But you know athletics there's there's flaws and and a lot behind it that you never see until you you know you get to the meeting. So I I all I know is that some other schools are doing um doing the the research to to look at cost and funding and feasibility and we're hoping that you know somebody has some good news here this next year.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:25

Good let's hope let's hope yeah that's what that's what we definitely want to see and coach I just want to say it has been great to have you on. I personally am really excited that you're taking over the program I mean look look look look at you've held every position from you know uh a Marine to going back to college to being a volunteer assistant to now head coach of that program that is just awesome to see and watch and I think it's a not only a testament to you but I think that's what your your athletes your your players can look up to in a lot of ways like you know like you said you get up with a smile on your face and you go to work and that's what you've been doing. I think that's the important thing.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:07

I appreciate that thank you.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:09

Coach really appreciate you coming on take the time tonight with the two knuckleheads from In the Crease wish you all the best of luck we'll be watching the charges a lot as we always do in the Peach Belt and uh again thanks for coming on and good luck. Thanks.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:24

Appreciate it thanks gentlemen have a great night

Shout outs

SPEAKER_05 1:01:27

that was great having Coach Scorsha who we used to call Dom on again I think his third time as well as having Coach McAlevy of Bridgeport and Coach Warren of UAH what do you think?

SPEAKER_03 1:01:41

Great group of coaches tonight Kevin first of all coach Dom Scorsha how cool is this kid is he ready is he ready to do this yes he is he's ready and you know what he's got a big pack back pocket full of mentors that he can go to I think he's gonna do a great job I I think that's critical I think you know we know this school caldwell it's gonna take time it is gonna take time but he's got the passion he's got the background and it's great for us because we basically watched him grow up on the field. Yeah he was a hell of a player man oh my god I don't care what he says like he wasn't that good of an athlete he was good he was good really good and you know what uh he's got that Long Island connection too for recruiting and I think he's got that young appeal that you know some of these you know high school kids looking to come to college and play lacrosse might attract to you know he he has that kind of quality where I think that he he can attract kids to come there.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:52

Jersey's not far for a lot you got Pennsylvania right there Jersey right there and then you got New York and Long Island and even parts of Connecticut and you know he's he's really in a really unique kind of central place to recruit. I don't think it's gonna be long before he does well there.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:12

Yeah I I think he's gonna stay there he's gonna get the consistency going for that and the stability in that program which is needed and I think I think he's gonna do a great job and then you look at Coach McAlevy like look at look at his background and where he's been you know all that you know D1 through D three he's hit it all his network has got to be really really really strong a hundred percent and originally a Long Island guy again yeah and and and you know what he's got a team that's already pretty decent Kev You know Bridgeport's a pretty decent team they got some players on that squad I watched them a couple of times over the last two years they've been young it's a new program but you know they got some seniors there now and you know I think you know I think he's gonna do pretty good things there McAlevy like you said he's got the background he's got the pedigree yeah I agree and then you go to Coach Warren I mean his background I just find intriguing going to Marine Corps first playing kind of marine a Marine Corps team against a Japanese university in Okinawa playing in playing in college and then getting to the coaching thing by going down to Alabama Huntsville and really he's grown up in his coaching career at that school and now finally gets to take it over and he keeps that stability. They didn't lose a lot of kids to the portal he's got a big a very big roster that he can instantly use. I I I I think he's gonna do a a great job in continuing where where that program started I I agree.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:53

Just an interesting array of coaches tonight and and you know coast to coast man it's it's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:02

It is really really cool. And with that said Danny there are no shout outs tonight no shout-outs that's such a rarity I know we're gonna have you know early on the season we'll build we'll build as always exactly so hold on we got to find out if anybody's gonna DM us on these merch and stuff that we discussed last week.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:27

I know and we I can't wait to see what they come up with. I know somebody out there is going to come up with something and that's uh a wrap for the second carousel of coaching changes and that's a wrap hey this one's going pretty good so far this season I like it