DII Lacrosse Coaching Changes of 2022

SPEAKER_04 0:10

Welcome, welcome, welcome to another episode of In the Creek with Danny and Kevin, a coast-to-coast discussion of D2 Men's Lacrosse. I'm your co-host, Kevin Stentram, and with me as always, our top chef, always cooking up the ingredients of D2 Lacrosse analysis, Danny Moran. Hey, Danny.

SPEAKER_03 0:29

Hey, Kevin, how's it going tonight in Northern Virginia?

SPEAKER_04 0:33

It's going well. It's going well. I can't complain. I can't complain at all. That's good.

SPEAKER_03 0:38

No one listens when you do.

SPEAKER_04 0:39

So exactly, exactly. So, Danny, before we get started in this episode, we have been remiss and way behind on congratulating this person. We meant to do it on several past episodes and just kept on forgetting. By the time this one comes out, it'll be about two months from when it actually happened. So I hope he forgives us. But a huge shout out to Coach Chris Ryan for helping the water dogs win the PLL championship as their defensive coordinator.

SPEAKER_03 1:17

Coach Ryan. Coaching up the D for the PLL Water Dogs. What a I I just got a big smile on my face. I don't even know what to say. That guy, he's an amazing guy. He's just an amazing guy. I just I just love everything about him.

SPEAKER_04 1:33

Well, it's it's great too because uh they showed uh plenty in their in a lot of their YouTube video, social media clips of of Ryan talking. And did you catch uh him getting the Gatorade bath at the end of the game?

SPEAKER_03 1:46

Yeah, I watched the game.

SPEAKER_04 1:48

So I actually sent him a note of congrats and asked him how that felt. His quote It was cold, but tasted sweet. I'm sure.

SPEAKER_03 2:01

Yeah. Don't don't doesn't Rabel give out bonus checks to coaches that win the championships? He should. He might get a bonus check. That's why it's so sweet. There we go. There we go. Yeah, congratulations to Coach Ryan. What a great guy.

SPEAKER_04 2:15

Exactly. But now it's time to move on. And it's that time again. Time to go over coaching changes in D2 that have happened this past summer. A lot of them again, Kev. Yeah, well, that's what's so funny, Danny. Last year when we did this, there were twelve schools with coaching changes, including the new programs. So before our crack research team started to look at this year's changes, I assumed it'd be just a handful. You know, four or five. Do you know what it turned out to be if you add in the new schools? Fifteen. Close. It was thirteen. It's it's crazy. It's crazy.

SPEAKER_03 2:56

And you know it seems to be, you know, it seems to be a thing in in college coaching, you know. Not nobody stays forever, you know. Uh uh opportunities arise and it it fits a coach's schedule or you know, where he lives it could be, or you know right. There's so many variables into coaching and uh who stays and who's who who leaves and who goes to different programs. So I'm sure every year we're gonna have uh a good number of coaches that make it.

SPEAKER_04 3:25

You're right. And if you think about it, there's 7080 D2 schools. So twelve thirteen seems like that's uh fairly reasonable from a shift each year.

SPEAKER_03 3:36

Yeah. Seems seems reasonable. Makes sense to me.

SPEAKER_04 3:40

Yeah, yeah. So let's start with the one that was the the blockbuster early on this summer of coach Jordan Levine resigning from Mercy to take over LIU.

SPEAKER_03 3:53

Yeah, man, that's a b that's a big that's a that was a big shoes to fill at Mercy, you know, and I I like Jordy Levine. I think the kids loved him. He's so well respected, and he did such a great job with Mercy. I was up at the game last year when they when they beat Lemoyne and just just a lot of good things from him at that program. And now he's gonna take him, he w he's going to Division I and uh taking over a program that's gonna be pretty good. And um now now Mercy's got some big shoes to fill, but I don't think they've filled them yet, have they?

SPEAKER_04 4:27

No, they have not officially named uh their head coach. The good news is whoever takes over, it's a really strong program they walk into. And they national runner-up, they've got some players returning. The bad news is they lost some key players, especially on D with Tommy Amano and and Jack Higgins. And because it's so late, they're gonna have that coach is gonna have to assimilate quickly uh with fall ball ending and and getting into really the end of the the fall season and getting right into the spring season.

SPEAKER_03 5:03

It should be interesting to see where Mercy goes again. You said they lost a couple of guys, Tommy Amano and goal was just amazing, but Justin Gardville's coming back. Yeah. That kid's just an amazing player. And you got you know, TJ Heider coming back, and who else who else is coming back? Brady, Brady Kearnan. So you know what, they got a solid core. Oh, without a doubt. And you're right. The coach, whoever walks in, is walking in to a pretty strong program. And it's gonna be interesting to see how the kids who are so used to Jordy and how much they love him. And you we have him on. We saw that we we saw how the players were with him, you know, and they just love the guy. So I think it's gonna be a little different for Mercy. Um, they're gonna it's we'll have to see who they name as a coach. And uh again, yeah, it's kind of late, like you said, and at this point you'd want your coach embedded in you know, fall ball games and and at least your culture or what you want to do X and L wise.

SPEAKER_04 6:03

They've got assistant coaches there still helping out and running it, so it's not like they're totally rudderless, but you know, the head coach could come in and change things up, and so it's gonna take some time, but let's move on. Let's talk about this year's version of the Whipple Ripple. When a coaching retirement creates a cascading effect of coaching movement. So do you want to take us through that?

SPEAKER_03 6:30

What, like with Coach Bork leaving? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, well, you know, Coach Bork was at Catawba for a very, very long time. He's a uh just he's uh icon in Division II, lacrosse, especially in the South. And um he called it, you know, he called it a day. He was there for many, many decades. He's been coaching a long, long time. And now him and his wife are gonna go down to Florida and fish and enjoy the sun and enjoy retirement. And in that retirement, just as Ro Rory Whipple, when he retired, they got a really good coach to come in. Yeah. And and and Coach Mike Murphy, former coach at Mount Olive. Now, Coach Murph, man, he's got a lot of pedigree. He's a great coach, great recruiter. His teams have been nationally ranked year in, year out. They're always a top-notch program. I've been uh on Mount Olives campus, I know what it's all about, but he's gonna bring his pedigree to his alma mater. He played his college ball exactly at uh Catawba. So now he comes back and I think he I think. And he's a coach there. Tell you, SAC better watch out for Catawba. Catawba's gonna be a much different team now.

SPEAKER_04 7:48

Right. Just to touch on that a little bit with with Coach Murphy, he was ten years at at Mount Olive. His overall record was 103 and 46, two NCA tournament appearances, and five Conference Carolina tournament finals. So if Tauba's getting a getting a coach, it's gonna probably take him to the next level. Absolutely. And so why don't we just bring the coach on and see what he has to say?

SPEAKER_03 8:18

I think that's a great idea.

SPEAKER_01 8:21

Hey coach, welcome. How you doing? I'm doing very well. Thanks for having me on.

SPEAKER_03 8:26

Hey, Coach Mike Murphy from Tava. How you doing, man? Thank you so much for taking the time to be with us tonight. Uh how's everything going with uh the change at Katawa?

SPEAKER_01 8:36

It's it's going well. It was uh a change a little bit later in the cycle, um, as far as like the end of the summer months and and the um the

Coach Murphy - Catawba

SPEAKER_01 8:44

team and the support staff at Mount Olive couldn't have been more gracious and awesome. Like, you know, telling those guys and them being so happy for me, switching back to Katawa. And if you didn't know, I actually coached at Kataaba in 2010, 11. And you played. And I played there in '98, and and uh my wife went to Kataba. Um she played volleyball here for a year, and my younger brother played the cross at Kataba. So a lot of a lot of connections that come back to this area.

SPEAKER_04 9:08

That's awesome. That was one of my first questions. Was coming back to your alma mater just too difficult to pass up? Was that one of the things that really drew you to go to Kataba?

SPEAKER_01 9:19

One, yeah, it's too difficult. But two, like at on a family level, not many people knew this, but um, I live in Charlotte with my family, and I was commuting to Mount Olive.

SPEAKER_04 9:28

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_01 9:29

Three and a half hours away. I was uh, you know, had a place out there during the season and stuff, and it got to a point where you know my wife is established in her career and and works in Charlotte, and the opportunities for her job were just not there in Mount Olive. And anyone knows, anyone that's been in coaching, they know that you know the coaching isn't funding the retirement. So we gotta, you know, make sure we're doing right with their family and our kids are in a great school system. So, you know, getting back to Charlotte at some point was was ultimately the goal. And not too far up the road is Salisbury, so that worked out, and you know, being connected to the school, of course, the timing was you know almost perfect.

SPEAKER_04 10:08

I I did not know that you were commuting like that. Uh, you know, coming from Northern Virginia and my son playing down in in Charlotte, uh, it was better when we played Mount Olive because it was I could do it in a day versus having to spend over. You know, it was a quick trip down 95.

SPEAKER_01 10:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 10:25

So I have to ask you this. You played and coached for Peter Bork. We were there for 30 years and had a tremendous run. Yeah. What is it like to take over a program from him, the only head coach at Kataba?

SPEAKER_01 10:43

It it's it's funny um that you asked this question kind of during the interview process when you're talking to the consultants and the committees and stuff, and they, you know, we're we're talking to you about like, hey, what if we find you know, somebody else gets this job? How are you gonna feel? Like, well, that's fine. If you get a better coach, I'm happy for you, but you're not gonna find one that cares more. And so being coached by Peter and seeing the influence that he's had on so many student athletes over the years, it's just it's um it's great to see that and to be able to kind of follow his act in there as as a as a man is just awesome.

SPEAKER_04 11:17

Yeah, I I love that that you said no one's gonna care more than you on and passionate about about the the school and the team because you've lived it. You've lived it as a player and a coach, which is it I coached two separate two separate times.

SPEAKER_01 11:30

I graduated in '98 and I stuck around for a year and coached and and helped coach start get that going. And then I uh got pulled into the corporate banking world and I was out of coaching for 10 years. And I was in corporate banking, and you get the golden handcuffs where you buy a house and you buy a car and you have to pay and you blink, and it's 10 years later, and you're like, I didn't sign up for this. Like, I didn't want to you know go down this this route of retirement plannings and things. And all along the thing, Coach Bork was like, every couple years he'd check in, hey, you're ready to come back coaching. I know you're going to. Well, you ready? You're ready. And finally, after 10 years, I called him. I was like, I'm ready. And he was like, let's go.

SPEAKER_04 12:08

Wow, that's great. That's great. That is a great story. That is a great story. What a guy, huh? What a guy.

SPEAKER_01 12:16

Great guy. Great guy.

SPEAKER_04 12:18

So let's talk about the team a little bit. You know, you've got a looks like you've got a lot of strong players coming back this year. How would you assess? I guess it's two things. How would you assess your team at this point as you're just kind of getting into the fall ball period? And then secondarily, how has the transition been for the team with you?

SPEAKER_01 12:38

Um, I think what they've noticed is, well, one, the kind of roster that's probably still up on the website hasn't been updated. I think it was probably updated last January. So there has been some you know turnover in the process over the summer before you know, whenever one coach leaves and one coach comes in where there's a gap, you run that risk of you know kids coming back. And then, you know, we we had some attrition during that period, but I can't you really blame myself on it. I wasn't there. So, you know, yeah, that happens though.

SPEAKER_03 13:04

That happens.

SPEAKER_01 13:05

It definitely happens. Um, but going in there and kind of um changing, I don't I don't want to say the culture is the right word for it, but like maybe the pace of practice or the tempo or or you know what I expect is different from what Peter did. So it's definitely a learning curve of you know what's there and and what I'm trying to do with the guys on the team. And you know, you as uh you know, I like to cook and stuff in my spare time, and it's like you want to cook one thing, but maybe you don't have those ingredients. So you gotta kind of fix it and go with the ingredients that you have, and then go shopping for your own ingredients to make the meal that you want to. So I think that's kind of what we're at now is picking out those things and figuring out what our strengths are, and you know, if we need to hide somebody here or hide this there and figure that out as well.

SPEAKER_03 13:52

You're back in the SAC. What do you think about that?

SPEAKER_01 13:55

It's great because I I was in, I know you guys had Coach Fritz on a while ago, and and yeah, we were back in the old in the quote unquote olden days of Division II where you had to be.

SPEAKER_03 14:03

He was great. I loved him, man. He was phenomenal.

SPEAKER_01 14:07

I met him when I was in middle school. My older brother played for him for a year at Pfeiffer. So we kind of had some early Division II exposure in my family, and then you know, talking to him and and when he was at Pfeiffer and at Queens and I was at Kataw, and then you know, in the club circuit and stuff, you talked to him a lot. And you know, back in the day, the king said that our conference was like Pfeiffer, Kataba, Virginia Tech, Guildford, Greensboro, or like Greensboro, and a different you know, mix altogether. And then I think my last year at Kataba is when the SAC started sponsoring it. But until then it was half of us and half of the Florida teams that were there.

SPEAKER_02 14:40

Right.

SPEAKER_01 14:40

You had to win, whether it was, you know, Wing It, Marcel, Catawba, the group up here, you had to win out and you would play the southern region in the championship.

SPEAKER_02 14:49

Right.

SPEAKER_01 14:50

You know, I think Tampa was their first or second year when I was back at Catawba, and we were fortunate enough to make the conference championship the three years I was here. I think we won two, and then they went on to win a third one after I left.

SPEAKER_03 15:02

Right.

SPEAKER_01 15:03

So it's nice, it's very competitive. It's it's nice as a coaching perspective because from day one, you know you have 10 or 11 games scheduled perfect. Here's your schedule, fill in the blanks. Whereas uh, you know, Conference Carolinas, we have a lot less teams, and so you've got to play that game. You're calling, hey, when can I get a game here? I'll come to you, or you come to me, and it's not as um secure. So it's a lot more discipline goes on in scheduling, which the sack makes it easier.

SPEAKER_04 15:28

But but even when you were at Mount Olive and Conference Carolinas, you played a lot of SAC teams, so you have a lot of familiarity with the teams throughout this conference. Yeah, what do you think you need to do to, I mean, like Danny said, Catawa is always scrappy. They can beat anyone in the conference. It's just the consistency of trying to beat those top-tier teams over the last few years. You talked about getting the right ingredients. Is that part of it? Is there anything else you're looking at that you need to do so you get to that consistency?

SPEAKER_01 16:01

Right. And I think when you when you look at it like, you know, winning isn't a part-time thing. It's like you have to win at everything. And and part of the thing that we preached at you know, Mount Olive that I brought back to Katawa is you gotta win your homework. You gotta win getting a class, you gotta win being a practice early, you have to win this. And when you accumulate a lot of the smaller wins, they will correlate to the larger ones. And so if you're just used to turning it on game day, which I think may be some of the issues in the past, where Catawba could come out and upset uh you know Queens one weekend or do very well against another team and then turn around and lose to someone that you maybe not thought, it's because they don't turn it on all the time. And it's winning's a habit. And you've got to win all those things to get going in the right direction.

SPEAKER_04 16:45

100%. I agree. Yeah, I love that. I love that quote. Win all times, you know, win every little bit.

SPEAKER_01 16:53

It's not a part-time winning's not a part-time thing.

SPEAKER_04 16:57

Yeah, that that's awesome. The other thing I like to touch upon is that, and you talked about this and how gracious Mount Olive was in your transition, but you actually got to pass the torch to one of your former assistants who left for a year to be a head coach in a D3 school Dylan Price. What was that like?

SPEAKER_01 17:16

It's funny that like if you have a nine-to-five job, you have coworkers that you can talk to and you gossip around the water cooler and talk about that. But you know, when you're coaching lacrosse, it's usually just you and your assistant, and that's it. So over the course of you know, seven years, eight years that he was there, you get to have really close, and then when he moved on to peace, you could pick up the phone and say, Hey, what's going on with you? Here's what's going on with me, and you kind of commiserate on whatever bad's going on, you move on. And you know, we had it was funny, we had worked at camp um together about two weeks prior, and it was just they assigned coaches to different teams, and I think our group was it was me, Coach Price, and then the guys from Katawa, like the GA and and Coach Schwartz, who's the assistant time. And two weeks later, Katawba leaves, I slide over to Katawba, Dylan leaves peace, he slides over to you know, just like a domino effect and slides over. But the good thing about it is is we had such a good relationship with our athletic director and sports support at Mount Hall, they knew Dylan and knew he was the right guy. And when I was going through the process, I was very transparent with the athletic director and said, Hey, I want to make sure we find the right candidate. And, you know, he and I had already talked about Dylan before I even got offered the job at Catalba, just kind of as like, hey, what if happens? And it and naturally it was a perfect fit because he's coached a lot of those guys, he's exactly playing with those guys, and and he helped recruited some of the younger guys there. So selfishly was awesome, knowing that those players at Mount Olive were getting an awesome person as coach. And that's it's part of it as you're coaching, you become close with those guys and and you love them and you want to make sure that they're taken care of. And you know, every one of those kids called me and said they're happy for me and my family, and and it was nice that they understood that coaching isn't always about coaching, it's about what you can be as a father and as a man and things of that nature. And it was it was awesome to hear 19 and 20-year-old boys make that correlation.

SPEAKER_03 19:09

That's amazing, actually.

SPEAKER_04 19:11

That's uh very mature attitudes of the players.

SPEAKER_03 19:15

You don't find that very often these days, you know what I mean? Yeah. Well, coach, it sounds like you got your everything going in the right direction. You look happy, you look good, totally healthy, man. Like you look like robust and ready to go. Right, right. How's how's fall been going so far? How's practices been going and everything?

SPEAKER_01 19:36

It's been going well. We're probably at you know, at an assistant coach here shortly. It's kind of I waited just a little bit to get my feet under me here and catch up on all the paperwork and ordering before I you know brought another guy in and wanted to make sure it's the right fit. But you know, we have a new athletic director at Katab, and I'm sure you you know her from Winget, um Michelle Cadigan.

SPEAKER_02 19:53

And and yeah, she's been awesome.

SPEAKER_01 19:56

And like during the interview process, like I've I've always been a guy that no matter what his job was, is like you wanted to respect and and um care about your manager or your direct report, and it was always part of like who you work with, not exactly what you're doing. And I mean, everything she's answered and and done and done for us has been awesome so far. So I'm I'm real happy that you know Kitaba has her and the athletic program is moving in a positive direction.

SPEAKER_03 20:20

Uh, that's great news. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 20:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:23

So one last question that I have is what would you consider your top three priorities for your team, your your first year?

SPEAKER_01 20:38

One is I want to make sure we have a high GPA. Uh it was something that, you know, over the years of Mana, we've gotten to get to that level of, you know, you get that I that uh USILL Team Academic Awards if you have a cumulative GPA of over 3.0 in the last couple of semesters around a 3-2. And part of that is a belief that kids that put in the work on the academics are going to put in the work on the lacrosse field and you have less problems. Um and if they're doing the right work and they're burning the energy at practice, they're not going elsewhere to find that that release of uh steam. Because you know, those kids with the two four GPAs are usually at a two-four for a reason. You know, they at a social life, academics, and athletics, and they're usually picking the wrong way. So that I think is priority number one is to attract those guys to get going. And the second thing is to understand that you have to compete no matter what the score is, no matter what the drill is in practice, like it's about competition. And you know, at the end of the drill or the end of practice, you shake hands with your teammate and you walk off the field happy, knowing that you put out the best effort. Um, so those will be the first two. I think the third is you you want to improve on the record from the year before, but that might not always be the case because I'm notorious with my guys for scheduling hard games. And so we may not have the same record, but right out of the gate, we're meeting Lemoy up in Johns Hopkins, you know, third. There you go. And you know, I did that stuff at Mount Olive. We played Mercyhurst early in our in our program. Programs history, played Le Moine, and it's just like if you want to get to that level, you have to play against that level. And you know, I don't want to go out and you know, quote unquote schedule wins. Like, I want these kids to have a good experience and know that when they stepped on the field, they had to compete in every game.

SPEAKER_03 22:15

Well, Mount Olive has always been has uh has always been a top-notch program, a top 10, top you know, 15, always up there ranked, playing great ball. Yeah, yeah, great. They play great ball, conference champs. You know, now you bring all that pedigree to Kataba. And I I'm scared of Katawba now in the SAC. They're bringing in a new coach, a lot of pedigree.

SPEAKER_01 22:38

I gotta hit the alumni up now while they're excited and get the donations and do all that stuff, get all that stuff early and before the uh, you know, the the shine wears off of the new guy.

SPEAKER_03 22:49

No, it makes a big difference though, I think, coach. You know, you bring in a new coach, somebody who's been there, uh, you know, AMAMA, played coach there prior to it. You're bringing in a whole new energy. And, you know, the I'm sure the kids are gonna be like, hey, let's go.

SPEAKER_01 23:04

Right. And and and it's it's tough when you have that meeting. I pulled the upper classman aside and just says like, hey, things have got to get better here. We have to do work hard, and they're completely bought in. And I said, you know, kind of arrogantly, I guess, like, I'm gonna win here. Might not be this year, but this is your last year, so you guys have to figure out if you're gonna start winning now or you're gonna watch us do it in the years to come.

SPEAKER_03 23:24

So the psychology of a game.

SPEAKER_01 23:26

Right, right. You kind of let them know, like, hey, get on board or we're gonna leave you at the station, you know.

SPEAKER_03 23:30

There you go.

SPEAKER_04 23:31

You know, Danny watching Mount Olive over the last several years when my son was playing and always scared when he played Mount Otto his team played Mount Olive. Now I know why.

SPEAKER_03 23:43

Mount's a good team, man. They're playing quality lacrosse all the time. And like he said, they played the big boys. Now he's gonna bring that, he's gonna bring that to the FCC.

SPEAKER_01 24:00

Let me tell you, when you say that Well, yeah, that'll be our third game, but like right out of the gate, that was the first game I added as a new coach.

SPEAKER_04 24:07

And that's early in the season, but I'll tell you what, that experience playing at Homewood Field, your kids will never forget that.

SPEAKER_01 24:14

I know. And unfortunately, we open with Mount Olive at home, so that'll be interesting. Wow. We'll see. We'll see how much the guys care about me, you know, during that year.

SPEAKER_03 24:27

Yeah, no, that it'll be all good. I'm sure there'll be a ton of respect there. I'm sure they will.

SPEAKER_01 24:31

They're great guys. Um, you know, about plans after college and trying to hook them up with you know, guys in the bank or this job or that job. They're just they're good people, and everyone says them out was tough. I think it was the guys that we got there, you know, took ownership and led by example, and it was one of those situations where if you had a you know, a fifth-year captain walk into the field, he would take the ball bucket. Like if he was the first guy to walk by, he'd pick it up or pick up the ball. And you get that philosophy is like, don't leave work for somebody else to do. Like if you walk by and it needs to be done, get it done. Like I do it. If I'm the first one out, I'll pick it up. I'm not gonna ask you to do something I won't. And you create that culture, and and the same thing with Catawba now is if you're a freshman and you see an all-conference guy, an all-American, like stringing the goal or doing this, like, who are you to to not step up and want to do it with him?

SPEAKER_03 25:18

100%.

SPEAKER_01 25:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 25:21

That's great, coach. I'm gonna have to now that my son's not playing, I probably have that weekend free when you're at Johns Hopkins. It's a hot, skip, and a jump for me, so I may be coming to that game. I'm gonna circle that in my calendar. And we really appreciate you coming on. This has been great. It's been phenomenal to have you on and and get your perspective and what you're gonna be doing what you're doing at Catawa right now. It's gonna be exciting to watch this year.

SPEAKER_01 25:46

Yeah, I'm excited. Um, I hope to see you up in Bolvar. Definitely, if you if you're there, let me know. I'd I'd love to say hi to you, and you know, hopefully we have some alumni up there giving us some food after the game and working on that.

SPEAKER_03 25:57

Well, that's just it for me. I'll be down there. I'll see, I'll see you this season for sure. Awesome.

SPEAKER_01 26:02

Well, that's outstanding. I appreciate what you guys are doing, man. It means the role to the guys who've us older guys have been around D2 for so long and um you know finally get to see like some some pay payoff. You know, you you turn on inside lacrosse or U.S. lacrosse and and you never see division two stuff, maybe a blurb here or there, so it's nice to listen to you guys when you're driving back and forth from campus and and hear other coaches and your colleagues and what they're doing and try to steal as much information as you can.

SPEAKER_04 26:29

You're not the first coach to tell us that. That's great. You're not the first one. That's great.

SPEAKER_01 26:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:34

Coach Murphy, thanks so much for coming on tonight. We really appreciate it. I wish you all the best of luck at Gatawa this year. Thank you. Um, like I said, I'll be down. I'll I'll I'll come to see you, I'll shake your hand, we'll say hello, and uh love to get you back on the show during the season.

SPEAKER_01 26:50

Hey, whatever you need, it'd be more than happy to do it.

SPEAKER_03 26:53

Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Coach.

SPEAKER_01 26:55

All right, guys. Take care.

SPEAKER_03 26:57

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 26:58

Appreciate it. Bye-bye.

SPEAKER_04 27:02

Okay, Danny. Now the next part of that ripple. Coach Murphy leaves Mount Olive and they didn't waste any time naming the replacement. In fact, if I've got it right, it was like three days in between from resignation to hiring Coach Dylan Price, who was their former assistant at Non-Allah. Seven years total, three, the last three as the associate head coach, and he was named the 2019 assistant coach of the year. He also left for one year to take head the head coaching job at William Peace. And there, in one year, he set a record for most wins in a season.

SPEAKER_03 27:54

So Mount Olive is getting somebody who's very familiar with the program and familiar with his players. I'm sure that he probably recruited a lot of those players that are that are there. So I don't think Mount Olive will miss a beat. I think they are going to be a team to be reckoned with. I expect them to be nationally ranked as they always are. And Coach Price brings with him a lot of pedigree. And and again, he's an excellent recruiter. They get players out, Mount Olive. They get players out there, man. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 28:27

You said it, Danny. To me, this was uh the uh exact pick and the right man to take over for Coach Murphy.

unknown 28:38

Perfect.

SPEAKER_03 28:39

Perfect hire.

SPEAKER_04 28:40

Right. It's a seamless transition. Knows the players, knows the school, will continue to recruit because he knows the school so well, but you know, it's like his you know, back of his hand. Right. I don't think they're gonna really skip a beat. I don't think they're gonna skip a beat.

SPEAKER_03 28:56

Now they're gonna be they're gonna be a very good team.

SPEAKER_04 28:59

We reached out to Coach Price, he's been extremely busy as he begins taking over this this program. So we're hoping to get him on later on in the season and see how his program and his season's going with them. We just couldn't get him on at this time. Right in this episode, we have one more change to talk about. And that is with a fairly new program, the Deuvil Saints out of ECC. As you remember, Coach Cameron Prince was the coach that we had him on. Great guy, a lot of energy. He decided to like to move on for other opportunities and they hired in Coach Jack Wilson. He was an assistant at Felician for the last two years and helped improve their winning percentage by 36%. And he oversaw the defense there, so he has some credentials on building a program because Felician's fairly new. So and he's keeping both the assistant coaches that were already there at Duaville, so there's some continuity. But it's a young program that he's taken over. So what do you what do you think?

SPEAKER_03 30:12

Well, he's got he's got his hands full, Duaville being a brand new program up there in Buffalo. Um, I think what they have 21 on their roster last year. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 30:24

I think by the end of the season with injuries and other things, they were down like around 14-15. Oh boy.

SPEAKER_03 30:32

So yeah, Coach Wilson's gonna have his hands full, you know, but that's you know, that's what comes with a new program and a new coach bringing in his culture, getting in his players. Again, De U Bill's a brand new program. This is only year two for them. So a bunch of freshmen that you know and sophomores, very, very young team. So it'll be interesting to see what Coach Wilson can do with the U Bill.

SPEAKER_04 30:57

It will. So, but why don't we hear it from him? Let's bring on the new coach of the Saints and let him tell us how things are going. Let's do it. Hey, welcome, Coach. How you doing?

SPEAKER_00 31:08

I'm doing great. How's it going with you guys? Thanks for having me on. Super excited.

SPEAKER_04 31:13

Yeah, we're really excited to have you on and talk about uh your new program, Deuville and the Saints. Let me just start off with a question I like to ask coaches that have gone into new programs or into their first program. What drew you to this

WIlson_D'You

SPEAKER_04 31:28

school and this program?

SPEAKER_00 31:30

I think that the easiest place to start is at their first game ever. Um so I had the luxury of coaching against this group for their first game at Felician, against Felician last year. I was an assistant coach there. So immediately from the first time before they even played scouting them, I knew they had a lot of talent and I knew they were a roster that uh was gonna go places. So when the job opened up, um it made a lot of sense to throw my ring and my hat in the ring and and see what would come of it. And honestly, it it just as soon as I got to campus, I started falling in love with the place. And as the AD and the associate AD were walking me around, I kind of just kept falling in love with it. And I was like, oh wow, there's another building we have to look at. Like, oh, you gotta check out this, you gotta check out this. So really from then I was sold and uh I was just hoping to get the call that uh they'd want me to be the guy.

SPEAKER_04 32:19

That's that's awesome. I gotta ask the question then. What was it like to get that call that you're the guy?

SPEAKER_00 32:26

Uh it was definitely super exciting. Uh something that I've wanted to take over a program or to to just be the the head coach of a program. So for me, it uh it was definitely a little bit of a relief, a lot of years of work um just kind of getting to that spot. But um I was super excited and I kind of wanted to just dive right in as soon as I could with it um and kind of get working with the group and um just kind of kind of moving on from there. Taking it one day, one, one day at a time. It's tough being the head coach, and um, they all say it's like drinking out of fire hydrant and 100% of it's but it's it's a blast.

SPEAKER_04 33:02

Well, and you're taking over still a very new program. Last year was their first year uh in Division II. It started with Coach Prince that first year. We had him on, absolutely loved his enthusiasm and it and his energy. But he moved on, you know, he moved on to other opportunities. And so what is it like coming in to a new program? And like, is the team taking it like a start and a stop? But how has that progression been? And what is it like taking over a really new program like that? I know you had that with Felician as a kind of a new program. What's that like for you there at the Yugil?

SPEAKER_00 33:37

Yeah, so I I think going in at Felician, it was an interesting time. I kind of jumped in halfway through, to be completely honest, with the timeline on everything there. So um Coach Bonnik might already got a great thing going and kind of was able to hop in. So this has definitely been different. Um, the guys have viewed it as kind of year two. I mean, and and that's my biggest thing. We're it's a part of our history at this point in time. Last year, we learned a lot of valuable lessons. We learned what we need to work on. We we had that look in the mirror all individually and as a group, I think, um, in terms of them as players, and they can see, hey, like I gotta work on the little things. And I mean, that's stuff that we're stressing right away. Um, I mean, just like for today, and and the the big topic of conversation was moving our feet to the ball. We, I mean, we had a great um opportunity on Friday night, scrimmage in a community college up here, and we did really well, and the guys are excited about it, but um, right back to business in terms of hey, we we know we were gonna run into these issues. We had the game film from last year. Like, where can we go from here? So I don't think they viewed it as a start and stop at all. I think it's just um a different person that's getting the opportunity to lead the group. The rest of the staff stayed intact. Uh, coach Coach White and Coach Dunham both came back. Um, they've been tremendous to have with me um just to guide and to bounce ideas off of. And our captains are the exact same. We have our the same three Catherine, Steve Lucas, Tristan Engelhard, and Nick Shellette. Um, I mean, everything is still the same, but we're definitely uh in terms of leadership, where we're going, all that kind of stuff. But where we're going and how we're playing is definitely what changed. So I think for them it's been um kind of like, okay, I I think one of my defensemen summed it up the best. I mean, he said he's never run this much in a practice before in his life, his career, um in drills and not doing anything on the line, not doing any conditioning there, just building it into the drills. And he also said he's like, I haven't had this much fun in forever. Um and there's there's no way that that's the case, man. And and no, absolutely, like I'm having a blast. Um, so we're playing a lot faster, we're playing differently. I mean, we are program, we're we're programming our program to be ready for when we have that 40-man roster, when we're getting to the point where we're getting a larger recruiting class each year, um, and we can play and have three MIDI lines deep, running deep on our transition in our rope units.

SPEAKER_03 35:58

Right, right. I wanted to ask you how did recruiting go this year? Because last year it was all freshman, right? Uh, what'd you have on the roster last year? Like 20.

SPEAKER_04 36:08

I think it was about 21. And what I'm looking at when I looked on the website was about the same amount right now, or unless that's not updated totally. You were about it like 21 or 22?

SPEAKER_00 36:18

Yeah, we're right around there. So we're bringing a couple guys in in January. Um, and those were guys because of how late in the summer I got right. That those are guys that I brought in. Um, I had the opportunity to bring in one young man who was kind of still um figure some stuff out later on in the summer. But I kind of just have have joined on to what Coach Prince had already put together, and he put together a smaller recruiting class, but definitely worth every ounce in talent. All these these freshmen have been tremendous so far, and um, they're gonna step in right away and not only be in big roles because of our roster size, but be in big roles because of what they're able to do and how they're into the speed of the college game. And there's gonna be a learning curve. There, there's no doubt about that. But their eagerness and their IQ level is getting us to a spot where they're gonna be able to step in and contribute right away for us and really grow into some special players over the next four years. And I'd said it to them, I'm excited for when we get to take the senior day photo. Um started on day one of class. I said, hey, like this is gonna be the first group that I have go through, but I know you're not all necessarily quote unquote mine. Um I mean, that's kind of how we refer to it in coaching, but it doesn't feel like that at all. I said, we're gonna go through, and this is going to be our our kind of special ride for four years, and uh he's gonna be there. So yeah, I mean recruiting is going well. I think we just had um some some guys on campus today. We we got guys coming for more visits. Getting people up to Buffalo is not as challenging as as people would like to think it is. We're just getting people to campus, having those conversations and getting them to fall in love with the place like I have and um see the vision for where where we want to go. We're not backing away from anybody, and we we're adding adding people to our schedule even here now that are that are gonna be downright challenging. So we we wanna we wanna lean into that and we wanna be building the program that we're gonna be in five years today. We we want to be playing that style of lacrosse today. Uh we're not gonna I'm I'm big on encouraging mistakes. I'm trying to create, like I said to a family today, a laboratory where guys can make mistakes every day of the week. You can throw it behind the back, you can throw it between the legs, you can do anything that you want in terms of creativity on my lacrosse field when you're playing in our program. The only thing you have to do, and the only rule is you have to have tried it in practice. That's it. And that's something I I've heard another coach say, and I was like, that's the smartest thing I've heard for a while. We want to play lacrosse the way it was designed to be played. The fastest sport on two feet, having as much fun and creativity as possible, and letting guys go make plays. I'm not gonna put the clamps on anything and slow it down. It's awesome. Sorry, I get I if you can tell, I get jacked up by telling everybody I made the play by getting excited.

SPEAKER_03 39:01

I I like the I like the teams that play loose and free. You know, I find that the teams that play tight, you know, when those coaches are calling plays every play, you know, every every possession is like, ah, you know, I some of the sometimes teams get tight and they don't play well. I I always found that the teams that play loose and free and are allowed to create, because these guys know the game. They know the game. They've been playing the game. Now they're playing at the NCAA level. A little quicker, a little bigger, a little faster, a little stronger. But when they play loose and free, good things happen. I I love that tight style of lacrosse.

SPEAKER_04 39:33

And I and I think the way you uh keep that freedom and that that looseness is by allowing them to make mistakes. When you get them on the field during a game. Yeah, well, and if you're if you're playing tight because you're afraid to make a mistake and come off the field and get yelled at by a coach, which right being yelled at versus being taught is two different things. Uh you know, they they could take a play that they practiced on the field, but didn't work necessarily in the situation uh during the game time. And I'm sure as as a coach you would probably say uh you that worked in practice because it worked in it was this kind of situation. That this was a totally different situation, and this is probably why it didn't work. But I love the idea that you say make mistakes because you've got a young team too, and they're only gonna build. They're gonna build to we talked about this with several teams. You've got a small roster, which means most of them get the chance to play, if not all. Get to play. Get to play to play. And they get to get the experience so that yeah, you're gonna take your lumps probably this year as well, but you're going to come out of that in one year, two year times when those guys are juniors, and then become so when you get that senior class that you're calling your first class, think of where uh where you're they're gonna be and where you want them to be.

SPEAKER_00 40:54

Yeah, absolutely. I couldn't agree more. And um, yeah, I I don't I don't think that we're gonna have an easy year this year, and um there's there's no denying that, but at the same time, like we talked about it the other day, and we're chasing ideal lacrosse at all times. What is it's it's hard to catch ghosts, right? So we talked about the uh the something we're talking about this week and kind of the theme of the week, the ghost of De Uville lacrosse. What can we chase? Um and with such a historical campus, it's been here since 1908, and having a history degree myself, it's it's it's kind of easy to nerd out in that sense that that's something we're talking about. How can we chase that ghost? And that really is a perfect lacrosse team, a team that's playing great offense, great defense, clearing the ball really effectively, man up, man down, the whole nine. That's hard to get to every day, but if we're striving for it and we're trying to grab at it and get to it, we're gonna like where we're at a lot quicker than most people expect us to, too.

SPEAKER_03 41:46

That's a good that's a that's great. And how are the kids coming along, you know, fall balls here, you know? How how how are they adjusting to well you said you most of the staff is back, you're the only, you're the new leader. How's the adjustment going between you and the kids and the kids and you? How's that is that a tough question? I don't know. Does that make any damn sense?

SPEAKER_00 42:07

Yeah, no, no, no, that's a perfect way to ask it. You gotta hit the have the hard-hitting questions from the maestro D2, right? Yeah, so um I think that to me, uh, the first thing I did as a head coach was call every have every kid in the team talk to me on the phone uh and try and hear where at hear where they're at and and say, and I said it to them all honestly, um, hey, we're gonna try and build this relationship from here. Uh, you need to obviously you probably think you need to earn my trust, but I have to earn your trust. Um, you have to trust me and trust where I'm going, and I'm trying to lead you in life for the next four years and get out of here in four years, and you can go into an interview and be really proudly shaking somebody's hand and say, hey, I'm a Deuville men's lacrosse alumni.

SPEAKER_02 42:49

Right.

SPEAKER_00 42:50

I came out of that program and and I'm I'm better for it. So it's a bit a process to really answer your question. Refocusing on the balance between academics, athletics, and the social component, right? And and that's just what the makeup of college is for a student athlete. So having a nice balance between all three of those buckets, we only have so much water to fill them up with. Um, so it learning those lessons. I think that for me, it's something that's unique to me is I only get so many hours during the week with them. We're not overpowering them with those amount of hours, but I am taking out of that hour. So I'm not, I'm taking less time with them. And the time that I'm taking back that I'm putting on the side is what we're using for culture. Um, and we're we're having meetings once a week on Mondays, and it's not just talking about the lacrosse side of our culture um necessarily. We call them process meetings because this whole thing is going to be a process for us.

SPEAKER_03 43:44

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 43:45

And and what we're doing in them obviously is establishing our culture in the first one or two. Yesterday we did a little history lesson about the Battle of Buffalo and learning about the the area that we're living in, right? Diving into it, leaning into what we're all about and who we are. Um and it's going To kind of progress from there and they'll know once a week that, hey, we're going to do something different, whether it's team building activities. Uh, I'm an Eagle Scout myself, so I got them kind of off the top of my head and can rip them off, and I'll go back into that portion of my life really easily, into resume building. Obviously, with freshmen and sophomores, just having them talk about their resume, look at their resume, bring it in. Let's workshop it a little bit. Um we have a cooking station and and class area on our campus, signing those guys up. We're all going as a group, myself included, learning how to cook a like a great dish that's really nutritionally healthy for us. And we have a nutritionist that works in our athletic department. So working with him and and find it's a great meal for them. So things like that, and it kind of digresses from there and continues on. So that's the plan. And I think that in that we're gonna learn some valuable lessons about what's important and what we need to focus on, and and the guys are responding really well to it to answer your question.

SPEAKER_03 44:57

That's great. I love it.

SPEAKER_04 44:58

I love it. Yeah, so you hit on a word that we talk about a lot with coaches, and I find it interesting with Deuville still being so new, and that's culture. When you came in, did you find a culture that you're trying to kind of approve upon, or do you feel based on it being just your second year, second season, that you're you still have to help build that culture more and more?

SPEAKER_00 45:25

I mean, I think that you can best sum it up with this. You got the Will Smith quote that's gone viral a million times, right? Like, I can't build a wall in one day, but I can focus on each brick and laying it perfectly. And I think that what I walked into was a very nicely laid foundation for where this program can go. Um, and and in terms of the culture. We're changing some things about it. We have to reinforce some of the things that are important just for where we're going. This isn't just uh this is Division II athletics for a reason. There's a healthy balance between it, but um, the grind of going to a lift study hall, going to class, and then a practice, and and kind of how it all fits into your schedule for the day, and then also having time to be a kid. That's important too. So I think that that's really what we're trying to improve upon, I would say. Um, just the balance of it all and what's important and what times of the year things are important at, and and really like, you know, when it's when it's this time of the year, we're already we're getting into midterms. Like we we need to really be working with tutors if we need help from a tutor, or we need to be um spending an extra hour on a paper, all those kind of things. So that's really all I would say that in terms of the culture that we're changing. I think on the field, the some of the frustrations you might have seen at times, um, and that's kind of something that I really hit upon. I I don't I feel this is a game given to us by the Native Americans, um, and we're lucky to have it. So respecting the game at at the all times is is of my highest priority. So making sure those frustrations and those times where we want to maybe slam a stick and we're in a first year program, we're I think that that's something that I'm really keying in on. Um, and that's something that's very important to me. It's something that I've had since my first lacrosse coach ever. And uh it's it's just probably the biggest portion of the culture that outwardly you can see that obviously we want to change for the optics of it, but I also want to change it much more for the reason of why we conduct ourselves that way. And and that's part of our culture. It's one of our core pillars. Uh, the guys came up with it, class. Um, it hits on a lot of levels. It's going to class, being present in the class, being the best we can be as a student, um, and then also conducting ourselves with class, no matter where we are in life, um, whether we're on the lacrosse field, whether we're holding the door for somebody going into a store.

SPEAKER_02 47:39

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 47:40

Thank you, the whole nine. And that's something that they came up with based on maybe some of the things I was preaching from the late summer going into the early school year, but that was that was right from our process meeting in the first one. They came up with our four core pillars and they live it every day. They break down the huddle sometimes with it, and I love it.

SPEAKER_03 47:56

That's cool. That's cool. You know, coach, I watched the UV play, I think like two or three times last year. And, you know, yeah, you know, a new a new program's gonna take their lumps for sure, you know. And there was all freshmen out there, but I didn't see any bad uh body language, I didn't see any sticks slamming on the floor. I saw a bunch of kids fighting hard, and I loved it. And I said to Kevin, I said, guess what? Watch this Dealville team in four years. Yep. Give these kids four years of at the NCAA level. Hey, take their lumps their first year, get a little better second year. I said, by the time these guys are seniors, they're gonna be a squad. And I remember saying that to Kevin.

SPEAKER_00 48:38

Yeah, I mean, maybe that was bad to say in that sense, because I'm I'm maybe a detail-oriented person in that sense.

SPEAKER_03 48:43

But yeah, no, I mean I think that's you know, but eye candy means something, you know, like it it does. And I I've seen that on the field a thousand million times, being from Long Island, you know, I've seen it a zillion, zillion times, kid slam his stick or whatever. Yeah. But you know, I didn't I didn't see that from D UV. I saw a bunch of kids playing the game hard, playing way the the way the like you said, the way the creator created the game. You know, they played with respect. They took their lumps, they lined up, they shook their hands, and I said to Kevin, I said, you know what, I watched Deuville last night, and I said, All right, they took their lumps, but I liked what I saw, and give them four years. Give that give that freshman class, you know, 40, 50, 50 games under their belt and see what happens.

SPEAKER_04 49:29

I I would say a couple things. One is the games I saw with the UVville, they were always in it the first half, usually, on most of the games. It's just stamina, playing tough teams that just know how to grind it out a little bit more because they're they're more experienced. That's what I saw a lot. But the two things, the other thing I would say, Coach, you hit upon it when you said about enjoying playing the game. It's a creators game. We've had Coach Boyle on from Wingate, who one of their mantras a year or so ago is we get to. We get to play this game of lacrosse. Not we have to or we we we have to go to this list, we get to go to this lift. We get to get on the field and practice lacrosse, the game we love. And that goes what you said about throwing the lacrosse stick. It's going to happen, but if you have that mindset that that that's a de that becomes a defeatist attitude instead of learning from it and picking yourself up and saying, I get to, or why am I here in this game? What can I learn from it, and then move on from there?

SPEAKER_00 50:34

Yeah, uh definitely. I I think that again, uh maybe just kind of harping on the wrong thing there, but it's it's something that it happens, right? And it's it's part of of growing. Every student athlete is having playing with the right intentions and and doing the right thing. And I I've seen nothing of of that I can reference this year at all. Like our guests. But it's yeah, it's just a mindset. Yeah, the mindset is. I mean, I I guess dive into to really answer it. Like, I think that at times it was frustrating for them because they had less such a small roster. Um just in in terms of that. So now, yes, you're right. Switching the mindset and changing in and with a still smaller roster this year, we're like, yeah, we we do get to every single day. Getting after it and and having that privilege and you know, really enjoying every moment we get together. We're not gonna be this group ever the same. And that that's not because of of anything bad. I mean, we we have a young man who's gonna be done probably with school soon enough, and we don't know. And we've we graduated two guys uh from the program last year. So kids might have had freshman eligibility, but where they're at, matriculating wise in school and the academics, um, they've moved on. So, yeah, in enjoying our time this year, every second together, because we're always gonna change. We're gonna bring new people in the door, but more so talking about the people that unfortunately are gonna walk out the door um in terms of just graduation. Like those that's that's an end goal for all of them, and it's great, but it's ask any coach, it's it's heartbreaking for all of us when they have to walk out the door and leave. And I think that for me, probably something I'll deal with and be frustrated with and be upset with is when they all have to start really leaving. Um, and the group that was here last year is gonna leave in a couple of years all kind of together, and and the group that we just walked in with that we talked about earlier, but they're all gonna leave eventually. And it's hard. It's like watching, and you know, as parents yourselves, it's like watching your kid leave. So um that's that's when we know we're doing our job the right way and and we're connected enough to the student athlete that that we feel that way. And any ask any coach, anytime you got to leave a group, it's it's heartbreaking.

SPEAKER_03 52:48

Excellent stuff, coach. Excellent.

SPEAKER_04 52:50

Yeah, I mean, I this has been phenomenal, coach, having you on. I I love hearing coaches' perspectives on where they're trying to bring the team, especially to come in their first year and see what they're trying to do. And add on to that, like we've already talked about, a new program, second year. It's exciting. And what you're bringing to the table is really exciting, and we'll be watching De Uville Saints without a doubt this year and see where you guys can go. It's gonna be fun. It's gonna be fun to watch you in the ECC and conference play too. I I'm really excited about that.

SPEAKER_00 53:23

Yeah, I mean, hey, uh, we we'll always take more fans. I always kind of had you guys pegged as De Uville fans as just a fan of your own podcast. So taking the job, I was like, I got at least two fans outside of my. I got two others, and I know we have a ton more. So we're always happy to have that. And yeah, uh, hopefully we can uh really show up and show out when you guys are tuning in. And uh yeah, uh thanks for having me, guys. I really appreciate it. And and have a great rest of your fallball kind of interviewing series. I'm excited to hear it.

SPEAKER_03 53:54

Hey, coach, thanks so much for coming on. We really appreciate it. I wish you the best of luck this season. Jersey Boy, right off Route 1 and 9 of Freehold, right right around the corner for me, not too far. Um, I look forward to seeing what the team does and and what you do with the team. And again, we're all about D2 and Deuvil being a new program. We're all for it, 100%. And if there's anything else that we can do to help you, just let us know. Because we'll we we would do anything to help Deuville uh become a better program and just try to get kids to go up there and whatever we can do here at Indocrease. You've you've been a great guest tonight. We really appreciate you coming on.

SPEAKER_00 54:35

Thanks. I appreciate that a lot. And it really it is just spread the word. Um, get people to want to take the take the ride or the flight up to Buffalo. It's it's worth every minute you're here. So thanks so much, guys. And uh I'd love to come back on if you ever have me or have a player or anything like that. So hopefully we're talking again soon.

SPEAKER_03 54:52

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 54:53

Thanks again.

SPEAKER_00 54:54

Thanks, thanks, guys.

SPEAKER_04 54:57

All right, Danny. Well, that was that was a good good start to these episodes here of the coaching changes. As we talked about Jack Wilson taking over De Uville. We talked with Coach Murphy, and then we talked about the the changes in at Mount Olive with Coach Price, and of course, as we all wait for for Mercy Mavericks to hire their coach.

SPEAKER_03 55:18

Yeah, it's gonna be interesting. You know, again, I think in the coaching world, this is something that we're gonna go. We're gonna see every year. We're gonna see 10, 12, 13 coaching changes a year as things come up and things happen, and it's just the way the coaching carousel goes. It's part of the and parcel of the job. So it's I I think Murphy's gonna do a great job at Catawba. I think the SAC better watch out. Yeah. Because now now there's just another, you know, seasoned coach that just has pedigree in that conference. Now just just think about what that conference is doing, man, with Anderson and just that conference is just growing round. Well, it's gonna get tighter and tighter. And and and it's tighter and tighter, like you said. And and Dylan Price, again, perfect hire for Mount Olive, perfect hire. The guy's been there a long time. He's got pedigree there, he knows everybody, you know, it's a it's a seamless transition, like you said. So they should be good. It should be interesting.

SPEAKER_04 56:20

It should be, it should be. And before we just uh uh say goodnight, Danny, and call it for the night, I just want to let our viewers know that we are now on Twitter as well. I used to say get me at Coach Stenny, but I finally took the time to set us up in the crease on Twitter, and we're at D2, the number two, underscore lax underscore podcast. D2 lax podcast in the crease. So you can reach out to us then. We'll I'm hopefully during the season gonna be tweeting a little bit more as we watch the games and we go through this. Um and uh it should be a lot of fun. So I just wanted to point that out.

SPEAKER_03 57:03

That's interesting. I I I can't wait to see your tweets.

SPEAKER_04 57:07

Well, we we mean I have to figure out how to get you on there too, and to get us a duel so that you can be tweeting at the same time. We'll have we'll have tweet-offs in the in the middle of it.

SPEAKER_03 57:19

You're adding one more thing onto my phone. I can barely get my phone on, for God's sake. I'm not a tech savvy guy. I'm just not.

SPEAKER_04 57:28

We're not savvy in many things, and I guess with that, Danny, that's a wrap. That's a wrap, God.