DII Lacrosse Coaching Changes of 2023 (Part 2)

Intro

SPEAKER_03 0:15

Welcome, welcome, welcome to another episode of In the Creest with Danny and Kevin, a coast-to-coast discussion of D2 Men's lacrosse. I'm your co-host, Kevin Sentrum, and with me as always is the man who embraces that pioneer spirit, Danny Moran. Hey, Danny.

SPEAKER_06 0:32

Hey, Kev, how are you, man? Thanks for that intro. That was a good one tonight, man. How's everything in Northern Virginia tonight?

SPEAKER_03 0:39

It's it's going well. You know, we're once again, we're still recording in August, and we're gonna probably this podcast probably isn't coming out to October sometime, but as we said last episode, when you get the chance to talk to coaches, you you take that and and go with it. So here's kind of the reason behind the pioneer spirit. You know, this is the second of our series in the coaching changes in D2 programs. And there's a lot of them. There's a lot of them. There is. There's more this year now than last two years. We're up to 16 total. It's crazy. But this week, unlike last last episode, where a couple of the programs actually had been established in the club for several years and had worked worked that up, and now we're going D2. Every team, all four of the coaches we're talking to in tonight's episode, had to forge ahead and start a brand new program. They had to embrace that pioneer spirit. And you love that, don't you, Danny? I love that stuff, man. Absolutely. True pioneers for sure. Yeah, so our first two schools on the dock tonight are both entering the GMAC. So the GMAC, remember, Malone came in last year. Yep. And now we've got two more. They're gonna be up to nine schools. It would have been up to ten, but with uh with Alden Alderson brought us uh closing down, they're gonna be at nine. But still, that is that's a big conference is really growing. So yeah, why don't we get it started? First up

Tiffin

SPEAKER_03 2:08

is the Tiffin University Dragons. Travis Brown was named the first ever head coach on June 9, 2022. His background, he played at Aurora University and then was at the head coach at Westminster College for four years. Here's something really interesting, Danny. He has serious championship pedigree. While at Aurora, he brought his team to three NCAA tournaments. And at Westminster, they went to the conference championship two out of the four years he was there. Yeah. So let's just bring him in and see what he thinks now of coming to D2 and entering and playing in the GMAC. Hey coach, how you doing?

SPEAKER_06 2:46

Doing well, how are you guys? Coach Travis Brown, Tiffany. How's everything, man? Thank you so much for coming on the show tonight. We really appreciate it. The two knuckleheads from In the Crease. Uh, how's it going out there so far?

SPEAKER_01 3:00

Yeah, yeah. I appreciate you guys having me on. Great opportunity to talk a little bit more about Division II, our program up here in Northwest Ohio. Um, but it it's been a battle, just like anyone else starting a program. If it was easy, I guess everyone would do it. It's a cliche thing to say, but there's a reason not everyone signs up for it. I completely understand. Um, one thing about me, I've been a part of Young Programs from the beginning. I was a second class at Aurora University. Um I knew what it took to be sold on. Hey, jump on this, jump on board, come be a part of something new and build something great with us as a group, right? I understood what that was as a player. Um, so I'm not something something I'm definitely not afraid of as a coach. But uh yeah, no, we we got a good crew coming in here, and I'm excited about what we're doing at this point.

SPEAKER_03 3:48

Yeah, so we'll get to the we're gonna get we're gonna definitely get to the crew that you brought in. Uh but I have to ask you, you you know, you played obviously D3, and then you coach uh coached at Westminster for four years. You know, how you're coming over to D2, is this your first time in D2?

SPEAKER_01 4:04

It is, it is the fourth school I've worked at. I coached at Aurora for a year out of graduation. I was the GA graduate assistant at Heidelberg, which is actually here in Tiffen, which is oh really? Yeah, so I got my roots to the town a little bit. Uh met my significant other here. She's an attorney in town running for law director, so it was a good fit in terms of what we're looking for. Um, but yeah, like you guys said, I was at Westminster for five years. We went to the conference championship twice, and uh this is my first stint in division two. I'll tell you, not saying I was completely naive, but I showed up and said, relationship buildings, relationship building. Doesn't matter where you're at, right? That's the name of the game. There's one way to get the right guys here, and that's communicate and build a relationship. Um, but it's been a better experience than I anticipated in terms of yeah, you can maneuver money without calling your director of admissions. Um that's a great, great piece. I'm not gonna lie. Um First Division 2 gig, and you know, when I was in college, we played the Linden Woods, we played Adams State. We've when I was at Westminster, we played DE, Seton Hill, Wheeling, Lake Erie. So I've seen it, been around not unfamiliar with what I'm walking into by any stretch of the imagination.

SPEAKER_03 5:19

That's also good. That's good. That's really good for you and your program because you know it looks like you played a lot of those schools then.

SPEAKER_01 5:26

Yeah, you know, scrimmages. Um, DE was a regular season game for us two years ago, three years ago now. Um, you know, the the one thing I guess might where I was naive was they were scrimmages, so not everyone was six foot three and 215 pounds, but we turn on the real games and you watch real players play, everyone's six foot three, two fifteen, if you like. Um so that that is a huge jump. That's something a little bit different than what uh what I was used to.

SPEAKER_03 5:54

Right, right, right. So um you kind of talked about a little bit on what drew you to the school, obviously, with with your uh with your spouse there uh working in the area. Um what is there anything else that drew you to Tiffin?

SPEAKER_01 6:10

Um, one thing is you can't hide support for athletics. You know, when you look at our facilities in comparison to what we have in the GMAC, um, I thought they were second to none. You know, our indoor turf space is a phenomenal, phenomenal area for us to practice in that we're not gonna use it as a crutch in the winter. Um, but having three turf fields on a campus is a great luxury, right? You have the ability to practice whenever you want. I'll tell you our fall schedule, we're lifting Monday, Wednesday, Friday from four to five. We're practicing from five to seven Monday through Friday. Like that's unheard of. And I've done the 5:30 to 7:30 a.m. I've done the 9:30 to 11:30. Um, but just in terms of living in this town, knowing the support for athletics was huge. And it's a place where we've won two team national championships in the last decade, last six years. Um, so it's proven you can win. No illusion to I think we're winning the national championship next year. I sure as hell want to. Um, but of course, of course, it you gotta be somewhere where you can prove you've done it. You know, you walk into our field house, first thing you see is two national championships tropies staring you're staring you in the face. You know, get that at every college in the country. So that's for sure.

SPEAKER_03 7:16

Yeah, and that's that's gives you the motivation right there, right? To to add another trophy in that in that uh stand. Absolutely. So walk us through, you've been there for a year now. Walk us through what that first year was like. You said obviously, if it was easy, everyone would do it. So just walk us through a year in your life very quickly of what that's been to try to build the program.

SPEAKER_01 7:38

Yeah, yeah, I called it year zero. Um, was the term I've I've used. Everyone says, you know, what's your four-year plan? I said, I could tell you where we're gonna be at year three, but we're currently sitting in year zero, which is what I was telling people a year ago today.

SPEAKER_07 7:50

Right.

SPEAKER_01 7:51

Um, but yeah, you know, it it was at first, it kind of was the running joke of it's sabbatical year, and uh you're gonna take the year off, and you learn quickly that the amount of phone calls and things you have to get in line is a first-year program. It's not a sabbatical year, it's just you don't get to do any of the fun parts of coaching winning games and working with the guys. You got to do all the other line to get there. Right. Right. Um, so you know it it was a lot of recruiting, a lot of relationship building, right? You know, I was in western Pennsylvania for the last five years. I understand the Ohio recruit lacrosse recruiting landscape. Um, but I'll tell you, you know, when you're in Pennsylvania, recruiting Maryland and Virginia is pretty easy. It doesn't matter what part of Pennsylvania you're in, they're not afraid to jump. When you're in Ohio, you come, right? Wow, yeah. So it was one state over. Right. Yeah, hour over, hour away, right? Right. Um, so it it became building relationships, you know, in the other direction a little bit. Um, you know, I was late in college with Jack Meacham. I don't know if you guys heard, he just passed away in a car crash.

SPEAKER_03 8:50

He was a director of the yeah, yeah, just I did hear about that.

SPEAKER_01 8:53

That that was a great connection for us. Um, you know, my college coach, Kyler Berkman,'s working at the Chicago market for true lacrosse. That was a great connection for us as well. Um, those are two markets that I couldn't get in in western Pennsylvania. Um, but there's talent players across the board. Um, I'll tell you, kids from Detroit don't like leaving Detroit. We're the closest scholarship lacrosse program outside of Detroit Mercy to Detroit, Michigan. Um, so building you know lacrosse relationships there is something that was huge for me in this first class. Um, and if you look at where our talent's coming from, you just hit the nail on the head. Those three cities, uh Canada and Eastern PA, kind of where our talents come in. Interesting. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 9:34

That's good. So tell us about the makeup of your team for your first year. How many freshmen do you have? Anyone, is it all freshmen? Is it is it other players outside of that?

SPEAKER_01 9:44

Yeah, so we got uh 26 freshmen, we have a sophomore transfer, and we got three graduate transfers who I am forever grateful to. And uh, you know, I keep telling everyone they're worth all the scholarships, right? Um, right. You know, it's they're they're an incredible resource. It's been 10 days, and I think every single kid on our team looks at them like they're god right now. Um, right, right, right, right, right, right.

SPEAKER_06 10:08

It's great. Bringing a leadership quality, right? They're bringing that leadership quality, the the experience, you know.

SPEAKER_01 10:14

Yeah, and not even on the field, just in the classroom. How to break yourself in a meeting, right? How to what you wear in class, right?

SPEAKER_05 10:21

Right, right. That's awesome. Yeah, that's great.

SPEAKER_01 10:23

Just having those guys there is huge, but we're we're in 12 states across the country, Florida to Maine, to call it Washington, but he's from Vancouver, Washington, Portland suburb. And we're in uh Ontario. We got Toronto on the list as well. So we recruited coast to coast. It's something I've always felt is is huge in our sport, right? And it's gotta go from the West Coast. Myself, I'm originally from San Diego. Um, I understand what it's like to go out there and get someone from the West Coast. I've heard that recruiting pitch before, and most of them are getting on a plane to play anyway. So um right, yeah, we're we're in a good spot. 20, like I said, 26 freshmen is a unique challenge um that not everyone gets to experience all the time.

SPEAKER_06 11:07

You're not the first one, though. There's been other coaches that blow, you know, brought out 25, 26, 27 freshmen first year. We had a coach on that had 13 kids on his team this very first year, 13. And they went out and played.

SPEAKER_07 11:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 11:22

And so, you know, I you're not the first one. It's definitely a challenge, though, but it's got to be a kind of a fun challenge, you know. Again, building a program.

SPEAKER_01 11:30

Yeah, no, it it not only that, it's you get to put your stamp on it, right? And I took over the head coach of Westminster in year three of their program. Um, so there was some things already built in, but you can't 180 overnight, right? You have to build it your way over time, and we were getting there, we weren't still fully there, and I was there for five years, four years, right? One as an assistant. Um, so the the the biggest thing that I'm excited for is just being able to my imprint, my philosophies right off the bat, and not saying they don't know any better, but they don't know any better, right? There's no one that's ever done it any different at the college across level for them. Um, and not saying that I know how to win a national championship or do everything better than anyone else, but I've seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of college across, right? I've played in the round of 16 the NCAA tournament. I've been on a team that's won three games uh as a coach, and I've you know been on an average team, in my opinion. So um I think all those experiences have helped. I'm not saying everyone should be should wish to coach a team that goes below 500, but you learn a lot in a game of coaching a team below 500. And you know, your last regular season game of the season could be two teams that aren't going to the conference playoffs. And what motivates a group of 18 and 22 year olds when there's nothing left at the end of that, right? Um, so I've I've seen a lot and I'm excited to put my print on it.

SPEAKER_03 12:57

And and so we talked to Coach Ryan Burke of William Jewell, and he kind of talked about bringing guys in that really bought into that wanting to have their imprint start something off, be the foundation for something. Is that something you looked at in the players you were recruiting to as well? Because I'll tell you what, three graduate uh players, I'm assuming that they're coming partly because of that.

SPEAKER_01 13:23

Absolutely. Um I will say that yes, we sold that. I'll say in in my interpretation of how I recruited was if I was pulling teeth to do anything with you, you weren't gonna make it. You know, if it took me three text messages to get you the first time on the phone, oh, you know, something came up. I don't care how good you were, you're not gonna make it in my program, right? So it was easy for me to cross off the list and say, you know what, you're you're just you're I don't care how good you are, we're not going for what international championship you're won. We're going for the right guys, we're going for the people that not only believe in this, but have really good moral character off the bat. Um, right. We're not the most mature group of guys in the country, don't get me wrong. That's not at all what I'm saying, I promise you. Um, but I told my assistant, he was really nervous, right? We just pulled him from being the offensive coordinator of Ohio Wesleyan, a really solidified, established program here in the state of Ohio. And I said, Hey, you know, every time you call one of these kids, they'll they will answer. And if they don't answer, they're gonna text you and tell you why they didn't answer within two minutes, right? There's there's gonna be none of this. We're hunting kids down. Um, you know, we asked for NCAA paperwork. Our NCAA paperwork was done. I asked one kid twice, and that was it of 29 in the first year of a program. Um, so that that was to me more what I looked for, right? Yes, these guys all want to play college across. We had the luxury of where we were the time that I had was we're gonna go find the guys that are good moral people, that are gonna answer the phone, that are gonna do the right things, and I'm not gonna worry about on Friday and Saturday night as much as another group to a certain degree. Um but no, and that's it, you know. And I told these guys, every single person in their crew and trip, we're gonna have fun, we're gonna work hard, and we're gonna play to win lacrosse games. That's just what we're gonna do day in, day out, and you got to jump on board right now. That was from initial phone call on, and you learn quickly who wasn't jumping on board and who who was very, very fast. And I knew where to focus my energy.

SPEAKER_06 15:23

You know what? As a freshman, you know what, that's kind of like appealing sometimes. Hey, I can go to school and get a chance to play right away, like not have to sit a year or two, you know, sometimes as kids have to do. So that's like an appealing um attribute to the to the team in the university right now for a freshman. Hey, I can go in as a freshman and really get a chance to play.

SPEAKER_01 15:46

Absolutely. And and we we said that to guys. We also said, I'm not looking for guys that shy away from competition. You know, if if you think you go to Seton Hill and be the starting attackman as a freshman, go for it, right? If you believe in yourself, but you gotta be realistic. If they start two sophomores in the junior this year, you're not gonna be the starting attackman next year. Um, so we we like I said, good just guys that kind of understood it. We have a lot of talent, but that definitely was a sell. You know, I could have told this whole class by the time you guys are entering your junior year, I'm hoping we have 22 guys that have played in 35 college across games. You know, there's there will be more programs in you know, in in my bubble, you know, seven first-year teams that could potentially say that, but you know, this isn't a knockabout anywhere I've coached, but you go to a team, any program that's been around five years or longer. You ask that coach how many people under the age of 21 got to play in 35 games, he's counting on one hand, right?

SPEAKER_05 16:39

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_01 16:42

That's and I tell every kid every headache I've ever had as a coach is I'm not playing, I'm not playing, I'm not playing. And there's only 18 to 22 spots in a competitive game that I can get guys in there. Um, so that was a huge sell for sure.

SPEAKER_03 16:57

Yeah, and I think we know we've talked to other coaches that have started programs, and and it's the deal you just talked about, coach. It's the fact that this is not gonna happen in year one. You're gonna have your struggles in year one because you've got a young team, but those players, if they stay around by the time they're juniors, they're gonna be and seniors players, yeah, they're gonna be really good, man. Yeah, playing together for that long, just building the program, they're gonna know each other inside out.

SPEAKER_01 17:25

I agree, and and we we stockpiled a good amount of talent, uh in my opinion. Um, we're we're heavily recruiting the second class to backfill these guys, and yeah, I don't I don't think they do, you know. We've been on campus for 11 days, and I had a couple of them come up and say, you know, do we have two visits every single day? And it's like, yeah, we got two visits every day, you know, we're out here recruiting, we're trying to get the guys in here. Um I think a little some of them are excited about we call them reinforcements coming in next year. I think some of them are immediately nervous, like, oh man, they're trying to replace me year one. And it's like we're not trying to replace you, we're trying to add, we're trying to add right one year right.

SPEAKER_06 18:02

But that's that's that's the uh you know the truth about college ball. Yeah, it's college ball, they're bringing in the next guy. You know, and it's if you can get an underarmor all American comment to you, there you know what I mean.

SPEAKER_01 18:15

Yep. The the the current group I have has a ceiling, right? There, there is there, there's only a certain level that they can get to as good as they are. If I want to raise that ceiling, the only way I can do that is to bring in new players that are better. Um depth, yeah. Depth. Yeah, that that's the only way to improve in college athletics is to bring in better players every single year. You can get better at every position in every single recruiting class, and I firmly believe that. 100%.

SPEAKER_06 18:41

I believe it too.

SPEAKER_03 18:42

Right. And and that doesn't mean that the players that are already there aren't gonna get playing time. It's just how you're gonna mix and match, and what are the matchups you've got, and and where's the talent, and what do they bring to the table. And and then, like Danny and I have seen through our kids, right? You have got to show up every year like that position isn't yours again. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_06 19:07

So and be prepared to maybe be changed positions, too. Right, you know. Hey, my son was a leading scorer in high school, went to college and was a short stink D-man. He never saw the offensive side of the field. I think he had five career goals.

SPEAKER_03 19:22

Yeah, but he also ended up an all-American. Let's tell you how hard he worked at that position. That's true, that's true.

SPEAKER_01 19:29

I say this all the time: playing in the games is a hell of a lot more fun than watching the game from the sidelines. Hell yeah, hell yeah. Doesn't matter how you get there. If you're gonna if you're complaining about playing, don't be in my program. I promise you.

SPEAKER_03 19:42

Hell yeah, man. 100%. So let me switch topics on you here. Tell us about your assistant because you two have, I think, played and coached together, haven't you?

SPEAKER_01 19:53

Yep, so uh yeah, we played together in college for four years. Um, we both uh stayed in the Chicago land for for a fifth year after. We're he's from Portland, Oregon. I'm from St. Diego, so two West Coast guys.

SPEAKER_06 20:05

Who's the assistant again? I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_01 20:07

His name's Ryan Stowe. Ryan Stowe. Um but yeah, we're we are lucky to have him, but lived together for a year out of college. Um, I went, was a GA. He said, I'm going back to Portland, worked uh for a mom pop shop, was you know, using his degree, making decent money. Um, when I was at Westminster, our head coach Patrick Iger left at a pretty odd time in middle of November. You know, it's not really doing a head coaching search, so I know why I got my opportunity. And uh I called him at 9 a.m. East Coast time. He's rolls up, you know. I'm like, hey, you know, like you're gonna come be my GA. Let's do this for for two years, right? And get your MBA and get out of here and go back and make some money, right? That was the plan. That was the original plan in fall of 2018, right? Um worked worked together for four years. Um, I left from Westminster where we were. I got this job. He took over at Owoo as the offensive coordinator, and you know, it was a good opportunity in terms of what we could offer our assistant coach in terms of a lot of different things outside of just pay, um, and what he can do to put on a resume here at Tiffin University. And he was excited about the opportunity to build a program, see where it can go. Not saying that we were bored with being a top three team in a conference and doing it year in, year out, but I'd say the running joke was we'd sit there in the office. Wouldn't it be fun to go somewhere that isn't very good and make it good over four or five years and then can have success, right? That's a running joke that we had. And um here we are. There you go. But no, he's cool, he's a great asset.

SPEAKER_03 21:47

He must be an unbelievable asset. Just the fact that you two have worked together for so much. I mean, I would assume it just makes things so much easier.

SPEAKER_01 21:57

Yeah, and and that's a big reason why I reached out to him. In the sense that you know, if I bring someone in here new, it's one, I have to get to know them if I don't know him prior, right? That takes time in itself, right? Building a relationship with not just him, but the players on the roster, the people you're recruiting. Um, he knows philosophically how we recruit, how we operate in terms of on the field, games, practices, um, so that we could just jump right into recruiting. You know, that is the name of this game. I don't, I'm sure I've stressed that enough on this podcast, right? Um, but I needed someone to come in here that I could trust to go out there, recruit at a high level, and I didn't have to babysit. Not saying I was gonna hire someone I had to, um, but I could just, Ryan, go do this.

SPEAKER_05 22:42

Right.

SPEAKER_01 22:42

We're done, right?

SPEAKER_05 22:44

Right.

SPEAKER_01 22:44

Three words, right? And I always say the best coaches can say the least amount of words and get their point across the fastest. So that works with your assistant coaches as well. 100%. So that is a huge, huge asset to what we're doing here.

SPEAKER_03 22:58

That's awesome, coach. I've got one more for you. And so what do you think of competing in the GMAC? Obviously, you talked about it. You've played them before, you know the level of talent that's in this conference. What do you think about the GMAC and and Tiffin University being a part of that?

SPEAKER_01 23:18

Yeah, so it it's no shock. You know, we have a team that didn't win the regular season in the GMAC and played in the national championship last year, right? So it's it's not as if we're coming in here and gonna be the number one team year one. I get that. Um, I think there's more parity at the bottom six in this conference now than people think, just in terms of where everyone is roster size and kind of the talent that everyone has across the board. Um, but I think it'll be it'll be a unique experience for us in the sense that we have more travel than the rest of the conference. Everyone else is playing games basically within two and a half to three hours. You know, we're taking two conference overnight trips next year, right? We're getting on driving to West Virginia, we're gonna drive to West Virginia twice.

SPEAKER_05 24:05

Um, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:07

Unfortunately, fortunately, we're not anymore. Um, but that I think is the part that I am looking forward to the least is that the most important games, everyone wants to play your best across April and May, we're traveling more than anyone else in the conference. And I think that is the biggest con for us at the moment. But I think talent-wise, we're gonna be right there. Um, I think we're gonna be more competitive than your average first-year team was for sure. We got to show it, we got to go out there and prove that to people. But I think in terms of talent, where we're trying to get to what we're trying to do in these first two years, I think, you know, realistically making a GMAC playoff run year two is very, very realistic.

SPEAKER_03 24:46

That's awesome, Coach. That's awesome. We've really enjoyed having you on, hearing about your program, where you started it from and and where you're going. We're excited to watch your team play this next year, and we wish you all the best. Thank you guys for having me. Appreciate the time.

SPEAKER_06 25:02

Yeah, Coach Travis Brown, Tiffany University, brand new in division two. We wish you all the success in the world, Coach. We really do. It's gonna be interesting to watch you guys this year. We'll be talking about you, I'm sure, on the podcast in the future. And uh go get them, kid. Awesome, appreciate it.

SPEAKER_03 25:20

Thank you.

Thomas More

SPEAKER_03 25:22

Okay, Danny, here's our second new school uh joining the GMAC. Uh Thomas More Saints from Kentucky. I love that. So I think it's a new state for us.

SPEAKER_06 25:34

Kentucky Yeah, it is, it is 100% a new state for us.

SPEAKER_03 25:39

This is a really interesting new D2 program. Instead of making the switch from club like CUI or in Dominican, they they weren't established, but they got to play a year in the NAIA last year, mixed it around a little bit with some GMAC teams as well, and now after that one warm-up season, we'll call it season zero, they got a full season zero. Remember, we talked to Tiffin coach, he's like I was in season zero last year, but they actually got to play in their season zero, which is awesome. And now they're transitioning to D2 in the GMAC. Sean McGitis was named the head coach in the summer 2021. He used to be the head coach at Archbishop Muller High School for about eight years. That's a serious program there. So he's trying to bring that now, and they had their first win last year against a GMAC team against Alderson Bronx.

SPEAKER_05 26:31

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:32

So it's pretty exciting. I'm really excited to talk to him. So why don't we just bring him in, Coach Sean McGuinness of Thomas Moore?

SPEAKER_06 26:37

Hey, coach, hey hey, how's everybody doing? Coach Sean McGuinness, the Irishman. I love it. Getting the Irishman on there, I love it. Yeah. At a Catholic university. How's it going, Coach? Thanks so much for coming on the show tonight. We really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02 26:54

Yeah, I appreciate you guys having me and letting me talk a little bit about our program. Uh, it's uh been a uh kind of a whirlwind uh experience for the last uh two years. Um, and uh, you know, we're just looking forward to what we can do as far as a competitive division two program this year.

SPEAKER_03 27:13

Yes, so let's talk about that right off the bat. Going for talk to us about going from the new program, you get hired in, you get to play in the NAIA for a year, but actually you had several D2 teams on the schedule. Talk to us about that whole whole process being hired, getting the program going, get to play a year, and what that was like before we get we jump into playing the GMAC this year.

SPEAKER_02 27:36

Yeah, so um yeah, I coached at at Mollar High School uh in Cincinnati for eight years. Very prideful in the fact that everywhere I've gone, I've left it a little bit better than the way I found it. So, you know, before Mollar, I was up in Columbus as a head coach at two other previous high schools. So, you know, down at Mollar, we kind of turned things around in our fourth year. We won the first ever Ohio High School Athletic Association Division I state title. Um, and about year eight, just kind of felt like, you know, my time was almost done there and kind of was wondering what, you know, where I'm what I'm gonna do next. And um I saw that Thomas More had opened up the you know the the job for the men's program in the spring of 21 and thought about it and called uh Terry Connor, the RAD, and we spoke and I felt really good about it. And um so I kind of went throughout the spring of 21 just kind of figuring out is this is this is the step I want to go. And you know, I I say this in a lot in in my recruiting meetings with with recruits, is you know, um we're a purposeful team here. We really try hard to um find our why and and be purposeful in a lot of things we do. Uh and uh it was Mother's Day of uh 2021. Sometimes I get emotional about this, but it was Mother's Day 2021, and we were going up to Columbus, Ohio to play a team. Um not a fan of being late, and the buses were late, and I was kind of just frustrated and texting my wife, and you know, the kids are goofing off in uh at the uh on the parking lot, and you know, the moms are lacrosse moms are asking where the bus is, and you can hear the bus rolling around the backside of uh of Mollar High School, and it rolls up the charter buses roll up in front of us. The first charter bus on the side of the bus that said Thomas More Athletics. Wow, and I said, I literally text my wife and I said, I'm going to Thomas More. Now I hadn't applied, I haven't interviewed yet, but I felt good about it. But uh, you know, I think all things work out.

SPEAKER_03 29:44

You just can't coach, you're confident, you're confident, you're a confident man.

SPEAKER_02 29:47

Yeah, I felt like that, you know, that was a big enough sign for me to know that there is a purpose for me in, you know, going to and starting this program. And, you know, I've just brought a lot of love of the game and energy, you know, of coaching and mentoring young men. And uh so yeah, we you know, we set off and and brought in 22 guys in the fall of 22. And um, you know, we we kind of limped through our our our season zero. And uh, you know, we felt that since we're gonna go division two and we were, you know, basically uh an independent, we weren't in a NAIA conference. We wanted to, you know, play the the teams we felt that we really have to compete against in in the GMAC, you know. And so we we loaded up with you know A B and uh DE and Um and Malone and Walsh. And our guys really focused during those weeks uh against those teams because they really wanted to compete. And you know, I don't think like like the Davson Elkins score, I don't think it's in you know indicative of what we did there. You know, their goalie saved the ball like 20 sometimes. I mean, we the next week we were ranked number like three in the country in NAI and shots on goals. I'm like, fall is this is this is great. This is you know, we're getting the ball on the goal. Let's put the ball in the back of the goal now, you know. And and I think they realized too, they walked away, and that's like our third game ever, right? Yeah, they walked away like, man, I think middle of the season, they're like, if we played David Snelkins middle of the season, the score would have been different, you know. And Malone, you know, we were winning and we just lost Steam and we had 13 guys on the sideline, you know, because of some injuries and and other other factors. We played with a very short bench. But, you know, the proudest thing for me starting a program is every game we played, the players, their fans, they just had great, you know, response to the way we competed. They they were just they were very shocked that you know we never stopped playing the game. And that was the best thing we could have done last year. So um, you know, so you know, we learned a little bit of playing the college, you know, lacrosse level. And um, you know, I think the guys that came back and myself, you know, all learned a little bit about ourselves and and we're ready to do it, uh, do it again this year and be competitive in the GMAC.

SPEAKER_06 32:11

Now you said you had 22 on the roster. Did you bring more in this year?

SPEAKER_02 32:15

We did. So we brought about uh 14. We just picked up a few few guys too. So we now have 26 guys on the roster. Um so I feel like it's a good number for our second year. It's gonna allow us to do things in practice. Um, and you know, I think you know, we're gonna be, you know, really competitive. You know, where where we where we lack some talent, we really make up in athleticism. And I think, you know, division two, I think that's kind of a big thing, right? Like, you know, you're really getting athletic lacrosse players in division two, you know. Um, you're getting really skilled athletes and you're getting really good athletes who can play the game. So I think if we can find that balance of both of those, you know, characteristics and recruits, it we're gonna be, you know, I think we're gonna be very competitive.

SPEAKER_03 33:06

Yeah. So talk to us a little bit about Thomas More. Is it right across the river from Cincinnati?

SPEAKER_02 33:12

Yeah, I mean, we are in northern Kentucky. We're we are in Kentucky, um, but we're not down in the hollers of Kentucky. We're just right over the river of Cincinnati. Um, we have a big city right in our backyard. Um, so you know, uh it's nice that our guys can get out and and and experience a big city atmosphere. You know, we're not, you know, kind of out far away, you know, where it takes you know time to get to. Um, you know, for the East Coast guys, you know, we actually have uh a couple guys um that are we got a face-off guy from um from Southern California, um and some other guys that are from long distances. So I mean one big factor for them was that our airport, the regional airport, is 10 minutes from campus. So you can get off the plane and in your dorm in 10 minutes compared to getting off the plane and driving an hour or two to your campus. So but we sit just outside of just sit right outside of Cincinnati. Um we sit in a nice kind of middle-class suburb, you know, and we're we've been around for a hundred years. We celebrated our 100th anniversary two years ago in September. And we just have a dynamic president right now and dynamic leadership inside our university that is pushing this program, you know, in into division two and into you know higher levels when it comes to you know, basically higher education. I mean, we want to be a top 50 regional university, uh, you know, next three to five years. So, you know, we're building a brand new academic building that's gonna house you know, our business college and some other colleges. Um, you know, we we just uh acquired uh like a tennis uh health fitness club that sits on our property. I mean, it's a massive building and it's now a rec center for the kids. Um we we took over uh our baseball program and softball program, we have new stadiums. Or actually, our baseball team plays in a minor league stadium. Um the Florence Y'all. So uh it's a good time. I mean, it's a really good time to be at Thomas More. Um, you know, we we're about 1,500 kids on campus, and uh our president wants our student body on campus to grow to about 2,000 students in the next couple years. So a lot of things going on, and uh, you know, it's a good time. Wow, sounds great.

SPEAKER_03 35:26

Yeah, so we were talking about this uh before we started the podcast and recording, coach, and we're recording this beginning of September. I don't even know what day it is, September 5th or 6th or something like that. But um, and obviously what we're seeing on what I'm seeing on social media and other things are you know the D1 commits that got the calls on September 1st. And you and I were kind of talking about how you know when you kind of engage. I don't really want to talk about the process of recruiting and when you're talking to the class of 2025. I want to ask you what kind of player do you want at Thomas More?

SPEAKER_02 36:03

You know, for me, um uh a big part of uh my success as a coach is is building um you know a culture, building something that is obtainable, you know, by those who who really want to be a part of it. Um it's a living, breathing thing. My wife jokes around that she's never heard the word culture so much in her life in the past six years since we've been together. So um, but you know, it's it really is. It really is what it's really the glue that holds everything together. So, you know, for us, you know, our motto is is learn, lead and serve. You know, so we really are looking for you know, student, you know, student athletes. We're looking for guys that are serious about the academics, want to come in and you know, uh graduate in four years. We have a great four plus one MBA program. So you know, students that are looking in the business can do you know five years and walk out with an undergrad and an MBA in five years. I mean, we do we do like biology medicine really well, we do nursing, you know, we do exercise science. So we want the guys that are really seeing the 40-year payoff at a small university. And then, you know, we're looking for guys that are leaders, you know, we're looking for guys that you know are the outspoken leader and can be out in front of everyone. We're looking for you know the glue guy that can be the locker room leader, you know, we're looking for the servant leader, um, and then service uh or or serve, you know, learn, lead and serve. So serve, you know, it's part of our Catholic mission. You know, we we try to, you know, teach our players that you're here on earth to serve others. So, you know, we're looking for guys that have that servant leadership mindset, and it starts with serving your teammates and then you know it broadens out to the campus community and then to the larger Northern Kentucky Cincinnati community. And we think that if we find those guys, then they become great alumni for the program and great alumni for the university. So, you know, that's that's kind of who who we're looking for. It's it's funny we talk about this because you know, you do you I'm a very competitive person, and you see people signing other guys and you see the commitments, and we just landed this huge guy, and and you it get it ruffles your feathers a little bit, right? It gets you a little fire, right? Sure.

SPEAKER_03 38:18

I love that coach that it ruffles your feathers. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 38:21

And I I kind of like I have to take a deep breath and say, I'm gonna recruit to our culture. You know, if if I get eight guys versus fourteen, or if I get eight guys versus twelve guys, but the eight guys are really bought into what you know we've told them we're all about, I'll take that any day, you know. So um, we're just looking for you know the guys that really see the vision of being legacy builders, you know, being those those three or four, those first three, four classes, you know, um that literally build the foundation of the program. And something I I also talk about in recruits is, you know, as a young coach, getting back into things, you know, in uh like the early 2000s, I mean, all the way up, you know, till I mean, even a couple years, probably my first four or five years at Mollar, I'd always go out to um Notre Dame and do Coach Corrigan's camp, whether I was a counselor or take a team out there for team camp. And you know, I I've known a couple guys that have played there. We've had one of their guys who graduated, um, Kevin Randall, coach for us at Mollar for a year. And I use this in the recruiting and I use it more for us now. It's like when they won the national championship, it was not just the guys on that field that day, it was the what 30 classes before them that built up to that moment. And so for us, we're looking for guys that want to roll up their sleeves and be a part of a legacy.

SPEAKER_03 39:55

It's awesome, it's awesome. Yeah, yeah, that coach, we've talked to a few other coaches starting their programs that it's the same thing, and it's not an easy thing to do because not every player, I'll tell you, my son wasn't one of those players that wanted to start a program, and that was mainly because of where they his high school program wasn't new, but he wanted to he he just what didn't have that mindset. He just didn't want he couldn't see the vision of that for, and I don't think that's a bad thing, but you got to find the people that are willing to do that. It's just a different mindset, and it's a great mindset to have to have that ability to say, I am going to leave my mark for the next 30-40 years, yeah. And it may not, we may not win a natty, just like Notre Dame until 30, 40 years. But when it comes, my you're part of it, right, you know, is stamped right there in that program. Yeah, it's the building the building blocks, you know. It's the building blocks. It's like you said, you get eight versus twelve. Well, okay, now you don't have as much depth from a body standpoint, but now you've got eight guys that are gonna buy into the culture that may, you know, that's a that could be addition by subtraction.

SPEAKER_02 41:04

Yeah, I mean, I got eight character guys that like what we're saying before we got started. I got eight guys that I know are gonna be there if we have a set well, Dan, like you were mentioned, morning practices. Like I got guys coming at I mean, this morning we started at 7 a.m. Um last year, 750, 650, 65, you know, right, right. Every single one of them by 645 were dressed, ready to go, and doing dynamic warm-up. And that's leadership. If we get guys that do that, we're good. Yeah, right, because we'll get more and we'll get the talent, you know. It's it's just I think in this day and age when everything everybody wants everything so fast and competitive and win-win-win, right? You know, I think I've started to look at the mindset of I'm not building a team, I'm building a program. And you can't build a program overnight, you have to weather a lot of storms, you know, and you know, takes time, it just takes time, and and we're gonna do it with character guys.

SPEAKER_06 42:07

I love that. Sounds it sounds like you're on your way, and you know, and you're gonna be in the GMAC. Yeah. Mercy Hearst and Seton Hurst.

SPEAKER_02 42:16

Yeah, I mean, now Trey, Coach Trey, Trey's up there. So, you know, I texted him, like, this is awesome. I I know, you know, know Coach Ryan from my my twin brother and and uh some other and Rob Cross and some other guys, and you know, I was looking forward to competing against him, and you know, you got Seton Hill, but you know, this I mean this is this is our you know, my president the first time I talked to him said kind of like what I think you're alluding to. It's like, hey, you got Mercy Hearst, you got a two-headed monster of Mercy Hearst and Seton Hill. After that, it's wide open. I mean, we have the president of the university telling me that in my interview, and like, okay, it's like, all right, I may, I yeah, you know, this guy's got and he, you know, it's nice. He's a former, you know, I think Division I uh uh baseball player, you know, and I think he's right. And I think we all know that. I think everyone outside of those two teams, I think we all know that if we get the right group of guys, it is kind of wide open for that third, fourth, you know, spot, fifth, sixth, depending on how they I think this year they're going to lengthen the the conference tournament to six teams. I'm not sure yet. But um, yeah, I mean I think it's it's wide open. So, you know, our goal is to be the top four team, you know, every year. Our goal is to make the conference tournament every year. And little by little we keep nipping at those heels. Yeah, you know, we'll get there. You know, we'll we'll you know, we'll we'll get there. And the guys, it's just more it's just being more consistent about winning in the latter part of the spring and into the playoffs is what gets you over the hump. So we're excited.

SPEAKER_06 43:50

Yeah, so we're excited for you, man. Yeah, it's it's a really cool thing to start a program, I think. I think it'd be really cool, you know. Uh yeah, I could see my I coached football for many years and um Moeller was quite the football school. They sent a couple of guys to the NFL, if I'm not mistaken.

SPEAKER_02 44:08

Yeah, there's a local guy that everyone knows that played a little lacrosse and played a little football, Sam Hubbard. Yeah. You know, and I tried really hard. My first year was his senior year, and man, probably all the way up until about January. And he kind of knew in the back of your head he's not playing in the spring. You know, he committed to Ohio State. He's not gonna play. And some of his best buddies are like, he's gonna play. I'm like, he's not gonna play. And he's like coach, he's like, I'm not playing. He's like, I gotta work out like seven days a week. And I'm like, Sam, just come out and watch our games and cheer on your buddies, you know. You know, coming from you know, uh a high school that is very athletic driven, you know, in football, basketball, baseball, and and you know, we kind of carved ourselves a little niche in lacrosse there for a while. And I think being around a lot of successful programs, you get to learn from a lot of successful coaches. So, you know, it it it it was fun to take all of that and then you know put it all into what we're doing now.

SPEAKER_06 45:10

Interesting stuff.

SPEAKER_03 45:11

Yeah, that's awesome, coach. And I'll tell you what, it has been fantastic having you on and learning about Thomas Moore and and where you have brought the program in from season zero to starting season one with the with your players, and we're excited to have you in the GMAC and and see what you can do against all the teams and and watch you even against the big boys with Mercy Hearst and Seton Hill. It'll be fun, you know?

SPEAKER_02 45:33

Yeah, yeah. So we uh we're looking forward to it. We got a good non-conference as well. We got Lewis on the schedule, uh we got Davenport going down south. We're gonna play Montebello and uh so I think we've got a good mix of that's great between the T Mac and and out of conference. I think we've got a nice little schedule that that uh will test us a little bit.

SPEAKER_06 45:55

So that's great, and and sharpen the irons, you know. You sharpen the irons a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 46:01

That's it. That's all you can do for it.

SPEAKER_06 46:03

And you know what? And by the end of the third year, fourth year, these kids are gonna be juniors and seniors, and they're gonna be pretty well tested. They'll be seasoned veterans. Yeah, now you now you add to that mix, you know, you you go out the next class, you recruit, you go out, you go get some good players, and and you'll just see you're gonna see how fast it'll grow. It'll grow quite a bit.

SPEAKER_02 46:25

Yeah, and that that's that's what we're hoping for.

SPEAKER_06 46:28

So all right, Coach Sean McGuinness, Thomas More Saints, first year in Division II. Thank you so much for coming on, and we wish you the best of luck this season.

SPEAKER_02 46:38

I appreciate it, guys. Thank you.

Virginia State

SPEAKER_03 46:41

All right, Danny. Third team on the docket, third brand new program, the Virginia State Trojans. I'm really excited to talk to this head coach. Why? Not only because of his background, the coach is Sean Church. He was named the head coach, first ever head coach, once again, August 29th, 2022. He was the head coach at Monroe Community for five years, and every year they were in the top ten of the NJCAA. That's no joke. No, no, it's not. And then guess where he played? Where Onondaga and Salisbury.

SPEAKER_06 47:20

Oh boy.

SPEAKER_03 47:21

So do you think he's got a little championship pedigree that he's bringing with him?

SPEAKER_06 47:25

I think the man knows how to play.

SPEAKER_03 47:28

I think he knows how to play. But the other thing that I love about this is he's embarking on bringing on another HBCU to Division Two, which I think is awesome. Love it. So let's let's just bring him in. Coach Church, how are you, man?

SPEAKER_00 47:47

I'm doing well. How are you gentlemen doing tonight?

SPEAKER_06 47:49

Coach Sean Church, Virginia State Trojans. Here we are, division two. How are you feeling tonight, Coach?

SPEAKER_00 47:56

Very, very excited. Um, finally got the guys here. We got 45 guys on campus.

SPEAKER_06 48:02

Wow, wow, 40 nice. All right. Wasting no time.

SPEAKER_00 48:09

So we got 45 guys on campus. That was um exciting to get them all on campus, get them all situated. We're you know just finishing up the little paperwork as far as like physicals and making sure everybody's um lined up with that. Um, we got our first strength test and wall ball tests on Sunday, um, get everybody's numbers, and then we'll have our first um ever practice on Monday morning.

SPEAKER_06 48:34

Wow, awesome, off and running.

SPEAKER_00 48:36

Tell us about it.

SPEAKER_03 48:37

Yeah, tell us about the 45. Are they all freshmen or do you have a mix?

SPEAKER_00 48:42

So we have 30 freshmen. Um, I have six young men who were here with me at Virginia State last year, who were already at Virginia State, who I kind of did a sixes exhibition type of team.

SPEAKER_03 48:53

Yeah, yeah, I want to talk about that.

SPEAKER_00 48:55

That is awesome. So it allowed me to kind of really get my hands on that group of it was eight of them to unfortunately didn't really do what they were needed to do to be back this year, but six of them knocked it out of the park, got the GPAs over to 3.2 that I wanted my team to stay at. Um, and they bought into everything I did from workouts to you know the speed and agility sessions to finally we were able to get on the field in the spring and get you know our grass filled painted and get everything set up. We finally got some nets that came in, some of the helmets and gear came in. Um I have some great friends who are at HBCUs who are unfortunately right now just at the club level or the NCLA, they're playing in that. And um, I was able to craft and use my brain and you know, get these guys three events in the spring and um allow them to, you know, get their skills to where I knew where these guys who are recruiting were going to be coming in as freshmen. Um, and then we were able to bring in four or five um transfers who were just at other Division II or Division I programs who really um weren't liking their situation. So we're rather young, yes, because the transfers were sophomores, but um it's genuinely how I wanted to start um this team. I wanted to be a young team who I can get my hands on and just um give them game, as we would say where I am, give them knowledge, just let them be sponges and give them everything and anything that I've learned in the last um 20 years being around lacrosse as a player and last 15 years of being a coach. So yeah, we're in a good spot, I would say. We just gotta mature a little bit. We gotta mature now, coach.

SPEAKER_06 50:24

Where'd you where'd you grow up? Where'd you start playing lacrosse?

SPEAKER_00 50:27

So I'm originally from Southside. Uh I tell people this joke the only person y'all probably know from Southside Jamaica Queens is 50 Cent or L O K. I'm in I'm in Long Island, I know where Southside is. There you go. I'm from the Southside. I moved to Long Island and um middle school, sixth grade, Union area to be exact. Okay. Started learning in sixth grade. Um, courtesy of the Union Free School District, who we combined with Turtle Hook and Lawrence Row, they combined to make the Uniondale middle school team.

SPEAKER_06 50:57

So right, right, right.

SPEAKER_00 50:59

Yeah, then went to Uniondale, played two years there. So I was really good. Um, and my mom moved my family to Hicksville, and that's where I finished my career up. So I really, for my last two years of high school, I really got to see what lacrosse is all about. You know, Friday is Farmadale is different than that some of them other games I was doing.

SPEAKER_06 51:21

Uniondale versus Malvern or something like that. Yeah, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_00 51:24

That wasn't uh Hicksville versus uh Siaset or Hicksville versus Cold Spring Harbor, you know.

SPEAKER_06 51:30

Um so you so you have that Long Island lacrosse pedigree, all right? So you originally a Long Islander, and you went to Onondaga where you know you could have gone to Nassau.

SPEAKER_00 51:41

I wanted to get away. I wanted to get away, and what Onondaga was doing was nice. Um, yeah, my mentor has a very good relationship with Coach Wilbur, and I was actually looking at Herkimer with Coach Bernard. I had a better relationship with Coach Bernard and Coach Worm. Um, they both had left entering my senior year, and I started building a relationship with Coach Wilbur, and it just made sense after a while. Um, I just kind of wanted to do something different. Everybody else was going to Nassau. I had the opportunity to be the first Long Islander to go up there because they clearly didn't need a Long Islander up there. They were, you know. Yeah, yeah. Coach Wilbur obviously saw something better in me and deeper in me, and he gave me an opportunity, and I'm glad he did that.

SPEAKER_06 52:23

So now you got that Long Island pedigree and you're bringing it to Virginia State. What kind of players are you bringing in that, like culture-wise, building that culture at Virginia State?

SPEAKER_00 52:33

First thing we looked at was GPAs, honestly. Um, every kid on this team is hands down above a 3.0. A lot of them got our merit-based provost of presidential scholarship, and then a lot of them were able to bring in um more money with the engineering major that we have, our agriculture major, and our business major, which gives kids um money. So with me learning my school fast, I saw I can get a lot of my kids good money who are more highly academic savvy. But being in JUCO, you see very fast. Yeah, teams are harder sometimes when the kids are struggling in the academic side, you know. And I say that humbly because I have guys who really academic wasn't their hard parts. Knowing that, I have some guys who want to be very IQ smart, you know, with me being able to teach them and then being able to apply what it is I'm teaching them. They already proved they can do that with their high grade. So um, we got guys who are really good lacrosse players, but I'm more excited about how smart this team is and the things we're gonna be able to do with how smart they are.

SPEAKER_03 53:33

That's phenomenal. It is. So just take a second, you started talking about the different schools. Tell us about Virginia State University.

SPEAKER_00 53:41

It's amazing. The land of Troy, as we call it. Um, we're on 250 acres of land, so it's a rather big campus. A lot of people um are very taken back when they come on our campus. Um, but we're we're we're we're fast growing. We just bought in our biggest freshman class, 18,000 kids. Um, yeah. Um, we just started men's.

SPEAKER_03 54:00

Is that 18,000 or 1800?

SPEAKER_00 54:01

1800, sorry, 1800 kids. We just bought 1800 kids. I apologize. Um, we bought in 1800 kids, but for that, that was our biggest class ever. Um it's just a lot of excitement when you bring in just a lot of fresh blood, not even with just the athletics. You just have a lot of new, excited, and energetic kids just on the campus. But um, it's a beautiful campus. We've been around since 1882. They have amazing programs um for these kids, like I said, who can get um academic money that makes things very easier for them. We're working on the Virginia area now because they're in-state for us, which is pushing a lot lower. So um, my in-state recruiting list is a lot heavier, Virginia, because now I know Virginia, I've gotten those connections in Virginia being here for a year. Um, but to start this team, I knew I needed to bring kids who were maybe more not from Virginia to get this thing started, but it's a lovely place. We got a brand new Jumbotron, the biggest in the South, I'm hearing, that we just put up. We got a brand new turffield. Um, like I said, the the starting up of the women's side, the starting up of women's soccer, which is already here. We just hired our men's soccer coach. So you have four new sports that are at um this institution. Um, and I'm looking forward to a brand new locker room, a brand new field for us and all the new sports. Um, we're looking at new dorms that are being built. Um, we have a new academic commerce building that's being built. That's gonna have a pool, a bowling alley, a movie theater. Um changs. Let's go, Danny. It's like we're we're just gonna be since the since I came here August 22nd last year, the campus I'm looking at this year, total 360. It's it's it's remarkable, honestly.

SPEAKER_06 55:35

Um that's great. That's great, that's great. I love the fact that you know you're giving those kids money and they're doing well in school. I think that's really important. Even more important than the lacrosse, it's always about the books, you know. And I always told my kids, I have I had three boys and all three play division two. Two have gone and one is still playing. And uh I told them it's all about the books, man. I don't give a crap how good your stick is. It's if you can't get in, you know, what's the what's the sense, you know? If the school can't uh if you if you can't get into school, like for example, my middle son was pretty decent. Got looks at from like all three divisions. There were schools that he clearly couldn't get into that that wanted him, like Richmond wanted him. The coach was like, I'm like coach, he he doesn't he doesn't have it. He doesn't have the GPA. Oh, when he gets to be a three five, let me know. I was like, that ain't happening, coach, you know. So that's important.

SPEAKER_00 56:32

Sorry, for us, we um like just to finish our brand statement, just so you guys know with these kids, um, you know, we're the classy gentleman. That's something I picked up from a gentleman in Rochester, um, Terry Katz, who's a part of uh the Pittsford Lacrosse um family. And he he was a guy I was close with with Sweetlax, which is a heavy hitter travel team, which was something I was very um known for in upstream. More than just being a coach at Monroe, I was a part of Sweetlax, a travel team. And I trained all the kids from the seniors down to the kids starting out in kindergarten. And um I was able to really just develop a lot of important relationships in Rochester. Terry Getz being one, and he always told me classy gentleman. People always remember a classy gentleman. And I've taken that approach to the next step here with talking to my guys, how I want my team to reflect Black Wall Street. You know, I want people when they see us to know we're gonna be the guys that are gonna be changing the world in the next four to five to ten years because when you come here, I'm gonna equip you to want to change this world. So I think deeper than lacrosse, yeah, my message is we're Black Wall Street. We're not here to just play lacrosse, we're here to be the classy gentleman, and when we got to go to war, we'll be the Trojans and protect the land of Troy.

SPEAKER_06 57:38

That's excellent. Excellent. I love it.

SPEAKER_03 57:40

So that leads me right into what I wanted to ask you. We kind of touched on it. What does it mean to you to be able to add an HBCU to Division II lacrosse?

SPEAKER_00 57:49

It means everything is what everything I've been doing since I picked up a lacrosse stick. It it all it all paid off, in my honest opinion. I know I probably have a couple more opportunities that are gonna come um in my young career. I'm only 34 years old. So um I hope I can be like Berkman and I found my home and I can just stay and you know, I can build like the two men who gave me opportunities, my mentors. They stayed for very long times where they were. They won championships there. Clearly, Coach Berkman is still going for it, yeah, where he is. Um, but it means everything. You know, I kind of, as an African-American man, you try to find your way, you try to find institutes, you try to find universities or colleges that may um give you a chance. Do I think sometimes maybe I got slid on interviews? Maybe. Do I think it was the color of my skin? No. Maybe experience or um maybe I was just in JUCO, they didn't believe in me. I wasn't at a D2 or a D1 or D3. Um, but when Virginia State came up, my whole family knew like, yeah, this is your job. Like everybody, my mother to my aunts and my grandparents, to mentors, and I almost didn't even apply for it. I was like, I think I'm done with coaching. I'm tired, I want to go do something else. And my mother was just like, Boy, if you don't go do that application and go take that job that's yours with all this work you did. Um, so no, it's it's it's it's a very good moment for myself, but more importantly, it's a very good moment for my um my mom, my dad, my family, and me as a new dad of two, Carter and Cameron. Um my sons moment for my sons, you know. Um, I want them to be lacrosse players, and your dad is a guy who is gonna be able to really protect them and make some things happen for them in the lacrosse world.

SPEAKER_03 59:27

Well, I want to I want to be in the interview room when you're interviewing your sons and whether or not they make the Virginia State University team. If they can cut it, that's what I want to see. Well, they're more flexible at two, anyway. I can't even get my arm around my back anymore. So I have to ask you this. One oh, go ahead, Danny.

SPEAKER_06 59:50

I was wondering now, who are you playing? Are you in a conference?

SPEAKER_00 59:55

So we're indie, but we have a full division two um schedule slotted for us in the spring. So no NAIAs, no D3s, nothing like that. We got a 12-game D2 schedule slated. We have teams like Quataba, Wellin. Um, UDC will be our actual first game at home. That's right. Well, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:12

When is that, Coach? When is that game?

SPEAKER_00 1:00:14

February 3rd. Saturday. Okay, we got a chance.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:16

I'm putting that one on my calendar. I'm gonna try to make that game.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:20

But we have very quality opponents like um, I think some of our hardest competition would be like a Lincoln Memorial, um, who's down in Tennessee. Uh a post, who just had Coach Jez, who did a very nice job for the last two years building that program up. We have teams like Felician and Dominican, who very good coaches there. They've been running those programs for a while, building it up. Um, St. Thomas Aquinas, uh, Shawan, who was one of the first programs that reached out to us to try to get a game because they used to be HBCU. They used to name them as an HBCU. They were in the CIAA for football, a lot of other sports. So um, no, we have full D2 schedule. We'll be at 12 games um as we grow this money out so we can get to a full 15 by next year, and hopefully, even um joining a conference. We've talked to a couple conferences, one in particular has a lot of interest in us. Um, we really like their pitch. We're gonna kind of wait to say who it was, but they know who they are if they watch this, and very appreciative of them reaching out to us and expressing how much they would love for Virginia State to be in the conference. And for me, I hope it is the conference that we do join. I think we would be a very good fit for that conference.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:27

It's awesome. It's awesome. I mean, you're on your way, coach, and uh again, you're bringing that Long Island pedigree, which is huge in the game of lacrosse, and you're bringing it to these kids. But I think the game against when you play UDC, that may be the first inter HBC uh Division II lacrosse match.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:49

Yes, it will. Yeah, it'll be historic. Historic. I've got to go to that game. I've got to go. I don't know where I'm gonna be, but February 3rd, I want to be at that game. I think it'll just be yeah, I think it'll be exciting. I hope the crowds come out for it. I hope the UDC fans come down and Virginia State comes out and sees what what lacrosse is really about. That'd be that's gonna be exciting.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:13

And the coach over there is a very good friend of mine, Matthew Merritt, who's just named the head coach, brand new. Um, somebody I've known, um, somebody I played pro-Lacrosse with in the NLA, um, somebody I watched in his Team Jamaica journey. I helped with that start of that whole program years, years ago when he was one of the original guys who um we named on the team and he was named a captain, and he's been a part of that. So for him, I'm very excited for him that you know a head coach, he has his first ever position. He's put a lot of time just in UDC. He went to UDC.

SPEAKER_07 1:02:41

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:42

So I couldn't be more excited to share a moment with a good friend, a brother, um, win, lose, draw. Like, I'll be like, it's just gonna be an amazing moment for but both of us, something we'll remember forever.

SPEAKER_06 1:02:53

Oh, that's that's gonna be an amazing thing. We'll definitely feature that game for sure. Maybe we'll get you both on the week before that game.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:01

That's a good idea. That'd be good.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:04

We'll talk about the historic, you know, and how what everything that's involved in that game. That's gonna be an amazing game. Coach, you've been great tonight. I really appreciate you coming on and talking about Virginia State and everything you got going on there. And you know, I gotta get you guys one of these.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:21

I gotta get that's what I need. I need a dress after this. Email me your dress. We gotta get you guys laced off.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:28

I'll wear it all the time, man.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:29

I'm telling you right now. That that is sweet. I gotta admit, that is sweet.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:35

Yeah, coach. Thanks so much for coming on. It's great having you on.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:38

Thank you. And I hope to see you guys down um in Virginia State. Even if you guys want to show, come up down for a tour, some lunch. Um, I can ride you guys around the golf court, show you everything we got going on.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:49

But um, that's the VIP tour there, Danny. If we get the golf cart.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:54

Yes, it is, but you got amazing guys. You guys are gonna um you guys are gonna see that very soon. I think you're gonna have more than one or two up on your show to really talk about who they are, where they're from, and um the things that they're gonna be bringing to the greater, as we say again at Virginia State.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:09

Oh, that's great, coach. I really love your enthusiasm and the way you're going about this. I think it's I think Virginia State's in really good hands with Coach Sean Church.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:19

What do you think, Kev? I'm 100% behind you. I I can't wait to see where they go. I you know, as we always say, and you know, coach, right? It you don't build it in one day, it takes time. The the fact that you have 45 guys ready to go to battle uh as Trojans the first year is a testament to what you've already built. And now it's just gonna take seasoning. And and you guys will get there. It'll be it's gonna be fun to watch.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:43

And I'll tell you this: I have an amazing and I have to do this because it's a podcast and it's gonna be out. I have amazing parents. I have amazing parents. They understand my mission, they understand their kids are still very young. Um, they all gave me the green light. Hey, no, you call me, you text me, you let me know at any time if they're forgetting who they are, where they came from. And um, you know, they're right on board with everything I'm doing. So, no, I gotta give a big shout out to my parents for the first three weeks for them to have on my back. They're really my um my 45-man coaching staff. You know, that's right.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:16

I was gonna say they're part of the staff.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:17

Yes, they are. They have my back, and I appreciate them and I love them very, very much already.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:22

Awesome, coach. Really. Well, we wish you the best of luck, and uh I like I said, Virginia State's in good hands with Coach Sean Church.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:30

Thank you so much, Long Island.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:32

Yes, Long Island, baby.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:34

Thanks so much for coming on the show. Yes, sir. Thank you, gentlemen. Have a good night.

Final Thoughts

SPEAKER_03 1:05:39

All right, Danny. That was so much fun with Coach Church of Virginia State. The last program that's new that's coming on that we knew about even last year is the Holy Family Dragons joining the CACC. Another brand new program. We were hoping to get the coach on, and we had had Had it set up for the assistant coach, uh Coach Catani to come on. But I don't know if you remember the whole story here. So Daniel Keating was named as the new head coach in September of 2022, but he stepped down this past summer to take a head job at Don Bosco Prep. So they were looking for new, yeah, looking for a new head coach. Coach Catani as the assistant was willing to come on. But since then, since we actually set it up, Coach Noah Morris was named the new head coach this September. He had 11 seasons and assistant coach at Stockton. So he comes with a lot of coaching background. I talked to Coach Morris just over the via email. And to be honest, he just got in there. He's trying to get his feet on the ground and with the program and get it going. You know, it's a it's a turnover in the middle of fall ball, basically, trying to get himself as head coach. So we hope to get him on later, maybe during the season uh on the podcast, which would be great. But he could not make it on this time around.

SPEAKER_06 1:07:02

He's a busy man, he just got thrown right in there. So he's got to get going. So we'll get him on.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:07

We'll get him on if he's got time. 100%, 100%. But that Danny, you know, so we we had Coach Church. We also had great conversations with uh Coach McGuinness of Thomas More and Coachman Tiffen. The coach McGuinness is yeah, so two new programs in the GMAC, and then Virginia State, as we remember, is just uh is independent this year, but another HBCU. So that was exciting to see. And I'm I'll be there February 3rd. I guarantee I'll be there to watch UDC against Virginia State.

SPEAKER_06 1:07:43

Well, that's gonna be a historic match, Kevin. That's gonna be historical. Yeah, and that's something that everybody in this country needs to know. That we have two black colleges playing each other in Division II for the first time ever. So that's that's special in itself. And you know what? If I can get down there, maybe I'll come down there too. That would be awesome. That would be awesome. Because that's gonna be that's a historical game, and I think it's really, really, really amazing.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:16

Yeah, and it goes beyond, you know, just saying the word important. I think it it it transcends so many things, and and and it's it's just gonna be a phenomenal thing to watch. And to watch these that team, Virginia State, and then we're gonna have UDC on on another podcast with Coach Coach Merritt. I mean, I think it's gonna be great to watch those those two teams and see where they go over the next few years.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:39

Oh, yeah, absolutely. I'm looking forward to it. I I really like Coach Church. He's got a great enthusiasm, a great energy. And uh let's see what they can do in Virginia State. It's it should be interesting.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:52

Yeah, and let's not forget the Thomas Moore and Tiffin both going into the GMAC, building that that conference. It's gonna be fun to watch all the way around, Danny. It's growing, it's growing. D2 is growing. Yep. So with that, Danny, that is our last episode with the new programs. And next week we start hitting the head coaching change and established programs.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:16

Yeah, man. It's been fun. Wow, it's been a whirlwind, though, Kevin. And you, my prolific podcast producing partner, have done a fantastic job in getting this all together. You're just amazing.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:30

Danny, I've got note pages that turn into spreadsheets that turn into like I look at it every other day, like, what did I just say? Well, who's doing what? And you're good, man. You got it together. I'm very impressed, my friend. I love it. I love it. Well, for that, Danny, that ends it for today. That's a wrap.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:47

This is a good look, Go. That's a wrap.