DII Lacrosse Coaching Changes of 2023 (Part 5)

Intro

SPEAKER_03 0:10

Welcome, welcome, welcome to another episode of In the Crease with Danny and Kevin, a coast-to-coast discussion of D Two Men's Lacrosse. I'm your co-host, Kevin Stentram, and with me as always is that man of mystery, Danny Moran. Hey Danny.

SPEAKER_02 0:26

The man of mystery? Alright, Kevin. I'm intrigued. I know I I need to know where you're gonna go with this one tonight.

SPEAKER_03 0:33

Okay, so well let's just start right off. This is the last in our series, and we circle back to where our D2 to D1 coaches episode started. We also have something about the uh a mini live, I'm calling the mini whipple ripple this year.

Mercyhurst

SPEAKER_03 0:49

But first up is another man of mystery, at least in the D2 ranks, Danny. He is not a man of mystery though in the lacrosse community, and that's Coach Trey Keely. As you remember, in our D2 and D1 ones to begin with, Coach Ryan moved on to Mount St. Mary's and took with him Coach O'Hagan. Those are tough shoes to fill. But in comes Coach Keighley, and he comes with some significant coaching experience, Danny. Have you have you seen what he's where he's been?

SPEAKER_02 1:22

Tell me, Kevin.

SPEAKER_03 1:24

He just came from being assistant at Cleveland State. He was at Frostburg State, but they were D3 back then. Right. He's coached at Ohio Wesleyan and he was the head coach at Baldwin Wallace, where he compiled a record of 42 and 14 with two OAC championship appearances.

SPEAKER_02 1:45

That's pretty badass right there, sorry.

SPEAKER_03 1:47

Yeah. He's he's got some pedigree that he's bringing to Mercyhurst to fill those shoes. So why don't we just welcome him in? Coach Trey Keeley, new head coach at Mercyhurst. Hey Coach.

SPEAKER_00 1:58

Kevin, Danny, thanks for having me. Uh it's uh excited to be on. I I I'm a big Austin Powers fan, so I'll go by the International Man of Mystery if we can. There we go. I love it.

SPEAKER_03 2:07

That's how we separate you from me, younger.

SPEAKER_02 2:13

Well, Coach, thanks so much for coming on the show tonight. We really appreciate it. Mercy Hearst Lakers, man. One of the best teams in the country, year in and year out. What Coach Ryan did there is nothing short of amazing. And now you take this program over. How does it feel?

SPEAKER_00 2:33

You know, I'm I'm definitely blessed to to uh be welcomed into the family there at Mercy Hurst, the the community, the coaches, staffs, the uh, you know, just outside the lacrosse bringer at the at the university have been fantastic. And and within the program, there's there's a uh there's a lot of pride that I've had in uh in being a part of it. The alumni have been incredible. Um I got to know Coach Ryan really well the last couple years and and scrimmage and his team multiple times in a couple of my stops. Um always uh he was always a very uh uh what's the right word to describe Coach Ryan? There's probably a lot of a lot of them, but just a lot of a lot of energy, a lot of fun to go against. His teams always gave you great runs. Um and so I I was uh connecting with him about the opportunity, and um, I'll tell you he sold me on it as well. Um I know there's from the outside looking in, there was there was a lot uh to to like. And um just after a few conversations with him and you know, sort of he spent uh you know most of his adult life raised family in Erie, and so that was a big thing for me. Is I got two young daughters and trying to uh figure out a place uh to really dig my feet and and and uh set up shop and and uh help build something. So uh Mercy Urse has been great to me so far, and the team's been great. So yeah, it's been it's been a good uh a little over a month now that I've I've been um uh at work on campus.

SPEAKER_03 3:56

Well that that's awesome, Coach. It's funny Danny and I love Coach Ryan. We've had him on several times. In fact, we're we're toying with the idea of having him come on as a as a guest when we're going into the conference in the NCAA conference uh tournament time. Uh he's given us some ideas that I don't know if we can go with, but they would be hilarious if we can pull them off. But this is what I read that Coach Ryan said about you. Trey is a home run hire for the university and men's lacrosse program. He is going to bring energy and fresh ideas to the program. And I read when I read that, I think that the last part is really the key bringing fresh ideas and energy to the program. We know Coach Ryan had energy, but what do you think about that when you hear that and and bringing in fresh ideas and energy for the program?

SPEAKER_00 4:43

No, I mean I'm certainly grateful that Coach Ryan has some nice things to say about me. Um so I appreciate him doing that. And um, yeah, I mean, it it's definitely been been different. I think what I've been telling the guys, like it's it's gonna take a while for for me to get to know you and and uh vice versa, right? Like we're we're trying to get to know each other and figure each other out. So there's a lot of like the same defensive concepts that that uh you know Coach O'Hagan was running that we're doing, but but it's you know we call this black, we call that white. And it's the same thing. So it's it's those sort of uh obstacles and hurdles as far as installing language and and um just having to start from scratch with the new guy uh has taken a while. But you know, I I definitely think uh there's definitely a difference in as far as far as my coaching style and coach Ryan's as there is any coach. And uh and and so I've I've definitely seen that from the guys. They're trying to figure me out and and uh but I think it's been it's been really positive because I think you know everyone I don't have any preconceived notion of who's who's gonna start or who's not. I I haven't worked with these guys every day, so I think there's energy from the top to the bottom of the roster, you know, freshman to senior, like just that they want up, you know, uh it's a new opportunity, whether they thought, you know, uh that they they've gotten better in the offseason or whatever they felt like they've got to.

SPEAKER_02 6:02

Yeah, like this is might be a shot for me. I'm gonna go right, you know, I'm going out. The coach doesn't know me, he doesn't know what I did last year. I'm gonna go out and ball out, and hopefully coach has us, you know, puts me on the twos or the ones or man up, or you know.

SPEAKER_00 6:16

Yeah, and we've had some guys that I didn't know about on the roster that I've been like, this who is who's he? I talking to Coach Reich, well, I I added him, uh he was a volunteer last year. I I hired him as my top assistant this year, and which was the best move I could have done, I think. Uh he's been an absolute home run for uh to play to be uh to to uh you know run aside of the ball. And he was sort of the inner im coach uh while Coach Ryan left. And he's very well acclimated with the boys. Um and he was even really surprised by a couple of guys and how they came back, you know, bigger, stronger, faster. So I think you know the guys are definitely excited. I think they're they're learning some different things. I think there's um there's definitely a difference in um in sort of the offensive style that we're that we're playing. And I'm trying to play, you know, a lot between the lines, things that I was doing at Cleveland State and Baldwin Wallace back in the day. So definitely a difference in approach. And so, but I think it's been well received and um we end fall bowl next Sunday against Nazareth, and I think I think I'm I'm excited for that uh sort of culmination of the fall because uh there's there's been a lot of install and a lot of new things, and so with that comes a lot of failure and a lot of you know, I think stress from the guys. But but I think in the end, the the quantity of lacrosse we have in the fall, we've we've been able to you know to fail and do drills multiple times and get film on it. And so we've we're we're in the in the thick of uh of that process right now.

SPEAKER_02 7:40

It seems like it's going okay, though. Seems like it's going okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:46

This is something I'm saying. They I don't have to coach effort or attitude, right? Coach Ryan has has built an incredible culture there. The leadership within the program, Brandon McCard, Nate Latshaw, Mason Maby, some of the seniors, Ethan Landymore, just the men in the program right now.

SPEAKER_02 8:01

Landy Moore's a beast though.

SPEAKER_00 8:02

They have a chip on their shoulder, you know, like they they they uh they know they got kicked in in the the biggest game of the year. And and so um that part hasn't been an issue, right? I I show up and you know uh it's it's it's been really easy uh to throw new things at them because they want to learn it, they want more. You know, that's probably been the hardest thing is I I give them some and they just ask for, you know, they ask for for uh five times more of it. And I'm like, yeah, we only have so much practice time here, boys. Um it's it's been positive though, to say that.

SPEAKER_03 8:33

Well, it's it's funny, Coach, you say that because this is how I look at it, knowing the culture of that team as we've watched in the last several years. I'm sure one that's what I meant by fresh ideas, right? They are willing to take that on because all they want to do is have another shot at Lenore Ryan and kick them in the teeth. That's what Mercy Hearst wants to do. And that's that's the kind of culture they have. They know what kind of team they have, the kind of team you have, and so they're looking for those ideas of how can we change things up to beat them next time.

SPEAKER_00 9:06

Yeah, yeah, I think, you know, I I my philosophy was like, let's go in and ask questions, right? It wasn't you know come in with a sledgehammer and break anything up because I, you know, I know so much of the success and the pride in the program. And so trying to keep uh a lot of the traditions that the guys feel strong about and and introduce some of my my own. Um there's there's been a lot of that. And I think, you know, trying to build the trust with the guys uh in the leadership group um there, the upperclassmen, and then try to, you know, try to find opportunities for me to to you know introduce myself and be authentically me. Because that was kind of the first thing I said to the guys. I'm not coach Ryan, and we're not running you know, Coach Ryan's offense or defense right now. We're gonna come in here and and uh get to know each other, and so that's gonna take a little bit of time. Um and so you know, we're gonna need patience on both ends, and and uh but but it is like you said, I mean, they're they're uh their eyes are wide open, their ears, you know, they're they're listening in and and um you know they're they're I think digesting failure in the right way. We're we're um you know, one of the things I did, we I got we had a TV in the locker room that had a a little bit of a crack in it, maybe it wasn't quite working the right way, and I was like, all right, let's turn this locker room into a teaching center because we're gonna need to do a lot of teaching throughout the next few weeks to sort of install everything. Um so we got a new TV, a whiteboard in there, and so it and sort of made it um, you know, made it a a place where we can you know have some class time before practices. So it's it's just gonna be a long process, but um, you know, we have another week uh of our fall season, so uh sort of building up to that crescendo of all installing all these things. There was a couple things in our scrimmage yesterday where like, ah, we really haven't covered that yet, but it's the fall. So, you know, it's a great film, and we'll talk about it and and and be better because of it.

SPEAKER_03 10:49

Well, and like I like to say a lot, and I really got this from the company I work with now because it's kind of our mantra is there is no such thing as failure. You either succeed or you learn. And I think that's where they're at right now. There's a lot of things you're putting in there. It's not so much failure, and you learn much more in those mistakes than you do if you do everything right right the first time, because you're like, oh, you you know what I'm saying? Do you would you agree with that, Coach?

SPEAKER_00 11:13

Yeah, there's no doubt about it. I mean, I I think for me, I it's been it's it's a tough thing to balance with say, hey, do I do I let it play and teach it on film, or do I stop it and and have a teachable moment with the whole team? So there's been a couple times we're doing a new drill where you know, I blow the whistle, you know, it's a full field drill, I blow the whistle, I bring it everybody in, and I talk about one specific, you know, incidents and say, hey, this is what he did, why'd you do it? You know, this is what I'd I'd you'd rather do, and this is why. And so it was a lot of that just stopping practice and having a three-minute conversation about, well, here's what I'm thinking, so that they can kind of get inside my head. Um, and and then, you know, there's some reps where you're all right, here's what we need, and then play it, play it, play it, and then find the film and and and move move on. I mean, coach Coach Ryan and Coach O'Hagan invested in a drone um while they were here, so they left that for me. That's been a nice uh nice thing. So you sort of get the overhead um point, which is what what's on a whiteboard, right? You draw it up on a whiteboard, how often direct overhead. So that's been a cool thing that I haven't had too much in the past. We had the well, a high pod or whatever you want to call it at at uh Cleveland State because we had the bubble. So we had a thing that was right on the sideline. So it had something like that. But um, you know, again, finding trying to find the the teaching tools because um, you know, failures uh every time there's failure, there's an opportunity to to to correct it. Um and so doing that through film and and slowing things down at practice has been good. But I think that's sometimes I struggle with is like what's the best way to do it is to stop everything and make sure everybody learns it, or is it just to get volume of repetitions and and have them get as much, you know, as many successful reps as possible, you know, depending on what you know what exactly the skill is that we're trying to, you know, to build off of.

SPEAKER_02 12:56

I gotta think, you know, these guys are they're they're lacrosse players, you know, they know the game, you know, and I'm sure that they all played club fo you know, you know, club ball in high school, which meant probably playing for multiple coaches and different types of offense and two-man and doing this and running from X. And it I'm sure that they're gonna pick it up quick, coach. I don't think you're gonna have uh too much trouble there. You're making it sound a little bit more worth than maybe it really is. He's hiding stuff. He's hiding stuff.

SPEAKER_00 13:28

It's part of the process, right? Yeah. You know, I'm not aiming for perfection, but again, the the effort and the attitude is there. And so it it's it's just again, that growth mindset with the boys and not being scared to fail. And you know, I'm not trying to to kill them with uh with a a punishment if they if they do something wrong. It's you know, it's like hey, are you playing hard? Are you are you trying to make you know decisions fast? The biggest thing has probably been an issue is that they're thinking, so they're playing slower. And when that happens, it it creates a whole nother set of problems. So I'd rather have them, you know, make decisions quickly. And you know, my biggest one of the biggest things I've been asking guys to do is to talk and so I can listen to them, so I can hear what they're thinking. So if they say something that's crazy, I can stop and go, why would you think that? You know what I mean? And trying to keep the terminology down so that the guys are singing the same song so that I can listen and make sure that we we're making uh adjustments from there. So and we've got a bunch of guys that aren't scared to scream and yell and get after each other. So I think that's been pretty well received, also. And we we've got so much depth of talent, too. It's that's guys have been asking for uh a depth chart, and I haven't been able to deliver that yet because we just got so much depth there.

SPEAKER_03 14:36

Sorry, Coach Remy is is yeah, we if for our listeners, we have an assistant coach on uh the Coach Keeley's daughter, uh Remy, has been helping out uh and and whispering in her dad's ear to make sure that he gets it right in his answers.

SPEAKER_00 14:50

Yeah, she she was excited to walk the team out uh yesterday. That's so awesome. Yeah, our our parents were really impressed uh with her. Uh so there's a bunch of pictures and videos, and and she's been we were talking about dressing her up as Luke DeLaker, uh who's our mess. I love it. I love it. That's it that's in the works, I think. Uh she's gonna embrace that.

SPEAKER_03 15:12

I she's gonna embrace until a certain age, and she's like, Dad, I'm done with this.

SPEAKER_00 15:16

We'll hold that as blackmail forever. Uh yeah. But uh, but no, she uh I think for for me with with the the just going back to the failure piece. I mean, if you're not failing, then you're not, you know, that's an opportunity for me to coach it up. And and uh we're we have so much depth. Um, and I that's probably the biggest difference in this roster that every roster, any roster I've ever coached is you know, I think on yesterday we played like 15 midfielders in the first half of the game, like out of the box to go play offense. It was you know, Coach Reichel's got some ideas on trying how to like jam as many guys on the field as possible. So it's it's it is one of those things where I'm you know I'm I'm trying to give guys opportunities to make plays and and um and to show what they can do. And and uh so praxes have been super competitive, and um, you know, it is like guys, you're gonna go out there and make plays, but can we do it, you know, can we do it in a structured setting where everyone's playing the the right style? Like so that's been been more what it's been to say can we get on the same page rather than you know, yeah, we got a bunch of good players, but we need to be singing the same song.

unknown 16:17

Right.

SPEAKER_03 16:18

So then let me let me just switch. What do you think of the GMAC and the competition there, especially when you look at where you've been before? Uh I I don't know how much you've been able to look at the GMAC or whatever, but I'd be interested just on your thoughts on joining the G coming in as a coach on the GMAC.

SPEAKER_00 16:37

That's a great question. I you know, I I I've been talking to a couple GMAC coaches um and and trying to get as much info as possible. You know, what's this, you know, I coming from a couple different uh conferences, one where you know you travel a lot from the A Son. We had we had 10 different teams in 10 different states. Um it was unique, you know, where at Baldon Wallace in the OAC, you know, everything was in Ohio. So it it it's a very different in like the geographic regional piece um as far as travel and and uh so there's there's a lot of different things. But you know, even at Baldon Wallace, we we would scrimmage Walsh and and um you know I oh woo I scrimmage Mercy Hearst. So I've I've been you know very aware of the programs, but but the growth is really cool. I mean, there's there's some you know, with the growth of D2, as we were talking about, um the GMAX, I think, you know, been a beneficiary fishery of that, and and we'll be here in in the next few years. So it's a big conference as well, which is something I guess I've been I've been used to. Um but yeah, some some good coaches as well, some coaches that I don't know all that well. I talked to Travis Brown, who's who's starting a program in Tiffany in a while, which which is interesting. I had a phone call with him the other day, checking in on him and and seeing how how he's doing because he's coming from we just had we just had coach on the podcast last week. Yeah, good, good. Yeah, he seems he seems to be excited about sort of where they are and and um you know like they're he they're meeting sort of his expectations for what he had hoped for, which is which is good to see. So yeah, and then you know, I I I think it's a great conference. I mean Seton Hill has been um obviously the rival.

SPEAKER_04 18:11

Steaton Hill coach.

SPEAKER_00 18:12

Yeah, and and Coach Reichel, our you know, our my assistant coach is is a Seton Hill alum, so he's the best Benedict. There we go. Wow. So that's crazy. It's a real good, he's you know, he's got that circle on his calendar just as much as anybody.

SPEAKER_02 18:26

Um you know what? Lake Erie gave Mercy Hurst a game last year. I watched that game. It was like a Wednesday night game. I think it was like 13 degrees. Everybody was in parkas and jackets and hats and gloves and scarves, and those two went at it. So Lake Erie's a much improved team in the GMAC as well.

SPEAKER_00 18:49

Oh, yeah. They all they got some dudes, man. Everyone's gonna have a couple guys, right? It's uh that's for you know, uh, I've seen coaches win lacrosse games with like 11 really good players. I've seen guys do it, rolling like 30 guys out onto the field. Uh everyone's got a little bit of a different, uh, a different recipe. And and me being the new guy in the conference, and I I you know, I I don't know. Uh yeah, I being at Baldon Wallace, I had four years of scattering reports, you know, in my video, ready to go. Uh so that it's a little bit different uh when you know I've I've never, you know, a couple of these programs where I've I've never you know gone uh gotten a run against them in the past. Um but we were skirmishing in hill at Cleveland State, and so I I know you know that that Coach Novotney does a great job and and um you know we're right down the road, so we're recruiting in the same circles pretty often as well. Um but yeah, a bunch of great coaches, and I'm I'm excited. It's a lot there's a lot of games, which is nice, so you don't have to schedule too much um out of conference, but I think we've you know Coach Ryan handed off a pretty good out of conference schedule for me. So I I'm excited.

SPEAKER_02 19:51

Who do you got? Who do you got out of conference this year?

SPEAKER_00 19:54

We we open up with uh with Wingate, um, which is which is exciting. Um keep that one going. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you guys are very familiar with them and and uh and and the quality that they have.

SPEAKER_02 20:07

I'm glad I'm glad that that game is continuing. Yeah, Coach Boyle and Coach Ryan are longtime friends and they've been going and scheduling games against each other for years. Because when Coach Boyle was at Dowling, and they would you know they would play each other, they know each other for years. So I'm glad to see that that you know little tradition is going strong still. I'm I'm very happy to hear that.

SPEAKER_00 20:30

I'm excited for the trip. Yeah, Coach Boyle was one of the first guys to reach out to me and and uh so I'm glad. I'm glad I it's gonna be a great way to to kick off the season in February to get down there and and uh play him. And then we go to you Indy uh to play, you know, in in Indiana, and and that'll be a really good run. I know that one was a contentious one last year, and so uh yeah, and we'll I I just recruited against them when I was at Ohio Wesley and here at Cleveland State. I I know that they're you know really aware of all the players that they're bringing into the program and and um I don't think they miss with recruits very often. Um so so they're doing a great job. Then a program, Wilmington. I I I know very little uh uh about Wilmington. Um uh so that'll be a new experience. Uh Frostburg State, as you guys mentioned, I spent I did uh my graduate assistant job there. Tommy Pierce gave me my first uh head coaching gig there back in the day. So um that's a place as an as an alum uh with my master's degree there. It was it was two great years uh in Frostburg, Maryland. So I'm excited. We're going to Frostburg, so that'll be that'll be good to get back there and play against the Bobcats. And then St. Anselm comes into town. Wow. I watched a little bit of that game from last year um because I I heard a little bit about some of their guys. So I've been trying to peek a little bit into some of last year's games. Um and then we played Davis, uh then we go out out to to play uh Joe Peruzzi, who's who's done a heck of a job. Building a quest into the city.

SPEAKER_02 22:03

He's great.

SPEAKER_00 22:04

Yeah, Joe, Joe and I go back, we we coached together for a year at Ohio Wesleyan together and um for pretty much pretty much from January uh until May, we were uh carpooling back and forth to work together. Uh wow. Okay. So we yeah, we we were we were very close and and only really worked together for a year, but but um yeah, I've been I've I've heard I've been uh you know calling him uh plenty of times on the road and hearing about his uh you know his ups and downs through trying to build a program and uh his success is is undeniable. So I'm excited to go out there and be on the other sideline from him because uh you know him jumping into the D2 world, um, I haven't really gotten uh to get a run with him. So that's that's one on my calendar that I know him and I are really looking forward to. His sister lives like uh from where I am here in Berea in in Cleveland, he lives uh she lives like five minutes down the road from me. So I'm gonna her and and his niece a little bit. But um but yeah, and then Davidson Elkins uh and is kicks off our um you know the GMAC for you, huh? Yeah, so that's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 23:07

That's an amazing out-of-conference. Awesome. Awesome. I don't think I hear any way Mercy Hirst does it. That's uh there there is not a team there that that they'll play all the time. All of them, all of them top twenty in the nation last year at one time or another. In the top twenty. Every one of them, right? Yeah. Pretty much. So well, I'll tell you what, coach, this has been a lot of fun. You are no longer a man of mystery to us. You're still an international man of mystery, but to us, I feel like we know you already. So this has been phenomenal. We like I said, we we have obviously followed Mercyhurst, uh, and we will continue to follow them and look forward to see what you're gonna do this year with the Lakers.

SPEAKER_00 23:56

I appreciate the time, Kevin, Danny. Um I'm looking forward to tuning in here on uh all your podcasts to come and and uh trying to get my finger on the pulse of D2 Lacrosse. There's a lot of fantastic coaches that I've gotten to know over the last several years, just recruiting, and um, so I'm I'm excited to join the Brotherhood. So I appreciate you guys.

SPEAKER_02 24:16

George Killy, you seem like a great guy. You seem like a guy I could sit down and have a beer and a burger with and just you know BS about lacrosse and life. You seem like a good, good, solid young man with a good solid head on your shoulders. You're in the head of a really great Division II program. And I'm gonna tell you right now, I'm gonna go on the record to say, you are going to be surprised at how many D1 caliber players are in the D2 ranks. You're gonna say, holy crap, how come that kid's not at such and such or such and such? You're gonna see there's some teams that just have some really, really, really good players. And Mercy Hurst has always been one of them. You know, you don't think Landamore can play on D1 team? Oh yeah, oh yeah, he's a dude. He's a dude. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 25:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:07

Absolutely. So I wish you nothing but the best. I wish you nothing but success there at uh Mercyhurst with the Lakers. And um, I have a feeling I don't know if I'll see you at the uh Mercyhurst Wingate game this year. We'll have to see if I can get down there. But uh thank you so much for coming on the show and good luck, man.

SPEAKER_00 25:29

I I hope I hope you make it down to North Carolina. I'm sure I they tell me in February in North Carolina it's 70 and sunny, so that's why we scheduled it. So we'll see you there in the sunshine.

SPEAKER_02 25:40

Coach, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 25:41

Take care, gentlemen.

Embry-Riddle

SPEAKER_03 25:44

Next up is Danny, what I'm calling our mini whipple ripple for this year. You know, our first coaching changes, we had the there was about three or four coaches that that changed for that. This one is interesting. It's only a couple, but it again starts in Florida with Coach Spencer Wims stepping down to take over Boys Lacrosse program director role at Charlotte Latin. You know, and remember, he was seven seasons at the helm, started the program from scratch, and it's only head coach. And then who do they get? In comes John Jezz from Post. The legend. The legend. We we know what he did at LIU and Pace, but he continued that winning tradition of Post. And uh we kind of talked about this last year at the end of the season. The year before he got there, Post was 0-8. His first season in 2022, he gets gets them to four and eight. And last year, they went ten and six. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:48

We knew we we we we knew that from the first time we got coach on. We knew it was just a couple of a couple of recruiting classes away before he was gonna make it a winning program. But we're excited to have him on.

SPEAKER_03 26:59

Yeah, it's gonna be great to see what he's trying to do at Emory Riddle. So let's just welcome him in, the new head coach, John Jez. Hey coach, how you doing?

SPEAKER_01 27:07

Uh great, just super happy to be here back on the back on the station with you guys just to talk about lacrosse.

SPEAKER_02 27:15

Kevin, coach looks real good, man. Daytona looks good on him. He's all tan. Yeah, he's got like a little sunblock on his nose. He looks pretty good. Coach, welcome back to the program. Thanks so much for taking the time. Appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01 27:29

Awesome. Hey, so let's just start off around here. So completely different from up north, and I'm really excited to be down here.

unknown 27:35

Good.

SPEAKER_03 27:35

Yeah, you're good. So we're recording this in October, and it's changed. We were just talking about this uh off podcast, how it seems like it went from like 70, 80 here up in Virginia down to 50. And and I don't think Coach is having that problem. You're not having that problem there in Daytona, are you?

SPEAKER_01 27:53

No, I'm not having a problem. I think it's like mid to low 70s, and people are saying it's freezing. I'm like, it's beautiful.

unknown 28:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:04

We'll see how many years it takes you, Coach, to say it's uh it's freezing when it's 70 degrees down there.

SPEAKER_01 28:09

Well, the first week I was down here, we had practice out, and I wasn't acclimated to the weather, and like halfway through practice, I'm trying to find the trainer and a bag of ice put on my head. I'm like, well, I'm gonna have to go inside. I'm it's getting a little hot out here. So then forward, the trainer made sure I had water with me all the time and just get an acclimated to the weather. I think I'm doing a little better now.

SPEAKER_03 28:28

There we go. There we go. So just tell us, walk us through it. How did this all transpire and and why did you decide to make the change down to Emory Riddle?

SPEAKER_01 28:37

Well, originally the job came open years ago. I I looked at the job, I thought it was a a great place to to possibly work at and all those things. Just some things didn't work out with with my family and stuff. So I I wasn't I didn't take the job down here. And then when it came back open, I thought it was an hour opportunity to to revisit it. I just think of the the area, the environment, the pressure for my wife to get out of the north, so all those things that are pushed things in the right direction. And it seemed to work out really well for me in the stage my family's in our life with our youngest daughter just finishing up high school this year.

SPEAKER_02 29:12

Oh, your wife's a smart woman to get out of the north.

SPEAKER_03 29:17

So you're taking over a program that both Danny and I think shows a lot of promise. We've seen it kind of do better and better each year. Now, last year they had a little bit of a tough go of it uh out of conference and in conference. So just let us what do you think about where the program is and and as you step into it?

SPEAKER_01 29:36

I think Coach Wims did a great job down there building it. I think one thing that affected him was he was starting the ball rolling. Then he had two covert years because obviously he came playing 20, and then 21 the school decided to not have the the team participate. So then he almost had to restart it again. You know, and they were they were moving in the right directions. He was doing a very good job recruiting, getting the numbers up. When I came here, there was I think between 13 and 14 freshmen coming in into this class, and the roster now somewhere between 42 and 45, so the numbers are there.

SPEAKER_04 30:07

Right.

SPEAKER_01 30:07

It's a it's an untapped resource down here, especially if you're you're into these specific majors that we have between engineering and airs.

SPEAKER_03 30:16

Yeah, I mean that that's kind of sets it apart. I mean, I remember when we talked to um Coach Jorgensen, and one thing he said about the Sunshine State Conference, every school is just different. Like if you want to go to, you know, if you want to go to St. Leo, you're probably not someone who would like Emory Riddle, but there's a lot of people that like Emory Riddle because they want to get into aviation and engineering and they want to be warm while they're doing it. My my son did it up at Rochester Institute of Technology. So that's a little bit of a difference when you have tunnels to get to class not to hit the snow. So you talked about your roster quickly and the numbers. What is it looking like? I looked on online. Is it still fairly young, or do you have a good mix now with uh leadership?

SPEAKER_01 30:59

You do have some some upperclassmen there, still have some COVID years left. So we got a good core group of leaders. Um coach did a great job recruiting with some really talented high school, get some talented kids in. We're just we just gotta get them all involved and on the same system. So it's pretty spread out. We're gonna have a low for one year where we're like our junior class isn't very deep, but our senior class has good numbers. We do have the COVID years for those guys coming back, but we we've got a good group there, and we're we're we're doing a pretty decent job recruiting already.

SPEAKER_02 31:28

That's great. That's great. Coach Wims did do a good job. You know, some of their losses were against all ranked teams, you know. Uh you know, uh Linestone, Anderson, you know, they played they played big boys. They didn't play a week schedule at all. So what's it gonna be like for Emory Riddle this year, schedule-wise?

SPEAKER_01 31:46

We pretty much are carrying over the same schedule. Spencer put together the set schedule before we left. I know we had some some conflict dates with with two schools, and then we we filled them in with Belmont Abbey. So we do miss out on limestone this year because it they were in the up in the air when when Spencer resigned. So we're missing them this year. Hopefully get them back on the future. But majority of the teams we played last year were playing, we're playing again.

SPEAKER_03 32:10

Right, right. Well, and then you talk about the Sunshine Stank Conference, and last year, the last two years really, you think of those that were in the top 20, and there's at least four.

SPEAKER_01 32:20

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 32:21

And so what do you think about now competing in that conference? That's gotta be pretty exciting for you.

SPEAKER_01 32:26

I mean, it's probably arguably the top two, top three conferences in the nation right now, as far as where everyone sits out. Um, our conference actually just expanded our uh our playoffs, so now six teams can get in the playoffs, which will hopefully be a little more competitive, especially if teams are putting stuff together at the end of the year. But um Tampa, Rollins, Florida, Southern, St. Leo's. I mean, there's there's some top teams in the in the conference.

SPEAKER_02 32:52

Absolutely. St. Leo was looking good last year. They started to put it together. They're relatively young too, you know.

SPEAKER_01 32:59

And you did a great job in the portal this summer, so it's you know, there's there's no uh there's no cakewalks in the conference.

SPEAKER_02 33:06

That's for sure. Rollins had a good year. Rollins had a great year last year, and Tampa is Tampa, you know.

SPEAKER_03 33:13

And then you look at, you know, Florida Tech adding in there with Florida Southern, always uh really competitive. Lynn, I think it's gonna be uh improving, you know. So I think there's it's another one of those conferences where you can't take a day off. And I'm saying it just the opposite, right? I think the Tampas and the Rollins can't take a day off when they play an Embry Riddle or a St. Leo.

SPEAKER_01 33:37

No, I there's there's just a lot of parody in the conference. I mean, like the old Northeast 10 or the ECC conferences, it's pretty pretty talented top to bottom. And if you like you said, if you fall asleep, somebody could sneak up in you. There's a lot of trap games built into this thing, especially for those guys being the top tier guys.

SPEAKER_02 33:53

Yeah. Yeah. So let me ask you something. You speaking to ME 10, what what'd you think of Lemoyne's jump to Division I?

SPEAKER_01 34:01

As far as the university goes, I think it's a good move as far as lacrosse and their identity as a cross program. They're still going to be competitive. They'll make the NCAAs in the next couple years, I'm sure. But it's not going to be that easy. Look at Merrimax being very competitive, but it's it's it's not like they jumped right in and started playing in the NCAAs.

SPEAKER_02 34:18

It took them a while. It took them a while.

SPEAKER_01 34:20

It all depends how they navigate that three-year probationary window and things like that.

SPEAKER_02 34:24

So personally, I think it's I think it stinks that they're going. You know, Lemoyne's a good team. You you know, you kind of want to aspire to, like, hey, here come the Dolphins boys, you know, like and then the kids get to play teams like that and they see, hey, this is what you know, big time Division II schools, you know, play like and and act and and what they're like on the field. And I think to lose a program like that, that's kind of stinks for Division II.

SPEAKER_01 34:49

You lose a lot of history. So if you look at the last 12 or 15 years, you've lost probably nine, eight national champions now, with between Post leaving, New York Tech leaving, Dowling leaving, and now Merrimack leaving, Lemoyne leaving. Those are all national championship teams that aren't competing in Division II anymore. So you lost a lot of that history and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_03 35:12

Yeah, that's true. We've talked about that before. I think though, uh on the positive side, there's a lot. You lose that history, but you're getting gaining new history with a lot of good competition.

SPEAKER_01 35:22

Without a doubt, you got a team like Lenore Ryan just taking care of business this year. And you know, there's there's other teams that may in the past were overshadowed, but now we're getting a look, and I think that national champions are going to come for a vast or different area than the past where they only came from five or six fulls.

SPEAKER_02 35:40

Right. I agree. I agree.

SPEAKER_03 35:43

So let's transition and ask about the transit how the transition has been for the players. I mean, obviously, obviously the ones who are, you know, the seniors and everything, so used to Coach Wims. What has that been like uh with you coming in? How have they been handling it? Uh, what's been your message? Just curious on that.

SPEAKER_01 36:03

We're just trying to get everyone on the same page and play together. They they with open arms ready to to to challenge themselves. I think they they felt they could have been a little more productive last year and in years past. I just I don't know if they were searching for a new voice, they were just searching for just more drive to do things. The kids are very self-motivated based on their intelligence level and things like that. And they're just ready to to focus and and move forward and reach some challenges. So open arms, no, I don't think it was uh, oh my God, we have to change it, change with everything else. You know, a bunch of these guys have COVID years, they're just trying to get their feet underneath them. So I think these guys with the COVID years are kind of like, hey, we've we've played for two years now, three years now, you know, we got one or two left. Let's let's try to make a mark on the conference.

SPEAKER_02 36:50

Yeah, makes sense.

SPEAKER_03 36:52

Yeah, I mean, I I think that's interesting. We've talked to some of these other coaches in these transitions, and it sounds like most players, especially coming out of this COVID, when you've got a especially the the leadership, the seniors, the this the fifth years who have a limited time, they they want to end on a really positive note, especially when you see a school like Emory Riddle where there is a lot of talent. They they were playing well in the past. They have a very like Danny pointed out, a very tough schedule to try to get over that hump. It just it's not a one or two year thing. It's it's gonna take time.

SPEAKER_01 37:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 37:29

So is that your main priority? Just get them all on the same page. Is there something else you're looking for this year? Are there any goals you've set for the team that you'd like to share?

SPEAKER_01 37:37

I think I think our main goal now that the conference expanded is to get into the conference tournament. I mean, that's where we want to be. The team has been playing in the conference, but not having enough wins on their ledger. So we want to make sure we get some more wins on the ledger in conference and then get to the conference tournament. As things expand in the future with AQs possibly coming down the road, I guess the key is to get in the conference tournament and let your last part of the season be be the key point for that. We're doing we're doing well. You know, people are learning that there's some voids in in our roster that we have to fill. You know, we have some difficulties here that a lot of guys fly, so there's flight blocks when we're having practice and we miss people. I think we're we're more open with with scheduling, we could do some, we could do a better job of getting everyone at practice and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_03 38:28

Right, right. Yeah, I forget about that. That's a really interesting scheduling challenge when not too many colleges have to deal with that. I mean, it's enough just to deal with classes, but to say, hey, coach, you know, uh I I've got uh and I don't know if they do night flights too, but it's like, you know, it's not just day VFR flights. They're like, I got my you know night hop right now. I know we're supposed to start at 6 p.m., coach, but you know, uh it's uh that's an interesting, interesting dilemma. I'm sure Lewis deals with it too.

SPEAKER_01 39:01

Yeah, I'm I'm sure, I'm sure all schools have their own quirks and issues with like a kid with a high science science major having to have labs. It's not just a class, it's the two-hour lab. It's not just a flight class, it's the two or three sessions of flight blocks that aren't really into the schedule. So it's different than just normal students doing their nor normal stuff.

SPEAKER_02 39:21

That's interesting, though. That's pretty interesting.

unknown 39:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:24

Special kind of students got to go to Emory Riddle, you know, special kind of student looking for uh a specific area. And he gets to play lacrosse in Daytona, man. That's pretty that's like win-win.

unknown 39:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:35

I mean, the the way the career opportunities are from the school, it is something I haven't been around before. The we have a job fair here on Tuesday, the whole gym's packed out. There's people from NASA, CIA, FBI, Boeing, they're coming here and selecting our our students and student athletes to to work in those careers in the in the future. So I think the job placement here is something I haven't really seen at other places I've been at. And these guys are leaving school with with specific careers.

SPEAKER_02 40:03

That's amazing. That's that's a real plus, man.

SPEAKER_03 40:06

That's gotta be a selling point when you recruit. I'm obviously you've got to have a player, a recruit that is interested in that uh type of more on the engineering side, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:19

We have a bunch of engineering in the flight, we have some business, and there's some other really specific majors on manned aircraft, cybersecurity, homeland security. We have a bunch of those other majors, but engineering and aeronautics is is is where the top stuff is.

SPEAKER_03 40:34

That's awesome stuff. I couldn't have gone there, Danny. Maybe I wouldn't have gotten accepted. I wouldn't even have been accepted.

SPEAKER_01 40:42

I have a student said I have a biomedical physics final. Can I study for it?

SPEAKER_04 40:48

I'm like, I don't know what you're saying, but whatever you need to do, just you're taking care of it.

SPEAKER_02 40:54

That's great. That's great.

SPEAKER_03 40:56

Yeah, I mean, I don't know how I got into flight school and flying for the Navy with an economics degree, but somehow I passed and survived. But I don't know if I could do aeronautical engineering and and whatnot. It's just amazing. Well, coach, this has been phenomenal to have you on again. As always, you've always been uh always willing to help us out any way we can. We really do wish you and Emmy Riddle the best as you go forward this year and excited to see where it goes for you.

SPEAKER_01 41:24

Yep, it's definitely positive. A lot of support from the school through facilities and and scholarships and uh operating budget. They're very supportive of the program, and every program here is very well supported.

SPEAKER_02 41:36

That's amazing. Thanks again, coach. Good to see you again. You'll you look really fit and tan, and I'm jealous, and I want to come down and God on New York stinks, man.

SPEAKER_01 41:47

I got a great filter, I got a great filter on today.

SPEAKER_02 41:51

Oh, stop, stop. All the coaches that come on from the South, they all look so good. They look so tan. I was like, I gotta get out of here, man. So, coach, thanks so much. Good luck with you guys. Um, we'll be in touch again. We'll be watching uh Emory Riddle this year. Of course, the Sunshine State Conference does an amazing job year in, year out. Like you said, a lot of parody, a lot of a lot of competitive lacrosse in that conference. And I wish you nothing but the best of luck. It's it's not going to be long before you get them on the right path, Coach. I'm sure of it.

SPEAKER_01 42:23

I hope so. Thank you for all your support, Division 2 lacrosse guys, and uh hope to talk to you soon.

SPEAKER_03 42:28

Thanks, coach.

Post

SPEAKER_03 42:32

All right, Danny. The other half of this year's what I'm calling the mini whipple ripple is uh Pat Yannarelli, who's taken over, took over for John Jezz as the head coach at Post. John Jezz goes to Emory Riddle, opening comes up, it's Pat Yannorelli. Now, unfortunately, new into the job, he got into it late. I want to say it was September time frame that he got into the job. So he isn't able to come on uh for our coaching changes. Hopefully we'll have him on later on. But let me just tell you a little bit about where he came from. Last nine seasons as a head coach at Lord's University in Toledo, Ohio, they were in the NAIA. He compiled there an 80 and 50 record, and he was the 2016 NAIA coach of the year. He had a winning record there, so he's coming with some creds. The other thing that's really interesting here is that he comes in with the full coaching staff already there. David Robinson and John Murray were returning, they stayed there, and then Michael Gotch, he was actually hired in. He must have been hired in by Coach Jez, and then Coach Jez left because he came to the school after Jez left, but before Yannarelli was hired in. So they've got a full coaching staff staff that's been there too. So it'll be really interesting to see how Post goes along with their new coach this year.

SPEAKER_02 43:56

Well, you know what Coach Jez did there in just a short period of time and And they're coming to Long Island where there's abundance of great lacrosse players. So I don't think it's going to be too difficult for coach to make that transition. He's going to have players and and a coach and staff that knows those players and knows Long Island. I mean, he's coming from Toledo to Long Island. Right. You know, that's that's going to be a good thing.

SPEAKER_03 44:19

Talk about a difference in recruiting.

SPEAKER_02 44:23

Yeah, and and a culture shock to boot, you know, like Toledo ain't Long Island. You know what I mean? So, but he's he'll he'll be fine there. He's got a good staff in place and a bunch of good players there, and it's a great school. And like I said, Long Island is there's tons of great lacrosse players right in his backyard.

SPEAKER_03 44:44

100%. 100%. So now before we close out this episode, Danny, I have to mention this. This happened about a week ago. We just found out that we've hit over 50,000 downloads for this podcast.

SPEAKER_02 45:02

Can you believe it? Kevin, I was surprised when we had one download. Are you kidding me? Hey, congratulations, my friend. Congrats, man. Oh, same work. It's been a lot of fun. You know, we do our homework, but these coaches they come on, they're so nice to us, they're so gracious. The players that have come on, our segments. And how about the people that DM us and and get involved with the program? And I've had, you know, you've had parents come up to you at games, and I've had parents come up to me at games, and it's just it's I keep saying, who would have dunk? Who would have dunk?

SPEAKER_03 45:42

Yeah. When we started this, as most people know that listen to this, it was it was on a whim because my wife was sickening of us going back and forth on Facebook, and it was just something to keep us occupied and off the Facebook post for uh uh for uh talking about lacrosse. Right. But it's and when you get a few people listening, it kind of makes you feel good. But the way it's gone, you like you said, we've done this for fun, and we've done it to shed light on how good Division II lacrosse is. That's the whole sole reason. The fact that we have more and more people listening and that we just got the 15,000 downloads, I don't know what to say, except thank you to everyone who listens. Thank you to all the people out there that take the time to listen to this podcast and have told us themselves either what they thought of the podcast, that they enjoy it. One person after I posted that said, that's the most down-to-earth podcast he listens to. And when you get um people giving you compliments like that, it fuels you to do even more. And uh well, the other thing I love is just the interaction from all our listeners correcting us, making sure we're doing the right thing. Hey, how can you get this coach on? Have you talked to this player? That is phenomenal. And that's what I hope we keep going over the next year, two, three, four, however long we do this.

SPEAKER_02 47:00

Kevin, I really love talking to the players. I like getting the players on and talking to the kids because they're just they're people too, you know, and they're part of what we're doing here. You know, it's not only about the school and it's not only about the coach, it's about players there. And, you know, we we talk about Division II um being such a great division for your young, young, young man to play lacrosse. I mean, just the amount of money that a lot of colleges can give out, whereas Division I or Division III don't have that kind of money. If you know, financially, it helps a lot of people. And Kevin, there's a lot of really good lacrosse players and really good lacrosse teams in Division II. There's division two teams that can beat Division I teams, Kevin. 100%. 100%. And you know, I and I I won't tell take I I I've had arguments with friends and they're like, oh no, that's BS. And I was like, mm-mm, I don't think so. You don't think Lenore Ryan could have, you know, beat NJIT or Wagner? Yes. Yeah. They wouldn't have been able to stay on the same field with Lenore Ryan. So Division II is a great division, it's growing exponentially. And this podcast, I laugh, I laugh. I can't believe that people listen, you know, and they're listening, Kevin. And you and I laugh. We go back and forth with this as well. We're like, can you believe it? Like, no, I can't believe it. Well, Kevin, I'm humbled by the 50,000 people, Tom. You know, God knows how many people. It's over 23 countries that we're in, and it's just been more than I can ever, ever think about, and and and more than I ever dreamed it would be. And uh, I have a ton of fun doing it. What about you?

SPEAKER_03 48:58

I have a lot of fun. I have, I mean, it's it my wife called herself a a podcast and lacrosse widow, and that's basically what she's become as I focus all my attention on this. But no, it's it's it's been fun with you since day one when we did it. And it's gonna continue to be fun. And I'll hand out one more thing is that we've got based on that, and based on people listening, we have got a surprise to throw out on next week's podcast. So people tune in. Well, as we do our first conference preview, which will be the Peach Belt, tune in and see what that surprise is.

SPEAKER_02 49:45

I'm I'm excited. I don't even know what the surprise is. So you got me all excited. Hey, Kevin, I'm humbled by everything. This has been a great run. I'm looking forward to keeping it going. Um, I'm looking really forward to the 2024 season. Um, teams are in fall ball and playing and playing, and I'm looking at all the uh social media for all the Division II teams, and they're getting after it. And it's just it's almost go time, and I'm ready for the previews and talk about the teams. And this is this is the fun part. This is when it starts getting fun. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 50:20

Really fun. And here we go. And with that, Danny, that's a wrap. It's a wrap, Joe.