DII Lacrosse Coaching Changes of 2023

SPEAKER_01 0:10

Welcome,

Intro

SPEAKER_01 0:11

welcome, welcome to another episode of In the Priest with Danny and Kevin, a coast to coast discussion of D Two Men's Lacrosse. I'm your co-host, Kevin Stenstrom, and with me as always is the Marshall Dylan of D2 Lacrosse, Danny Moran. Hey Danny, how's it going? The Marshall Dillon? What are you talking about? So I actually used that last year, and I usually hate to reuse one of your grand titles and tributes, but I had to pull that out this time because for our coaching changes series of episodes, this being our first one, we are starting by heading out west, all the way out west. You know, we bring the marshal back, you know. I see, I see, I see.

SPEAKER_00 0:51

Well, I'm doing real well, Kevin. How are you doing tonight in Northern Virginia?

SPEAKER_01 0:56

I'm doing really well. It's uh beautiful, beautiful August evening here. We are we are actually recording this really early. I mean, this one's gonna come out in October, but it's because we get a chance to get the coach on, and when you get the chance to get the coach on, you you start recording.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

That's right. You know, these chances are very far and few in between. So when they can get on, we will we record and uh and here we go. Tonight we have some uh some real cool stuff tonight.

SPEAKER_01 1:22

Yeah, we do. We're changing it up this year. You know, usually we start off with just what the regular, you know, the teams that are programs that have coaching changes that have been established. And then the last episode we do the new teams. Well, this year there's seven uh new uh D2 teams coming in in. So we're gonna flip it and we're gonna start with all the new teams this uh this series of episodes.

Concordia

SPEAKER_01 1:49

And like I said, we're gonna head west and we're gonna go to Concordia University of Irvine first, the Eagles. Really interesting background, Danny. We heard about them coming out sometime this spring during the season. But this team has been MCLA D2 champions and MCLA D1 champions. And when was the last time they won their championship? Uh this was last year, yeah. Yeah. So I think they seem pretty ready to step right into D uh NCAA D2 level. So why don't we just bring the coach in of that team, Jesse Foss, to tell us about his program. Hey coach, how you doing?

SPEAKER_00 2:29

Good, how you guys going? Yeah, thank you so much for taking the time to come on the uh Increase podcast with the two knuckleheads, two dads that never played lacrosse but but love it. And uh so here we are. We're we're a new squad, we're in division two. Tell us all about it.

SPEAKER_06 2:47

Yeah, we're excited. You know, I'm obviously I got hired in uh fall of 2018, first season 2019, and and then the intention of the program at that point was to move to NCA Division II. And obviously things got a little held up with COVID, right? And the uncertainty of all that when 2021 and 22 and 2020 and 2021. Um, but then kind of got it through that and uh the school had made it a priority that they wanted to see this happen. Um, they thought it was the right fit for for the school and for the athletic department, and um, you know, they went full steam ahead and and here we are. So excited to be part of the NCA Division II and um kind of hopefully carrying it out west.

SPEAKER_01 3:25

Now, so are you joining the RMAC this year or are you gonna be independent?

SPEAKER_06 3:29

We'll be in the RMAC this year.

SPEAKER_01 3:31

Awesome, awesome. Well, good. So we talked about the championship pedigree that your team has. Do you think you're poised to come in and make some noise, like I said?

SPEAKER_06 3:43

I mean, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna jinx myself like that. There's no way you let me say that. Um I mean, I would say that you know, we've been set up to be successful um with the support we've gotten from the school and the athletic department. I think we have um some really great returning players. We have some awesome incoming freshmen, some key transfers that I think will help us be competitive. We'll uh we'll talk at the end of next spring before I say how good we're gonna be.

SPEAKER_00 4:08

So how many got how many got on the roster, coach? Uh we'll be at 48 this fall. Oh, wow, that's great. That's awesome. So you guys are getting after the practice, and uh you'll be able to do all the things of practice that not a lot of new programs can do because a lot of times new programs have 25, maybe 30 kids, and mostly freshmen, you know, at least from from my understanding and and the way things have been going the last few years. I see these new programs coming in. They're struggle a little bit, they're young, they don't, you know, have a lot of background or senior-laden players, but you seem to have uh the opposite of that, don't you?

SPEAKER_06 4:47

Yeah, I mean, we've been running basic, you know, I was gonna kind of call us a varsity program for the last couple of years here in the MCLA, right? Obviously, MCLA is a mixed bag of schools that take it more like a club route and some schools that take it more like a varsity route. And our school, our athletes have been acting and treated like varsity athletes on campus. So we've been following all pretty much NCAA rules as far as compliance and time for the last couple of years. So um, you know, our guys are used to a strength program and you know, all the stuff that you would do in order to be a competitive varsity athlete.

SPEAKER_01 5:19

So let me ask you, that was one of my questions, actually, Coach. You almost you basically answered it. What's the transition like, or is there a transition? But you've been running that just like an NCAA D2 program. But is there anything uh different? I mean, is uh is fallball different, the amount of time you can spend with the players, or did you run it just the same way as a club that way?

SPEAKER_06 5:38

It'll change a little bit. And not the grand scheme of fall will be the same, the amount is total hours, uh, but how we allot those hours be different, right? We come in, uh we start school this week, we'll start up next week with our eight-hour weeks uh for a couple weeks there, where we get you know, eight hours with the boys, whether it be lifting or practice, meetings, film, um, and then we get into our actual fallball 45-day fallball window. Um, and then we finish up with the eight-hour weeks to finish our fall, um, which would be different than how we kind of aligned it last year. But honestly, that the total time is about the same.

SPEAKER_01 6:11

Okay. Okay. What do your players think about the move? Are they excited to to go into NCAA? Have they been waiting? I mean, I'm sure some of them, I'm sure as you were recruited, you were that's kind of the thing that you're gonna be going that way, huh?

SPEAKER_06 6:24

I mean, a little bit, right? Obviously, you know, there was always it was always the intention. It seemed like it was going that way, but I didn't want to sell kids on something that wasn't gonna happen. And and I was very clear in the recruiting process, hey, when you come to Concordia, this is what this is what I'm offering right now, and things may change, right, for the better here in the next couple years, but this is what you're signing up for, you know, and um, so I think some guys maybe knew it was coming, um, but it was not something I was selling them on. So, but they're excited. I think they're excited for the the transition of it. I think obviously, you know, whenever you leave a season on a you know, with the last team standing or the win, everyone's everyone's a little fresher than coming back in the next spring or the next fall. So everyone's uh ready to go to this this upcoming week.

SPEAKER_01 7:08

And so I know I'm jumping the gun here a little bit. Have you been able to plan out what your season, you know, your schedule looks like? Is there anything you can talk about that? I mean, I know it's really early still, but I'm I'm curious. Obviously, you know, we've watched the um Colorado Mesa and Westminster and the the travel they've got to put in to go against the competition. Are you kind of trying that right off the bat, or are you gonna try to stay local at first and then move into those sort of things uh further on?

SPEAKER_06 7:38

Yeah, no, we're our schedule's all set for next year. Um, you know, obviously we we knew this it was gonna happen in September, this this transition. Um it got kind of held up a little bit till March, whether you know, through the school, the NCA, the conference, it kept kind of getting pushed back a little bit. So I can't really reach out to colleges in September and say, hey, we're gonna go NCA Division II, you know, start budgeting to come out. So, you know, obviously when we announced it was a little late, so we'll be on the road, probably a little more than we had planned. But um, next year we have obviously our RMAC games. Uh, so that'd be our our eight games, four home, four away with Westminster, Connor Mace, Adam State, and CC Pueblo. Um, Dominican, who's also announced they're gonna go Division Two, right? Right independent next year. We'll play them home and away. Um, Dominican from New York is coming out, so we'll get a game with them. Oh, awesome. Spring break, we're gonna go out to Florida. Uh, we're gonna play Rollins, Florida Tech, and Palm Beach Atlantic.

SPEAKER_01 8:35

So um Wow, that's good. Wow, that's a good schedule, Coach.

SPEAKER_06 8:39

So yeah, so we'll have six home and and uh six home and eight away, 14-game schedule, which I think, and and a very competitive group with you know inside the conference and outside as well.

SPEAKER_00 8:49

Yeah, Colorado Mesa had 10 away games before they had their first home game last year.

SPEAKER_06 8:55

Yeah, it's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 8:56

And I and they went, they did well too. Oh, they're good, so yeah, they did well, so but they they traveled an awful lot, man.

SPEAKER_06 9:04

So my hope is is you know, obviously, in in going into 2025 is and I've already talked to some schools, and they just said, hey, you know, we'd be we would love to throw a Southern California trip in spring break and maybe mix it up where we go to California one year and then go to you know Florida the next year and alternate. And you know, I think some of the schools there'd be a great recruiting tool, right? You know, a kid from New York, you go to Delphi and you get to go to California every other year, and it's pretty pretty enticing. So I think we have to get some schools to come out uh in the in the in the hopefully in the future here.

SPEAKER_00 9:35

It's great, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:36

And and it's fantastic to see some California schools, both you and Dominican coming in this year. I think that's fantastic. We had one in D2 a few years ago that that then dropped their program. Yeah, Notre Dame, they lamore, right? Right. What what do you think about growing the game in the West in D2? Do you think there may be more coming in in California, even in the West? Is that what your hope hope is? I mean, I think it would be great to see kind of that that West grow even more.

SPEAKER_06 10:05

Yeah, I mean, if you look at kind of the school, uh, you know, obviously most of our programs compete in the conference, the Pac West. It's a lot of smaller private division two schools out in Cal out West and California. There's 12 or 13 teams in the conference. Uh, when we when they announced that we were gonna do this, a lot of the ADs had reached out and kind of said, Hey, we're we're really liking this idea and um, you know, we want to kind of see how this goes for you guys and and potentially add. So I think there's definitely some interest. You know, I think Dominican was a school that at first they were like, we're gonna keep our eye on this and maybe do it in a year or two. And then we announced, and the week later, I think our ADs talked and they said, hey, we're doing it too. So um, you know, I think I think for the growth of the game, you know, again, I'm I'm new to Division II, so I don't want to kind of misspeak here, but I think having conference automatic qualifiers would would be a huge step in seeing grow outside of you know the the the east coast.

SPEAKER_01 10:57

Danny and I talked about that at the end of the season last year. Colorado Mesa was really in it, really in it at the end. And and we had uh uh someone who was on the NCA select committee talk to us about that, and uh we understood why it didn't happen in the end, but it's a shame that uh you know schools like yours and Colorado Mesa, Westminster have to do so much travel to get those tough games to try to even be in it. When if you have a lot uh a good conference in the West, and you and it'd be great you still play teams on the east, but you don't have to travel 10 times before you play a home game. And if you get that AQ, I think that will draw other teams into it because that's the incentive, right? Right, right. So I'm I I can't wait for that to happen. I hope it happens the next couple of years because I think that that's gonna be a tipping point uh for a lot of schools in the West. I hope. I think that would be great.

SPEAKER_00 11:56

I think we're headed there, I think we're headed there sooner than later, my opinion.

SPEAKER_06 12:01

Yeah, yeah. I mean, that was one of the things, even when we kind of go through these talks with our school, and you know, um, that was one of even for the cabinet of the school who, you know, on athletic success is probably not on their main, you know, you know, topics, but you know, they were kind of like, hey, well, you know, how does it how does this work for us postseason? And that was a question that they had. Um, so I think it is important to the schools and certainly athletic departments, you know, uh if we add this team sport, yeah, we can get enrollment, we can do all that, but you know, are we going to be successful? Is this gonna bring some attention to our pro to our school?

SPEAKER_00 12:31

So right's tough when you know with the RPI and the way they do it with the you know, all the math that's involved and strength of schedule, and it's it's pretty tough to get there. You you know, you have to get a good out-of-conference schedule and then bang out your your conference, and it's it it's it's tough to get there. Yeah, but coach, tell us about Lervine, where it's located, and tell us about the school, man. Like uh, what's it all about there?

SPEAKER_06 13:00

Yeah, yeah. So uh location's great. We're in the city of Irvine. Um, you know, we're location-wise, we're about eight miles from Newport Beach, Laguna Beach right there. Um, we're 90 miles from the from the mountains. We're about an hour north and south of San Diego and LA. So um location's pretty key. You got our field, and there's a hill right on top of the field. And if you actually go up there, um, you can see the ocean. And then in the winter, you can actually see the snow in the mountains, too. So um, that's awesome. It's a really, really cool campus. See, Disney Works firework fire, or at least the fireworks um in the summer every day from up on the hill. So um wow, cool. Pretty cool. It's um obviously school size, we're about 2,000 students, uh, undergrad, 3,000 grad students. Uh, we've got 19 sports on campus, all division two level. Um, about 40% of our student population is athletes. So it's a big athletic-centric school, um, a lot of support between the programs and you know, just location, academics. Uh, it's you know, social environment. It's an awesome, awesome space to work in and go to school at.

SPEAKER_00 14:01

Sounds like it's not a hard set.

SPEAKER_06 14:03

Once you get them on campus, it's uh it's tough to get them off.

SPEAKER_01 14:06

I see a lot of East Coast players going out to Cagordia, you Irvine. That's what I see.

SPEAKER_06 14:14

That's yeah, I mean, I definitely definitely the interest has spiked since we made the announcement. We've had a couple kids come in um from back east, a couple transfers, um, and and you know, a couple incoming freshmen as well. And you know, I am from back east, so I have some some connections back there, and and we're working kind of with those to to get more guys out here. But yeah, who you know, I I moved to California in 2003 after college, um, and I was, you know, I wish I'd figured it out four years earlier. So the guys that get figured out is pretty lucky.

SPEAKER_01 14:42

But is most of your recruiting, I would assume right now, especially with club, when it was club, was mainly west coast, wet western states.

SPEAKER_06 14:50

Yeah, I mean, yes, it is. Um, I would say go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 14:55

But the talent is still probably great.

SPEAKER_06 14:58

Yeah, we're we're in a strong hotbed in Southern California between LA, Orange County, and San Diego. There's a lot of good lacrosse being played, a lot of kids that don't want to go back east, you know, or go back east and check the box, right? And then go, okay, uh, you know, I this is great, but I want to go home. So um, you know, I think no matter what, I think my vision of the program really is I want to be the program of the West. You know, I I obviously I'll I'll take great kids from the from back east and I would never turn down a kid from Long Island, you know, but um if um you know I I like the idea that most I want half a roster to come within a couple hours of a school, right? I want I I like that coach.

SPEAKER_01 15:38

I think that's how you grow the game even more. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:41

So without a doubt. And California's been growing in the last five, six years, uh lacrosse-wise, they're really producing some really good teams and players, and they've really come a long way in the last five, six years, California kids.

SPEAKER_06 15:55

Yeah, and this and there's other areas too that are still not really been, you know, I I wouldn't call it California hotbed, but it's definitely, you know, sought after by college coaches back east. But, you know, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, all areas that are not being heavily recruited, and there's a lot of talent out of those out of those states that um, you know, again, if we can provide opportunity for kids to to go to a great school in a great location and play NCA Division II Lacrosse, I think it's gonna be tough to turn down.

SPEAKER_00 16:21

All right. Now you said you were originally from East. Where were you from? Uh Levitown, New York. It's Long Island. Oh, Long Island. I'm in Lawrence, I'm in the five towns. Nice. I can drive like I can drive like this on Saturday. No, so that's good. Levitown. So where where did you get your uh lacrosse background, high school and college and whatnot?

SPEAKER_06 16:41

So I played Levittown Division. Um and then I went on, I played uh two years at Nassau Community College.

SPEAKER_00 16:47

Yeah, sure.

SPEAKER_06 16:48

And then I finished up at Stony Brook University.

SPEAKER_00 16:51

Great, great, yeah. Seawolves, seawolves, yeah, all right. So that's awesome, awesome. So you're bringing that Long Island to the to the West Coast.

SPEAKER_06 17:02

A little bit, a little bit. So he's been out here for 20 years.

SPEAKER_01 17:04

He's been out here long enough. You you can hear a little bit of the accent, but he's he's a west coaster now.

SPEAKER_00 17:10

But when you learn lacrosse on Long Island, you that's it's a different type of lacrosse on Long Island. And when you bring that back, you know, it's it's different.

SPEAKER_06 17:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:20

Would you agree, coach?

SPEAKER_06 17:22

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I and but you know, there's been a lot of guys out here that have come out from back east, you know, that are coaching at the high school and and even younger youth levels out here that are really kind of growing it and and and teaching kids the right way to play. And at this point, now it's it's kind of come full circle, right? There's guys that I had coached when I was coaching high school out here that are now coaches uh and teaching the game. So it's you know, it's kind of the evolution of the of the game out west.

SPEAKER_01 17:47

Well, I'll tell you, coach, it's been great having you on. We are really excited to have your team playing in the RMAC and growing the game out west along with Dominican. But I think it's just gonna be phenomenal this year to see it. And uh, we are definitely gonna catch some of your games and and be talking about them because it's gonna be be really fun to see what your team can do with what they did in MCLA and what they bring to D2. I think they'll be you guys will be competitive against the other teams, not only in your conference, but out of conference as well.

SPEAKER_06 18:20

Thank you. Yeah, I'm I'm excited. It's gonna be a good experience for our guys and and and like I said, good for the game.

SPEAKER_00 18:27

And and great for division two. Now we're you know, we're growing the game on the west coast, you know, to get to California is a great thing for division two. And like you said, I think it's gonna push us closer to automatic qualifiers. And uh again, like you and like you said, that's just gonna draw more pe more people into it. So if the game is growing exponentially, division two is phenomenal. It might have more teams than division one now. So we're we're if we're not uh over there, we're there close enough with division one as as we speak. So I wish you nothing but the best. Thank you so much for coming on, taking the time tonight. I know you've been busy last couple of days, a lot of guys going on to campus and getting things together. It's a lot for a coach. Hey, tell us about your assistance before you go.

SPEAKER_06 19:14

Yeah, they got some great ones. Um, all and actually, two of them actually played at Division II level, which is kind of bringing this pretty cool. But uh Austin Lazan is our defensive coach. Austin was an all-American in Florida Southern, a defensive player. I think he still holds some records and ground balls and some other stuff, but just a really high-end student athlete who's academic all-American, on the field, all-American. Um, he's come out here. This is starting year four with us. Um Mike Reno is our face-off coach. Mike was an all-American face-off guy at Colorado Mesa, uh, and now he's gonna have to go battle against them next year. So um, yeah. Yeah, he already he's already nervous about going to the alumni game in the fall out there because he's gonna get a lot of crap. So uh and then Tyler Schweiker um is our uh goalie coach. Um actually, Tyler actually started at Limestone. He's a California kid, Orange County, started at Limestone, and then you know decided he wanted to come back and played for me for four years at Concordia, was an all-American uh goalie for me in 2022. Um, and then now has been on his second year as a grad assistant with my goalies. So um great pretty complete staff and guys that that have been involved in the program for for several years now.

SPEAKER_00 20:26

Well, that's fantastic. I wish you not the best coach. Um, I'm sure we'll have you back on the uh the podcast before the end of the season. We'll be talking about Garvine a lot this year, I'm sure, because there's so much new things to talk about in Division II, and we want to bring that to the masses. So we wish you the best of luck. And uh thanks so much for coming on tonight. Appreciate it.

SPEAKER_06 20:46

Thanks for having me. I appreciate

Dominican University

SPEAKER_06 20:48

you guys all right, Danny.

SPEAKER_01 20:50

Now we are staying in the great state of California, but we're heading a little over 400 miles north up to San Rafael, California.

SPEAKER_00 20:59

Crazy right near San Francisco, Oakland. Two coaches from California on in the same night. This is like a a crazy this is like a landmark podcast.

SPEAKER_01 21:10

It is, and it's awesome. It's awesome to see that there's two schools from California coming into D2 the same year, yeah. And the same thing, this program isn't brand new, they've been in MCLA Division II, I think, pro since 2015. But it's even more interesting is they were in prior to that, they were NCAA division two, as I as I think I recall from their history, so they're coming back into the NCAA division two, which is really awesome. So, let's bring in the head coach to tell us all about that and where they are heading. Coach Sammy Vogelsteinberg, we'll just call him Coach Sammy. Coach Coach, how you doing?

SPEAKER_02 21:48

I'm great, I'm great, happy to be here, happy to talk to you guys about D2 and and the big move. So awesome.

SPEAKER_00 21:55

Sammy, thanks so much for taking the time with us. Big Ranger fan, Kev. He's got Ranger. Just stuff all over the back on the background. He's on a Ranger couch. I'm liking this guy already. Are you?

SPEAKER_01 22:07

I know I think I never asked you, Danny. Are you an Islander fan or a Ranger fan? Ranger fan. There you go. Okay. There we go.

SPEAKER_04 22:14

Well, yeah, we're we're best friends already.

SPEAKER_01 22:15

Yeah, we already know where this is, but I'll just shut up and let you two talk.

SPEAKER_00 22:22

Well, thanks so much for taking the time, Coach. I really appreciate it. So, how's it going so far? You got kids on campus and you got things moving along right now. How's it going?

SPEAKER_02 22:32

Yeah, it's going great. Um, you know, we had uh guys were in on last Wednesday. Uh so our freshmen came in on Wednesday, and then we had our first kind of team meetings and stuff like that this weekend. First day of school is on Monday, and so they're all back right now. They're they're doing some captains practices on their own, and then uh we get started on Friday as far as like our first team stuff. So uh yeah, so no, it's good. We got we got a very healthy squad this year of 54. So we're uh we're wow pretty pretty good.

SPEAKER_00 23:01

So phenomenal. That's phenomenal.

SPEAKER_01 23:03

I was gonna ask you about that it because unlike a new start, you've already been recruiting. You've been the have you been the coach since 2016?

SPEAKER_02 23:11

Yeah, yeah. So I've been this is my ninth season at Dominican.

SPEAKER_01 23:15

So the that obviously you've got to feel like that gives you a jump start coming in because it's not like you have all freshmen or in a few transfers, you've got a uh a team that's played together. So, how how are you feeling about that? What's the transition like? Is there really a transition for you?

SPEAKER_02 23:32

Yeah, no, definitely. I mean, you know, I we when I came into the medicine, you know, we we were an M we did we were MCLA D1 and uh and I got here for second year MCLA, the first year they're on foundation. Um, and we had 12 guys when I showed up here. Oh my lord. Wow. Yeah, yeah. And and it took a while for us to get to find the right recruits, find the right people to come to a small school in California. But, you know, I think where we are now, you know, we're in a great place. We've had a lot of success with recruiting and uh, you know, the fields itself. But you know, I think what are you saying, like is there a difference? I think the biggest thing is just getting the guys used to doing something different, right? Um, you know, where in the past we could do whatever we want. That was there's no rules, there's no compliance, there's no hours restriction for practice. We can, you know, first day of school, we were practicing, right? Um we're just gone, right? Where now it's like they almost have to be more on their own. And I think that is the big difference. And I think what they're most excited about, um, you know, is to is that they're coming in and they're having the room. And as far as like the roster goes, you know, we have we're about 50-50 of new guys and returners. We have about 25 returners, about 27, 28 new guys, right? So um, you know, everybody came back from that was gonna come back from the previous season. And so it's a mix of guys who played MCLA who are still not fully sold on D2, and a mix of guys who are all in and ready to go at D2. So we're just trying to get them all on the same page and get them excited and recognize that being Division II is gonna be so much better than where we were before. And and nothing to knock the MCLA. We love the MCLA, it was a great time. I played MCLA ball. Um, but I think we're like, you know, the production and the product.

SPEAKER_01 25:19

Yeah, so let's go back a little bit. You just said you played MCLA. So tell us about your lacrosse journey and how you got into coaching and ended up in Dominican.

SPEAKER_02 25:28

Sure, yeah. No, I I have a my my experience was definitely a little bit different and how I got into everything, but um, I grew up on the East Coast, I grew up in New Jersey. Uh, I lived out there until I was 13, and then I moved out to Southern California when I was in high school. So, you know, big, big shift there. Yeah, I got out here, it was 2003, and my high school team, Westlakes High School, down to Southern California. We were it was the first team time there was ever lacrosse at the high school and at the first two, right? And so, yeah, so it was cool to kind of see it grow. And like when I after playing four years, coming back after college with everybody on the team, right? Um, so with that too, there was no there was one travel program in Southern California when I was in high school, and it was the LA stars, and they were purple and gold, same color as the Lakers, and they did like one tournament and got you know destroyed, right? Like, you know, and out of out of my seniors, like all the guys that I played with, I think one guy went to playing in college that wasn't MCLA, right? You know, like there's what that wasn't a thing then, and so um I was also a hockey player, as you can see, but and uh and so I I got recruited for both. So I ended up choosing to go to Humboldt State University up in uh Arcata, California, which is about four and a half hours north of here. It's a uh small, you know, about 8,000 student school in the middle of the Redwoods. And uh they've had a program, they've had an MCRA V2 program since the 80s. Um so it's a it's a pretty well-established program. And uh and so I played there for four years, and you know, I I had some chances to go play D3, I had some chances to you know play D1 hockey. And I just was like I wanted to, I wanted to play. Like I wanted to play. That was the big thing. I wanted to play four years, I w I was a goalie, I wanted to start. So I was able to do that. I was able to play four years at Humboldt State and uh as a goal as a goalie and starting to go into that. Um a lot of fun, you know, it was a good experience. And and and my senior year, I uh I blew out my knee and I got into coaching. I started coaching the the women's across team there, as well as helping with the men's team, um, you know, with still being a part of the team, even though I was hurt. So then I was I was a filmmaker, so I decided to go into the film industry uh after I graduated. So I was working in the film industry down in LA and uh and I was coaching high school at Oak Park High School with Tarek Ergin, who played at Cornell. He's a really big name in California, lacrosse is always like a great guy, my mentor for sure. And uh and yeah, I was coaching Dave there, having a good time doing that, and working in the film industry and hating working in the film industry. But I would every day I would love to just go to practice. Like that was my favorite thing. I'm you know, right? I left my job in the film industry and I was just like, you know what? I'm gonna coach, I'm gonna just figure this out, I'm gonna do it. Like I have played you know low-level MCOB football, and I'm gonna try and do this, you know. And uh yeah, and somebody took a chance on me uh at Washington Jefferson College back east um and had a great year of coaching. You know, we did really well, won the conference this at a time, and uh and I recruited about 13 guys on my own. Um, and so I I got I I figured out I was really good at recruiting, you know. Um, I was learning the F's and O's a bit a bit more, and then I just but I knew I was good at recruiting. So after WJ, I got a I got I I wanted to be a head coach somewhere and care. So uh I ended up getting the head coaching job at the University of Idaho um in Moscow, Idaho. So yeah, and so I got the head coaching job there and came in with similar situations with editing, came in with 17 guys, um, you know, had to find guys on campus. It's a Pratt school, so it's like possible to get people to commit to playing. And uh and you know, first year we go seven and seven, um, best record in program history, missed playoffs by a coin flip with 18 guys. So it was like, all right, this is good. I brought in 35 guys to the university the next year, um, 25 of them stocks because you know, it's because I don't even stalks. We ended up with like a 38-man roster, which was the largest roster ever. Um, we ended up having a winning season, um, making playoffs um for the first time, going all the way to the PNCL championship division of the PNCL, I think.

SPEAKER_05 29:47

Right.

SPEAKER_02 29:47

So it was like a huge turnaround for the program. Um, you know, it's a program that was always at the bottom, right? And and then yeah, then I I uh and then I uh let and then I got I started looking for jobs and seeing what it was out there, and um Dominican opened up and uh I I knew the previous coach pretty well, and he recommended me highly and you know, came in and was like, Oh, it's gonna be a program that's established. I used to be too. I'd show up with 12 guys and be like, okay, I gotta do a complete rebuild again. So um, but you know, it was the best decision I ever made. You know, I love it here. It's an awesome university place to coach, and um, you know, really just an awesome, awesome place to be.

SPEAKER_00 30:28

So that's a good story of like vision of perseverance, man.

SPEAKER_01 30:35

And not building something from scratch, but rebuilding, taking something that's kind of in its dormant stages. Now you're starting, and so let me ask you this, coach. Was it always the vision since you got there to try to get to the NCAAs, or when did that start to come to fruition?

SPEAKER_02 30:53

Yeah, so when I got here, I mean that was always my goal, right? Right really early on editing that. You know, I mean, we were two years removed from D2, you know, we we, you know, everybody says, Oh, the MCP isn't a five to the you know, NASA. Like that had nothing to do with that. We dropped the future program because you know, and we decided to go in the funding. Um, you know, we there there wasn't enough money to be able to go back east all the time and be an independent team. The yeah, you know, the RMAC was starting up, but it just wasn't it didn't make any sense, right? The MCLA was right in our backyard, so why would we have to do it? So yeah, so you know, we uh we we decided to to to go MC to the MCLA and and do that route, but for us, the biggest piece was changing the culture. Um lacrosse was not looked at in a good way on campus when I got here.

SPEAKER_05 31:44

And okay, okay.

SPEAKER_02 31:46

Um, you know, we had we and we had a we had a history because of what happened at the last game we played in C2. And uh and for and so for me it was that had to change, right? I needed to bring in guys who were good quality young men, you know, who were gonna build the reputation, and the school was gonna get to a point where they really supported us. That was the only way to have CQ. And you know, to I give it to the guy who who I brought in who bought into that, who day one, when I said we're not gonna be getting in trouble, we're not gonna be causing problems. Like we want to be a lacrosse school, like that's what we want to be. And we've been able to build that. I mean, it's pretty amazing to see like we're now one of the we're the largest male sports, um we're one of the most respected teams here. The teachers know who we are and they like us, we're not getting in trouble anymore.

SPEAKER_00 32:34

Right.

SPEAKER_02 32:36

You know, great culture, yeah. Right. Yeah, we have a great culture, a great, you know, a lot of respect on campus, so it's huge, you know. So we're in such we were in such a good place that it came to the point where the AD trusted us to be like, hey, we can do this, right? And um, you know, I would say about halfway through my career at Dominican, I I gave up on V2. I was like, it's not gonna happen, you know, because NDNU closed, right? And they were the ones that I needed to push the most.

SPEAKER_05 33:05

Right, right.

SPEAKER_02 33:06

They just weren't into it, they just wanted to be independent and keep doing their thing. And so it was like, and then you know, Concordia wasn't really sure, Biola wasn't really sure, which is the other one we were talking to, and it just got to a point where I was just like, no, I'm the only one pushing for this, and I don't see it happening.

SPEAKER_05 33:23

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:25

So, you know, but then I realized that the only way we were gonna add D2 across at Dominican was to add a women's team, and so that was my next step was okay, we need to budget, we need to find a way to raise money for the women's team. So we raised a hundred thousand dollars to add the women's team at Dominican, brought in a coach, he did an incredible job recruiting. He brought in um 25 doing us the math, like year one. Um you know, and then last year they go and play in the club, and they're just still like it was it was wild. They were being deemed by 20 goals year one. Wow. And uh, and so it was like, so then we realized that they need higher competition. And in May, we we started talking about it, and we realized okay, this has an institute too. We were still thinking two years down the road for for the men's side, and uh and we called the RMA Commissioner, and the RMAS Commissioner said, you know, we need we want men and women to go. And so then they came back and talked to us, and she was like, What do you guys think? And we're like, let's do it. Sounds great, we'll go for it. And uh, and then in the May we we just we let it roll. So it was it it moved fast, like we were not expecting it, and like mid-May, we were like, We're going D2, and now we've gotta figure out that. So it was that, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:43

So are you gonna be independent this year or are you gonna be in the RMAC?

SPEAKER_02 34:47

Yeah, so that was part of the decision process is do we stay another year in the club and then go to the RMAC? Because we have to do the whole, you know, we have we have to do the whole application process. We're not guaranteed the RMAC until they approve us. And you know, they couldn't do it for this season, but we were like, okay, well, you know, I think it'll be better for us to go independent, get experience at the two, and then you know, at 30 months and ready once if the RMAC does approve us, now we're ready to go. So we're doing independent this year, and then we've applied to the RMAC. We're going through the application process now. That's great. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 35:21

So, yeah, that's awesome. So then what is your have you been like since May or June trying to not only recruit but come up with a schedule for your next year?

SPEAKER_02 35:31

Yeah, so we were it was like it as soon as I found out I called all the RMAC schools because we were like, we gotta get that one, and then we emailed every single D2 school in the country.

SPEAKER_01 35:42

Uh Coach Sammy does not quit. I mean, it's more energy, uh it's amazing. Single D2 school, you'll raise a hundred thousand dollars for a uh women's team, and now I gonna I'm gonna email every coach and hound them to play.

SPEAKER_00 36:00

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Make it stuff happen, Coach Sammy. Making stuff happen.

SPEAKER_02 36:06

It's the only way that I could do that and just go home and you know, right, right. There's no way I I look at it, there's no way I'd be where I am. I mean, like I said, I played M3 D2 ball at a school that nobody's probably heard of, and you know, and and you know, and I've built a career out of it. So and I and I've been able to, you know, I just was hard to try and learn, and you know, and I just I learned from the people around me and you know, and then you know, finally the goals and this is the goal, and we got there. And yeah, so we emailed every single D2 coach in the country and was just like, what support us? And uh everybody was really excited and really welcoming, but most people had their schedules done, right? So um, you know, we make we're making it work this year. Uh we have a lot of road games, but you know, I think we got a really good schedule, we got a good mix of competition, and you know, some schools have been really about working with us and trying to figure out ways to make it all work. So um, you know, we're excited about it. And then yeah, recruiting. I mean, you know, we we we always try, we we always had support at the MCA level, so we had athletic scholarships. Um, we had full athletic university, we weren't a club sport because there was no club sports at Dominican. Um so we try to ran it like a program, which is we try to do that room as well. So I would say you know, most of the freshmen coming in like have the ability to play at the level, um, and then we just wanted to fill in with transfers. And so we got a we got about six transfers we were really excited about that I I mean are gonna come in and make impacts right away. So yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:39

That's great, coach. I I'll tell you what, with with Dominican University coming in and Concordia Irvine, with your pedigree, I think there's gonna be real competition when you play the R you just playing the RMAC teams, when the RMAC in another year is up at six teams, it's gonna be really fun to watch. You know, because there's been two at the top, you know, Westminster and CMU, and they'll go back and forth and they'll play great games.

SPEAKER_00 38:06

And but now with with you two coming in, uh and with with pedigree with pedigree, even though they're new programs to division two, they're coming from MCLA programs, they got 40, 50 kids on the roster.

SPEAKER_01 38:20

They've got coach Sammy's just gonna outwork them.

SPEAKER_00 38:23

That's all he's gonna outwork them all. He's got the drive, you know that. It's got the drive. He's got the drive. No, it's really interesting, man. That the division two is growing exponentially, getting uh as many teams as division one, and if not more now. I think we're headed towards automatic qualifiers if we can get a few more teams in the West and get that West going out there, and I think that's a biggie. And and I think we're headed there, you know. Now we got two teams from California in division two. Welcome. Yeah, it's yeah, that's it's strap yourself in, coach. The RMAC's no joke, man. Oh, yeah. No, we're we're ready. We know it. We know it's gonna be hard. So, you know, so do you have any like a couple of GLVC teams maybe on the on the schedule? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:11

So, you know, I mean, so we have we have all the RMAC schools, and uh, and then we're playing do this, Baben Forth, Cynthia, and Roosevelt. So we've got all of it.

SPEAKER_01 39:21

That and then a great schedule, coach. Yeah, that is a great schedule. It's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 39:26

Yeah, so yeah, it gives us, I felt like it gives us uh writer down a competition because it's a new field where we need to be, and you know, right competitive. I'm not gonna nurse there's been one west coast school to ever make the NCAA tournament, and that's Mesa, you know, and so that needs to change, right? I think there needs to be and the only way we're gonna continue to add teams out west is to see the success. So it's not just success and you know, getting to the that the NCLA tournament, but like building having the office, officers, not having to travel for every single room, right? So we need other D2 schools to buy into it as well for this. There's even gonna fit strength if we don't like we don't continue to go in the right direction. And and you know, like the RMAC, you know, hopefully having asked them, you know, getting reached huge because I think a lot of the MCLA schools who are division things and the universities, you know, they look at it and they go, Well, why am I gonna leave MCLA where I have an automatic ball fire and LCS to go to the division two and not compete for anything, right? And you know, but but our hope is that you know, and I've talked to Jesse about this a lot, but our hope is that in in you know three, four years we have a California conference. We're hoping we can convince some of the schools out here to join us or not, you know, but they've got to see us succeed, right? If we succeed, I think more schools will be interested in joining up.

SPEAKER_01 40:56

So yeah, we agree. We talked to Coach Foss about that. About the AQ would really be an incentive, just like you said, because it it helps you not having to do all that travel just to get a quality schedule together so that you have a chance. Now you still want some of those those out-of-con those good out-of-conference games because that's only going to help you competitively, but now you can focus more regionally, which then gets you a chance to still get to the dance. And that is critical for uh teams on the West Coast or in the West, not even on the West Coast, but in on in the West.

SPEAKER_00 41:36

Yeah, in the West, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:38

Well, Coach, this has been awesome having you on. I'm so excited to watch your team play. Uh, you know, Coach Foss invited us out, so I'm not putting any pressure on you, but Danny and I may have to do a West Coast swing, you know, and travel up the the coastal highway to get up to your to you. We'll have one weekend at uh CUI and then one at Dominican University.

SPEAKER_02 42:00

Yeah, come on out. It's a beautiful place. You won't regret it. It's an awesome place to be.

SPEAKER_00 42:05

I bet, I bet. Well, coach, thank you so much for taking the time to come on our podcast with us tonight. We really appreciate it. We wish you nothing but the best of luck this season. It's gonna be so much fun with all these new teams out west and coming into division two. Um, so we wish you nothing but the best. We'll be watching, we'll be talking about you guys on the podcast, I'm sure. We'll be talking about players and stuff that they're doing on the field, and we're gonna keep it real and keep it positive. And thanks again for so much for coming on, and we'll see you soon. Thanks.

SPEAKER_02 42:38

Yeah, thanks for having me. I really appreciate it, really enjoyed it. And if you guys ever need anything, let me know. If you come out of California, you know, we'll make sure you're good. So that's great. Thanks so much.

SPEAKER_01 42:48

Thanks.

William Jewell

SPEAKER_01 42:50

Okay, Danny. We're moving a bit farther east with this new program, but we're still west of the Mississippi. William Jewell Cardinals. Brand new program. Ryan Burke was named the first ever head coach June 1st, 2022. And he's got some good pedigree. He's assistant at Monteval for two years, and he played and coached at St. Leo.

SPEAKER_00 43:16

Yeah, Coach Jay, Coach Jergensen.

SPEAKER_01 43:18

Yeah, our favorite, been on. So let's just welcome in, Coach Ryan Burke. How you doing?

SPEAKER_04 43:23

Good, good. Thank you for having me. I'm pumped to be here. Anytime I can talk across, so I'm I'm all for it.

SPEAKER_00 43:29

Coach, thanks so much for taking the time to talk to the two knuckleheads and then the crease. Uh uh, we give you a little warm-up of what we're all about. Hey, welcome to Division II, Coach. Here we go. William Jewell, new program. What do we got?

SPEAKER_04 43:44

Yeah, um I'm excited. Uh, you know, when we announced, uh, when they announced the program, uh, I've already been in contact with the the former AD for a couple years. It was a spot I was really interested in. Um, I just think the academics really help separate. Us. Being one of the most Western schools in Division II kind of helps separate us recruiting-wise. And I felt like it had a nice little niche when it came to the academic programs that we offer here. So they did it the right way. They gave me a year and a couple months to recruit, which a lot of schools at Division II do. And it allowed us to pull in some kids that I'm really happy about with this first class, which is uh uh 33 guys from 18 different states, um, two Canadian provinces. Uh so we're we're excited. We're we're uh guys moved in uh uh yesterday, and uh we have our first uh we had our first meeting yesterday, and we're you know we're off we're off running right now.

SPEAKER_01 44:46

Now are they all freshmen or did you get some transfers in? How'd that go? Yeah, we we tried the transfer thing.

SPEAKER_04 44:53

Um I just don't know how good of a fit it was at a first year program. Um we wanted to do it all freshmen, but we dabbled in the transfer portal. Um but every every kid's getting a hundred emails that goes into the transfer portal, so we just we stuck to guys that wanted to build it and knew that you know first year is gonna be it's gonna be tough. We're gonna be younger, we're gonna be less experienced. Um I think we have a lot of skilled guys, um, you're gonna be playing against guys four or five years older than you. So um, you know, we we we want to build this thing right, and it takes time to build something right. So um I think we got the right guys that understand that.

SPEAKER_01 45:26

That's great. That's I'll tell you what, coach, I think that's exactly what you want. You want players who are bought in to start something new and being that foundational people in the program, players in the program. I think that makes a huge difference if they're bought in from that, because that's the kind of mentality you've got to have. You've got to know that you're, like you said, you're playing people, you're playing players that are probably two, three, four years older than you, bigger, stronger, understand the college game a lot better. So I think if you get them bought in, they realize that that's a great way to go. Walk us through that what that first year was like after you, you know, and waiting. Like you said, you thought it was the right way to go, and I think so too. It gives you a little time, but what was that like?

SPEAKER_04 46:08

Boring. I coached the cross for a year and three months, I was losing my mind. Um watched a lot of lacrosse, talked a lot of lacrosse, but just didn't get to coach it. Um, you know, selling a vision is is is kind of tough. And you know, a lot of times I would tell a kid, Are you are you sure this is what you want? Because it's not going to be easy and maybe not fun at sometimes. Um so almost out, like almost didn't like you're underselling. Yeah, in a way, yeah. Yeah, and it was uh it was a little interesting tactic, but uh it worked out and um just I mean, just recruits, recruits. I mean, I I called kids, cold call, you know, texts, emails. If they didn't answer one or the other, I'd you know, I'd slide into the the Instagram messages, and you know, whatever I had to do to get someone on the phone to kind of talk about what we're doing, I did, and um we came out with 33 great guys, but just absolutely boring.

SPEAKER_01 47:03

I'll tell you, coach, 33 in your first year, that's a lot of recruiting, that's a lot of texting, and I mean that's impressive. I mean, typically we've seen Danny and I've seen recently, they may get up 20, maybe 25, right, Danny, that we've seen new programs, but not 33. That's that's pretty impressive.

SPEAKER_00 47:28

And we we've had coaches that started programs with 15 guys.

SPEAKER_04 47:32

I couldn't imagine practicing that way. I wouldn't sleep at night when I had 15 guys and I needed to get to 20, and they're like, got the 20. I couldn't sleep because I needed to be at 25, and it's just uh a revolving door in that sense.

SPEAKER_00 47:45

Yeah, I can see that being a little uh nerve-wracking in in the beginning, but now now you got your you got your guys, you got your settled, you got your have the first meeting go.

SPEAKER_04 47:55

Good, good. Um, it was more about what's this week look like, kind of with orientation and stuff. But um, next Sunday we we kind of have our team meeting about hey, this is what the fall looks like, and um here's what we're doing. So uh a little soft intro meeting. Um, don't want to scare them away too early.

SPEAKER_01 48:13

So look, so I have to say, I have to ask you this because you said you were so bored. I bet you can't wait for fall ball and practices to start. When does that kick off for you?

SPEAKER_04 48:23

Yeah, I was a little nerve, nervous when these when these guys are starting to get ready to come here, but now that I've I've got them all in one place, I've I couldn't be more excited. Um we start lifts next week, um, and then we have our first practice next Saturday where we're just gonna let the guys, we're gonna pick teams as a coaching staff. Um, I just hired uh the a graduate assistant um from LMU. Um, pretty excited about him, a Texas guy. Um and we're just gonna draft teams and we're gonna let them play and we're gonna film it and you know, we're just gonna kind of see what we have. I think that's the big part of being a new program is you got 33 guys that, you know, maybe at high school they were attackmen, but maybe they're better fits at midfield at this level and you know, all different sorts. So we're just gonna let them play. We're gonna watch, we're gonna see what we have and kind of build out our fall a little bit from there.

SPEAKER_00 49:10

And hopefully, you know, some of the players will say, Hey, I got a chance to get on the field, even though I'm an attackman. I get, you know, you're gonna make me a MIDI coach, you know. Hopefully they buy into that because sometimes kids can be, you know, I'm an attackman, you know, like you know what? What's best for the team, man? Yeah, be on the field. That's right.

SPEAKER_03 49:32

You're a midfielder. I said, okay. And he goes, Oh, by the way, it's a D midfielder. I'm a D MIDI now. All right, cool. Starting attacking the D Midi in a day, awesome, love it.

SPEAKER_00 49:41

So, you know what, though, that's for the best for the team, and that's what it's all about building a culture that's you know best for the team. And hopefully you get those players that'll just buy into that.

SPEAKER_01 49:52

Yep. So speaking of uh of Coach Jorgensen and St. Lou, how do you think your experience there as well as Montevallo has helped you prepare for William Jewel?

SPEAKER_04 50:02

Yeah, I think um Brad did a uh a great job of just kind of letting me you know figure it out on my own a little bit. Um you know that's something I definitely want to do with Andrew. Um just kind of get thrown in the flames um and and kind of fail a little bit, but then you know figure it out. Um so that's definitely something that he did for me that I I enjoyed and allowed me to kind of you know figure out who I am as a coach. Uh and then uh working with Jason, uh Coach Lang at Montevallo, um, you know, I've never met a guy that's more empathetic uh in my life, I think. He just understands what the guys are going through and how to relate. Um and that's maybe not something early in my career I did a great job of. It was like, I need to win, we need to win, whatever we got to do to win. But um, you got to understand how each each player uh responds and and what kind of triggers them and and how they get going. And uh I think Coach Lang does an awesome job of that. And it's something I picked up on pretty quickly, and um it really like made a uh an impact on me as a coach, like pretty quickly. Um, and it's something I want to bring along with me because I think that's very important in this day and age.

SPEAKER_01 51:11

Very interesting. So, switching topics here, what do you think of playing in the GLBC? I think it's gonna be tough.

SPEAKER_04 51:20

Um losing Lindenwood.

SPEAKER_01 51:23

Uh we love honesty, coach. We love honesty.

SPEAKER_04 51:26

I told all the guys, like it, you know, give it a couple years, it's probably gonna be one of the top conferences again. Um, you know, losing Linden would definitely hurt when it comes to uh the competition level. Um, but I I have told every guy I got on campus uh we expect this program to be a conference competitive program, uh conference championship competitive program in the next four years. Uh and if we can do that, you know, we'll have five, you know, five to six teams in our conference that are, you know, nationally or competing nationally uh rankings uh every week. Um our top four uh teams um consistently just beat each other up, and they were all nationally ranked at some point, and only four make the conference tournament. Um that's fifth in there, it really makes things interesting, but it makes it a really deep conference. Um, you know, so that's kind of what our goal is uh in the next four years, and I'm excited to kind of help elevate the GLVC a little bit again um with Leninwood leaving, but uh you know it's all all easier said than done.

SPEAKER_01 52:27

Yeah, well I'll tell you, even some of the teams you know in the lower half of the uh of the conference are still they played better last year. You look at Quincy and Davenport. Quincy was turning the turning the tide a little bit. And so I think the GLVC will always be there as a top conference. And like you said, there's gonna be about four each four teams each year, probably this next year, that are gonna be vying for that top in the top 20 all the time.

SPEAKER_04 52:57

Yeah, Lewis is gonna be a lot better. I know a lot of the coaching art conference, Rockers can be a lot better. Um, Maryville's gonna do a great job as always, and then you I mean, you know what you Andy can do, right? So, you know, none of those are easy. And Davenport and Quincy, again, like you said, elevated where they were. Um, and we lost some guys to Quincy. They did a great job recruiting. Um, and we oh I think we opened with them. Um, so that'll be uh at a conference, um, but it'll be that'll be a fun one.

SPEAKER_00 53:24

GLPC is tough, man. I I don't care what anybody says. I think it's a I call it like the black and blue conference because they beat each other out because they just beat the shit out of each other. You know, they just they really do, and they all play quality lacrosse, and you know, they're all real good teams and they're all improving like each year. You know, take you India out of it, they're they're a top-notch team, but all the rest of the teams are very competitive and very formidable and go out and fight hard. And a lot of times it's in weather, coach. It's gonna be chilly in the beginning of the season, you know.

SPEAKER_04 54:00

That's it's what you get in the Midwest. You get you get big physical kids that love to love to kind of bruise each other up. So it's uh it makes for lacrosse a fun lacrosse game to watch, that's no doubt.

SPEAKER_00 54:11

Now tell us where William Jewell is located, and tell us more about the school itself.

SPEAKER_04 54:17

Yeah, so we're uh we're in a northeast suburb of Kansas City and Liberty. Uh technically we're our own city, but um we're kind of on the outskirts of that suburb. Uh so we're about 15 minutes from downtown. Uh a lot of rich history in Kansas City with William Jewell. Um, it's very well known in our area how good the academics are and you know what kind of students we we push out in terms of uh um uh employees. Uh but uh they've they've just now in the past five to 10 years kind of expanded where their students are coming from. And it's the reason they really liked lacrosse. Um, you know, again, eight 18 states or 17 states on our roster. You know, you not a lot of programs here can say that at Williams Jewel. Um, so I think that's one thing they really like because we have a good product. Um, our school is very strong. We have some of the best professors you'll find in the Midwest. We were ranked uh the ninth best teaching school in the Midwest. Um, I mean, Harvard, Cornell, PhD graduates teaching classes. Um, but it's just it's just really well known here. And uh, you know, we had to expand where our students are coming from. Uh, and we did a good job of that, at least with the Men's Across program, um, you know, getting kids from non-traditional areas for our school. Um, so we were actually an established city before Kansas City was um a long, long time ago. And William Jewel was around for a lot of that. So uh a lot of history on the on the hill.

SPEAKER_01 55:41

Wow, that's great. That's great. That's interesting stuff. I love it. How many, how many total students uh at William Jewel?

SPEAKER_04 55:49

Yeah, we're one of the more selective schools at Division II. So our acceptance rate last year was only 45%. Wow. The year before it was 37. Um, so we're only just under a thousand students. Uh, we are in a growing phase. We've maxed out our freshman dorms uh the past two years. Um, so we'll probably be at 1,100 in the next two years, 1,200 in the next two or three years, but that's kind of like our cap. So um that's where we can be even more selective again, right? Yeah. Yeah. But we are in a growing phase like every other private school, you know, we're uh we're we're growing.

SPEAKER_01 56:21

It's the Harvard of the West.

SPEAKER_04 56:23

It's the Harvard of the West. I like that. You said it, not me.

SPEAKER_01 56:26

Forget Stanford, it's William Jewel. So you have you eaten a lot of barbecue in Kansas City?

SPEAKER_04 56:34

Uh I put on 20 pounds. Take it for what you want. Um, we got we got a couple barbecue spots here in Liberty, and then there's a ton in Kansas City. Right. Uh it's hard not to, to be honest.

SPEAKER_01 56:44

I bet. I bet. My blood pressure would be through the roof if I was living there. I'll tell you what.

SPEAKER_04 56:49

Yeah, I gotta go keto. Just with carbs.

SPEAKER_01 56:54

So I I I've got uh one more question for you, coach. You are D2 through and through. What excites you about Division II?

SPEAKER_04 57:06

Yeah. Um, you know, when I first joined Division II, there was uh under 40 teams. Um, you know, when I went to St. Leo, it was us Rollins, I think Ford or Southern came along. Um the next closest team was Limestone. Um so we were on 12-hour trips every other weekend to go to North Carolina or South Carolina. Um, and just the the growth over the past what 10 years um since I got into coaching has been crazy. Um and I think that Division II needed it, but um, I'm excited for like where the game's going. Uh I'm a big component, uh big believer in um the growth of the game and what this sport can do for people mentally, physically, um, and just uh life-wise in general. Um that I just think the growth of it, if it keeps going out west, I wanted to come out west. I just want it to continue to grow that way. Um, because more kids will pick up a stick, the more college programs are in the area. And that's, you know, that's just an easy thing to look at. You know, the more college programs you add, the more youth kids see that game they want to play, and then it grows and it just continues. So um, I'd like to see division two keep going. Uh, I'd like to be uh hopefully at automatic qualifiers here in the next couple of years. I think that's uh the thing I'm excited for. We're the only division that doesn't have that. And so when we get there, I think the growth continues even more. So I think the next five to ten years, it's gonna be crazy at Division II. And uh I'm excited for the youth that get to see that and be a part of it and you know, hopefully grow with the game.

SPEAKER_00 58:38

Oh, it's growing. It's definitely growing. Division two is definitely growing, and you know, we're putting putting players on BLL fields now, you know, and it's it's it's really crazy. I I've seen a ton of Division II over the last 10, 12, 14 years, and I just see division one players caliber all over the place on a lot of different teams. There's that kid could be a D one player.

SPEAKER_04 59:04

That kid is you know Charlie Bertrand when we're in the national championship game, right? And then he goes to UVA, he's a really good player and goes to the PL.

SPEAKER_00 59:12

You know, that can happen. And we had we had Charlie on the show, man. He came on with us. He's a good player. We had a bunch of D two guys that went went, you know, PLL come on to come the podcast with us, and really D Two was their start, you know. That was the ones who gave them their start. And then look at look at what the look at what it did for them. They graduated, they got degrees, they're all good people, good men contributing to society. So Division II, it's as far as I'm concerned, is where it's at. I've had three boys go to Division II school. So to for me, I think it's where you can go and play and still get an education and still enjoy the college life, you know, weekend road trip here and there and that type of thing. Whereas in D1, you might you're married to that sucker. You're you know, you're not going anywhere without those guys.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:02

So yeah, I think it's been a lot of those, a lot of teams has really shrunk too um over the past like 10 years. You know, when I first started playing, it was it was limestone. Like limestone was the team, and there's still very good programs, still very well run, but there's a lot of teams that are a lot closer to them than they are farther away, like it used to be. Um, and every year I think you're gonna see that that gap shortened and shortened where anyone can beat anyone on any given day. And that's when we get automatic qualifiers, that's it's gonna make division two even more fun to watch. Oh, yeah. I think we're gonna get it.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:32

Yeah, because that's the incentive for for so many of the schools. Get in the tournament, get in your your conference tournament and win.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:40

Yep. Yep, couldn't agree more. Survive and win, survive and move on, right? That's really cool. But you know what? I really think that we're headed that way. I think it's another maybe two years away. But I know that they're talking about it. That they are the NCAA is talking about it, it is on the table. So maybe need one or two more teams to come on board and get out to that west into those western conferences and build those conferences up. And or they might have to join another conference, you know, at some point, maybe just combine two conferences. Who knows what what's gonna happen.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:16

But I think I mean it looks like um Dominican is uh gonna be an independent this year, but then they're gonna join the RMAC, which gives them six. Right. The Peach Belt would be the only the only uh conference without six. So that's I mean, that that's that's a good start for uh for automatic qualifiers, no doubt.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:35

Yeah, 100%. 100%. Well, coach, you were great tonight. Thank you so much for coming on the show with the two knuckleheads from in the crease. Um we wish you nothing but the best at William Jewel. We're gonna be watching. We're gonna see your players, we'll be talking about you as the season goes on, and nothing but the best. Appreciate it.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:55

Hopefully, uh hopefully you can have me back home and we have a little bit of success, but we're gonna go ahead and get back, get to work, and uh and and make our make our conference a little even harder. So so thank you so

Final Thoughts

SPEAKER_04 1:02:07

much.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:08

All right, Danny. For our first episode of coaching changes with the new schools as we switched it this year, right? Because there's so many. Concordia Irvine and William Jewell and Dominican. It was it was great to start out west, I think, and see how those, especially the one new program and two that are moving from club into D Two.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:31

Yeah. Interesting how the how the how Division II is growing, especially out west. And these coaches, um some of them are gonna have a decent team, I think. Absolutely, you know, some of them I think you know, they're they're coming in with club championships and and guys on their roster, even though they're new to division two, they're not new programs, you know what I'm saying? Not brandy new programs. So um the division two grows, it's growing out west. Uh we got a California team now, Kev.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:05

And uh two of them, two of them. And I think basically you talk to them, I think based on where they're at with their programs already being club and actually Dominican having been in D two before coming back. I think they're really gonna help it grow out west and get more D2 schools in it.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:23

Yeah, and uh, if they do well, we get them on our podcast and they get out to more people and uh more people start learning about these uh these institutions out west that are playing high level across. And who knows what the future will bring for these teams. But I'm looking forward to seeing these guys play in division two. I think you know, I think some of them are gonna be in for a little rude awakening, but you know what? I think some of them might do well.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:50

Right. And I think uh William Jewell's a good example. I he's recruited well, Coach Burke. He's got a a great backing from his school. He's got a great background from self and what he has done, and I think that will be uh it'll be fun to watch what they can do this year. It's gonna be fun to watch all of them, and I think it's gonna be it was a great first episode, I think, for our coaching changes.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:12

Yeah, tonight was fun, and uh I'm looking forward to the next one. It's been a whirlwind of coaching changes. There's a lot going on, guys.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:20

Yeah, there is, there is. So with that, Danny, I guess for this episode, that's a wrap. Coaching changes.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:29

That's a wrap.