Lacrosse Coaching Carousel for D2 (Part 2)

Intro

SPEAKER_02 0:32

Welcome, welcome, welcome to another episode of In the Creest with Danny and Kevin, a coast-to-coast discussion of D2 Men's Lacrosse. I'm your co-host, Kevin Stenstrom, and with me as always is the Carolina Reaper of D2 Lacrosse, Danny Moran. Hello, get these, bro.

SPEAKER_03 0:51

Joe Vedovnik. Hey, he just had an anniversary, man. Yeah. Happy anniversary.

SPEAKER_02 0:58

There's an early shout-out in the intro.

SPEAKER_03 1:00

I could always tell of a Dovenick one-liner. I can always tell he's got the he's got it, man.

SPEAKER_02 1:05

Well, he he he gave a little subtitle to it. It's because of all your hot takes. Now, what I find really interesting that he brought this one up at a very good time because in our second episode and our final one of the coaching carousel, we have a coach that's actually in the Conference Carolinas.

SPEAKER_03 1:26

So it's how apropos. It is. It is apropos. Kevin Stenstrom, my prolific podcast producing partner. How are you doing tonight in Northern Virginia, my friend?

SPEAKER_02 1:38

I am doing really well, but uh yeah, I'm doing great. I can't wait. I can't wait for the series. I'm really excited about these two coaches because both are alums of the programs.

SPEAKER_03 1:53

Yeah, interesting. So, you know, look the podcast is uh dealing with the carousel of coaches again. It's another week of the coaching carousels, Kev. And as you know, in Division II and pretty much all divisions, coaches come and go. And we get new programs and new coaches, and coaches retire after a bunch of years, and that's kind of what we got going on tonight. So I'm excited to see and hear the next two guests tonight.

SPEAKER_02 2:21

Yeah, let's get into it.

Coach Matt Ledon of Young Harris

SPEAKER_02 2:23

All right. First up tonight in the second of our series on new coaches is Matt Ladon, the new coach of the Young Harris Mountain Lions. He took over for Coach Brandon Geldard. He also is an alum of the program, graduating in 2018. Interesting though, Danny, as I went through, I didn't realize this really, but he's got other great D2 credits. He came from coaching at Anderson as an associate head coach and the offensive coordinator. And we know how good Anderson is. Number one scoring offense in 2026. Made it to the Final Four last year. Superior, superior team. So, coach, welcome in. Really glad to see you.

SPEAKER_01 3:10

Yeah, thank you. I'm excited to be here.

SPEAKER_03 3:14

Coach Ladon, welcome to the program. We really appreciate you coming on tonight. How's it going today down in Young Harris?

SPEAKER_01 3:21

It's going well. We had uh practice at 6 a.m. this morning, just wrapped up with lifts at five o'clock. So you know, good, good full day of football.

SPEAKER_02 3:32

I love it. I love it. What is it like to come back as an alum and take over?

SPEAKER_01 3:37

Um, it's cool. I get asked that question a lot. Um, pretty much every time we have a recruit on campus, or really any anybody that works on campus, you know, they ask like, what's it like? What's different? And um it it is different. Like a lot of stuff on campus is the same, but to to be on this side of it um it is very different, but it's really cool, right? Like this is a place that was really special to me. Um, you know, I I like to think that I helped, you know, build it. Um I was part of the third recruiting class ever here when I came and played. So to kind of see the build of, you know, from no program up to, you know, a relatively competitive D2 program. And then, you know, when the when the job opened back up, like um and they reached out to me, like it's really hard um to say no to your alma mater. So uh it it's it's really special to be back. It's funny, like I'm sitting the desk and in the office that I have is like the same office that you know uh the coaches that I played for had, and you know, I spent a bunch of time in there, you know, meeting with them, and and to be on the other side of it, it's I'm still not completely used to it, but um, it's it's been fun. Do you have any of the PTSD?

SPEAKER_03 4:52

Please tell me you moved the desks around a little bit. Yeah, not changed it up your style, right?

SPEAKER_01 4:56

Not necessarily PTSD, I would say. Uh I've moved moved a couple of things around. Um it's funny, like yeah. I mean, we've um you know, we've changed some like equipment providers and stuff since I've been there, but like if you go through the closets, like the game shorts from my senior year are like are still there, and like I'm like I like to lift with the guys, so like I'm going through and I'm like, oh shoot, I forgot to bring shorts for practice today. And like I go into the closet and I grab you know a pair of the old game shorts from when I was playing just so I can go lift. So like they're retro funny things like that, yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_02 5:31

That's awesome. That's awesome. Uh I thought Coach Geldar definitely had the program trending up. What are you looking? You know, when you come in, what are you planning? Like, are the things you're going to keep? Are the other things you're going to change? How have you looked at it when you're coming in?

SPEAKER_01 5:51

Yeah, I mean, I I think, you know, I think there's a good foundation like that you wouldn't really expect. You know, if you're thinking about most schools that are coming off a three-win season, like you're probably thinking, man, small roster, you know, probably a tiny school, not great academics, probably not uh, you know, great facilities, but that's not really true here. You know, I was left with a 43-man roster. Um, I was le you know, they got brand new turf two years ago here. We just got brand new seating in our stadium um this past spring. Um, like there's plans to continue to build that stuff up. And you know, I know from my time here, like we've got um great academic programs and we've got guys going to grad schools all over the place. Um, so there's certainly a lot I'm gonna keep. You know, I like I said, there's four it's hard to have a roster of 43 guys and not have talent. And and so we have talent. Um, we've just gotta to you know to learn to um put them in the right places to succeed. But um, to be honest with you, like I've talked a lot with you know the seniors. We only have four seniors, um you know, which is is good, right? Like we that means the team, they're still moldable, right? But um, the seniors are like, look, coach, like this is our last go-around. And um, you know, whatever you think is going to um they they they have told me they don't necessarily care about this year. They want to leave the program in a better place than um you know than where it is, you know, right now or or where it was when they got here. So like whatever we got to do this year to make um a healthy program going forward so that you know we can come back for alumni weekend and be like, hey, we you know, our junior year, we won three games, but that senior year, like we got it moving in the right direction. Like that's what they want. So um we're not changing everything, certainly. Um we're we're keeping a lot of what those guys have built here, what Coach Geldart built here. He did a really good job with a lot of things. But um, you know, I think um there are some things that we're changing as far as um, you know, how we how we structure our days and how we um you know go about um our practices and and how we we structure our leadership and and things like that on the team. But um, you know, we're we're focusing a lot right now on just you know building up the culture and and building up our organization and hoping that you know the the X's and O's will follow behind.

SPEAKER_03 8:23

Well said, Coach. Well said.

SPEAKER_02 8:25

Yeah, and speaking of that, coach, is some of that coming over from what you did and your time at Anderson with Coach Mitchell?

SPEAKER_01 8:33

Yeah, I mean 100%. Like Coach Mitchell is he was an incredible mentor to me. Like I had one year of college coaching experience before I came and started working for him. And like the the amount of things that he taught me, not not even um lacrosse, like like I was very fortunate that he let me have pretty free reign over a whole side of the field my whole year, my whole time there. Um, you know, I had pretty free reign over the offense. But the things that he taught me as far as how to build a culture and you know how to how to structure a team and how you talk to your team and how you build your team up and how you push them, like that is stuff that I I never, you know, I can never repay him for that. And and it is something that I'm definitely taking, you know, as much of that as I possibly can while while still putting my own spin on things um and tailoring it to you know the guys that we have here.

SPEAKER_03 9:28

Yeah, how could you not bring that over to uh young Harris? You know, it was so so successful there at Anderson. The offense was just amazing, and that that's all on you. Do you plan on doing that like high energy offense at Young Harris, or are you gonna have to tone it down a little bit? Is it or you know what?

SPEAKER_01 9:46

Well, I wouldn't say it's all on me. I think a lot of it's on uh some really, really good players that we got to come through here. Uh you know, I think a lot of that's on you know Raiden Badron and Ryan Bitterman and guys like that. They weren't good at all. They draw you, man.

SPEAKER_03 10:00

He might have been one of the best midfielders in the country, if you ask me.

SPEAKER_01 10:03

Yeah, if you ask me, he was he was top two. I mean, that's Kyle Lewis pretty good. I'm not gonna I'm not gonna sit in here and uh take anything away from him.

SPEAKER_03 10:12

When you see him live, it's ridiculous. Like you're like, whoa.

SPEAKER_01 10:16

So you know, yeah, like I said, it's a lot of it's guys like that. But um, I I think you know, playing that high pace and high energy um is the best way to play lacrosse.

SPEAKER_03 10:25

I love it personally.

SPEAKER_01 10:26

I think you know we've got um we've got guys right now that aren't necessarily used to it, so we can't, I don't think, fully lean into it a hundred percent of the way yet. But what we've been doing throughout our fallball is like we're playing as fast as we possibly can. We're playing the full field stuff, and I'm telling them like, guys, we're we're going fast, we're going fast. And then when we get to the spring, we can always dial it back a little bit if we need to be, you know, a little bit more in control. But let's go fast right now. And and you know, the my philosophy has always been the faster you go, um, the less time you give the defense to set up. And right, you know, just we we've got to have, in order to do that, we've got to have you know um very well-rounded players that can, you know, play in the middle of the field, play up and down, make good decisions. I've never been a guy that is gonna put a ton of um you know set plays and a ton of restraints on their guys. Like, I I I like to teach them options and let them go. So once they get comfortable with their options, like, hey, I don't really do much on game day, the reins are off, let's go.

SPEAKER_03 11:30

Interesting.

SPEAKER_02 11:31

That's awesome. Yeah, I like that. We we actually have noticed that not only obviously with Anderson, a very, very polished offense, but I remember when Flagler came in, right? Coach Duncan had his team always fast paced. And we used to talk about this a few years ago, how it would almost seem like they'd start tripping over themselves on offense. They just they were going so fast they would lose it. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, so young and but get but they're young, and they the last couple years they fit right into that system. So it takes a while, and I I kind of like your approach of like, let's do it in the fall, let's get used to it. We have to dial it back, fine. Maybe you don't, maybe that's you just get they they get used to that over the season, too, right? In in season.

SPEAKER_01 12:14

100%. And I think a lot of that's due to you know how you practice. If you practice fast, you're gonna be able to play fast. Like I never I never want to be on the field for two hours in a day. Like we are 90 minutes. If we can't get everything we need to do done in 90 minutes, that's my fault. Um, I'm not being efficient enough. So we are we are high pace, high energy, like we're we're going the whole practice. And um, we're we start our stretch, you know. Right now we're practicing in the mornings. We start our stretch at 6 a.m. and we're we are getting off the field at 7.25.

SPEAKER_03 12:49

Okay. They're still cursing you though. They don't want to get up at five o'clock, you know.

SPEAKER_01 12:54

They don't they don't want to, but I think they're starting to you know like you know, having the rest of their day to focus on their academics and their lives.

SPEAKER_03 13:04

Right, absolutely, 100%. You know, Young Harris had its ups and its downs over the last couple of years. A couple of years ago, you know, though it's six and nine, they were kind of competitive last year, a three game, you know, only three wins last year. What do you want to see differently out of this squad this year that maybe wasn't there in the past? What would you like to see done differently?

SPEAKER_01 13:28

I want to see just um every game I want to see fight and I want to see confidence. Um, I don't want to go to any into any games thinking that we don't have a chance to win because we do, you know, there have been you know so many quote unquote upsets, you know, throughout my career coaching that like that I was a part of and that I wasn't a part of. And you know, you can't go into any game thinking you don't have a chance to win. And then the fight, like, you know, I I preach to our guys all the time, it's really easy to have energy when you're playing well, and it's really easy to have energy when you know, when your team scores a goal, but you've got to find ways to uh manufacture some energy just based on little things like somebody picks up a tough ground ball or like even something as simple as like a successful clear, right? Like we've got to generate some energy off that and we can feed off that, and that that'll carry us through those games where like you might have a you know a four or five goal deficit. I mean, I can't tell you how many times in my coaching career, like we've been down four or five, six goals, and then the game can turn just like that. So just I want to see the guys like never giving up the fight and and just understanding that we can we can do a lot of things just simply based on our our effort and and our fight level and and and our our belief in in ourselves.

SPEAKER_02 14:47

Excellent. I love it, I love it. Uh speaking of that and your schedule, what do you think about coming into the conference Carolinas and playing in this conference?

SPEAKER_01 14:56

I think the conference is great. I mean, if you look at it, like it seems like a new team's winning it every year, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 15:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:04

And and the the amount of parody in the conference, the amount of just like competition level within the conference, like top to bottom. You know, a lot of conferences in the country, there's like two or three, four teams at the top, and then you know, everybody else is just kind of eh. But like our conference is very competitive, top to bottom. It is um, you know, you you've got to show up every day. Um, but I also think it's a conference that we can uh realistically compete in right now. Um, I don't think we need to, you know, take five, six years to build. Like I think we if we do what we want to do, we should be able to um you know put ourselves in a position to be competitive in these games. Um, you know, and and we have to believe that we can do that because if you look at top to bottom, I mean if you look at Barton last year, they come in as the four seed and and win the tournament. Like if you if we can just get ourselves into that tournament, anything can happen. So we just have to have that belief in ourselves that we can get there.

SPEAKER_03 16:04

Yeah, it's a it's a great conference in what John Grant Jr. has done at Leeds and you know Chris Barrett's been at at at Belmont Abbey forever, and and uh it's just a great conference. And I think uh you coming into this conference is only gonna make it a little bit better. It really do. And uh I expect Young Harris to be a pretty darn decent team this year, coach, with your leadership. Um what how how have the kids accepted you? I you know, you know, new coach, you know, it's like and some of it's a relatively young roster, as I see as I look through it. Yeah, they accepted you and they're all cool and everything.

SPEAKER_01 16:42

Yeah, I mean they've been great. I mean, we have 19 freshmen. We have um, we have you know four seniors, so it's a young, young roster. And like I said, I think that's a good thing because they're moldable, right? They they don't have um a bunch of you know years stuck in um you know, stuck in their ways. Um so they've been great. Like like I said, we've been practicing at 6 a.m. last year. They practiced, you know, pretty late at night, and the transition for them, like they've done a really good job with that. Um they always respond. What what I've been the most impressed with is their response. Um, I'm very, very hard on these guys. Like, and and and they um they always respond. And and it's it's honestly something like I've never seen before. A lot of young teams, like if you if they and I'm not I'm not hard on them about you know, stick work errors or X's and O's errors, you know, I'm I'm hard on them about um not bringing the energy or not being focused, right? Things like that. And every time I've gotten onto them, they respond and they turn it back on right away. You know, most young teams are gonna, when when somebody yells at them, they're gonna tuck their tail and run, and it's just gonna get worse. These guys don't. They respond to everything. And I just tell them, like, fellas, I would love to get to the point where I don't have to do that and we don't always have to respond. But right now, like if we can respond like this all year, we're gonna find ourselves in some pretty good spots.

SPEAKER_02 18:13

It's muscle memory, right? That's part of muscle memory. Them responding and getting used to that. I have to ask you this, coach. You have hired on two assistants in the past couple of months, another alum, Ryan DeFrancisco, and one with a lot of coaching experience and James Doherty. What was your thought process on bringing those two on?

SPEAKER_01 18:31

Yeah, so um I they've both been awesome. So, coach Coach Dharty, he um he's got, I mean, you just said he's got a ton of coaching experience. Um, he's been a Division III head coach up at Marion in Wisconsin, and unfortunately they cut their program. Um, but before that, I mean he coached several years at Elizabethtown, a very good Division III school. He coached uh a couple of years at uh Washington and Lee, a really, really successful Division III program. He's got a year under his belt at VMI, he's been at Arcadia. Like this dude's been um all up and down the East Coast. He's coached on both sides of the ball, he's coached goalies and face-off guys too. Like you talk about a guy that knows the game and coach Darty knows the game, and he he also communicates with the guys really well, and and he's been a really great resource for me, just like because he's been through the whole head coaching thing, and I haven't before. So I have a lot of uh questions for him, and um he's he's uh humble enough to answer those. And um, you know, people you know ask me, like, are you sure you want to hire somebody that's been a head coach before? Like you might step on your toes. Like, I've had none of that. He's been he's been nothing but great, and he's running our defense right now, and um they're responding really well to him. And then Coach D Francisco, um, he's an alum. He graduated this past year. He was a captain here, um, and he's actually from like five minutes from where I grew up from. So um I I know a lot of guys that know him. I know some of his coaches from when he was growing up, and they're like, this guy's awesome. And he he's done um, he he's running our substitution box, he's helping a lot with our goalies, and then he's what what Coach T Francisco's the best about is his like just individual demeanor with the guys. And um he he does a really good job like watching one-on-one film with with defensemen and you know, talking to guys, and um with somebody that just graduated from the school, like he can help the young guys through like how to balance their academics and things like that. So I really wanted you know somebody that's uh super you know experienced and can help me and I can trust with a you know a side of the ball and say, look, Coach Dharty, you take the defense and and you've got it. And then Coach D Francisco is just a huge resource um for just helping the guys along individually through um you know how to be a college lacrosse player and just how to be a young Harris student.

SPEAKER_03 20:56

Excellent. That's good to have those kinds of assistants, you know, it really goes a long way. I always felt a good team and has a good coach, has good assistance. I really do. I always believe that.

SPEAKER_02 21:06

Yeah, and it sounds like from your your hires, I mean, you've got unbelievable balance, right? Uh, not just you know, each side of the ball, but from experience and and helping develop someone that they can the players can turn to that they kind of feel like uh they know that the has just been in their shoes. Of course, I think Coach D Francisco, uh it's got to be a little bit of a tough transition. And going from a captain last year being a player to now being a coach, it's a it's a different thing. You've been out for a couple years, but that just awesome having you on, coach. It's been a lot of fun. Really great to uh hear what you're doing with the program and where it sits. I I'm excited for young Harris. I'm really excited to see what they do. I I think, you know, last year, yeah, I was a little bit down, but they I was surprised at that, to be honest, from where they were starting to position. As you know. No, the school, as Danny said, had its up and down. When you were playing there, they were on definitely on the upswing. They were a team that was very, very competitive indeed, too. Had a little bit of that bump on the road, had a kind of reboot. A couple coaches, you know, that they had to go through, and now they've got an alum at the helm to really settle things in. I'm really excited to see where you bring the program. Me too.

SPEAKER_03 22:23

Thank you. Thank you. I'm excited to see the offense, actually. I want to see how you bring that Anderson Trojan offense over. I want to see it work. I I do. I want to see it work at Young Harris. Because those that Anderson Trojan team was an exciting team to watch. I mean, both sides of the ball, but especially on offense. It was just seen you live a couple of times, and it was just great to see that and to have you bring that over to Young Harris and show these young guys. They're young guys, coach. Oh, yeah. To show them, you know, the right way and the winning ways. I think, I think Young Harris is going to have a have a good season. So we really appreciate you coming on tonight, and we wish you the best of luck. Matt Ladon, Young Harris, head coach, everybody. Let's give it up. Thanks, guys. Appreciate it.

Coach Kevin Gould of Bentley

SPEAKER_02 23:12

Continuing with our theme of alums taking over their old program, we have uh Coach Kevin Gould of the Bentley Falcons. He is only the second coach in program history. It's amazing. It is taking over for Coach Jim Murphy, who led the Falcons for 34 years. But Coach Gould has a ton of experience. Head coach at Roger Williams last four seasons. Also had assistant coaching stints at Dartmouth, UMass Lowell, Providence. He also, Danny, this is the one I loved. I didn't know this. He played for my beloved Boston Cannons.

SPEAKER_04 23:51

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_02 23:51

Coach, I grew up in Massachusetts, so I'm a Boston fan through and through. So we're really excited to have you on. Welcome, Coach. How are you? I'm doing great. Thank you guys for having me.

SPEAKER_03 24:02

Kevin Gold, the new head coach at Bentley. Welcome to the program, sir. We really appreciate you coming on. How's it been going? Taking that over for Coach Murph, such a legend in Division II and a Bentley just, you know, everything through and through. How's it been going so far?

SPEAKER_00 24:18

It's been going great. I mean, I I've I've been uh pretty open and honest with with everybody that that this is certainly a dream opportunity taking over for Coach Murphy. Um I like to joke it's it's nice when you take over for somebody that retired, um, because they they you know they left it in a great place. Certainly the the cupboard is not bare by any means. And right uh the first month or so was you know a little bit crazy, but uh fortunately or unfortunately, it you kind of just shot out the the bio a little bit. I've I've been able to move around quite a bit, so a new start wasn't something that um was too complicated. It was more just getting our our feet wet and trying to hire a staff, meet our players, um, you know, everything that that comes with it. And and it was in July, so we were we were mid-recruiting, so kind of got going with that as well. And uh now feels certainly a little bit more settled in. And um, but but it's been exciting. It's been it's been great and and looking forward to to the future here in in Waltham.

unknown 25:25

Right.

SPEAKER_02 25:25

Let me I have to ask you this. Danny hit on it. I had exactly a question on my thing. Replacing a legend. What you played for him, right? What is that like? Is that tough, or is it you felt like he just he laid the foundation so well and he retired? You know, did he give you any words of wisdom as he was heading out the door and you were coming in?

SPEAKER_00 25:47

Yeah, I think he he's done a great job of of probably um you know giving me some space, but I haven't done a great job of not getting in touch with him every time I have a question about something. Um like I said, he was there 34 years. You know, nobody knows the ins and outs of not only the lacrosse program, but the athletic department, the university, um, the community. So um I I was fortunate we had uh an alumni golf outing this past weekend. I was I was I was with him for 18 holes and and I probably asked a hundred questions, you know, in in our few hours together. So um yeah, it's it's an opportunity that that I don't take lightly. You know, he put so much time and energy in for 34 years and and and got the program to a place where they're now in you know the NCAA tournament pretty consistently and and and has made it a destination for high school student athletes. So um, you know, certainly there's an element of not wanting to screw it up and and also take it to hopefully another level and leave it better than I found it as as Coach Murph did, you know, uh when he retired at the end of the summertime.

SPEAKER_02 27:02

So so on that, are you kind of coming in with fresh eyes, trying to see what and I don't even use the word improvement because you hit the nail on the head. They had a little bit of a down last down year last year, relatively speaking, for Bentley, right? Like you said, usually last few years, make it to the NCAA, always above 500 team, always in the top 20. It seemed like just always just solid, solid team. Even last year, I mean there were several games where most games you're Bentley was always in it. Like it just came down to the wire, you know, several one or two goal games. How are you approaching that? Are you trying to come with some fresh eyes to see what you can do? Uh what what do you think?

SPEAKER_00 27:44

Yeah, I mean, I I I certainly am. Um, you know, there there's no doubt that Bentley was a young team last year. So there's certainly some guys that that got on the field early in their career that are that are back and returners for us. And and uh, you know, certainly I I know what those guys did last year. You know, I um I was able to actually scrimmage uh the team last preseason. We came up with the Roger Williams team and and scrimmaged uh the Bentley group. So um it's certainly a a new eye and and kind of evaluating those guys this fall, but um, you know, I I think there are some returners that that have some money in the bank, so to speak. And um, you know, I I don't think it's awfully difficult to see who the best players on any team are. You know, it's it's more been about trying to get in, you know, the way we want to do things, the way we want to practice, the way we want to carry ourselves on campus, and and trying to start there and and understanding that we don't play till February. So we have some time to to work out the kinks on the field, but but really trying to, you know, introduce 51 new players and a coaching staff to the the way we want to do things, the speed at which we want to play and operate. And um, and now we kind of feel like we're a couple uh months into the job and and have a good understanding of of what we have and um trying to make the best and put those guys in the best opportunities to be successful. So fall ball's gone good, you're saying? Yeah, fall ball's gone great. Uh tomorrow morning is practice 13. Um we just scrimmaged Bryant University last Friday night. How'd it go? How'd it go? It went great. Yeah, we we wanted to get out and challenge ourselves. And um, I think regardless of the opponent, the guys were just excited to see another color jersey. Yeah, yeah. Coach Ross over at Bryant was he's actually the one to blame for getting me into coaching. You know, we were playing, uh, we were playing together with the Boston Cannons, and and he was an assistant at Bryant at the time, and uh they had an opening on their staff. And um, I I jumped at the opportunity to to work for for him and Coach Pressler, and um, you know, really got a a hands-on experience to college coaching. So uh just forming those relationships, you know, he was kind enough to invite us over. You know, he didn't have to do that. He can play anybody in the country. And um, you know, we went over and played four quarters and um, you know, gave them the best shot we could. And uh we we left certainly with a laundry list of things to work on the next couple weeks here.

SPEAKER_03 30:22

Well, that's great. That's what you do it for, you know, you learn. And you know, you mentioned that the team was young last year and a lot of freshmen were getting were getting run. You know what? That's a good thing because in the NE 10, the NE10 is the granddaddy of them all, as Kevin likes to say. Yeah. You know, there's a lot of grit, a lot of blue collar, a lot of weather kind of games, especially in the early part of the season. I think it's a great thing that these freshmen get some burn in the NE10. What do you think about that?

SPEAKER_00 30:51

Yeah, I think any time that you can have young guys playing, it's only going to pay dividends. You know, I I think it's one of, if not the best way to kind of learn on the fly is to get in game and and make those mistakes at full speed against another team. And certainly gameplay adds a little bit more of angst and and nerves that you know you really have a hard time trying to create at practice. So I think anytime you can get those guys in early, you know, you gotta typically bite your tongue a little bit as a coach and understand that these guys were playing high school across, you know, 10 months ago. So, you know, the hope is that it does. It pays dividends when they get to, you know, junior, senior year and you know, the weather, um, you know, high, high stress environments, overtimes are are something that they've been through, you know, a few times rather than just a first time, you know, later in their career.

SPEAKER_03 31:44

Yeah, the N 10 is no joke, Coach. It's it's quite the conference. Uh gritty, like I said, gritty blue collar, a lot of physical play, um, great teams, St. A's, you know, pace, uh, you know, and then you got teams.

SPEAKER_02 31:58

Well, yeah, I we used to say it was making moves, assumptions making moves. Yeah, southern New Hampshire is gonna be better this year than they were last year. It is gonna be a gauntlet in the NE10.

SPEAKER_03 32:11

What do you think about coming into the NE 10 coach?

SPEAKER_00 32:14

Yeah, I think you hit the nail on the head. You know, not only do those programs have great players, you know, they have great coaches as well. You know, I I think just because of the continuous exposure and and explosion of youth in high school lacrosse, you know, college lacrosse is not typically expanded, you know, like we see some other sports at the college level. So everybody has good players nowadays. You know, there's just nowhere for all these great players to go, you know. So um, you know, the NE10 historically has has had some of the best players in the country, you know, and and you know, now what I'm realizing is now I'm getting into it and taking a look at those things are there's some really good coaches in the conference as well, you know. So you take the combination of some great players with some of the best coaches in the country, and and that's what it's gonna create, you know, that that gauntlet like atmosphere, and and everybody's a little bit different, you know, and and everyone's got kind of their way of playing and their their coaching style. But yeah, there's no doubt about it that we gotta do all we can in practice to to be ready and and composed and disciplined enough to play in those, you know, one or two goal games come springtime.

SPEAKER_02 33:26

I have to ask you this, Coach. I see that you have wrestled back, Coach Dean Jinkis, after a one-year stint at UMass level, and you also have Coach Lavery still coming back. Talk to us about your assistance.

SPEAKER_00 33:40

Yeah, I think we got extremely lucky um with the assistance situation. Um you know, when I got the job, I was getting a lot of calls from from club coaches and high school coaches and and wanting to get into the recruiting, and and and honestly, I kind of took the recruiting a different way for the first couple weeks. I started trying to recruit a staff. Um you know, and and Coach Dean Jenkins, after a few years at Bentley, was was up at UMass Lowell, you know, and and that was another staff kind of going through a coaching transition. Uh, so I called him right away and and said, hey, you know, I I know you're gonna have some great options here, um, as you should, but but please know that you know we'd love to have you back here and and bring you on board and uh be our defensive coordinator. And I know the guys would be really excited about it, and and certainly I would as well. And you know, didn't want to put any pressure on him. Like I said, with with some uh Division I coaching changes going on, he he had to, you know, do what was best for his family and his career. And we were just fortunate that uh, you know, he thought that that was gonna be at Bentley. Um so we're ecstatic to have him back. Uh as excited as I was, the guys were equally as excited. He did coach and even recruit a good number of them. Uh good man. He's a good man. Yeah, he's he's he's we're lucky to have him, you know. And and Coach Lavery was my second call. You know, he had worked with Coach Murphy and the goaltenders, you know, for for the last number of years. And uh decade, over a decade. Yeah, and and and that was you know also a no-brainer. He had such a good relationship with with not only our players, but the athletic department and and the community. So um, you know, he was he was the second call, and fortunately we went two for two. And and uh, you know, we also just added Tyler Marshall, a former St. A's player, um, to the mix as well. So um, you know, we're not gonna hold the St. A's stuff against him quite yet. So we're excited to have a staff ready to go. The guys are excited, you know, the players and and department deserve a great coaching staff. So that was certainly uh right at the top of my to-do list when when we started this thing back in July.

SPEAKER_03 35:50

Excellent call, coach. Excellent call. So both the coaches are great coaches and had the film the familiarity of Bentley and being there. And again, the liaison type between the athletic department and the lacrosse team. I think it's a great, great hire for both of those guys. And I expect Bentley to be right there again, Kev, doing what they do every year. You know, I just I don't see much of a change, Coach Gould. I think you're just gonna, you know, your type of play, I guess. You know, I guess you brought yeah, you must have brought some stuff to uh to the table.

SPEAKER_00 36:25

Yeah, I guess we'll find out, won't we? Um but yeah, I think we're in a great position. You know, the the guys have been terrific. You know, this is not a place where you're coaching effort and attitude. We have 51 incredible young men who are, you know, type A personalities. They work hard, they want feedback, they want to be good. They're gonna work on their games outside of practice to make sure they're doing what they need to do individually. So, um, like I said, we're kind of focused on on the way we want to play, the way we want to practice and carry ourselves. And um, you know, I I've been certainly very blessed to take over a team that um, you know, was would have been running on high cylinders no matter who took the job. And unfortunately, um I was able to slide in and and uh and now we're getting ready to go.

SPEAKER_03 37:15

You know, Bentley academically is one of the best schools in the country. It's considered like a small Ivy League. You get a certain type of student athlete there. Your your guys are a little bit different and cut a little bit differently from the other molds. Explain that to our to our listeners.

SPEAKER_00 37:33

Yeah, it's certainly an a uh a demanding academic rigor. Um, you know, the the courses are difficult. Um, you know, you you certainly can't just get anybody into the school. You got to be a great, a great student with great math scores, and um, you know, certainly the hope is that you you take care of business in the classroom and you really have four years to set yourself up for the next 40. And and I think our guys do that. You know, our our alumni certainly in the New England area is is second to none. They're off the charts, they want to help out the guys. And um, and to be to be frank, you know, these guys, I'd I'd hire them to do anything. You know, like I said, they're just they're high achieving kids. They they don't understand uh complacency, they don't understand coming in second place. Uh they just want to be the best at whatever they're doing, whether they're at practice or in the classroom. But, you know, certainly I think as an alum, I I can kind of meet the guys halfway. You know, I know the times of year that they can get a little bit tricky in the classroom and and that they have a lot on their plate. So we certainly got to manage that and and make sure that we're, you know, doing everything we can to make sure we're handling our business in the classroom and and on the field. And and certainly, um, you know, having been through it as a student, you know, I I do know that it's it's certainly doable. You know, you got to work hard, you can't you can't waste time, you gotta be a great, you know, uh a great student and and make sure that time management is a strength. And um our guys do a great job of that. And Coach Murphy did a great job recruiting guys that that uh you know are are top-notch in all those areas.

SPEAKER_02 39:13

Yeah, that couldn't have said it any better. It's it's gonna be great to watch this year, Coach. Really excited for you in this position as an alumni, and uh can't wait to see what Bentley does this year. We we wish you all the best. I think it's gonna be a lot of fun to watch.

SPEAKER_00 39:30

Yeah, I appreciate it. Yeah, I'm I'm excited to get going. You know, I think uh, you know, the guys are are eager now. It's it's kind of a little bit of hurry up and wait, you know. You you practice all fall and then you you have a long Christmas break and and guys and coaches are are eager to get back and and then uh you know you get back and you hit the ground running. You know, I think uh there's no doubt we've turned into a winter sport here. So, you know, you come back from break and you have a couple scrimmages and ready to go, and and we couldn't be more excited for for not only this year, but certainly the future of of the program and and and all that comes with it.

SPEAKER_03 40:05

Well, we're big fans of the NE 10. We're big fans of Bentley, we're really big fans of Coach Dean Jinkis. We just think the world of him. He's just a great guy. And Coach Gould, we wish you nothing but the best and continued luck. And uh, we're looking forward to watching the Falcons this year.

SPEAKER_00 40:21

Yeah, thanks so much for having me, and thanks for all you do for Division II Lacrosse. It's great.

SPEAKER_03 40:25

Kevin Gould, everybody, new head coach at Bentley.

Shout outs

SPEAKER_02 40:33

What can you say about these two alums in their programs, Coach Ladon and Coach Gould?

SPEAKER_03 40:38

Yeah, pretty cool. Interesting. Uh various styles, it looks like, between those two guys, you know. Coach Ladon is interesting to me because, you know, what he did at Anderson with that high prolific offense was just nothing short of amazing. And I would love to see him bring it there to Young Harris and to see what those guys can do. Again, I think he's got a little bit of an uphill battle there at Young Harris. He doesn't have quite the players that he had at Anderson, but he does have good players there. And I think he's learned a lot from Coach Mitchell. And what he's gonna bring to the table now to Young Harris, I think is going to make that program a lot, lot better. I think the recruiting is gonna get better there, and I think the level of play is going to improve because of what Coach Ladan brings. He's a young guy as well, but he's been coaching a while. He's been coaching a while now. And you know what? Again, his offense at at Anderson was nothing less than amazing. They were great and fun to watch, fast moving, fast paced. And I like that he said, I'm not calling plays, I'm just gonna let them play loose and free.

SPEAKER_02 41:50

Well, he said that I thought that was great. He's he's doing the coaching in practice, and he's trying to have them play fast. Playing fast in practice, so you know how to play fast in games. And I think he also mentioned Coach Mitchell really let him fail. I think he's gonna allow his players to do the same thing on the field in games in season, but play at a higher tempo, right? Because it's I really when we talked about it with him, I think it's the Flagler model. Practice fast, play fast. Maybe not the first year. It's it's not always gonna look pretty, but guess what? It will look good later on.

SPEAKER_03 42:28

Yeah, he seems to have that like old school quality, you know, like kind of demanding kind of in a way for young for a young guy. Um kind of kind of kind of a coach that I'd want to play for, you know, someone that you know that cares, you know, someone that gives a crap, you know, one that's gonna get on you if you're not doing the right thing in the classroom off out of out of practice. You know, I like that. I like that I think he's gonna bring a discipline to that team. And I think I think Young Harris has got a good guy there. I I'm very interested to see them two, three years from now, Coach stays, which I hope. Yeah, and then Coach Gould at Bentley.

SPEAKER_02 43:06

He seems like a good pick. I mean seems like a natural fit to me, man. Look who he brought back, too. He he was smart. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean on the continuity side, and and people that he knows know the program, but also bring a lot of experience.

SPEAKER_03 43:25

Again, alumni from the program knows all about the school, the academic rigors that are involved to get into Bentley. It's not the average guy that goes to Bentley, not the average student athlete. Um, these kids are special, they're high quality, high IQ, high, you know, these guys are different. You know what I'm saying? And yeah, you want to bring somebody in that kind of knows that mold already. And who else better but Coach Gould to come in and take over for a legend? It's not gonna be easy for Night. You know what? But he's got Coach Dean Jenkins. And and I think he's going to be just fine. I I don't see any difference really in what I see with the Bentley Falcons.

SPEAKER_02 44:09

No, I think they will be right up there in the NE 10 competing like they always do. And they're going to be competing for NCA spots. That's just the way they are they are.

SPEAKER_03 44:20

So they're a playoff team in the NE10 every year. Yeah. You know, and they can do damage. I mean, you know, they're they've done damage before. They've made the NCAAs before. So it's not out of the question for them. It's just a matter of putting it together on the field and executing. I gotcha. And NE-10, not for nothing, Kev. I think it's going to be a little different with Assumption and St. Mike's doing so well. And, you know, once we get into the conference previous NE10, you're going to see that that's they're going to be bunched a lot tighter, I think, this year than they have in the past. What we used to call the middle echelon of the NE-10. They're knocking. They're knocking on that door. But they've improved. They're playing competitively. Yeah. They're not getting blown out by these guys. They might lose a game, but they're losing by two or three. They're in the game. You know what I mean? So I think uh Coach Gould and those guys are going to be just fine at Bentley. I'm interested to see where he takes the program this year. Totally agree.

SPEAKER_02 45:20

It'll be a lot of fun to watch. All right. Time to move on to shout-outs.

SPEAKER_04 45:25

Shoutouts.

SPEAKER_02 45:26

Do you have any?

SPEAKER_03 45:27

I do. I want to shout out the Assistant Desk Podcast, the T and Chinkis brothers doing a great job with their podcast. They're getting all kinds of assistant coaches and head coaches on from all the all divisions, and uh they're doing a great job. They've had a couple of division two coaches on recently. They had uh Coach Tim Boyle from Wingate, uh, they had uh Brian Volpe from Adelphi and uh Coach B from St. Mike's, they just had on recently. So they're doing a great job. So shout out to those guys going in the podcast route and uh doing a great job. Shout out to you boys.

SPEAKER_02 46:05

We talked about that with Coach Gould, and what's funny, Danny, is I was listening today, I was actually listening to their podcast, I was walking my dog, and I finally figured out the sequence of their season series. Season one was assistants, season two was head coaches, and now season three, they're back to assistants again. And like, I'm a dummy. I couldn't figure that out. They had to tell me at the beginning of season three. Now they're in, they're a few episodes in. I'm I'm a few episodes behind on that one, but I I love their podcast because it brings a lot of great information on the innards of being a coach, especially an assistant coach and what you have to do.

SPEAKER_03 46:47

Well, they're both assistants. We're two knuckleheads, so we just fly by the seat of our pants most of the time. Those guys are actually intellectual and uh know the X's and O's and know those coaches, so they get into it a little bit deeper. And it's it's really cool. I really enjoy them. Yeah, I love it too.

SPEAKER_02 47:04

I've got one shout-out, too, and this isn't a shout out to the Seton Hill Lacks team. This is because of off the field, what they do off the field. You know, Danny, we get into this so much. We're about to get in the conference previews, we're gonna be talking about wins and losses and where teams are gonna stack up. But and but we talk about this a lot throughout the season of how there are more important things than just the wins and losses. It's maturing as a young man and getting ready to go out in the world. It's what you do off the field as much as what you do on the field. And I saw this on Instagram. It was a post, it was a video from an actual uh nurse. It's a nurse who works on campus, nurse Eric, okay. He was he was talking about how why does he like being in healthcare? Why does he like being a nurse? Why does he like doing it at a university and why Seton Hill? And he went through all those reasons why I did it, and then he gave a little of an example of how recently that came through to him even more and realized why he likes to be at Seton Hill. He was bringing a student in a wheelchair up to a different floor, and so he's going to the elevator, and the elevator opens up, and who's in the elevator stacked? It's packed in with all Seton Hill lax players who are gonna go up higher, too. All right. All those team players got out of the elevator and said, We'll walk up, you take the elevator with the person who has the wheelchair.

SPEAKER_03 48:39

There you go. That's quality right there, Pab.

SPEAKER_02 48:42

That is the kind of thing I love hearing. And I thought that was the coolest story because it wasn't coming from Coach Novotny or one of the players. They didn't make a big deal of it, or a parent. It was from the nurse that works at on campus.

SPEAKER_03 49:01

Wow, that's an excellent story. That's great. You know, it doesn't surprise me at all. Doesn't surprise me at all.

SPEAKER_02 49:07

No, really, really cool. Made my day, made my day when I watched that. Yeah, that's a cool story. I like that kind of stuff. All right, and with that, Danny, that's the end of our series, and we will be heading into conference previews.

SPEAKER_03 49:21

Yeah, I can't wait. Coaches previews. The coaches listen to us, they get ready to throw darts. Yeah. Or try to get some insight. And our carousel of coaching uh changes series has come to an end, Kev, for the 2027 season. Interesting. A lot of good coaches and a lot of good stuff coming up.

SPEAKER_02 49:43

Yeah, you bet. For that, Danny. That's a wrap. That's a wrap, Kev.