Does The Coaching Carousel Help NCAA Lacrosse?
Normally the term "Silly Season" is used to talk about the jump in personnel from one team to another in NASCAR. But this summer has certainly been a "Silly Season" for NCAA Lacrosse. It all started on May 5th when Dartmouth and Denver's head coaching jobs opened up. The biggest domino to fall was Coach Bill Tierney, who headed out west to Denver, leaving the Princeton head coaching spot vacant. This set off a run of coaching hires through the ranks. In all, five coaches moved at big name programs, and three schools have yet to find a coach, as of August 3, 2009.
Does all the coach movement help NCAA Lacrosse?
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Certainly.
You see, NCAA Lacrosse is a very East Coast ordeal. In fact, in the 2009 NCAA Championships, all sixteen teams were from east of the Mississippi River. The team furthest west? Notre Dame, who had a good schedule, but obtained it playing non-elite teams, which showed in their first round loss to Maryland.
The current East Coast bias of the sport is hurting exposure as well, as more than half the country isn't seeing/playing elite-level lacrosse. However, with Tierney's departure to Denver, the game changes. From all accounts, Denver is a young team that Coach Tierney will be able to develop into his style of play. The program can only become stronger with their new head coach, and he also takes his credibility out West. This makes Denver a draw for Western recruits who want to play for a big-name coach.
Thus, while it may take a while, I will not be surprised to see Denver become at least mildly successful in the next few years, as Coach Tierney brings his own recruiting classes into the fold. With a successful Denver program, and an up-and-coming Air Force program, college lacrosse gets more exposure in the Western US. Hopefully this could lead to a new expansion of college level lacrosse and more talented players in NCAA Lacrosse.
And that could only be a good thing for NCAA Lacrosse in the long run.
(Note: The author bears no relation to Denver coach Bill Tierney)
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