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Great coaches understand what it takes to create a winning program even if that program has been down for any extended amount of time. The great ones have the ability to create winning programs no matter what the circumstances are and can do it any level including the high school level.

One of the greatest architects in terms of building programs is the head lacrosse coach at The University of Princeton. Not only has coach Bill Tierney turned the Tigers into a perennial powerhouse but he has experienced success at every level of the coaching world, including Levittown High School in Long Island, NY.

When Coach Tierney took over for the Princeton Tigers back in 1987, he inherited a team that had not won an Ivy League Title since 1967. It took him just 5 years to win his first National Championship in 1992 and has won 5 more since then. In his 21 years at Princeton Tierney has won 6 National Championships and has taken the Tigers to the Final Four 10 times.  To top it all off he was able to celebrate the 2001 National Championships with his two sons Trevor and Brendan who were both members of the Princeton Tigers that season.

We recently had a chance to sit down with the coach that some have called “The Vince Lombardi of Lacrosse” and discuss everything from turning a program around, to recruiting, to coaching your sons and even finding out that Bill Tierney has had success coaching one other sport at the collegiate level besides lacrosse!

Bill Tierney Interview

 

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John Danowski had been at Hofstra University for 21 seasons winning 8 conference championships in that time. After the 2006 season he decided it was time to move on and accepted the Head Lacrosse position at Duke University. This was an intriguing decision due to a couple of factors, the main one of course being the fact that Duke was just coming off the scandal involving the alleged rape of an exotic dancer by three members of the Duke men’s lacrosse team, and the other was the fact that his son Matt was on the team at Duke. John saw this as an opportunity to help his son and a team recover and get back on the right track. He knew he was entering a hornet’s nest but felt prepared for the job and understood that he first had to restore the reputation of the players, the program and the University.

Coach Danowski At Practice

In this interview John speaks about his decision to take on the Duke job and how he turned this around down there so quickly. He has taken Duke to the NCAA Final Four the last two seasons and hope this year to finally get that elusive National Championship.

John Danowski Interview

By Sean Connolly

It’s finally here…the playoffs. We’ve waited all season for this weekend and it has been worth the wait after one of the most exciting seasons in history. The playoffs will take place in Harvard Stadium in Boston Massachusetts and will be the home of two great semifinal games and a final that decides it all. In the first semifinal there’s the Rochester Rattlers against the Philadelphia Barrage and on the Western side of things we’ve got the Denver Outlaws pitted against the Los Angeles Riptide. With that said, let’s get down to my predictions of who’s gonna win this thing!

Rochester Rattlers vs. Philadelphia Barrage: Winner-Rochester Rattlers

It’s simple really…John Grant Jr. I’ve been talking Grant up all season as the best in the game and on Thursday the MLL validated that talk by giving Grant the MLL MVP for the second season in a row. The Rattlers are the number one seeded team overall with their 9-3 record and haven’t shown many signs of letting up this entire season. As for the Philadelphia Barrage, they come in as the weak link in this Championship weekend as the fourth seed with a record of 7-5.

The focus will lie solely on John Grant Jr. for the Barrage and expect all-star Brodie Merrill to step up big time. The lingering problem for the Rattlers though is their goalie Mike Levin, who has looked very shaky in net for the last couple of weeks. The best opportunity for Jed Prossner and the Barrage to win is to actually get in a shootout with the Rattlers and hope that Brian Dougherty can get his act together and hold down this Rattler attack. I don’t think it’s possible for the Barrage to win as they are over-matched in every aspect, so expect a comfortable win for the Rattlers.

Denver Outlaws vs. Los Angeles Riptide: Winner- Los Angeles Riptide

The Riptide!?! Yes, I said it, the Riptide will win. The Riptide come into this weekend playing their best lacrosse of the season after winning 6 of their last 8. Winning streaks tend to carry over into the playoffs and I think the 7-5 Riptide have what it takes to take down the more powerful 8-4 Outlaws. The Riptide have the MLL Goalie of the Year in Mickey Jarboe who’s GAA is down to 12.75 which ranked first in the league.

With a solid guy in the net they also have three guys who seem unstoppable at times. Jesse Hubbard, Kyle Harrison, and Kevin Huntley are all completely different players but their style mix well together. Jesse Hubbard is the MLL’s all-time leading goal scorer so expect his veteran play to shine this weekend. As for the Outlaws, Brian Langtry is of course the key. But, in the one loss they had this season against L.A. Langtry was held to one assist. The Riptide know how to shut down Langtry and expect them to do it again this weekend.

By Sean Connolly

Attackman and former Duke star Zach Greer will enroll at Bryant for the 2009 season, making Bryant a more than legitimate threat. Former Duke coach Mike Pressler now coaches for Bryant which is believed to be the major reason Greer decided to join Bryant. With Greer on the team now is Bryant a formidable opponent up north?

Greer’s 206 goals, wow 206, is tops in all-time goals in college lacrosse. Whenever he’s on the ball crowds stand up and defenses cringe. Greer, who graduated from Duke this past spring, has one more year of eligibility left, a year in which he will go for his masters at Bryant and master the field as a part of the Bryant LAX team.

Pressler and Greer reunite after the tumulsious 2006 season in which Duke cut short the season and cut loose of Pressler. Pressler was fired as the Duke squad was left in question as to whether they could come back in the coming years. Sure enough they have making a national championship appearance last season and a semifinal last year.

This coming season will be Bryant’s first venture into Division 1 sports. They make their first apperance after being a DII school in Rhode Island. Unfortanately for Greer and the Bryant Bulldogs, they are not eligible for the playoffs until next season. Sorry Zach, I guess wait ’till you’re a part of the MLL to see you in the playoffs.

By Sean Connolly

With wins by the Barrage and Riptide the postseason has been sorted out putting an end to a fantastic regular season. The Philadelphia Barrage beat Boston last night to make it to their 3rd straight postseason. Los Angeles Riptide made it in last night by defeating the San Fransisco Dragons. But, quite frankly neither team stands a chance.

They’ve played well all season but the Riptide and Barrage are simply no match for the overly talented and powerful Denver Outlaws and Rochester Rattlers. The Rattlers and Outlaws seem to be destined for a match up in the final pitting Rochester’s John Grant against Denver’s Brian Langtry. The Western Conference Champion Outlaws have put up the most dominant numbers in the entire league and I’m afraid that only the Rattlers can stop them.

So, what are my predictions for the postseason? It’s simple really…The Outlaws destroy the Riptide, The Rattlers demolish the Barrage, and we’re set up with one of the best finals the MLL has ever produced between the Outlaws and Rattlers. Although I love how John Grant has been playing I think this is Brian Langtry’s year as he and the Outlaws will leave Boston with the championship.

It might sound lame but the definite winner of all this is the fan. Lacrosse has made a huge move this year with the college championships and this year’s MLL season. Finally lacrosse fans can unite and actually be able to watch their favorite sport on television, even if it is on ESPN2.

Under the guidance of legendary coach Bill Tierney, the Princeton Lacrosse program has flourished. Bill Tierney first took over the challenge of bringing lacrosse dominance to central New Jersey back in 1987 and has since been referred to as the Vince Lombardi of lacrosse. It took coach Tierney just four years to bring the Tigers their first National Championship and he has since won five more, including three in a row at one point. With Bill Tierney at the helm Princeton has become one of the most prestigious lacrosse school in the country and is a place that any lacrosse player would be honored to attend and have the opportunity to play for coach Tierney. But what type of player does it take to play for Princeton and how does a high school lacrosse player go about making sure that the people at Princeton take notice of him? Who better to ask these questions of than the man himself- we recently sat down with coach Tierney and asked him about the recruiting process as well as a host of other questions. Here is a sample of what he said about recruiting, and then make sure to click on the link to here his entire interview.

Bill Tierney Interview