Latest / In the Crease / Carousel of Coaching Changes Continues (Part 1)

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Carousel of Coaching Changes Continues (Part 1) · In the Crease

• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome, welcome, welcome to another episode of In the Crease with Danny and Kevin, a coast to coast discussion of deep two men's lacrosse.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your co-host, Kevin Stentrum, and with me as always is our Marty McFly, Danny Moran.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: Hey Kevin.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: I can't wait to hear the explanation of this one.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: All right, well, so here's we'll go with the explanation first.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's been a while since we really talked, but let's go with the explanation.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's a back to the future reference.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: Every year, Danny, we have double-digit coaching changes.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Thus, we're always going back to the future.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: And we're always doing these coaching changes episodes.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: This year we have 13 coaching changes.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: And we're gonna have four episodes coming.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: This is the first of the four.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: The carousel of coaching changes continues.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: Say that, say that five times fast with a couple of high C's in you.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, okay.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: Kevin, first of all, thank you for that for that wonderful uh introduction.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: And I must ask you, how are things tonight in Northern Virginia?
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: If I don't ask you that, it won't be the right podcast.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: I know, I know.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, we're the the sun broke out finally today.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: I think it had to do with us recording this podcast.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: I am pumped.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: Second episode of the season.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: All the first one was kind of in the summer, so it was a little bit long tooth uh coming.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: And we now we're getting several weeks in a row, even before we get to our conference previews, where we get to kind of warm up ourselves.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: Schools are going, the teams are going through fallball.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: This is kind of our fallball as we try to warm up our vocal cords and wits as we prepare for the 2025 season.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm I'm pumped for the 2025 season, you know.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: Kev, last year was quite the year in Division II.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was just amazing, you know, especially in that south region during NCAA time.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: But um, it was an exciting season.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm pumped for this season.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: I think there's gonna be a lot of difference.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: I've got some different teams this year are gonna be making moves.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: I think so too.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's gonna be an interesting year.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: We have automatic qualifiers this year in Division II, which I think is amazingly great.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: I think it motivates these conferences and these and these mid-range teams in these conferences.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_01: It gives them motivation, a little bit uh a little bit different type of motivation, I guess, than uh than years past, you know.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think I think it's going to spur them on to uh even uh if they can try harder.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: Like I think it's trying to motivate them when you're playing in the RMAC or the Peach Belt or uh the CACC.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: Where in years past, uh you know, you really your your conference championship is what you're shooting for.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: Now, not only are you shooting for your conference championship, you're shooting for that conference championship because it means that much more because you get in.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: You get in, and you know what, you know what they say, that ball bounce is funny, man, and anything can happen during playoff time, you know.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: And and that's it, it it brings that March madness uh feel uh to to lacrosse in division two now.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I'm excited about.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, it's gonna be great.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: But let's move on to this episode.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said, 13 coaching changes.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: We don't have all the coaches lined up.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, some of the teams they haven't even announced their new head coaches yet.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a couple of those, so we're not even gonna say those yet because who knows, those could change, and we could get those guys on really quickly, and then we're good to go, and we get all due.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: We're still trying to work it.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: There's some challenges as always because they're very busy.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so we're just gonna have to just see how it goes.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: But for this first episode, we're gonna start up north in the NE10 and the ECC.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: It's still warm up there this time of year.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: Danny, let's kick off in the NE ten with a St.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: Anselm haunts.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: As you know, head coach Mike Shimana stepped down to take over Merrimack.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: Drew Burdeaux was hired in July to take the reins.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: And to be honest, I don't think I've heard of Coach Burdeaux's, I didn't hear his name, but then as I looked at it, it kind of makes sense.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: He played at St.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: A's, he was a 2018 graduate.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: He started 56 of 57 games, Danny.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: So he had something good going for him, right?
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: What did you do wrong to get not get the start in the 57th game?
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: He must have done something wrong.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: I think he came in off the bench that first game, and then they're like, You're never leaving the field.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I think.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: But he came, he was the head coach of Bedford High School, and he was the 2024 Division I and U.S.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: lacrosse New Hampshire Coach of the Year.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: That's a mouthful for me, but that's pretty impressive.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: That is impressive, and his team was the NHIAA Division I runner-up last year.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: Phenomenal.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: So he was building something at the high school level, and now he's gonna transition that into his alma mater.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: So let's welcome in Coach Perdeau of the Hawks.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_04: Hey coach, how we doing, guys?
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_04: Thanks for having me.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: Super public coach Burdeaux, it is uh it's exciting to have you on, man.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: And you know what?
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: Me personally, big fan of St.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: A's, loved Coach Shimana, loved what he did up there.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, got to meet him one day at an A Delphi game.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: It was raining, lost by one to a Delphi, and it was a part where you guys got the ball back with like 30 seconds left.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: And coach didn't call a timeout.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, man, that's that's a timeout time.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_01: That's when you want to settle your guys, right?
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: And at the end, he was leaving.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, Coach, tough game.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: He goes, I should have called a timeout.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: That was the first words out of his mouth.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: Great guy, great program, and uh congratulations on getting a job, man.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_04: Thank you very much.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I uh coach Shaman is someone who I have a lot to be thankful for, and and is the main reason why I'm in this position that I am.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_04: So he's just been incredible for myself and for my family.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_04: So I I can't thank him enough for everything he's done for me, but especially for the program.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: How does that feel taking over for someone like him?
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_04: To be honest with you, you'd mentioned it, Kevin, on the intro, but it it just made sense.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_04: Uh I coach Shimana had asked me a few times to uh to be his defensive coordinator.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_04: So I was teaching down in Massachusetts.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_04: I was a high school math teacher, and I had moved up.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_04: My wife and I now live in New Hampshire.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_04: And when I had moved up to New Hampshire and started looking for jobs up there, he immediately was like, Hey, I want you to come be the defensive coordinator.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_04: And for me, it was it was more I always loved coaching at the high school that I was at just because culture-wise, it just made the most sense for me.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_04: And I had always said, I don't want to be anyone's assistant unless I'm Coach Shimana's assistant.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_04: And I had always said, I can't picture a St.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_04: A's lacrosse program without Coach Shimana as the head coach, unless I was the head coach.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_04: And so it all ended up working out.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_04: Uh that's excellent.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_04: I knew a lot of steps had to happen in order for that to happen, but it's uh it's been a dream come true, honestly.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's phenomenal.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: How have the players responded to you coming in?
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_04: They've been awesome.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_04: You know, I think it really helps to have someone who's been in their shoes and to know what it's like to be a student there and and to know how hard it is to be a student there and understand all the ins and outs of the school.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_04: And and I've taken the same professors that they've taken.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_04: And so they were all super incredible, super welcoming.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_04: And it's it's been shown, honestly, in our practices because of how quick we've been able to get into things, because a lot of the drills that I use and are are in my you know, folder and and drive of of drills are all from Coach Shimana.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_04: And so yeah, you know, they're they're named the same, and we've just kind of been able to get right into everything and using the same terminology and all of that.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_04: Same terminology, and so it really hasn't been a huge shift, and I think that they've really enjoyed that because you know that's that's something that anytime is a coaching change, it can be hard for the guys who stay, and a lot of them decide to stay, which I'm super, super grateful for.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: That's phenomenal, that's great.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, and that was one uh that what you just said kind of rolls into my next question was is are you doing anything to put your own stamp on the program or are you going with the philosophy?
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, it's uh it's a little bit of both, honestly.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, right, yeah, I'm sure.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_04: And what I've really done is I I've just been around the program since I left.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_04: Whether it was, you know, I a couple falls when I first moved up here, I I came on the staff and I was helping out.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_04: And so I knew a majority of the roster, but the you know, class of 23 and class of 24 who just graduated, I knew a lot of those guys really well.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_04: And so I I really connected with them and talked to them about if there was anything you could have fixed, what would it be?
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_04: And especially in the fall, they talked about just that flow of how practice can be when you only have a X amount of competitions, and and it it's not like the spring where you're looking forward to a game every week.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_04: And so some of the things that I got from some of those big time leaders like Ryan Slattery, who who's yeah, been there for half a decade and knows the program uh better than everyone.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_04: So to be able to you know talk shop with him, and he really when I left, there was a year gap, and then he came.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_04: And so I got to see the beginning stages of the program with Coach Shana, and he's saw the end of the the era with Coach Ramana.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_04: And so just to be able to pick his brain was fantastic and and helped me see where we could maintain the same culture that that we've had, and where we can take something and just make it a little bit better to help us, you know, find those three goals that we need to make it to the national championship.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_01: Interesting.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we've had several uh seeing A's players.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_01: We had the Larson boys on.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_01: We watched, we watched those kids grow up, you know, when we Kevin and I started the podcast watching the CNA's game before the podcast, and the Larson brothers just stood out to me.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, wow, these kids are good, and they were only freshmen.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_01: And so when they were seniors last year, like a couple of weeks before the end of the season, I said we got to get the Larson boys on, and they were great, you know, and and just again, what what St.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: A's means to Division II lacrosse, big time program.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: They get after it, they're up in the tough mini ten, they're facing, you know, the the Adelphis and the paces of the world, and and just and it's been just a great uh couple of years watching St.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_01: A's play.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: And now that you're at the helm, what do you think we should expect from St.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: A's this year?
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_04: Well, you're gonna see uh a lot of the same toughness that Coach Shama has instilled and and a lot of the same uh you know gritty guys who like to get after it off the ground and and love to ride and clear the ball.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, but you know, we want to add a little bit of flair too.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_04: So we have some stuff from uh from Bedford High School that we're we're bringing over and and just to you know get the offense popping a little bit more and and get the you know early offense transition popping a little bit more.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_04: And so uh one of my assistants from is from Merrimack College, Eric Coburn.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_04: He's been uh you know, was really the guy that kind of started this train of me believing in myself that I could could get this job.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_04: And he brings just such a a high cue of things from Merrimack College when they won the national championship and and some stuff that they do in the early substitution game, which I've been able to pick his brain about.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_04: And so, you know, it's it's gonna look a little different, but you'll still see that same same old Saint A's ball that that Coach Shon has instilled in everyone.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so let's talk.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: So you have one assistant, do you have more than one assistant?
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: Are you do you have a volunteer assistant, graduate assistant?
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: Well, how's your staff looking?
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, so we have Coach Coburn, who's our defensive coordinator, and then Coach Howe was my assistant at Bedford High School.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_04: He's the offensive coordinator.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, he was the 2023 assistant coach of the year in New Hampshire.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_04: So um he's a fantastic, fantastic player at Keene State, um, and is someone that's has been wanting to get into the college game.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_04: And so it was just a natural flow for him to come with me because he was a huge part in helping me really bring Bedford High School back to the great Bedford High School it used to be back in the early 2010s.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_04: And then we have you might know him, you might see him on Instagram.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_04: Uh Derek Unone is our face-off volunteer assistant coach.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_04: And so he comes a couple of times a week and does a fantastic job with our face-off guys.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_04: And uh, he's known as the Cougar on Instagram.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_04: And uh it's it's it's just great to have those guys.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_04: I said it in the first meeting with the guys when I introduced all the coaches.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_04: It's a really unique and really cool opportunity that all of us in the program right now are going to be able to look back on and say how cool that is.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_04: That all four of the coaches that that these guys are being coached by are under 30 years old.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_04: And that's you know, it's it's really unique, it's really cool, and uh something you don't see in the coaching landscape anywhere.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_04: And it's it's something that I think these guys are really really find pretty cool.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that sounds if I was a player, I'd probably gravitate that too.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, Danny and I are a heck of a lot older than that.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, but we still have four years of eligibility.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_00: So if you need anyone, coach, right?
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: That leads me into my my final question.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: You so you obviously when you came in, yeah, the recruiting, you're probably recruiting right now.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: What are you looking though for your first full recruiting season?
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: What is there something in particular, what type of player, or is there certain gaps that you're looking at?
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: Not that St.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: A's really has any gaps, but what are you looking for in your first uh full season recruiting?
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, great question.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_04: You know, it's uh it's really interesting to really pick up in this recruiting game, and especially at the Division I level, especially in football, uh, how crazy it is.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_04: And you know, Marcus Freeman, the Notre Dame coach, really said it best.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_04: You really don't start recruiting a kid until he commits.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_04: That's almost when you have to start recruiting a kid even more.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_04: And so we haven't seen that pace in in Division II lacrosse.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_04: But you know, the main three things that we look for in our program, and it's got to be the right fit, right?
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_04: St.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_04: Anselm College.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_04: I remember this this summer when I was texting a few kids, Coach Mana kind of joked with me is you'll steer some kids off right away when they see the word saint.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_04: And it's it's funny, but it's true because you know, we are a Catholic college, and there's aspects of the school that just don't blend with some people's core values.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_04: But for us, the the main three are someone who's coachable, someone who is an athlete, and someone who's obsessed with lacrosse is the way we put it.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_04: We call it a lax rat.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_04: We feel like if we can bring in a guy that has those three things, they're gonna do extremely well in our program.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_04: And so really it's just about building the relationships with the club directors, club coaches, and the high school coaches.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_04: Um, you know, and I think that the high school piece, especially me coming from being a high school coach, I love club across and it's great.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_04: But I think a high school coach can tell me a lot more about a kid than uh a club director or a club coach can a lot of times because that high school coach is around that kid every day.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_04: Right what it's like when they have a big week of exams or you know, when there's something going on with their family and how that kid reacts.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_04: And so I had actually called a coach this past summer about a kid that we brought in, and he said, and it was a very well-known public school in Massachusetts.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_04: And he said, You're the in my you know, 15 years as a high school coach, you're the second college coach that's ever called me.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_04: And I feel like that's that was something really unique for me to hear for such a prestigious program in Massachusetts that I feel like we can really take advantage of.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's great, that's great.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: And just to point out, and you said Saint, I went to a holy cross college.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: So I I I know what you're talking about.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: But uh, and that's I I love what you said about the three things that you want to do, and that uh, and I also like the perspective you said about the the high school coaches because everything seems to be clubs this day, and I and I think there's really a benefit of not having that the soul, soul thing, and to look at what they've done in their high school career.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: So I appreciate that.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: And let me tell you, coach, this has been great having you on.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: Uh like Danny said, we love watching St.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: A's, we love the the the kind of lacrosse that that the Hawks play, and we're really excited to see what you can do with them and what you can do with them the next few years, and maybe even bring them to an adieu.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: Wouldn't that be fun?
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_04: That's that's the plan.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, that's the plan.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_04: So uh it's not it's not far out of the realm, it's not out of the realm at all.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_04: That's right.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_04: So it it's uh it's really cool, you know, being back in my senior year.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_04: We made it to the NE10 championship for the first time in program history, and really to see where the program's gone since then has been incredible away from the national championship.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_04: So I'm uh I'm I'm chomping at the bit to get to the spring for sure.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: And now with automatic qualifiers, it kind of changes things a little bit.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you get into the you get into the conference dance, you know, a stick, a pipe, you know, things could go, things could go your way, and you know, just come and become conference champ, and then you're in, you know what I mean?
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_01: So and St.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_01: A's is right there.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: They've been knocking on the door the last couple of years, they've been right there, you know what I mean.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_01: So, coach, thank thanks a lot for uh appreciate you taking the time tonight.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_01: And uh we wish the Hawks nothing but the best, and uh we'll see you soon.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_04: Thank you very much.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_04: I appreciate both you guys and everything you do for Division II Lacrosse.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_04: So thank you very much for having me.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_01: You got it.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_01: We'll see you soon.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, now for coaching change number two in the NE 10, and that is with the AIC Yellow Jackets.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Corey Nealig takes over for Jack Spallone, who, as you remember, Danny, in my opinion, he did a masterful job of more than doubling the roster with new talent in one year.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and wins yeah, most wins last year that they've seen in the program for a long time.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but Coach Nealig comes with his own pedigree.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: He was an assistant at Albright College, and prior to that, he was head coach at Lamp Peter Strasbourg High School, and he played at Randolph College.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: So he's got a lot of D3 experience.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: I know Randolph College, I know that he's uh that he's bringing uh to the D2 world.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_00: So why don't we bring him in and see what it's like to go from high school in D3 and now coaching in D2?
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome, Coach.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_00: How are you doing?
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_05: Coach, how's it going, guys?
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_05: Thanks for having me.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it's great that great to have you on.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'm really interested to hear how things are going up there in Springfield, Massachusetts, my old stomping grounds.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: Let's start off.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: We kind of did the teaser with how Coach Ballone brought double the roster.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: How excited are you to take over a program that showed so much fight and promise last year?
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_05: 100%.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_05: You know, um, it's one of the most exciting things about the job um is getting to take over and work with the group that we do have here.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_05: Um, you know, in any coaching turnover, you know, the the roster size won't always stay entirely intact.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_05: Not to get too into the weeds, but you know, the the situation of of the turnover was um a little abnormal for the group.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_05: You know, they they went through a lot of adversity that last season.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_05: So, you know, a lot of the job has been, you know, recruiting the team back.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_00: You know, kind of actually one of my questions.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_00: We have talked to other coaches who said their first thing they had to do was try to re recruit their players and not to go into the portal.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_05: Yep.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_05: And so when I took over the position, probably about Half of our roster was in the portal.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_05: Um, and you know, that was half the roster that we have now.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_05: So um, you know, what it shows on that website is not necessarily accurate.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_05: You know, we're we're still working to get caught up here, but um, you know, we're sitting at 26 guys, definitely a little bit of a drop-off in size, but in terms of talent, um, you know, it's an incredibly thorough group.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_05: You, you know, we're returning to defensive all Americans, um, and Reese Bowers and Carter Linkletter, you know, they they allow us to play at a specific type of defense and at a certain pace that you know is pretty special in the D2 world.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_05: So getting to good work with two All Americans on the defensive end is going to be incredibly exciting.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_05: Um, and it's a very unique group, you know, half of our roster is Canadian.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_05: So it's a very diverse group.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_05: Um, you know, they come from, you know, not only from Canada, but all different parts of Canada.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_05: So even the guys that are Canadian, you get a little bit of a you know, culture shock um intermixed on those those groups, you know.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_05: But but it's a it's a very exciting group to work with.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_05: They've been incredibly resilient through, you know, all the change.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_05: Um, they've been very receptive to the to this new coaching style and and the new structure that I'm trying to implement.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_05: But in terms of taking over a group that is just incredibly bought into lacrosse and building this thing up the right way, you know, you couldn't ask for more as a coach.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's interesting.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: You hit on several actually several things I have questions on, and like how are the players feeling?
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: It sounds like now that you've kind of got settled in, you're right, a little bit of a turbulence last year as they're going through really, I think you hit the nail on the head with the word adversity that they're probably going to, and they worked through that.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: So the resiliency, like you said, of this team is pretty strong.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_00: How has the rest of the transition been getting used to AIC?
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_00: And what what made you decide to come to AIC to coach?
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_05: For me, it was about finding the right situation for my family.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_05: Um, you know, I have a four-year-old son and a and a girlfriend that, you know, they were not an afterthought in this process.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_05: Um, you know, I I turned down a coaching, head coaching position that would have moved us out to Ohio and um last winter.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_05: It just wasn't the right move for my family.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_05: But you know, the the Springfield area, you know, there's some really beautiful stuff in the surrounding areas.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_05: And um, you know, you know, there are some personal connections with the family up this way that that made it more of an um you know an appetizing move.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_05: Um, but you know, first and foremost for me as a coach, it was, you know, that it was the best opportunity for my career.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_05: Um, I was part-time at Albright.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_05: You know, I loved studying under Coach Skelly.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_05: He's been one of the best mentors I could have ever asked for on the coaching front.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_05: It was about getting, you know, me and my family to the next step and what's best for us.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_05: And you know, AIC happened to be that opportunity.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_05: And, you know, I'm new to the area, but I love it, and I'm ready to build something special here.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: So great.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: As you talked about, coach, probably your first priority is trying to keep some of your team.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: And now you've got to start, you're you're probably, I would assume you're just starting to get into fallball or about ready to get into that.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: What are your goals for maybe even just fallball?
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_00: And let's not even talk about the first year.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: What's your what's your goal in this fall for this team?
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, you know, right now the the goal is to just renew some continuity.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_05: Um, you know, not only am I a new face for these guys, but you know, from even the the rest of the coaching staff, you know, the the assistants were on staff last year, um, ultimately found, you know, new schools, new opportunities.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_05: Um, you know, we just are are finalizing, getting that assistant coach role filled.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_05: Um, you know, there's a lot of change for the guys.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_05: So in a in a way, it's it's been a lot of tear down and and and build back up.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_05: But you know, my my focus has been, you know, hold this group accountable, um, give them structure that that's gonna allow them to grow.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_05: And, you know, I I try to design my practices to to really have their best interest in mind.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_05: You know, we've been incredibly low numbers, the injury bug starts to creep up a little bit.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_05: Uh in the fall.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_05: It's about, you know, what can we get done without sacrificing the health and well-being of this group?
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_05: So, you know, a lot of it's just been uh learning new languages, learning new systems, um, building things up part to whole.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_05: You know, we haven't even gotten into six on six yet because that that's just not where we're at as a group.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_05: And I want to build things up bit by bit until we're there, you know.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_00: Block by block, yeah.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you, Bauer and Linkletter, those guys on defense are just beasts.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_00: So is that kind of your foundation going forward?
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_00: Like on the defensive side, and then you're you try to uh and and then work the offense on the other side?
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_05: Um, yeah, you know, it's it we're going through um, you know, I would call this a very common lacrosse team trend.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_05: Both teams show up, the defense is incredibly dialed in.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, the offense looks sloppy, the defense isn't challenged, the offense figures it out.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_05: Once the offense figures it out, now the defense head starts spinning.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_05: Now they've got things to figure it out.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_05: And once they figure things out, now we're playing lacrosse.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_05: So we're at the point where the offense is really young and lacks a lot of depth.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_05: And you know, our most talented guys on offense are banged up right now.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_05: Tyler Goody, you know, our true ex-attack mid.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_05: Um, you know, Jordan Bianco, you know, he's a really slick Canadian guy.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_05: His brother, you know, just won a conference championship out at Lewis.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_05: Um, you know, yeah, his older brother Bait is you know, phenomenal player.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_05: Um, and you know, so I I want to see what this offense looks like with a healthy group.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_05: Like you said, you know, Reese, Reese and Carter on the defensive end, you know, they they really anchor what we're able to do and the type of schemes we're able to run.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_05: But we've returned almost all of our depth onto the defensive end.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_05: Wow.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_05: Um, you know, our our goalie from last year did transfer out.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_05: The the backup on the roster stayed.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_05: He's a very solid goalie, Logan Nebraski.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_05: Um, we also brought in a freshman, Nick Kendall, from uh the Plymouth Mass area that that looks really solid as well.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_05: So it's been kind of a restructuring, and this group's kind of got to find their identity again.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_05: But luckily they're they're incredibly close to knit and bought in.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_05: And it's more just them finding their identity within the system and not them having to find their identity as a group.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_01: Right, right.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_01: Take us, take, take us through like a typical day of practice, 6 a.m.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_01: What do we got going on?
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, so um, you know, basically they're they're either on a lift day or on a practice day.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_05: Um and then Fridays, it compounds.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_05: They've got lift and then practice.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_05: Uh everything I do is part to whole.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_05: So for example, today we're installing some zone principles.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_05: You know, we did full field weave pattern, we did some spike drill, you know.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_05: Um, we like to call them spicy line drills.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_05: It's essentially a line drill with a guy on the side, you know, you're working on your over-the-shoulders and rolling a ground ball out in front of them, and you know, some high intensity, you know, stick work stuff.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_05: And then we started, you know, attacking zones in smaller ways.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_05: So, you know, you cut the field in half, you're you're working on odd man situations attacking from the wing.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_05: It forces the offense to step into gaps and test the defense similarly, and you know, overload sides how they would in a normal zone offense.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_05: Um, and it forces the defense to start working on those communications and rotations and you know, when is the proper time to address a ball and when is the proper time to protect the paint.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_05: And you know, so today we we worked on all those principles, and then at the end of practice, you know, we're installing the zone for the defense so they can see it fully what it's going to look like.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_05: So, you know, typically practices will look very different, but everything is part to whole.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_05: Um, and then wide drills, you know, is one of the drills we do almost every day.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_05: You know, it's essentially just working on two-man systems and then off-ball pair systems, and you can get so much out of doing that drill just in you know different locations.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_05: You know, it teaches defense, it teaches all kinds of slide recovery principles that you use, you know, all the way up to six on six in your full systems.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_05: And and similarly with offense, you know, you can work on a lot of the core principles that make up your system in a more compartmentalized way.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_01: Very interesting.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_01: That's cool.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so now you jump, let's get into jumping from D3 to D2.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_00: And what has that has that really have you really even noticed the change or what things are are different for you?
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_00: Have you seen a Delphi play?
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well, we're gonna get to the NET.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_00: Like, talk about going right into the frying pan into the fire for uh for coach there.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, coach.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_05: Sorry, no, you're good.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, um, you know, my personality, I I love it.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_05: You know, I want to play the best to beat the best.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_05: And I I went to you know, Randolph College.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_05: We were the baby of the conference when I was there.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_05: Um, you know, the Odak is similar to the M10.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_05: You know, there's no cupcake games.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_05: Um, you know, and the top dogs are competing for a national title every year.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_05: You know, when I was there, it was it was Roanoke, WNL, Sydney, uh, Lynchburg, of course.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_05: Um, you know, and and we we were the the program that we hadn't won a conference game until you know my class had gotten there.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_05: My senior year, we were an overtime loss away from the playoffs.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_05: Um, you know, so there was some growth that was there.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_05: And you know, I'm the kind of guy that I like to go right into the fire.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_05: I'm not pulling away from any fights, and I'm also the kind of coach and player that it's all about us, you know.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_05: I I I like to tell the guys, you know, I've never heard of them, you know.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_05: And truly in this sense, you know, most of the D2 schools, I I truly don't I have I have never heard of them, you know.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_05: I know of them.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_05: But you know, I know of Adelphi, I know of their prestigious um, you know, history and how good of a program it is, but you know, I couldn't I couldn't name you their starting lineup or the head coach's name.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_05: It's just you know, I I focus on my guys and and what we need to build.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_05: And you know, if we can do the little things right, you know, we can do them right against any team.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_05: So you know that's kind of what we're focused on.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_05: Um, in terms of the main difference from D3 to D2, you know, that there's definitely a lot less schools to get to know.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_05: Um, you know, D3, you know, when you're looking to add games and all that kind of stuff, you know, there's endless options.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_05: There's so many schools.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_05: Um, you know, I kind of ran into this, you know, the scheduling of our spring, you know, is you you've got so many northeast schools that are a reasonable drive from your school, and then you know, if everyone's filled, you're looking to go all the way down south to the North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, yeah, or Georgia, you know, or some of these schools that are further away.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_05: Um, so it's a little bit different of a dynamic.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, other than that, it's just um, you know, there's the difference of athletic aid versus you know, traditional academic aid.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_05: I I think, you know, from D2 to D3, it's it's different in terms of that.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_05: Um, you know, I like to explain to guys that I'm recruiting that, you know, at a D3 school, that academic number it can wiggle a little bit.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_05: You know, you can go back to your coach and say, you know, this school gave me this academic package.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_05: Can you guys match that?
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_05: Can you come up with another grant?
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_05: Um they they figure out ways to do that.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_05: You know, at the D2 level, you get your academic number and then it's on the coach, you know, use your budget is basically the answer you'll get.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_05: So that's the main adjustment.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_05: Um, it's a little bit more freedom, so it's been an easier adjustment.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_05: You know, you you get to make the decisions yourself as a coach rather than going back and forth with the admissions and saying, no, no, this is really is a high priority recruit and all that kind of stuff.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_00: So right, right.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_05: But yeah, that's the main difference, I think.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's that's interesting.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_00: I was glad to get your perspective on that, and and especially about uh coming into the NE10 and and willing to just you know play the top dogs.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_00: So, what do you think?
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_00: Just to kind of conclude on my side, what where are you recruiting?
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_00: Where I mean, I know you probably haven't had a real chance this first year.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_00: You're probably in the midst of it right now, getting ready to try to add even probably some 2025s and looking at 2026s, but where are there certain areas that you're looking?
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_00: What do you think you need to do to you know really get your team to the level you want it to be at?
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I mean, the the biggest thing right now with this team is depth.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_05: Um, you know, we're talented on all positions of the field.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, we're also incredibly young on all positions of the field.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_05: Um, you know, those two all Americans we're talking about are sophomores.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_05: Um it's a it's a beautiful thing, but also there's a window, right?
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_05: You know, you want to maximize if you're able to bring in talent like that, you want to maximize that window.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_05: So um, you know, in terms of recruiting strategy, with us being an international scholar or an international based college, um, you know, we have an international grant at our disposal that that does help us get in some international students and provide them with a pretty good academic package.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_05: Nice.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_05: Um, and it's created a pretty cool culture at AIC.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_05: You know, our our D1 hockey team has, you know, guys from all over Europe and and Russia and all over the world.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_05: And um, you know, and same with our soccer team and and some of our the programs have really utilized that grant to to bring people from all walks of life.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_05: Um, for us, it typically translates to Canadian guys, which is awesome.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_05: Um but you know, I I actually have a a follow-up call set up early tomorrow morning with a guy from Australia, you know.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_05: Um, so you know, it's it's just kind of learning, you know, the specialty of our school and and the type of athlete that we have exposure to and can, you know, really help out get here.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_05: So um, you know, definitely leaning into that international aspect, you know, talking to a lot of Canadian guys, um, the guy from Australia, you know, and then in terms of the US, you know, it's for whatever reason, it seems like guys that are interested in the D2 world are are willing to travel.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_05: Um, yeah.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_05: I don't know what what that why that is, but you know, it's definitely helped me get, you know, on the phone with guys, you know, from California, Washington, Colorado, Texas, you know, kind of all over.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_05: Um, you know, where when I was a D3 coach, it was a little harder to recruit guys further away.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_05: You know, I I don't know if that's school to school.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_05: You know, obviously bigger names have less of a hard time with that, but you know, when you're that small school, it was hard to get guys multiple states away that get on the phone and and schedule those visits.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_01: So coach D2, D2 has grown exponentially in the last like God, I've been around it.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_01: I've been around D2 about 15, 16 years now.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_01: But the last five or six years, it's really grown.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_01: I so many more teams now and going to automatic qualifiers now with the NCAA.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_01: But there's not a lot of schools out west, and these kids that want to play are willing to come out east, you know, that they're growing out west, but they're not there yet.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so that's why these kids are willing to come out east and play ball.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_01: And they're getting they're getting the talent is there.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_01: And the talent is there out.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely, and they're getting stacked scholarship, they're getting athletic, they're getting academic, they're getting a lot more offered than they would at other schools, mostly, you know, and I think I think that's very attractive to parents, you know.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, not everybody got, you know, 60, 70, 80 grand to throw out on your son or daughter's education, you know.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_01: So if you go D2, man, you can play and get a boatload of money, you know, and not have so much debt at the end of your you know, your college career, and you get to play, you know.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_01: So that's what I think the attractiveness is to D2.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I think your idea, Coach, or what you're saying, you're looking obviously with the international and what AIC can do with that, but uh other states, I think, and this is probably a bias from years ago when I lived there, but if kids in New England are looking to play lacrosse, there's plenty of schools right now, even in the NE10, that they may be drawn to more St.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_00: A's, Bentley, Adelphi, that have the a higher degree right now or pedigree in the lacrosse world and records than AIC does now.
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_00: So you build from outside in, and sooner or later, those kids from New England, once you get AIC at their same level, which I will tell you last year, every NE10 team was scared of AIC because of the way they played.
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_01: There was a lot of talk about AIC last year.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_00: And that shows where AIC can be.
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm really excited to see where you can bring it and build upon that uh to get it to that way.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_00: So that you know, then you're the school, you're the name brand school that everyone's saying, Well, I I want to get recruited by AIC.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to go to a Delphi or Bentley, I want to go to American International College.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's the ideal.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_05: Absolutely.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_05: You know, and it's something I talked to the guys with recently.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_05: You know, we we've talked a lot about, you know, shifting the culture.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_05: And a lot of that culture shift happens on the field this year, you know, because a quick funny story, you know, one of the recruits I was texting, uh, talented midfielder, sent my general, you know, hey, it's Coach Naylig, we'd love to set up a call.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_05: The response back was just first text was our record, you know, second text was all the teams that we lost to in our conference.
• 40:29
  SPEAKER_05: And then, you know, there's another comment, you know, surface level stuff about the school.
• 40:34
  SPEAKER_05: And you know, I took the high road, I was thinking of something funny to say, but I just texted the guy back and said, Hey, I think you sent this to the wrong person.
• 40:42
  SPEAKER_05: Um and he was he was so apologetic, you know.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_05: Of course, hey coach, that was for my dad.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_05: I'm so sorry.
• 40:49
  SPEAKER_05: Um, you know, I don't think ASC has what we're looking for.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_05: But you know, I told my guys about that, and I said, you know, this is the this is our reputation.
• 40:58
  SPEAKER_05: You know, when I go to recruit guys, this is this is what they see.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_05: It's the surface stuff, you know, they don't get a chance to meet you guys if you get written off, you know, right at that entry text.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_05: Um, so yeah, a lot of what we've talked about is, you know, shift the culture, shift what it means to be an AIC lacrosse player.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_05: And and that's on the field, it's in the classroom, um, you know, and more importantly, it's in our community.
• 41:22
  SPEAKER_05: You know, how how well respected are we on campus?
• 41:25
  SPEAKER_05: You know, are we the kind of guys that you know people feel safe around?
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_05: You know, are we the kind of guys that hold the door for people, that you know, bring a smile on people's face, or is it, you know, an eye roll, you know, here comes the lacrosse team.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_05: Um so, you know, a lot of what we're trying to do is shift that culture.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_05: Um, you know, and with the talent on this team, I think the culture shift is going to be enough to put together those those pieces that were not in place last year.
• 41:53
  SPEAKER_05: You know, the the learning to win, you know.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_05: Um like you guys have said, you know, they they tested a lot of those NE10 teams last year.
• 42:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_05: Um, you know, they they were leading in the fourth quarter against Pace and St.
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_05: A's.
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_05: Um, you know, it's you know, and it's a talented group, they're a hungry group.
• 42:12
  SPEAKER_05: Um, but you know, I think like you guys are saying, I think a lot of the any team any 10 schools probably, you know, had those guys circled and and figure you wanted to know where they landed this summer, you know.
• 42:25
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it's a shame though.
• 42:27
  SPEAKER_01: It's a shame at the same time, you know.
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_01: You know, kids, you know, the coach left.
• 42:32
  SPEAKER_01: I I know that when Coach uh Shimano left St.
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_01: A's, I know that he had to deal with that, you know, the next coach had to deal with that.
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_01: So it's part of the program now, I think the portal.
• 42:43
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's here to stay.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's gonna be what it is, and just gonna have to kind of deal with that.
• 42:49
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, yeah, and I and I I think though, Coach, uh I really love what you said.
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I I also think if if that recruit looked beyond the surface, like you just said, look at where AIC was a couple years ago, look at where they were last year, look how close they came to beating top 10, not top 20, top 10 ranked teams.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_00: And that's how close AIC was last year.
• 43:19
  SPEAKER_00: And hopefully, with you under the helm, they'll just continue to grow.
• 43:22
  SPEAKER_00: I know it's a little bit tough now that you're back down to 26 and you got to get depth, but I I would like I I've said this every year just because this this is back where I grew up.
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_00: I'd like to see nothing better than AIC win the NE10 championship.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_05: Okay, it would be really cool.
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_05: We're we're looking to build it up one game at a time, one practice at a time.
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_05: And um, you know, first the goal is to get in there, get in the dance, and you know, then anything's possible.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_05: Um, but but like you guys are saying, you know, I I think we've seen the potential of what this group can do.
• 43:53
  SPEAKER_05: It's it's hoping that that structure can can help get them over the next steps.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_00: Well, coach, this has Been just phenomenal.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's great having you on.
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we wish you all the best in Fallball as you continue to build your team and get them to the right level.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_00: And we look forward to watching the Yellow Jackets in the 2025 season.
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_05: Awesome.
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_05: Well, thank you guys so much for having me.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_05: It's been a pleasure.
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_00: All right, Danny.
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_00: We're moving away from the NE10, but let's shift to a conference right next door and the ECC.
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_00: St.
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_00: Thomas Aquinas has a new coach in Jack's Ballone.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_00: We actually had Coach Ballone, you know, on the podcast when he took over AIC, and he came with a clear vision and a hunger to compete in the NE10.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and the AIC did real well last year.
• 44:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_00: Now he's taking over a program that I think had similar levels of success of AIC, maybe a few more wins.
• 44:49
  SPEAKER_00: So he's in a different conference.
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_00: He's got, I think he's got to build the same way up.
• 44:53
  SPEAKER_00: The interseer was just has to say about building up the Spartans at Stack.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_00: So let's bring him in.
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_00: Coach Jack Spallone of the Stack Spartans.
• 45:03
  SPEAKER_00: Hey coach.
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_00: Hey coach.
• 45:05
  SPEAKER_03: Hey guys, thanks for having me on again.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_03: Always a pleasure.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's great having you on.
• 45:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's great catching up with you as always.
• 45:13
  SPEAKER_00: So let's just start off.
• 45:14
  SPEAKER_00: Talk to us about St.
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_00: Thomas Aquinas.
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_00: I think the previous coaching staff was part-time.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_00: Is that still the case?
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_00: Or are you starting a new era where they've got you full time and you're you're at the helm?
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so we've we've got a new direction and a new vision.
• 45:33
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, things are are slightly different.
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_03: I'm not gonna say that they're completely changed because you know, you guys know I'm I'm a pretty straight shooter.
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_03: Um but overall, the equation ended up working out much better for my family, um, where, you know, economically my wife and I are in a position where we're doing better than than we were before, and and that kind of makes it a no-brainer in my book.
• 46:01
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, 100% on that one.
• 46:03
  SPEAKER_00: Well, let me ask you this: do you see, like I said in the intro, see similarities in your last program at AIC and what you need to do here?
• 46:12
  SPEAKER_03: Um, there's always gonna be similarities, especially with a rebuild.
• 46:17
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but I think that experience has given me a lot of perspective um and a lot of assuredness that my my ideology and my philosophy of how we're doing things.
• 46:31
  SPEAKER_03: Well, for the fact of the matter is, guys, it it worked.
• 46:35
  SPEAKER_03: Um and it had nothing to do with anything around us.
• 46:42
  SPEAKER_03: All it had to do with was our team culture and how we do things.
• 46:46
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and and none of that is changing.
• 46:49
  SPEAKER_03: My I my philosophy for the team, how we do things, our disciplined, detailed approach, that that's always gonna be who my teams are.
• 47:00
  SPEAKER_03: Um and how we like to do things, and and that stuff is carried over.
• 47:04
  SPEAKER_03: And so far in the fall, the guys have have taken to it like blue.
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I haven't really even had to ask a whole lot.
• 47:13
  SPEAKER_03: They they they were looking forward to this and very excited for this, and it's not it's not the same starting place.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, I pretty much have almost my entire 2024 class with me.
• 47:27
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and then my entire 25 class has already decided to follow.
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, I think that's a pretty big testament.
• 47:35
  SPEAKER_03: So we're we're kind of starting in a slightly different spot.
• 47:38
  SPEAKER_03: We we've got some good pieces in the mix, a couple transfers here and there.
• 47:43
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but you know, you guys know me.
• 47:46
  SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna keep those cards cards a little closer to the vest this year than uh than maybe in years past.
• 47:52
  SPEAKER_03: But uh I'm really happy with with what I'm seeing from my guys.
• 47:58
  SPEAKER_03: They're they're putting in the work and and really accelerating at that exponential rate, kind of like I expected.
• 48:07
  SPEAKER_03: Um I'm really enjoying the kind of autonomous control.
• 48:13
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I gotta give a lot of credit to the administrators here.
• 48:17
  SPEAKER_03: They've given me a lot of control with this program, and and I just have to kind of have candid conversations to get things done.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_03: And I've gotten more done in eight weeks than what feels like two years.
• 48:31
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, that's great.
• 48:32
  SPEAKER_01: And coach, what you were able to do at AIC last year, uh get the numbers up number one, and then you know, bring that team to its best season in quite a long time.
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sure St.
• 48:43
  SPEAKER_01: Thomas Aquinas, you know, they went five and eleven last year.
• 48:46
  SPEAKER_01: I think they're they'd be pretty excited to have me come in.
• 48:50
  SPEAKER_03: Uh that's been kind of the consensus, is everyone's really enjoyed the energy and enthusiasm, and and that's just I'm not trying to play a role.
• 49:01
  SPEAKER_03: I'm I'm just being unapologetically mean, and you know, it seems to be uh a much better um harmonious fit, and that's okay.
• 49:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, um, you know, every everybody's got their niche, and I think we all know New Yorkers are a little more hit the nail on that.
• 49:18
  SPEAKER_02: Pretty much.
• 49:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 49:22
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, I mean I'm excited because the ECC is a solid conference.
• 49:28
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, we've we've got four really good teams at the top, and you know, two other teams that are are fighting and contending to be in games week in and week out, and you know, with the new AQ model, it makes sense, guys.
• 49:41
  SPEAKER_03: Like, oh yeah, yeah, we gotta win our conference to go to the dance, and you know, while that stuff is down the line, it it's exciting.
• 49:53
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, absolutely, you know, because you know, I think in that if that conference opens up a little bit this year, I think.
• 50:00
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I think uh Mercy loses a you know a bunch of players and stuff this year.
• 50:04
  SPEAKER_01: Frostburg's gonna lose some players as well.
• 50:07
  SPEAKER_01: The team to watch out for, really, right now, is Malloy.
• 50:11
  SPEAKER_01: They they're they've been really putting it together.
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_01: And if you can do what you did at AIC, you could be right in that mix, right in there.
• 50:19
  SPEAKER_03: That's that's obviously the goal.
• 50:21
  SPEAKER_03: That's obviously the plan.
• 50:23
  SPEAKER_03: And um, you know, a big piece of that is is recruiting and um getting those numbers up, like we talked about before.
• 50:30
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, it's it's a nice spot to be in October where you know I've got a solid roster to work with.
• 50:37
  SPEAKER_03: We've got more guys coming this way for the spring to round us out, and you know, we're we're pretty much done with our 25 guys.
• 50:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's great.
• 50:46
  SPEAKER_00: That was one of that was one of my questions, Coach.
• 50:48
  SPEAKER_00: So, where do you think you're gonna bet be from a roster size?
• 50:52
  SPEAKER_00: First of all, just talk roster size for the season.
• 50:56
  SPEAKER_03: Um well, a lot of that hinges on what percentage we hit with our mid-year guys.
• 51:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 51:04
  SPEAKER_03: Um, right now that list could be anywhere from 15 to 40.
• 51:09
  SPEAKER_03: So Wow.
• 51:11
  SPEAKER_03: I know it it still sounds shocking when I say it out loud.
• 51:16
  SPEAKER_03: Um but it's it's the nature of the beast now in college athletics.
• 51:23
  SPEAKER_03: Guys are are using the portal more and more and really looking for an opportunity and and things like that.
• 51:29
  SPEAKER_03: So um, you know, not necessarily living with the portal because we've we've done a good job attacking that 25 class, and then we do, you know, have 16 young men committed to to come join us next year, and we'll probably round that one out with one or two more and call it good.
• 51:50
  SPEAKER_00: So, and then let's talk a little bit besides rostered sizes.
• 51:55
  SPEAKER_00: Is there uh, I'm sure you have talent across uh across the field, but is there is there areas where you're looking to increase the depth or just increase the depth across offense, defense, special team?
• 52:09
  SPEAKER_03: Um, we really need to add depth across the roster, but in terms of you know where I could see needing one or two other like very specific pieces.
• 52:23
  SPEAKER_03: Probably need another very good cover guy defensively.
• 52:28
  SPEAKER_03: We need some more depth at the goalie position.
• 52:31
  SPEAKER_03: Um that's that's an area that we've we've developed with uh both the transfer class as well as the incoming class for next fall.
• 52:44
  SPEAKER_03: So I feel really good about where we're gonna be.
• 52:47
  SPEAKER_03: Um they're coming in, they're still gonna be young stuff fit out and and learn, but um you know I'm excited by the the pieces that have have elected to uh don the black, maroon, and gold next fall.
• 53:03
  SPEAKER_00: That's great, that's great.
• 53:04
  SPEAKER_00: So let me ask you this.
• 53:07
  SPEAKER_00: You kind of talked about, I just have a question.
• 53:09
  SPEAKER_00: You talked about AQs, your team is excited.
• 53:11
  SPEAKER_00: Is that kind of a one of your primary focuses?
• 53:15
  SPEAKER_00: Is that what gets your team excited?
• 53:16
  SPEAKER_00: The fact that with the AQ they have a chance.
• 53:21
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I mean, I I think you'd be naive to not be excited by that as a college athlete and a competitor.
• 53:29
  SPEAKER_03: Um, because every year you never know what chips are gonna fall.
• 53:32
  SPEAKER_03: True.
• 53:33
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, I'm I'm not gonna sit here and say that we're, you know, planning to win the conference right away.
• 53:40
  SPEAKER_03: It's gonna be an uphill battle and a growth process.
• 53:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 53:44
  SPEAKER_03: But just like before, we are gonna set those really lofty goals and and do what we got to do to achieve them.
• 53:52
  SPEAKER_03: Um, through putting in that extra work on the wall and the weight room, the little details.
• 53:58
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, the the biggest thing we talk about is being professional in your preparation.
• 54:03
  SPEAKER_03: Um be be professional at mastering your craft, work on your weaknesses, work on your deficiencies, because everybody gets to take the field for the same amount of time to get better.
• 54:14
  SPEAKER_03: You you gotta do more.
• 54:16
  SPEAKER_03: Um, that that was a hallmark of my culture, and it's something that that I never want to see disappear.
• 54:23
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and these guys have been doing a great job with that.
• 54:27
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, they've they've actually been yelled at for playing wall ball on their dorms too much.
• 54:32
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and I'll laugh about that because it makes me happy.
• 54:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 54:36
  unknown: Yeah.
• 54:37
  SPEAKER_01: That's a good problem now.
• 54:38
  SPEAKER_00: The good problem is that it's to throttle them back and then to try to keep them going.
• 54:43
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 54:44
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 54:45
  SPEAKER_00: So, what then would you say, coach, is your primary focus for this year?
• 54:50
  SPEAKER_00: If you said, you know, it's going to be an uphill battle.
• 54:53
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, the vision is the ECC championship.
• 54:57
  SPEAKER_00: But is there something smaller goals that you've got set uh for the team right now?
• 55:03
  SPEAKER_03: Um, yeah, I mean, definitely what what we've talked about is we we have a very adamant goal that we want to take down one of the big four.
• 55:13
  SPEAKER_03: Um that that's gotta be a goal every year.
• 55:16
  SPEAKER_03: But in order for us to achieve our our bigger team goal of making it to the the conference tournament, we gotta be one of those four teams to get in.
• 55:25
  SPEAKER_03: Um because you gotta be in the top four.
• 55:28
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, I think with some hard work and fortitude, some of those games were not that far apart.
• 55:36
  SPEAKER_03: Um statistically, in years past, maybe the score indicated something a little bit different, but I I've got the fortune of having seen these guys play for two years kind of firsthand, and I kind of know what some of the pieces are capable of and what they you know might not even know they're capable of yet, because I'm watching practice, and there's a lot more talent out here than a five and eleven team.
• 56:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and St.
• 56:05
  SPEAKER_01: Thomas is what was one game away from making the uh the playoffs last year.
• 56:10
  SPEAKER_01: One one one one comp one conference game away, you know.
• 56:14
  SPEAKER_01: You you know, that it's not that far, not that far.
• 56:18
  SPEAKER_01: You know, a good ball bounce, a good, you know, something can happen.
• 56:22
  SPEAKER_01: I think St.
• 56:22
  SPEAKER_01: Thomas is gonna be in the mix this year.
• 56:24
  SPEAKER_03: And and if we just gotta find a way to raise that bar, fellas.
• 56:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 56:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the ECC is a is a tough little conference.
• 56:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's got a little bit of that blue collar in it, you know, for sure.
• 56:34
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 56:37
  SPEAKER_01: Definitely, definitely.
• 56:40
  SPEAKER_00: Well, coach, uh I I just want to say this has been awesome having you on.
• 56:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's been great catching up.
• 56:45
  SPEAKER_00: We're so excited that after leaving AIC, you found a home with another Division II team.
• 56:53
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think that just raises the bar for all D2, having you as a head coach in our division.
• 57:00
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I appreciate the sentiment, fellas.
• 57:03
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I've only been a coach for two years, so I appreciate the respect.
• 57:07
  SPEAKER_03: But um, in my opinion, there's still a long way to go.
• 57:11
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, we we we've got the surface scratched so far, but this is something that I plan on doing for the rest of my life.
• 57:19
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, there's a long road ahead.
• 57:23
  SPEAKER_03: But uh if Al, if I can break 15 records a year with every team, I'll I'll be a happy man.
• 57:31
  SPEAKER_00: Gotcha.
• 57:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's a good bar to have at St.
• 57:35
  SPEAKER_00: Thomas Aquinas you see your coach.
• 57:37
  SPEAKER_01: Listen, coach, really appreciate you guys you coming on tonight.
• 57:40
  SPEAKER_01: We wish you wish you the best of luck this season.
• 57:42
  SPEAKER_01: We'll be watching.
• 57:43
  SPEAKER_01: Enjoy the new house on the lake, and uh uh we'll be in touch.
• 57:48
  SPEAKER_01: Again, thanks so much for taking the time coming on with us.
• 57:52
  SPEAKER_03: No problem, take it easy, talk soon.
• 57:54
  SPEAKER_03: Bye.
• 57:56
  SPEAKER_00: Danny, great way to start with Coach Burdeaux of St.
• 57:59
  SPEAKER_00: Anselm, Coach Nealig of AIC, and Coach Spallone of Stack.
• 58:03
  SPEAKER_00: I think all three bring unique perspectives and backgrounds to their new programs.
• 58:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know what?
• 58:08
  SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be interesting.
• 58:10
  SPEAKER_01: Like I said, uh, you know, the NE-10 is not gonna be it's it's a tough conference, Kev.
• 58:15
  SPEAKER_01: You know that it might be a little bit uphill battle for some of these guys, but St.
• 58:19
  SPEAKER_01: A's is uh you know, they've they've been uh one of the better teams in the entire country for the past few years.
• 58:27
  SPEAKER_01: So a new look for St.
• 58:30
  SPEAKER_01: A's with the old feel, I guess you could say.
• 58:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 58:34
  SPEAKER_01: And and and and with these other guys, I you know, I I wish them the best of luck.
• 58:38
  SPEAKER_01: I think they sound great.
• 58:40
  SPEAKER_01: They're great coaches, they were great guests tonight.
• 58:43
  SPEAKER_01: I I really enjoyed our conversations with them.
• 58:46
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I wish them the best of luck, and we'll be keeping an eye on them.
• 58:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, I think Coach Ballone is going to you know try to bring uh St.
• 58:54
  SPEAKER_00: Thomas Aquinas into that competitive realm for competing for the championship.
• 58:59
  SPEAKER_00: Not this year, just the same thing as AIC.
• 59:01
  SPEAKER_00: He's got to build.
• 59:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I think Corey Nealing, he's gonna try to continue what was established last year.
• 59:06
  SPEAKER_00: He's got to rebuild a little bit because he lost a lot of his roster uh to the transfer portal.
• 59:12
  SPEAKER_00: So both of those are gonna take a little time, but I I think both of them can keep those those teams on the right trajectory.
• 59:19
  SPEAKER_01: It's kind of a shame about AIC because they really started to put it together a little bit.
• 59:23
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they got some players, they added, you know, their roster was deeper.
• 59:27
  SPEAKER_01: They were at the best, you know, went one loss record in a long, long time, Kev.
• 59:33
  SPEAKER_00: So hey, let's see if Coach can uh Yeah, he's got he's got some foundation there, so that are still there.
• 59:40
  SPEAKER_00: So that best of luck to all the coaches.
• 59:42
  SPEAKER_00: Now, Danny, I think we've got one shout-out for this episode, and that is to all those people affected by Hurricane Helene.
• 59:51
  SPEAKER_00: This goes beyond D2 lacrosse programs that were affected.
• 59:55
  SPEAKER_00: Lise McCrae, Mars Hill, Anderson, North Greenville.
• 59:59
  SPEAKER_00: I'm probably missing.
• 59:59
  SPEAKER_00: That's the D2 ones we that I know, but I'm sure there were others that had some that were affected as well.
• 1:00:06
  SPEAKER_00: It is whole communities, Danny, were devastated, if not wiped out.
• 1:00:12
  SPEAKER_01: Kevin, it's it's it's a goddamn shame what happened up there.
• 1:00:17
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's um I'm a survivor of superstorm standing.
• 1:00:21
  SPEAKER_01: My house on the water on Long Island, at five feet of water in our living room.
• 1:00:26
  SPEAKER_01: It was it was pure devastation.
• 1:00:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember the next day coming back to the house because we got out.
• 1:00:32
  SPEAKER_01: We had we had water on the streets early in the morning of superstorm standing, and it didn't come really till about nine, ten o'clock at night.
• 1:00:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:00:41
  SPEAKER_01: So I knew it was gonna be bad.
• 1:00:43
  SPEAKER_01: I kind of prepped for it, but you couldn't you couldn't prep for anything like it's all because when I got back the next day, I I I saw the water line on my house, and I was just couldn't believe it.
• 1:00:54
  SPEAKER_01: There was boats in the front yard, there was people's belongings all over the street.
• 1:01:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um it was just uh devastation sand and and muck and and just crap everywhere, you know.
• 1:01:08
  SPEAKER_00: Everything that broke, anything that broke floated.
• 1:01:12
  SPEAKER_00: And if you look at West North Carolina, if you look at video pictures, that that's exactly what's going on there.
• 1:01:18
  SPEAKER_01: Have you ever been to Asheville?
• 1:01:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, beautiful.
• 1:01:21
  SPEAKER_01: What a beautiful beautiful, cool, kind of arty farty kind of town.
• 1:01:27
  SPEAKER_00: That whole area is gorgeous.
• 1:01:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's good everywhere from Marsville to Asheville to to all the mountains up there, just absolutely gorgeous.
• 1:01:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's absolutely beautiful, and to think that the storm could affect so far up north like it did into the mountains.
• 1:01:44
  SPEAKER_00: What what I read on social media uh they got 20 to 30 inches of rain, which equated to uh 40 trillion, 40 trillion gallons of water, and to put that in perspective, that's enough to fill the Dallas Cowboys Stadium 51,000 times.
• 1:02:01
  SPEAKER_00: That's enough to cover the entire state of North Carolina, Carolina with three and a half feet of water.
• 1:02:08
  SPEAKER_01: That's insanity.
• 1:02:11
  SPEAKER_01: I can't even possibly imagine I couldn't fathom that.
• 1:02:14
  SPEAKER_01: That's amazing to me.
• 1:02:16
  SPEAKER_00: So all we can say on our small podcast, our thoughts and prayers go there out there.
• 1:02:22
  SPEAKER_00: And if you are listening and you can provide any type of support, please do so.
• 1:02:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, there's GoFundMe's set up, Kev.
• 1:02:33
  SPEAKER_00: There's um uh there's a lot of uh charities, Aerial Rescue or Aerial Recovery Group, obviously Red Cross.
• 1:02:40
  SPEAKER_00: There's tons of other GoFundMe's.
• 1:02:42
  SPEAKER_00: There's also, I mean, heck, they need bottles of water.
• 1:02:47
  SPEAKER_00: You can go online and find where to send a case of water.
• 1:02:51
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, if that's all you can do.
• 1:02:52
  SPEAKER_00: Not all you can do, if that's what you can do, because that's not all.
• 1:02:56
  SPEAKER_00: That's great.
• 1:02:57
  SPEAKER_00: Any little bit to help those those communities out is is worthwhile.
• 1:03:02
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely, 100%.
• 1:03:04
  SPEAKER_00: And so, Danny, I I don't I hate to leave on that note, but I think that's an important note to go.
• 1:03:10
  SPEAKER_00: So with this first episode of our coaching changes, that's a wrap.
• 1:03:14
  SPEAKER_00: That's a wrap, guys.