With six NCAA championships and 10 Final Four appearances in 22 years as Princeton’s lacrosse coach, Bill Tierney has a legend’s worth of great memories. But the new University of Denver skipper can separate one from all the rest.
In 2001, the Tigers won the NCAA title with a roster that included brothers Trevor and Brendan Tierney, the coach’s sons. Bill said the only thing that could match that would be leading the Pioneers to an NCAA crown while coaching with Trevor, who has been named one of his two full-time assistants.
Trevor Tierney, a former goalie for the Denver Outlaws and now an Outlaws assistant coach, will focus on recruiting for DU. He will stay with the Outlaws through this season, which ends Aug. 8.
Tierney’s other assistant, Matt Brown, is a holdover from former coach Jamie Munro’s staff. Brown was a star at DU and also played with the Outlaws, as well as the Arizona Sting indoor team.
“Trevor and Matt are going to help us a great deal,” Bill Tierney said Thursday in his first news conference in Denver. “You need those young guys, guys that can relate and burn the midnight oil. When you get them on the field, you’ve got two professional players coaching the young guys.”
Trevor, 30, was an assistant at DU in 2002, when Brown was a sophomore.
“I’ve been around my father calling kids on the phone since I was 5 and going to practices with him most of my life, and I know what he expects by playing for him at Princeton,” Trevor said. “Coaching under him is something I’ll be comfortable with. I know how to separate family from work, and I’m looking forward to it.”
Bill Tierney, 59, said another former Princeton Tiger helped solidify his decision to accept the DU job. DU men’s basketball coach Joe Scott was a player, assistant coach and head coach at Princeton.
“There were questions I had for Joe that no one else could answer,” Tierney said. “He was a soothing guy to back up the great things I already knew about this place.”
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
