BALTIMORE — Denver’s historic march to the NCAA’s Final Four in lacrosse is unquestionably a stunning turnaround engineered by second-year coach Bill Tierney. A look at the team’s key players, however, shows the previous coaching staff also deserves kudos.
After all, Tierney has compiled a 27-7 record over the past two seasons largely with someone else’s recruits. The difference? Discipline.
“When I came here, I was amazed at the talent we had, the athletes we had, and the credit for that goes to the prior staff,” said Tierney, who led Princeton to 10 Final Fours and six NCAA championships. “What we did need changing is, we needed some discipline. We needed to change the focus from an academic standpoint, from a social standpoint; we needed the image of the team to change on campus.”
From Day One, Tierney demanded accountability, respect for others and attention to detail, down to wearing better attire for team functions.
“Bill Tierney is what I consider a complete commander-in-chief,” said assistant coach Matt Brown, a former DU attackman who served under former coach Jamie Munro and was retained. “He knows how to control all aspects of the program. Not only the on-the-field stuff, but academics, social life, everything.”
Munro led DU’s transition into Division I in 1998 and compiled a respectable 91-70 record in 11 seasons, including getting the Pioneers into the NCAA Tournament in 2006 and 2008.
His demise came quickly in the final month of the 2009 season when he lost control of the program. Among the 45 players on the roster, only 12 eligible returnees said they were interested in playing the following season. Most of the players quit; other were suspended or released.
“We weren’t sure if we could get enough guys to have a season the next year, let alone be a successful team,” senior midfielder Andrew Lay said. “We were worried, and obviously they hired a new coach and guys started to come back. You couldn’t do any better (than Tierney). When you come up with someone of his caliber, you don’t think twice about coming back. You’re like, ‘Yeah, I’m there already.’ “
Upon taking over, Tierney identified 10 key players who had quit and met with each of them individually to persuade them to return. Within his first two weeks, the roster went from 12 to 22. Among those who returned are current stars such as senior attackman Todd Baxter, junior attackmen Alex Demopoulos and Mark Matthews — who was just named second-team All-America — and senior midfielders Alex Drexler and Lay.
There is a different set of standards, Drexler said.
“Coach Tierney expects perfection, on and off the field,” he said. “Now, we know we represent not only ourselves and our school, but the city of Denver and lacrosse in this part of the country. We challenge ourselves to maintain that.”
Said Demopoulos: “Just his name alone, and the legacy he has, got us going in the right direction. We went along with what he was saying, and it spiraled. We didn’t have much of an option. (When Munro was fired) it was a hectic and crazy time. We didn’t even know if we would have a team the next season. It was a bizarre experience, but I think it kind of helped build the program to where it is now.”
The sixth-seeded Pioneers (15-2) take a program-record 12-game winning streak into Saturday’s national semifinal against Virginia (11-5). They are a complete team, among the nation’s leaders in all key statistical categories, confident on offense and much improved on defense over a year ago.
Under Munro, Brown was coaching at both ends of the field. Tierney moved him to offensive coordinator and installed his son, Trevor, as defensive coordinator. Trevor was an All-America goalie at Princeton who introduced his father to Denver during his playing and coaching tenure with the Denver Outlaws of Major League Lacrosse.
“Trevor, in my mind, is the best goalie to ever play this game, and before he arrived, I was teaching the goalies, and I’m an attackman,” Brown said. “Our whole defense is better because of who is teaching it, and because we’ve simplified things by putting in basic rules that are easy for the guys to understand, yet very effective.”
Offensively, DU has sizzled behind its veteran attackmen and the speed of midfielders Jeremy Noble, a freshman, and sophomores Cameron Flint and Chase Carraro. Combined, they have proved to be incredibly efficient in producing runs at key stages.
Effective because of discipline to the task at hand.
In 24 years as a Division I head coach, Bill Tierney said nothing is more important.
“Sometimes they look at me like, ‘Can’t you enjoy this thing?’ But the truth of the matter is, when you’re building winners — not winning, but winners — you have to stay on them until it becomes commonplace,” Tierney said. “And I think we’re getting to a point now where it’s becoming commonplace.”
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
