Beyond X's & O's: Stevens' Gene Peluso

This article was originally published at Inside Lacrosse, and the original piece can be found here.


In only his second season as the skipper of the Stevens Tech Ducks, Gene Peluso guided the squad to its highest USILA Division III Coaches Poll ranking (as high as No. 5). Peluso has long been considered an elite Div. III coach, but with Stevens things seem to be coming together.

A physically imposing figure with matching personality, Peluso has taken to Hoboken and Stevens like pasta to clam sauce. There may not be another coach in Division III who’s better type-caste for their institution, as few would be better suited to stalk the sidelines in this historic city that boasts The Largest Slice (of pizza for those who call to mind other sliced items). He is both intense and funny, and has a gifted ability to weave between the two effortlessly. In catching up with him midseason, his passion for lacrosse and zeal for life is quickly apparent. He was both introspective and generous with time, and even suggested that the call had somehow done something for him, ending the conversation by saying thank you, and then adding, “this was a valuable exercise.”

Given his investment in our hour interview, it’s of little surprise that Peluso seems fully invested in his Ducks. He talks about his players and coaching philosophy in fluid detail, but starts with the cornerstone of his ideals, stating, “honesty goes a long way with players.” This year in particular he’s paid special attention to being candid about the obstacles that lie in the way of team goals. “I’m not tippy-toeing around what’s in front of us and where we want to go,” he says. “I put in front of them obstacles, or things that lie in our way,” he continues, “I do that to remind them what we need to do to work through and to get them fired up.” For Peluso, “Opponents are just steps for us. They’re steps for us to be successful,” and in order to succeed you need to have a clear blueprint of the steps you’re working to climb and where they’re going to take you.

In building the blueprint, communication is paramount. Peluso communicates his message by writing out challenges on the positional goal sheets that players fill out before every game. He includes carefully selected quotes on practice plans and pre-game materials to emphasize exactly what the squad needs to focus on. And perhaps most importantly, “We kind of talk it out.” As a team they sit down after practice and games and discuss what’s coming up, where the group is going, and where they’re all at. Ironically, all the talking doesn’t take away from the doing. In fact, it seems to inspire it. In noting that the team needed to be more conditioned, the staff and players talked about fitness differently: “We needed to look at conditioning in practice as opposite of punishment.” “Our guys have really bought into that,” Peluso continues, and the result is “just a real positive approach to our conditioning.” In summing up his belief in the value of communicating, being honest, and finding different ways to make a point, Peluso states, “Sometimes words, quotes, poems, stories can be really, really helpful . . .They’re motivating, I think they’re inspiring, and they can really put things in perspective.”

For Peluso, obstacles and goals and messages and the words that comprise them are simply pieces of a larger puzzle. In his words, “At the end of the day we want our guys to be happy and excited about what we’re doing.” He includes player input in decisions ranging from where the team is going out to eat to how they want to travel. Although he is explicit in stating that “the winning is important.” He also says, “We want to focus on enjoying what we’re doing.” This isn’t a contradiction for Stevens, as success and enjoyment go hand in hand. Of course there are sacrifices, but with a phrase he may have borrowed from Buddha, Peluso says, “Enjoy what you’re doing, enjoy the process, and everything else will fall into place.”

 With Peluso pushing the squad to identify challenges while striving to enjoy the experience, they’re likely to stay a contender for years to come. When you ask Peluso about coaching, and his role in making a small team from Hoboken a mainstay in DIII lacrosse, he becomes philosophical in a way you might not expect from a coach. He says of coaching, “It is what I am. It is what I do, and what I enjoy doing.” He says of life, “Sometimes you have to follow your heart and I feel like I’ve done that.” In talking with him, Peluso made a point to thank us for giving him the time, and so it seems appropriate that we thank him for giving us the insights.

Joe Frontiera, PhD and Dan Leidl, PhD are the Managing Partners of Meno Consulting, a firm specializing in leadership development, organizational culture, team building and motivation. To learn more about Dan and Joe visit www.menoconsulting.com, they're blog at www.mygenerationleader.com or contact them via email at jfrontiera@menoconsulting.com and dleidl@menoconsulting.com.

Beyond X's and O's: Ohio State Women's Coach Alexis Venechanos

This article was originally published at Inside Lacrosse, and the original piece can be found here.

In talking with Alexis Venechanos you get the sense that she simply wills success. It’s hard to explain it much better, as there aren’t any definitive keys. There are few coaches who project the “underdog” persona better than Venechanos, and it unquestionably works. She was a recruited walk on at Maryland and became national goalie of the year in her senior season while playing on a torn ACL.

After two National Championships as a player, she went on to win two more as an assistant at up-start Northwestern. In only her mid-20s she took on the overwhelming task of turning a floundering UMass program around, and brought it back to the NCAA Tournament in three seasons in spite of a 25-year hiatus. Along with revisiting the NCAA’s she guided her UMass squads to two Atlantic-10 Conference Championships in her four-year tenure. Now she’s been brought to Ohio State to work her magic, and with a year under her belt it seems to be working. After falling to University of Florida 13-16 in the American Lacrosse Conference semi-finals, the Buckeyes have tremendous momentum heading into next year.

Venechanos says of her responsibilities at Ohio State, “We look to be strong female role models,” and you have to believe that she does that. If she has one defining quality that’s led to her success, it may be grit, as it seems that she finds a unique contentment in outlasting and outworking the competition. It’s difficult for her to breakdown what she does to develop players and win games, and that could be because it’s such a part of her day to day. She says, “The biggest thing is instilling these daily practices into people’s lives”, and by practices she’s talking about all those little details that add up to success. — the ground balls, the hustle, the self confidence. She casually drops some of these themes in conversation, saying, “How you talk to yourself is really important”; “We have to get to know the energy of the team”; and, “We get them going every single day”. For Venechanos it’s a daily commitment, and she’s striving to get her players to do everything from thinking confidently to playing with a pop and feistiness that reflects her personality.

Her teams have typically echoed her, and in her own words, they’re “relentless”. They don’t stop, they keep coming at you, and they often win on the nervy premise of being the last team standing. With this formula they also serve as a bold example of how players can find success by taking on the persona of their coach. Venechanos reminisces about her early playing days in Yorktown — playing three sports, winning state championships with a mix of raw athleticism and innovative concepts, and developing an early faith in hard work over flash. Those high school teams didn’t play with a lot of polish, but they were athletic and never stopped trying. This persistence and nearly blind self-belief that they could grind out wins in spite of lacking technical savvy left a lasting impression on Venechanos and the types of players she’s attracted to. As she’s developed from high school athlete to college coach, she’s still drawn to those athletes who may be light on the luster but make up for it with freakish motors that never seem to quit.

And herein lies a particularly intriguing aspect about her body of work. While Venechanos has the distinct pedigree of playing at Maryland and assisting at Northwestern, she continues to welcome lesser known players and coaches into her ranks, seemingly preferring those who have something to prove over those who may be more proven. With that, she has developed a fierce culture that fosters a sense of “us vs. them”. “We talk about how people picked us last in the conference,” she says. And in only her first year she’s gotten the squad to buy in, finishing in the top four.

With Venechanos at the helm, it’s a safe bet that Ohio State will keep climbing, and it’s exciting to see. Her passion is visible, and now that she has the resources of a school like Ohio State behind her, the squad is going to get better fast. Keep your eye out on Venechanos and the Buckeyes because she may not be getting a lot of press, but she’s quietly building one of the most intriguing resumes of any coach out there.

Joe Frontiera, PhD and Dan Leidl, PhD are the Managing Partners of Meno Consulting, a firm specializing in leadership development, organizational culture, team building and motivation. To learn more about Dan and Joe visit www.menoconsulting.com, they're blog at www.mygenerationleader.comor contact them via email at jfrontiera@menoconsulting.com and dleidl@menoconsulting.com.

Beyond X's and O's: Player, Coach, Ambassador Dave Huntley

This piece was originally published at Inside Lacrosse, and the original article can be found here.

Dave Huntley is soon to be inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame with the 2011 Class “as a truly great player”. Huntley’s playing career is certainly prolific, as he snagged two national championships during his All-American career at Johns Hopkins, and a gold medal with Team Canada in the 1978 World Lacrosse Championships. His on-field exploits have put him in a select class of players, but his efforts without a stick in his hands may overshadow anything he did as a player. He’s coached in the NLL and MLL, and has been a head and assistant coach for Team Canada. Huntley has won rings as a pro and international coach, but he doesn’t put a lot of focus on the successes.

In striving to win, Huntley is introspective in two distinct categories. Primarily, he’s committed to lacrosse for the long haul, and in so doing, he challenges himself to keep learning. Of his commitment, he says, “You never stop learning.” But his focus on development doesn’t stop with being up to date with the hottest man-up formations. Huntley’s commitment to learning has more to do with relationships. He puts his spin on an age-old maxim, declaring, “They won’t know how much you care unless you take the time to know them.” Everything starts with knowing your guys, understanding them as people, familiarizing yourself with their goals, their lives, their ambitions. For Huntley, coaching is learning about people, how they are as individuals and how they interact as a team.

Huntley speaks in a language of stories and analogies. He likens coaching to being a jockey. You take time to know your horse, practice with your horse, take care of your horse, but ultimately you rely on the horse to bring you home. He says, “the horse under you is going to take you to the winner’s circle. That’s a real rush: that your horse is the best out there.” In this sense the team is doing the running, the hard work to bring home the hardware, and the coach is doing his best to guide and prepare. Down the stretch, the coach can offer some encouraging words and dig in for the last push, but the team is either going to stride it out or not. For Huntley, coaches get far too much credit for winning, and far too little credit for losing, as he argues the powers that coaches exercise probably play more into the losses than any of the wins.

The second aspect of coaching where Huntley is downright philosophical is how teams are developed. He starts with knowing players as people, and then moves toward assembling them into a much larger puzzle, or in his case, cooking up a tasty soup. He’s very clear about his perspective, exclaiming that it’s “not about just selecting the best players”, and “sometimes the best team is not the best players.” He adds that a good soup needs the right amount of garlic, tomato, chicken and spice regardless of the quality of the individual ingredients. He hammers the point home by saying that even the finest chicken and spring water won’t yield a good product, concluding, “if you just had chicken and water, it’d be terrible.”

Huntley has been lingering it the elite echelons of lacrosse for a few decades. Talking with him is kind of like hopping in this cool time machine that solely focuses on lacrosse and takes you right to the heart of the historic moment you always wanted to know more about. In minutes he travels fluidly from one decade to the next, highlighting unforgettable players, coaches and teams. He reminisces about Buddy Beardmore, the iconic, white-pantsed, Maryland skipper of the Frank Urso 70’s, and his maxim that, “All Americans don’t make championship teams; championship teams make All Americans.” He marvels at the current level of play in the pros, citing the lack of practice and preparation he says, “It’s remarkable the games look as good as they do, and it’s a real credit to the athletes.” And of course there are his father-like feelings for the Canadian program. He gushes over his experiences coaching Team Canada, and his relationships with the Brodie Merrills of the program who he has watched grow into world-class players and people.

Huntley’s passion for the game is unquestionable. For someone who’s never made a full time job out of lacrosse, he’s something of an inspiration for coaches and players trying to juggle non-lacrosse careers with the game. He was a successful player and has been a successful coach, but perhaps more importantly he’s an ambassador. You hear about these "ambassadors of the game," and Huntley has to be considered when you’re building the archetype. He’s out there, working in the off-hours, trying to stay involved, sacrificing weekends of rest and family time. He’s pushing the stars of the game to get better, be more, and in the process he’s pushing the game itself forward. He’ll be honored this fall for his achievements on the field, but what might be even more important to celebrate is what he’s done on the sidelines and off the field. Lacrosse is a part of Dave Huntley, and for as much as he’s lucky to have the game — as with all the guys who never disconnect, never fully push it aside, never allow their lives to get too busy for it — the game is pretty lucky to have him.

Joe Frontiera, PhD and Dan Leidl, PhD are the Managing Partners of Meno Consulting, a firm specializing in leadership development, organizational culture, team building and motivation. To learn more about Dan and Joe visit www.menoconsulting.com, they're blog at www.mygenerationleader.comor contact them via email at jfrontiera@menoconsulting.com and dleidl@menoconsulting.com.

Six great quotes from the 2011 World Business Forum

This piece originally appeared at On Leadership at The Washington Post. For the original piece, click here.

This week in New York City, the World Business Forum hosted several thousand execs, as well as the insights of nearly two-dozen speakers. From Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz to generational guru Tammy Erickson to President Bill Clinton and former GE CEO Jack Welch, the two-day event was a two-day MBA. Of everything that was discussed—economics, leadership, business, management and more—here are the six moments that really dropped jaws:

1. “For most people success is measured in wealth and fame and power. For me, success is measured by how many shining eyes are around me.” – Ben Zander, conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra

Experiencing Ben Zander is transformational. His optimism and energy are infectious, inspiring us to consider how we can have a positive impact on our world.

2. “Risk taking is at the core of effective leadership.” – Malcolm Gladwell, author of Blink and Outliers

Malcolm Gladwell talked about the difference between operational and social risks. The greatest leaders limit operational risk while taking enormous social risks—oftentimes losing colleagues and friends when dedicated to a cause. Those leaders, he said, “identify what they believe to be the right course of action, and they follow it regardless of the social consequence.”

3. “We are all so trapped in our normal patterns of thinking that we’re not even aware of it.” – Luke Williams, Frog Design

Williams drew a small audience into his compelling ideas about innovation, offering the additional resolve, “It’s not about being able to spot and react to disruptive change. It’s about how to be the disruptive change.”

4. “Great leaders are able to see that seed that, if watered and shed light on, will flourish.” – Tal Ben-Shahar, teacher at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, in Israel

Ben-Shahar’s passion for positive psychology is palpable and pointedly expressed with questions. How can we be more optimistic? What happens when we focus on what’s right rather than what’s wrong? How can we better lead by accentuating the positive?

5. “Your job is a platform to do art, it’s a platform to lead, it’s a platform to make mistakes, it’s a platform to do something that matters.” – Seth Godin, author of Purple Cow and Linchpin

Like Gladwell, Godin is an entertaining concept guy—and most compelling is his focus on conformity. He cautions against the herd mentality, and argues that our education system has taught us to follow and fade away. For Godin, we’re better than that and should fervently believe in the substance of our value.

6. “It is a fact that societies with fewer advantages will compensate in some way.” – Malcolm Gladwell, author of Blink and Outliers

Gladwell opens minds. In watching him talk to a small audience off the main stage, he dug into his upcoming book by highlighting the concept of ‘compensation learning’—that is, how we learn from compensating for our weaknesses (take dyslexia or asthma, for example). He looked at everything from parents’ paradoxical tendencies to shelter their children from the very forms of adversity that helped them grow, to how disadvantage can force profound development.

Check out @MenoConulting to see Dan Liedl’s entire live Twitter feed from the conference. And if you have an idea for what the Leadership Playlist should write about next, email Dan and Joe or find them onFacebook.

This Post initially appeared at The Washington Post - Posted at 01:23 PM ET, 06/01/2011

WVU’s Oliver Luck: From West Virginia to Europe and back again

By Joe Frontiera and Dan Leidl

Oliver Luck, in his days as star quarterback at WVU.College athletics has undergone a slow transformation from quaint extracurricular activity tomoneymaking behemoth. Schools now compete for market share with multi-million dollar facility upgrades, sponsorships, and intricate broadcasting strategies. To compete in today’s climate, some schools have embraced a new breed of athletic director, one who brings business acumen as well as sport savvy. West Virginia University (WVU) recently made the leap to committing to this new pedigree of hybrid athletic exec by hiring Oliver Luck, an alumnus whose prowess as athlete and businessman puts him in an elite pool.

With his salt and pepper hair, the 6’3” Luck stands slim and sinewy, a much fitter version of most men his age. Articulate and thoughtful, Luck is not afraid to offer an opinion, and he’s as comfortable talking about the Spanish Inquisition as he is college sports. As a celebrated quarterback at WVU, he was a Rhodes Scholar finalist and Academic All-American. And during his five-year stint in the NFL, he attained a law degree from the University of Texas. After his playing days were behind him, he focused on business—serving in a variety of corporate-meets-athletic roles, including the president of NFL Europe, the president and CEO of the Houston Sport Authority, and the president and GM of the Houston Dynamo of Major League Soccer.

Forget the Ivy League

As a prep school kid in Cleveland, Luck explains that he was encouraged to “pursue the path you want to pursue and don’t worry about the rest.” Putting this early lesson to the test, he surprised his Ohio academic community by shunning an offer to play football for Harvard in favor of West Virginia University. Wide-eyed with the challenge of quarterbacking a big-time team, Luck was also attracted to the diversity of people and spirit WVU offered. He smiles widely recalling his decision and his former teammates, a diverse group of guys who “normally would have nothing to do with one another,” yet played and achieved together on the same team.

Immigrant song

With each new path that Luck has charted, he seems to hold a single inspiration pretty close: immigrants. His mother was a German immigrant who displayed a distinct “strength of character to pack up and go” that was “pretty bold.” The spirit needed to leave everything behind in the name of starting anew is one that continues to amaze Luck. “The more I read,” he says, “what you tend to find is that they made it work.”

Luck too has played the part of immigrant throughout his career and made it work with a skilled fluidity. Not only was he asked to grow American football in Europe, where soccer is king, but he was also asked to help foster the growth of soccer in the U.S., where football, baseball and basketball rule.

Question everything

As the GM of NFL Europe’s Rhein Fire, Luck was tasked with getting 50,000 Germans to attend a game they’ve never seen. No one knew how to get Europeans in the stands for football, but once again Luck drew on those Cleveland Jesuits from his early education, saying that they “drilled into me the idea that if you’re not questioning everything, you’re not doing your job as a human being.”

And so he questioned. In five weeks, a plan formed. Catering to the European, especially German, passion for massive parties (seeOktoberfest), Luck transformed football games into Europe’s “first open-aired disco.” Famous DJs were signed on as announcers, the events were billed as a “Power Party”, the music was turned up and locals came out in droves.

A quarterback’s mentality

As the athletic director at West Virginia University, Luck entered an environment where things had been done a certain way for a long time. “We always assume that what we do is the way it should be done – that’s not always the case,” he says. As an NFL quarterback, Luck says he “had average skills, and was still able to compete against the best.” To do this he relied on his mind, his inquisitive nature and a willingness to embrace challenges. Over the years he’s trained himself to see the next play, stay ahead of the competition. “If you can’t envision where you’re going, you’ll have a hard time getting there.”

When Luck examined his own football program, he saw a team that had peaked; and he decisively hired a highly sought-after head coaching prospect, Dana Holgersen, to take the helm beginning in 2012. He now envisions a full stadium, and a football program that will continue to grow and regularly compete for national championships. Luck looks into the future of WVU athletics and sees every one of his athletic teams in the top 25, and 75 percent of his student athletes graduating.

The next generation

As Luck becomes more comfortable in his role at WVU, he’s begun to decorate his office with mementos from past teams he’s worked and played for. An Oilers cap sits on a cabinet, a WVU football photo adorns a shelf and a framed article of his son, Andrew—the star quarterback at Stanford University who shocked the nation when he turned down the opportunity to be the consensus No. 1 pick in this year’s NFL draft—sits on his floor waiting to be hung. While tens of millions of dollars would have accompanied that selection, it seems the younger Luck hasn’t fallen far from the tree. When academic experiences are on the table and when an unchartered road is ahead, you go for it. And if your path conflicts with convention, so what.

Have an idea for what Dan and Joe should write about next? Leave a comment below, be in touch at info@menoconsulting.com, connect with them on Facebook or visit them at Meno Consulting.

For the original post of this article at The Washington Post, click here.

At WIF, five innovative ideas about innovation

Earlier this week at the World Innovation Forum, some of the foremost experts on innovation discussed trends in corporate and social advancements. Here’s my rundown of the five concepts that stood out above the rest.

Grassroots development

Clayton Christensen, Harvard Business School professor, talked about the grassroots model of innovation, citing that innovations are often the result of smaller organizations entering a market at a low level and committing to improving a core competency and/or product little by little. Giving the example of solar energy in Mongolia, Christensen suggests that green technologies may be coming from small regions and markets currently using this technology out of necessity, and committing to improving it incrementally. Toyota, Sony and others have adopted a similar model — introducing very simple products to underserved markets, and then slowly growing a base for them as they’re developed and perfected.

A passionate and motivating culture

Tony Hsieh, CEO at Zappos, is well known for leading his organization with an emphasis on culture and happiness. Far from your average CEO, Hsieh spends time studying the psychological elements of happiness and incorporating them into the Zappos culture. Through the Zappos structure, employees have control over their daily lives and larger career, are engaged in opportunities to progress, and are actively connected to the meaning of making other people happy. Zappos invests tremendous effort in training individuals, including a $4,000 bonus to new hires who quit after recognizing a poor fit with the company. Incidentally, Dan Pink, author of Drive, asserts that human beings are most motivated when they are involved in systems rich in autonomy, mastery and purpose.

For the rest of this piece, click here.

For our entire Twitter feed from the World Innovation Forum, click here.

Best Practice: Boise State's Chris Peterson

In five seasons as the head of the Boise State Broncos, Chris Petersen has guided his teams to three undefeated regular seasons, four Western Athletic Conference championships (sharing the title in 2010), as well as national acclaim for what many consider to be a lesser-known school playing “up” with the big boys of college football. Petersen has been named the Paul "Bear" Bryant National Coach of the Year twice, and also boasts a winning percentage north of 90 with a record of 61-5. Along the way, Petersen has developed a name as an underdog coach who embraces being different as a means of besting his more mainstream and oftentimes better-equipped rivals.

And yet Petersen’s salary is middle of the pack when compared to the rest of the 120 Football Bowl Subdivision coaches, and his team operates with a budget that is dwarfed by the competition. So how does a school operating with such a significant handicap manage to contend in the major league of college football while writing one of the most fascinating little-guy stories in recent memory? “A lot of times people will associate bigger being better, “ Petersen says, “but sometimes that will slow you down and doesn’t help you make the best decisions."

For the rest of the article, click here.

Beyond X's and O's: Jeff Tambroni and a New Era at Penn State

The following article originally appeared at InsideLacrosse.com, and the original can be accessed by clicking here or through the following URL: http://insidelacrosse.com/news/2011/03/02/beyond-xs-and-os-jeff-tambroni-and-a-new-era-penn-state

Jeff Tambroni is one of the most promising young coaches in all of lacrosse. He’s widely respected for his ability to do more with less, and seems destined to slip on a National Championship ring during his career. He’s guided Cornell to eight consecutive Ivy League titles, three Final Four appearances, and one championship game in ten years as the head of the Big Red.

In taking the reins at Penn State, a collective gasp spread throughout D-I. Tambroni has proven himself a winner in the Ivy League, and has everyone wondering what kind of damage his teams can do at a state school that seems committed to seeing lacrosse succeed. With a new recruiting base, the resources of a vaunted athletic department, and the ambition of Tambroni, Penn State could quickly become a national contender. With all that said, what is it that’s so special about Tambroni? What does he do to develop his players, motivate his teams, and churn out one successful season after another?

When talking about his coaching style and philosophy, Tambroni speaks definitively of two events. First, he talks about the 2004 Cornell team and George Boiardi. For Tambroni, Boiardi was “the ultimate team guy”, and that year’s team was “the greatest team, genuinely investing in one another.” Boiardi was known as a selfless leader, a captain, who passed away on the field during a game in 2004. Boiardi’s untimely death set off a spark in Tambroni and that year’s squad that pushed them together. Through that experience, and the questions and concerns that naturally followed, Tambroni gave pause and looked inward. “Through his passing,” Tambroni recalls, “it put my profession in perspective.” In looking more closely at his job as a coach, Tambroni came back to the importance of relationships, heartfelt and meaningful relationships with players, assistants and parents.

Through the experience, Tambroni not only looked inward, he was keenly aware of the grief and strength those around him displayed. In particular he speaks of the “inspiration the Boiardi family has provided us.” In watching the Boiardi family, Tambroni seems to have found a bit of a guiding beacon, a depth of fortitude and compassion he not only respects, but seemingly strives to emulate. As he says, the Boiardi family was “unbelievably powerful in their message of faith and their message of life.”

At this point in the conversation it’s clear that Tambroni’s not slinging the same old coaching clichés. He’s not simply trying to build up accountability by empowering his athletes to be self-motivated achievers. It’s as if he’s trying to stay true to unwritten principles that a life-altering experience instilled in him. At different moments he seems to have stopped and truly questioned himself, his practices, and what’s important. Through those moments he’s gained a sense of clarity that, “nothing is more gratifying than those hugs and longstanding connections.” In short, he’s committed himself to investing in players as people, developing relationships that will thrive long after the last whistle blows.

Tambroni has seen the face of grief in his locker-room, and emerged with a resolve to commit himself to his players and the promise of connecting. He then explains how he works to connect, and the second experience that has shaped him as a coach.

He directs the conversation to an unlikely source: three girls. As the father of three daughters, the challenges of being a good dad guide his coaching. “For me personally, I try to treat kids here the same way I’d want someone to treat my kids.” His voice is gritty with conviction as he talks about what the ideal caretakers of his children would do, explaining that they’d “look my kids in the eye, tell them what they need to hear, not what they want to hear.” It doesn’t sound easy when he says it, and the difficulty seems to be the point.

As a coach, Tambroni seems to be continually balancing two drives: Build relationships, and push those same people to be better. It’s a delicate balance, but he doesn’t flinch. “Admittedly so, we’re really hard on our players,” he offers, but he also describes his efforts to call a player after he was particularly demanding, text guys when they take exams, have off-field meetings, and check up on guys who are sick or hurt. Spring breaks are filled with team events: movies, comedy clubs, hanging out as a group of guys.

It’s not to say that Tambroni isn’t willing to be like the players. In fact, he wants them to know he likes to enjoy himself. However, he also wants to maintain the boundaries of the coach-player relationship. He’s willing to extend himself, be there for players, but he’s not going to stop pushing them.

Tambroni’s focus on his players may not be unique, but his self-awareness and struggle to balance two goals that often radically conflict may be. He cares for his players immensely, but he also cares about seeing them succeed. He’s balancing compassion with the conviction that the people around him can be something better than they are. Perhaps that single struggle is what makes him one of the very best.

It’ll be exciting to watch Penn State emerge in the up-coming seasons. It seems predestined that they’ll become a national contender. But in the mean time, take note of the coach on the sidelines. He may look calm and controlled, but he’s likely frenetic inside – if not from the desire to see his players develop, than from the pride he has in watching the people he cares for achieve.

Beyond X's and O's: Gary Gait's Approach to Excellence

The following was originally published at Inside Lacrosse, and can be accessed in its original format here.

Gary Gait is headed into his fourth season as the women's coach at Syracuse. In listening to him talk it’s hard not to confuse his tone with the laid back twang of a California surfer – maybe a guy who walks the beach in unbuttoned flannel shirts and flip-flops. There’s no rush, no worry, and even his direction seems to amble, but there’s no mistaking where he’s going. He’s on his way to the next championship in a string that is unrivaled. And here may be the most fascinating intersect in Gait’s personality, the piece that leaves you puzzled yet intrigued, the moment where you think something doesn’t add up.

He’s coached 11 championship teams from the collegiate, professional and international level, and as a player he has 14 rings from NCAA, NLL, MLL, Mann Cup and international titles. He’s won two titles with the MLL’s Baltimore Bayhawks as a player/coach, seven while assisting Maryland’s women’s team, and two indoor titles (one with the Mammoth & one with Canada’s National Indoor Team).

He’s the most decorated figure in the history of lacrosse, and arguably the most significant. He’s been the face of the game since he leapt from behind the goal in the 1988 NCAA semi-finals at the Carrier Dome, putting home a goal that is too often used as the symbol of the most comprehensive career in our sport. Yet, with all that he’s done, Gait stands as something of a paradox: a dominant and physically imposing player who has found a comfortable home as mentor to both young men and women. Of all his accomplishments, his coaching prowess is rarely profiled, yet he’s arguably one of the most accomplished coaches in lacrosse. Of all his dominance in the men’s game, he’s settled in as the head coach of the Syracuse women’s team. In a sport that draws definitive lines between indoor and outdoor, the efforts of men and women, the differences between the varying games, Gait doesn’t seem to care – he just keeps winning.

Talking with Gait about his approach, his philosophies, his efforts to build teams is an insightful exercise. It’s calculated and calm with a focus on relationships and teaching. In asking him about his coaching, you get the sense that it’s like asking someone how he breathes. For as much as he knows, so much more is simply reflexive, simply what he does. For Gait, winning seems to be part of his DNA, but he takes time to talk through his process, pausing, thinking, laboring to capture everything in his head in digestible sentences.

“To start with, we want to create an environment where players are comfortable and can learn at a high rate." He then turns to the importance of developing relationships, the one-on-one meetings, the encouragement, the welcoming of questions and creativity. He then breaks down the goal setting process, the differences between team and individual, the desire to “challenge them all the time to learn something new and get better.” As he talks he shifts gears slightly, beginning to focus a little more specifically on tactics: leadership development, mentoring, sports hypnosis, visualization . . . “It’s a constant process,” he concedes, “eventually most of them buy-in.”

For Gait the process of “creating championship caliber teams” can be distilled down to three phases. First, “got to get the team to believe in you, buy-in.” To do this, he “sits down with every player on a constant basis” to get to know them and build a relationship of trust and understanding. He works to develop a nurturing environment where players and coaches share goals and work toward achieving them together. Second, “got to get them to want to be the best, want to win championships.” Here Gait’s personality shines through: “I can say a couple words and evoke an ‘I should be working harder feeling’ rather than scream at the top of my lungs.” He talks with players, challenges them to be the best they can be, and holds them accountable. Third, “put the players in the right position and develop the right scenarios to allow them to be successful.” Circling back to the importance of relationships, Gait wants his players to succeed, but needs to know them. He puts a great deal of stock in “evaluating players, finding roles, and keeping everybody positive.” Through this formula he’s filled his sock drawer with more rings than Mr. T, and he may be adding to his collection soon.

In three seasons at Syracuse the team has a 47-15 record with Gait as the coach. They’ve won two Big East regular-season titles, a conference tournament championship, a trip to the quarterfinals and two semifinal appearances. The Orange are asserting themselves as a national contender, and with Gait at the helm, it’s likely that they’ll be wrapping their arms around a trophy soon. Gait has won at nearly every level. He could presumably do whatever he wants in the sport that has become synonymous with his name. He’s chosen to be the head coach of a woman’s team, and that decision is proof that nearly 25 years after the “Air Gait” he’s still the same guy. He’s a creative, risk-taker who will do anything to advance his team and the sport. He’s his own person, genuine and true to himself. He’s the greatest figure we have in this game, and he’s simply not done breaking down barriers and taking lacrosse to new heights.