Triumph: Wojcik Earns Harvard Job the Right Way
by Jac Coyne | Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff | Coyne Archive | Twitter
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| Chris Wojcik is returning to his alma mater having worked to ensure he was the best man for the job. |
He’d been so faithful to his alma mater it was only
natural to expect reciprocity.
As a finalist for the Harvard job prior to the 2008 season, Chris
Wojcik figured he was the natural pick to replace Scott Anderson.
He had apprenticed under Anderson for six years, not to mention
bleeding Crimson for four undergraduate years on both the lacrosse
and soccer fields.
The highest-scoring midfielder in the history of the program as
well as the captain of Harvard’s 1996 NCAA quarterfinalist
squad, Wojcik’s Cambridge bona fides were unquestioned. You
can also throw in his All-Ivy soccer honors after guiding the
Crimson to a conference championship on the pitch in ’95.
Heck, Wojcik was only the Bingham Award winner, given to the top
athlete in Harvard’s senior class.
Surely, when the dust settled, his school would be true.
Only Wojcik knows the dark place he inhabited when Navy assistant
John Tillman was announced as Harvard’s new head coach weeks
later.
As the graduate of a school where entitlement is, well, an
entitlement, few would have been surprised if Wojcik gave his alma
mater a one-fingered salute, vowed to wear Yale colors at the next
reunion while seeking comfort amidst sycophantic family and
friends.
Wojcik took a different tack, however. He decided to take the same
advice he had been giving to his players.
He vowed to get better.
It started by taking an assistant position at Bowdoin, where he was
mentored by Tom McCabe, who has 207 wins in his 20 years in
Brunswick. It was followed by a year under Brian Voelker at Penn
and then this past spring with the Quakers under the eye of Mike
Murphy.
“I feel like since I’ve left Harvard I’ve evolved
as a coach,” said Wojcik, after finding out over the weekend
he would finally get his chance to guide the Crimson.
“I worked with three different coaches and have seen
different styles and I have incorporated some of their philosophies
and coaching styles into my own,” he said. “I
definitely feel like I’m a much better coach now and have
fresh ideas and an innovative style. I was hoping to get the job
last time, but I’m a much better coach since I
left.”
“In working with Chris over the past year, I'd say his
biggest assets are his work ethic, his professionalism and his
knowledge of the game,” said Murphy. “He also is an
excellent mentor and I think Harvard made a great decision in
hiring him.”
“I couldn't be happier for Chris,” added McCabe.
“It is the best choice for Harvard and they will be better
because of it.”
The fact that Wojcik has been named the Harvard head coach is a
testament to both the coach and Harvard.
Wojcik’s ability to emotionally move past the hurt of not
receiving the job the first time while accepting the fact that
he had to improve himself is an increasingly rare character trait.
He handled the setback the way winners do.
In addition, Harvard athletic director Bob Scalise had the vision
to avoid hastily dismissing a previous applicant. It’s easier
for ADs to simply snag one of the big names on the market and ride
the PR wave. Scalise did his due diligence, combed the field, and
found the best fit for his program even if the name might lack the
“buzz.” When you consider the Crimson landed Tillman
the last time out, Scalise is two for two.
The three years since Wojcik’s first shot at the Harvard job
were spent not only gaining more experience, but formulating a game
plan for if/when the Harvard job ever came open again. He asked
questions of his coaching peers and went over how he would do
things differently.
When Wojcik found out through the coaching grapevine that Tillman
was interviewing at Maryland, he put his strategy in motion.
“I kind of had my resume and my plan ready and just went back
over it and made sure everything was good,” he said.
Part of the plan was tough.
He knew that if he was going to make a serious run at this job, he
would have to isolate himself from the numerous former classmates
and interested alums who were willing to go to bat for him (two
high school classmates of mine who were close to Wojcik at Harvard
had more than a passing interest in his chances).
On one level it was great to have that kind of backing, but Wojcik
knew that if he was going to be the man for the job he’d have
to prove it on his own.
“They were very interested in the process and where the
administration was in the process, so it was a fine line of being a
friend but also doing everything I need to do to put the best foot
forward to get the job,” said Wojcik of the many emails and
phone calls he received. “I really, really appreciated all
the people who reached out to me and all the people who
cared.”
The nature of the beast says those people who were his biggest
supporters now hold the potential to be his biggest critics. While
Harvard Men (and Women) typically stick up for their own, if things
don’t turn out as planned they won’t reserve judgment
simply because Wojcik has the ‘H’ on his diploma.
Wojcik isn’t worried about that, although he admits there is
some peril in heading back to his old stomping grounds.
“The danger might be that I do know the place too well and
it’s a little different now and the players are a little
different,” he said. “Maybe there’s a danger
about having some preconceived notions, but I think I have an open
mind so that when I do go in there this time around I’m going
back as a different coach and a different person.”
He’s also going back knowing that he’s not
returning as the Harvard head coach because of the
alma mater discount or an appreciative alum with a big wallet.
He’s returning to Cambridge because he is the best man for
the job.
