Man of the Hour: In Depth with Bill Tierney

Coverage: Bill Tierney to Denver

* Bill Tierney Leaves Princeton for Denver
* Tanton: Tierney Changes Stripes, the Game
* Wiedmaier Wants Metzbower
* Metzbower Turns Down Princeton Job
* Man of the Hour: In Depth with Bill Tierney
* Trevor Tierney Confident in Dad, Denver
* DU's Brown: 'I Can't Wait Until September'

by Theresa Smith | Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online

Bill Tierney makes his first public appearance since leaving Princeton -- where he won six NCAA championships -- for the University of Denver, addressing media Thursday at Peter Barton Stadium. © Denver Athletics and Recreation

DENVER -- On a blue-sky, sunny day in Denver, new University of Denver lacrosse coach Bill Tierney stood on the bright, green turf at the Pioneers' lacrosse facility, Peter Barton Stadium, and reflected on his move west.

The legend from Princeton, who led the Tigers to six NCAA titles, is taking over a program that is gradually building, including six consecutive winning seasons and two NCAA appearances through 2008.

Problems plagued Denver in 2009. The Pioneers were 7-8 and three players were dismissed from the team in late March. On May 7, Jamie Munro was forced to resign after 11 seasons and a 91-70 record and four Great Western Lacrosse League titles.

Tierney, who was hired by vice chancellor Peg Bradley-Doppes, will be assisted by his son, Trevor, a former Princeton goalie and Denver Outlaws defensive coordinator, and Matt Brown, an ex-DU All-American and assistant on Munro's staff.

The newest Pioneer took some time Thursday for a one-on-one with Lacrosse Magazine Online's Theresa Smith:   

How has building a program changed since 20 years ago when you started at Princeton? And how is it different building here instead of at a traditional hotbed back east?

Well I certainly have more gray hair than I had 20 years ago, but the biggest difference is there's more to choose from. Division I lacrosse still, to this day, is at 58 or 59 programs -- 20 years ago it was at 54 or 55.

Nothing's changed. It is not going to change. The biggest difference now is that high school lacrosse is producing 5,000 more graduates a year than even eight years ago, so you have more choices, and when you make that choice you have to base it upon the individual quality of a person because they're all about the same as players, other than those two or three real studs you have to get. You have to hunt for those, but it's not that hard. In lacrosse, you just have to find the ones that fit your school and your personality better than the others.

When you first were talking to Peg [Bradley-Doppes] about the people you recommended for this job did it occur to you to be interested or was it not until she called back?

I've always been interested in this job. I've had a few other offers the last few years -- with the six national championships people come and talk to you. The difference with this one is it has always been a place where my wife, Helen, and I talked about being eventually. What is really interesting is I'm not ready to retire. We went from 7-6 a year ago to 13-3 this year and I had more energy and was so excited. But to come here and say, "Wow, we can do this at a new university; we can do this in a new area; we can not just help DU lacrosse, but western lacrosse in general." Hopefully, we can get that 59 to be 159. That's going to take some changes. That's going to take some government procedures, some athletic directors and some courage in the Pac-10, SEC, Big 12, whatever. It might be to say, "Yeah this is something we want to do." Eventually, the pressure's going to be on them, because there's so many more players that want to play, and the club lacrosse is not sufficient for them.

Even with the attractions of DU, weren't the people at Princeton kind of shocked that you would leave?

Oh my God, the faces on people, from the bottom to the top, to our president, our athletic director. I started thinking about it and I talked to my AD, my associate AD and the president of the university. Shock is the right word, because they've been around. I've turned down five or six other jobs before this. I don't think they ever thought I would do this. You know, at 57 years old, you've got to make a choice, and the choice to stay at Princeton would have been a great choice. I had put 22 years in there. I could have gone out after 30 years with six to seven -- who knows how many national championships, how many Ivy titles? But you come to a point in life when you get this opportunity. It was the right place, the right time. I felt it. Every one of those other opportunities, something kept saying, "No, this isn't right." I couldn't find that with this one, from Peg to everybody on board here. I'm thrilled to get started.

Did they realize that you've been out here visiting, that Trevor's here and how close you are as father and son?

I think the thing that kept them in the chase was that I said that this was the place where Helen and I wanted to be at some point in our lives. We talked about retirement, but we're not going to retire for a long time now, now that this has rejuvenated me.

But the Trevor thing is a blessing. He moved out in June 2001 and we expected to see him back on the East Coast in June of 2003 or 2004. After about three months, he said, "Dad, this place is the best; I'll never come back." Our three other kids have been around us. But my youngest son moved to Portland, Oregon. He's getting married. He'll be out there.

The craziest story is my youngest daughter, Brianne. She was the assistant lacrosse coach at [UC] Berkley this last year. This whole thing about moving toward family, and she just accepted the head job at Lebanon Valley back in Pennsylvania.

Our oldest daughter, Courtney, she's the one our hearts break. She's an Easterner, she coaches basketball and lacrosse at The Pennnington School, which is right around the corner from Princeton. We're hoping that she'll become a college coach someday. Hopefully, maybe we can get a basketball opening out here. She's the one, if I turned this job down, that was going to be the one reason. But you've got to move on, and hopefully, we'll pull it all together.

So all your children are in coaching?

Trevor wasn't for a long time, and then he started with the Outlaws. Brendan, he's not -- he works for Nike, but he coached the high school team as a volunteer. The girls were always thinking about coaching. I don't know, you'd think someone who lived with a coach all those years would turn away from it, but maybe it was meant to be. Maybe it is in the genes.
    
What are three characteristics of Bill Tierney-coached teams?

Discipline, not disciplined robots but discipline on the field. They'll understand situations, they'll be practiced. They are going to be good people, they'll be good students and they'll care about each other. Now they'll have a lot of freedom to show who they are on the field with their skills, but you will know that a Bill Tierney team is playing out there. Any situation that comes up, they'll have worked on it and have worked on it hard.

Off the field, this program has had difficulties with rule breaking. Some players have been punished, some haven't. I would think right off the bat -- because of what you're walking into -- are there going to be certain off-the-field things, rules they have to adhere to?

The kids are going to have to get on board or drown, it doesn't really matter to me. One of the greatest things Peg has done for me, she's given me carte blanche to clean house if I have to. I have spoken to most of the kids. I don't feel like we have to do that, but some of them may be on a shorter leash than others.

There was a group of 12 young men who stayed with this program and worked with [interim head coach Jon] Torpey in the offseason. They are going to be at the forefront at first. But we're going to allow some of the other kids who left the team to come back on a provisional basis. Some of the other kids are not going to be allowed to come back that we've thrown off the team. And we've got a group of freshmen coming in and some transfers coming in that are going to make for a heckuva team.

But to answer your question, the discipline thing is going to be first and foremost in their mind. They are going to class, we're going to up the GPAs, as well as up the wins to losses, and I think you're going to see some people working in the community. They'll be out there doing community service.

I don't want Denver lacrosse to be just what happens here. That's not good enough. I want Denver lacrosse to be something people are happy to fill the stands with. Something people are happy to come to Invesco Field to see. Something that people are going to say, "Wow, that program has great guys. They're doing it in the classroom and on the field, and they're thankful for their status in their community."

When an 8-year-old comes up to you for your autograph, you owe that kid something to be a role model for him, not just on the lacrosse field, but as a person and as a student as well.

Will you specify who you will allow back and who you won't?

At some point I will. We're still meeting on all that. I have to talk to all those kids. I've spoken with some. I will tell you, I'm excited about the response from those young men, because I think some quit for some not-so-bad reasons and others got thrown off for some not-so-right reasons, and others got thrown off for the absolute-right reasons.

The guys who've quit, I've spoken to all of them and almost all of them, to a man, want to come back and have promised me they will get on board to anything I say. They are young and kids, some reacted like that and said, "I don't care, we're here for you." And others said, "Gee, you know, I think this is a struggle right now."

Part of education and teaching is second chances, but when you get second chances, you are atoning to what everyone around you is trying to do.

At Princeton your players did those things in the classroom and they had a good reputation, but do you emphasize it even more here because you have to change some perceptions, not just with DU lacrosse, but with lacrosse in general? After what happened with Duke, it has taken a bit of a hit.

It has, and I think what we've got to remember that, because we're a growing sport. Most of what's out there at the forefront has been the negative stuff. I think 99 percent of lacrosse is clean and 99 percent of lacrosse is good people and 99 percent of lacrosse is good students. So I think it is more of educating people to that fact and making sure that our guys are part of that 99 percent, not that one percent any more.
  
Did you have a chance to look on film and see DU's two appearances in the NCAA tournament -- both times against Maryland -- and see what was the difference between where they are trying to get to and where Maryland already is?

Dave Cottle, the Maryland coach, is my best friend, so I've seen both of those films extensively. I watched the last one from two years ago, just this last week. I'll tell you, there's not much difference in talent. I may be putting myself on the spot with that. Again, they have more depth, but this kid [Mark] Matthews is as good as any attackman in the country and the kid Dylan Roy is as good as any defenseman in the country. It is there, we just have to figure out how to pull it together. At a place like Maryland they have more depth, so you have to play a perfect game to beat them.

There are some differences in style. You can try different things during the season, but if you are going to beat the big boys, you better be sound defensively, sound offensively, and have something sound to fall back on. So if you try those things once in a while and they don't work, you have something to fall back on.

Is it mentally too though? DU is going against name programs when they do make the tournament and that is such a big deal for them. Do you want them to know they belong against Princeton, Syracuse and Virginia?

The way to work on that is to get those guys on our schedule. In two years, we'll see some really good teams on our schedule. It won't happen this year, unless I can get somebody to come out here or we take a trip. We have a couple open dates on our schedule.

It is hard to do within one year, because everybody's blocked in. We'll get some people out here and we'll make some trips out there that might put us in a tough spot, but the only way to beat them is to play them. The only way to be comfortable in that tournament is to play them in the regular season. When kids think the greatest thing is making the tournament, all you are going to do is make the tournament. When the goal is the national championship, and you fall short of it, you still beat some big guys to get there.