BYU Dismisses Long-Time Coach Lamb
by Jac Coyne |
Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff | Coyne Archive
|
| After winning nearly eight of every 10 of
his games, along with three MCLA national championships, Jason
Lamb was relieved of his duties at Brigham Young this week. It's a
setback for the Cougars, but it could be a preview of what MCLA
coaches may have to deal with as dollars shrink at the club
level. © Jack Dempsey |
After an end-of-season conversation with the club sports
director last Friday, Brigham Young head coach Jason Lamb was
fired.
The head man for the Cougars for 15 years, Lamb led BYU to a 213-69
(.755) record and three Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association
(MCLA) national champions, most recently in 2007. Lamb was also the
first president of the organization that evolved into the MCLA.
Lamb and Lee Gibbons, the director of the Extramural Sports
Department at BYU, which oversees the school's club programs, had
conflicting philosophies on academics, scheduling, roster size,
coaching hours and team finances, according to an email Lamb
released on Wednesday.
"These and other reasons have added up to Lee's final decision, I
assume, but in the end it has come down to my unwillingness to
alter my vision for the program with regards to his vision for the
Extramural Sports Department on a whole," wrote Lamb.
BYU and Michigan are commonly viewed as the programs that MCLA
teams should model themselves after because of their status as
‘virtual varsity' squads - ones that match or exceed the
resources enjoyed by many of the top tier NCAA programs. As such,
the Cougars play a national schedule, including separate trips to
Minnesota, Michigan, Oregon and Arizona this year, as well as
boasting a large roster (43 players) and staff.
The results have matched the expectations: the Cougars followed
their '07 championship with back-to-back appearances in the
national semifinals, including this year's overtime loss to
Chapman.
It appears, however, that the expectations may have outstripped the
boundaries of the institution.
"My goal of making BYU Lacrosse the ‘best it can be' on and
off the field has led me to run the program in ways that exceed the
scope of the Extramural Sports Department," wrote Lamb.
My initial reaction to hearing of Lamb's dismissal was to
cringe.
This would mean that the 2009 MCLA season started with the No. 3
ranked team in the country, Arizona State, being suspended for the
year because of a hazing/underage drinking incident
and concluding with the firing of one of its most recognizable
and respected figures.
After some thought, I came to the realization that this shouldn't
be considered even near the level of the ASU debacle.
As painful as it is to those involved, this is just MCLA growing
pains.
It would be easy to label one side of the dispute the villain and
the other side the victim. That's the traditional plotline. But
this would appear to be a case of a coach who was trying to
implement a vision for his program running up against an
administrator charged with following directives from his
superiors.
This isn't the first time this has happened and certainly won't be
the last. In fact, this could turn into a rite of spring for MCLA
programs.
As its teams improve from year to year and expand past the
paradigms established by their respective club overseers, the
league will bump up against these institutional ceilings on a more
consistent basis. It will be uncomfortable for those
directly involved, but this should be considered a positive for the
league as a whole.
Unfortunately, sometimes there will be compromise and sometimes
there will be casualties.
The most disheartening part of Lamb's separation from BYU is the
simple fact that the two were made for each other.
Lamb's a Long Island guy (an alum of Rocky Point H.S.) with
lacrosse running through his blood. Equally important, he's a
lacrosse guy who understands what drives a Mormon student-athlete.
Lamb is a Bishop of his Orem ward, which may not resonate with
non-LDS (or at least with me), but I'm told it holds no small
significance within the Mormon community. I dare say the Cougars
will be hard pressed to match that resume when they hire their next
coach.
Speaking of which, we'll likely get the school's version of the
story - or at least a sanitized version - when they
distribute their news release, which I'm told will be in the
coming days and will also include the announcement of Lamb's
replacement.
Whoever does assume the reins of the Cougar program has both the
luxury and curse of following in the footsteps of an immensely
successful coach.
On one hand, the replacement will walk onto a practice field
featuring enough talent to win the MCLA championship. On the other
hand, he'll be expected to make sure it happens.
That is Jason Lamb's legacy at BYU; one that will not be
forgotten for some time.
