June 26, 2008

by Matt DaSilva, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff

Ted Spencer still can't salivate, but after 13 years building the Fairfield men's lacrosse program from a middling team to an NCAA Division I tournament contender and the last eight months overcoming neck cancer, this could be his toughest pill to swallow.

Spencer's contract expires Monday. The university has offered him an administrative position as assistant athletic director, Spencer said Thursday, though he added he has not yet reached a decision.

"I'm kind of at a crossroads right now," he said. "I've been offered to come back as a coach, but I've also been offered by the university to be an assistant athletic director. I have not made a decision yet."

Chris O'Connor, Fairfield's associate sports information director, declined comment on behalf of the university's athletic department. "Ted is our lacrosse coach at this point," he said. "Anything other than that, it's departmental and university policy not to discuss personnel matters as far as contracts."

Less than two months removed from the 2008 season, North Carolina has fired John Haus and hired Joe Breschi away from Ohio State, with the latter vacancy remaining to be filled. Should Spencer accept Fairfield's reported offer to move into an administrative capacity with the university, a few more Division I coaches established elsewhere could be tempted to make a move.

According to sources, Fairfield is considered a desirable destination. The Stags are fully funded with 12.6 scholarships, have qualified for the NCAA tournament twice (2002, 2005) this decade, and are in an ideal geographical situation - located just north of the Long Island Sound and at the epicenter of the tri-state area encapsulating Connecticut, New York and New Jersey.

None of it would be possible if it were not for Spencer.

Diagnosed with stage four cancer in October after the biopsy of a golf-ball sized tumor in his neck he discovered while shaving, Spencer returned to the Stags' sidelines for his 13th season this spring, something he called "a miracle."

Spencer underwent an invasive surgery in November. A Yale University Medical Center surgical team went through his mouth to get to his neck and remove the tumor and a three-inch lymph node lodged near his tonsils. Surgeons inserted 40 undifferentiated radiation seeds into the region, setting the stage for an aggressive regimen of radiation and chemotherapy.

On his first day of chemotherapy treatment, Spencer ran seven miles with the team and told the players that he would return in time for the 2008 season, confirmed by his presence Feb. 2 for a scrimmage against Army.

But his body took a beating. He coached in a part-time capacity at first, as his physical condition waned in chemotherapy. He dropped from 230 pounds in August to 157 pounds at the height of his treatment.

And though some of that body mass has returned - Spencer's up to 180 pounds now - the numbness in his extremities lingers, and he still cannot produce saliva. A CT scan earlier this month revealed small nodules on each of his lungs that had his doctors worried enough to push for a full body scan in September, though Spencer is optimistic the small masses are just byproducts of remission.

"I can't just eat a piece of bread without chugging water with it. I weigh less than I did in high school right now," said the 45-year-old. "I'm somebody who's always been a very physical person. That's your identity. That's who you are. This is not me. I want to be me."

Citing health and family - "When you're healthy and engrossed in work, you neglect them. If I died right now, I would've missed out on all this stuff with my family." - and the growing off-field demands of a Division I lacrosse coach by alumni, administrators and parents - "Quite frankly, I don't want to deal with it at all. I want to coach the kids." - Spencer said he would seriously consider an administrative position.

"There's a lot of stuff on the table there," he said. "To do my job properly, am I going to be able to put everything I'm able to put into it?"

Spencer has also met with Jeff Keith, who lost a leg to cancer when he was 12, but went on to play lacrosse at Boston College and run the continental U.S. coast to coast when he was 22. Since then, Keith has been a fierce fundraiser for cancer research and support, and Spencer would like to help the effort for cancer survivors.

"Basically, people kick cancer and they drop you off a cliff," Spencer said. "There's no support for what happens after - about what you should be doing conditionally, the long-lasting side effects of radiation or what you should be doing down the road."

Fairfield suffered through a 4-9 season in 2008, and the Stags are about to be a part of a power conference merger between the GWLL and ECAC in 2010 that will make travel arduous. Spencer said coaching is in his fiber, however, and that leaving the game would not be an easy decision, if made.

"I was kind of hoping we'd be at a decision at this point," Spencer said. "My official contract ends June 30, which is Monday. I think for the best of the lacrosse program and athletic department, it's best to move forward in some capacity sooner than later...

"In retrospect, should I have coached this season? I wouldn't have done it any other way, because I wanted to prove to everybody that I could get out there. If you bust your ass, you could do anything you want to do. Hopefully, a lot of my players got a lot out of that."

They may have gotten everything possible out of Spencer.