Bill Tierney Retiring After The 2023 Season!

[Farfromgeneva]

Some of you actually take your free time to come on here and try to bash Bill Tierney's credibility as a coach because of his sideline behavior with the refs?? Unbelievable.

Court, I appreciate your desire to be nothing but positive when it comes to talking about coaches. On this and other threads. There needs to be more of that in today's world.

At this point, no one is bashing him as a coach. Tierney is undoubtedly a HOF coach for his accomplishments, which I think everyone agrees. His sideline behavior has been discussed quite in depth here. That doesn't limit his credibility. But it is part of the big picture of him as a coach, and one of the first things some people think of when they hear his name.

Yes the duality of man, rather than monoliths.

[HooDat]

Some of you actually take your free time to come on here and try to bash Bill Tierney's credibility as a coach because of his sideline behavior with the refs?? Unbelievable.

There isn't one post here bashing his credibility as a coach

Nope, not one. What is mentioned is his absolutely disgusting and disrespectful sideline behavior though. Those comments are warranted, he's done a lot to earn the reputation of being a monster aszwhole on the sidelines.

Court, I appreciate your desire to be nothing but positive when it comes to talking about coaches. On this and other threads. There needs to be more of that in today's world.

At this point, no one is bashing him as a coach. Tierney is undoubtedly a HOF coach for his accomplishments, which I think everyone agrees. His sideline behavior has been discussed quite in depth here. That doesn't limit his credibility. But it is part of the big picture of him as a coach, and one of the first things some people think of when they hear his name.

Yes the duality of man, rather than monoliths.

All of these responses are spot on. I will add (with all due respect): I HATE the way he almost destroyed the game by effectively inventing stall ball (the "armadillo" doesn't count - it that wasn't a coaching scheme as much as it was an acknowledgement of having the tiger by the tail....)

Tierney's biggest legacy was giving us baseball scores in lacrosse....

[MDlaxfan76]

I suspect I feel about Bill Tierney akin to the way many feel about Bill Belichick: I absolutely recognize Bill Tierney as a legend/pioneer/the greatest all-time lacrosse coach but never cared for him because of what I felt was over-the-line behavior (in Tierney's case, intimidation of officials). But certainly at retirement the undoubted greatness and lasting impact are what should rightly be emphasized.

That's a pretty good analogy.

I've heard good and bad, but mostly good, things from his former players. Most are, and were, very appreciative of his intensity. Not all liked it when it was directed at them (!)...old school coaching style.

And there's really no argument that he was a tremendous recruiter and coach, an innovator who understood the talents of his players and adapted his strategies to those talents...yes, at times he slowed things to a crawl, but when he had the horses to run and gun, they could be very explosive. But, whatever the strategy, it was very purposeful, and very well drilled.

And yes, he was a very bad model on the sideline...not alone, but because of his success, all the more noticeable.

On the other hand, I've heard a nice guy away from the field.

[OCanada]

He really is a very good person.

He is far from alone on the sideline behavior issue. But i think there are much more important issues: do his players graduate; are they hood students, are they good ambassadors and citizens on and off campus.

Bill’s wife would go to games. The treatment she received from opposing teams fans could be crude and derogatory. Much worse than any coach resorts to during a game.

[henryben]

I was at a box lacrosse tournament a few years back (not in Denver.)

Coach Tierney was there...running the bench and coaching the Novices (8-9 yr olds) for the Denver program.

It's as if Nick Saban spent a week in the summer coaching a peewee football team.

It was hysterical and honestly a bit heartwarming. He obviously loves the game, and loves coaching.

No, I didn't see him screaming at the refs.

[gunnerz]

http://goprincetontigers.blogspot.com/2 ... -been.html

[socalref]

“I don’t trust anyone who’s nice to me but rude to a waiter because they would treat me the same if I were in that position.” - Muhammad Ali

You don't have to be an ass to be a good coach. Plenty have proven that. Officials put up with it because none of them want to get blackballed for flagging a high profile coach. They know that a phone call post game to their assignor has them sitting at home on Saturday instead of working a game. The stories out the officiating crews from Denver are interesting.

[OCanada]

Lacrosse has a significant shortage of officials in general and good officials even more so. The schedules of good officials were interesting last year.

[Carroll81]

“I don’t trust anyone who’s nice to me but rude to a waiter because they would treat me the same if I were in that position.” - Muhammad Ali

You don't have to be an ass to be a good coach. Plenty have proven that. Officials put up with it because none of them want to get blackballed for flagging a high profile coach. They know that a phone call post game to their assignor has them sitting at home on Saturday instead of working a game. The stories out the officiating crews from Denver are interesting.

His actions at games are absolutely a result of the assignors and officials association not backing up the officials. They could have shut him down at any time.

[OCanada]

Seems a lot of coaches in the modern eta are getting a free pass.

[smoova]

“I don’t trust anyone who’s nice to me but rude to a waiter because they would treat me the same if I were in that position.” - Muhammad Ali

You don't have to be an ass to be a good coach. Plenty have proven that. Officials put up with it because none of them want to get blackballed for flagging a high profile coach. They know that a phone call post game to their assignor has them sitting at home on Saturday instead of working a game. The stories out the officiating crews from Denver are interesting.

His actions at games are absolutely a result of the assignors and officials association not backing up the officials. They could have shut him down at any time.

Good grief. His actions are the result of his character. No different than anyone else.

[Farfromgeneva]

Seems a lot of coaches in the modern eta are getting a free pass.

That’s the one defect or issue w Tierney the defenders of his coaching acumen are ignoring or dismissing. It creates a generation of younger coaches who behave the same way. That’s not what you’d describe as the duties of an ambassador.

Great line production worker (coach) yes, ambassador to the game? Pretty complex and beyond any comments here but a mixed bag at best.

(Ironically I don’t see coach Raymond at Bart go that crazy on refs and he learned from Bill and Petro early in his career so it’s not a free pass for all the younger jerk raging coaches either given we have an example, or more than one, of people who transcended that lesson)

[OCanada]

I agree w your point. It seems to me that here it is a bit dismissive of quite a few coaches not to mention fan bases some pf whom are off the charts when it comes to behavior that is far worse. I suppose i would prefer a more general discussion than one focused on a retiring 70? yo coach. My bias is i have talked with him a few times, know former players and parents so i have more context as go his person.

[Farfromgeneva]

I agree w your point. It seems to me that here it is a bit dismissive of quite a few coaches not to mention fan bases some pf whom are off the charts when it comes to behavior that is far worse. I suppose i would prefer a more general discussion than one focused on a retiring 70? yo coach. My bias is i have talked with him a few times, know former players and parents so i have more context as go his person.

Depends on if this thread is supposed to be simply celebratory and ignore the duality of a man like Bill (all of us). But if we contextualize his place in the game, it has to be discussed I think. It’s also the cost of celebrity and acknowledgement. Nobody cares about a raging coach at a MAAC school because they won’t even make it out of the play in game 80% of the time and even be on tv.

Fans are dbags. Just look across these threads. I’m not immune though more self critical to Bart than many for their own programs I think. But fans come and go. They’re not monoliths that influence the game over multiple decades.

Maybe a thread that discusses this issue is worthy and would be better having Bill and Petro not being HCs so it can be discussed using other reference points. But I do see that sideline behavior as sending a message that’s filter down to the club heads who are jerks and thats what bothers me as having younger kids playing the game now.

Had binged a show called Mayor of Kingston and I’m reminded of the hockey parents fighting Jeremy renner during their kids game…

https://mobile.twitter.com/kingstown/st ... 9122957315

[smoova]

That’s the one defect or issue w Tierney the defenders of his coaching acumen are ignoring or dismissing. It creates a generation of younger coaches who behave the same way.

The folks at the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Officials Association heartily agree: Uncle Bill has modeled a behavior pattern that countless Colorado youth coaches have emulated over the last decade. He's certainly not the only reason that youth coaches act like fools, but he definitely didn't help in this regard.

It's too bad that his amazing legacy for talent identification, player development and tactical ingenuity is somewhat tarnished by his sideline antics.

[Farfromgeneva]

That’s the one defect or issue w Tierney the defenders of his coaching acumen are ignoring or dismissing. It creates a generation of younger coaches who behave the same way.

The folks at the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Officials Association heartily agree: Uncle Bill has modeled a behavior pattern that countless Colorado youth coaches have emulated over the last decade. He's certainly not the only reason that youth coaches act like fools, but he definitely didn't help in this regard.

It's too bad that his amazing legacy for talent identification, player development and tactical ingenuity is somewhat tarnished by his sideline antics.

You may know more details than I but not sure tarnished is the right term as much as it limits/caps his legacy in the game that should be more but is held back by this consideration. And it probably didn’t help his results.

[DMac]

OC, respect your opinion and long time association with lacrosse. I have no doubt that if I were to sit down and have a chat with Tierney I would walk away liking him. That never happened with 99% of us though, we only know him as the petulant, out of control, coach on the sidelines who treats his lacrosse brethren (officials are part of the game too) incredibly rudely and disrespectfully. His behavior has always been unacceptable to me and the criticism he gets for it is well earned and deserved, IMO. You can't have a thread about Tierney without this side of him coming up (he's pizzed a whole lot of people/fans off with his behavior) unless it's a filtered thread allowing only praiseworthy comments. The gametime, sideline Tierney is just too much of a part of who Tierney is in the eyes of way too many fans for it to not be brought up.
We've been through this before but I'll say again I'd like to think, and do think, that my pretty hard core and long time lacrosse fan buddies and I are a part of the reason Tierney said he'd never come back to the Dome after his last visit there with his Tigers (they got beat that day). We were all season ticket holders and our seats were about as close to the opposing team's bench as you can get, well within earshot to hear Tieney's non stop whining and badgering of the officials and plenty close enough for him to hear every word we had to say to him. We rode him hard and he absolutely deserved to be ridden hard. He was really "on his game" that day, a top shelf Tierney performance. You will tell me that Tierney's proclamation of never coming back to the Dome again is because of the rude and disrespectful treatment his wife experienced in the stands but I have to ask, is this hearsay or did you witness that? I ask because it seems highly unlikely to me that I wouldn't have witnessed that as I'm pretty darn sure she would have been real close to where we were and I never saw or heard any such thing. A rough crowd yes but I find it real hard to believe that any fans would be targeting her directly. No doubt she heard things she didn't like but comments directed to and at her I find very hard to believe.
I'm just one fan who nobody really cares about but that's what I think every time I hear Tierney's name and I'm sure I don't stand alone with that thought. Seven rings but a coach I would never want my kids behaving like (or a behavior I would tolerate from anyone).
My two cents worth but there's no way this thread is going to be void of Tierney criticisms and it damn sure shouldn't be. You make your bed...and all that.

[Farfromgeneva]

OC, respect your opinion and long time association with lacrosse. I have no doubt that if I were to sit down and have a chat with Tierney I would walk away liking him. That never happened with 99% of us though, we only know him as the petulant, out of control, coach on the sidelines who treats his lacrosse brethren (officials are part of the game too) incredibly rudely and disrespectfully. His behavior has always been unacceptable to me and the criticism he gets for it is well earned and deserved, IMO. You can't have a thread about Tierney without this side of him coming up (he's pizzed a whole lot of people/fans off with his behavior) unless it's a filtered thread allowing only praiseworthy comments. The gametime, sideline Tierney is just too much of a part of who Tierney is in the eyes of way too many fans for it to not be brought up.
We've been through this before but I'll say again I'd like to think, and do think, that my pretty hard core and long time lacrosse fan buddies and I are a part of the reason Tierney said he'd never come back to the Dome after his last visit there with his Tigers (they got beat that day). We were all season ticket holders and our seats were about as close to the opposing team's bench as you can get, well within earshot to hear Tieney's non stop whining and badgering of the officials and plenty close enough for him to hear every word we had to say to him. We rode him hard and he absolutely deserved to be ridden hard. He was really "on his game" that day, a top shelf Tierney performance. You will tell me that Tierney's proclamation of never coming back to the Dome again is because of the rude and disrespectful treatment his wife experienced in the stands but I have to ask, is this hearsay or did you witness that? I ask because it seems highly unlikely to me that I wouldn't have witnessed that as I'm pretty darn sure she would have been real close to where we were and I never saw or heard any such thing. A rough crowd yes but I find it real hard to believe that any fans would be targeting her directly. No doubt she heard things she didn't like but comments directed to and at her I find very hard to believe.
I'm just one fan who nobody really cares about but that's what I think every time I hear Tierney's name and I'm sure I don't stand alone with that thought. Seven rings but a coach I would never want my kids behaving like (or a behavior I would tolerate from anyone).
My two cents worth but there's no way this thread is going to be void of Tierney criticisms and it damn sure shouldn't be. You make your bed...and all that.

Didn’t Desko (or was it Simmons) want to stop playing Bart because he was afraid of our fans just because a modest little fish got airborn?

[bearlaxfan]

Let's look at T's on-field antics from a different angle (while I admit I lurved to get on him during his biennial visits to Brown. Even made it to a Denver at PC game to shout at him)
Did/does the harassment of officials work? Is it more important than actual in-game coaching? I honestly believe from watching Tierney and the amount of time he spent on official-working that he let his ACs run the games. I'm talking, 1999 to now, no personal insight earlier.
I suppose good ACs make this more possible, and it's obviously a reach to make negative judgements vs 7 national championships. Did his in-game ref focus hurt his teams overall?
But the trickle-down effect on the sport (BECAUSE of the 7 natties) is a real issue.

[DMac]

"Trickle down effect" meaning what?
Fortunately there is no trickle down effect here...an opinion I agree with
(thank you shot clock).

I will add (with all due respect): I HATE the way he almost destroyed the game by effectively inventing stall ball (the "armadillo" doesn't count - it that wasn't a coaching scheme as much as it was an acknowledgement of having the tiger by the tail....)

Tierney's biggest legacy was giving us baseball scores in lacrosse....