SUNY 2024

[richard]

All I have to look at are his past coaching stops. The resume looks pretty strong to me. I know a few people who would know him but I have not looked for any feedback. I imagine it would be pretty strong. Lots of coaches past and present have mixed reviews and for various reasons some make sense others not so much. On the womens side Larry swears that Levy at UNC is not a good coach. He can name 40 - 50 better coaches. Never mind the 400 wins and the 3 nattys. Coach J at Gettysburg had his detractors when they went through a bit of a dry spell. If you call 9-6 a dry spell. Some people didn’t like coach B at Hartwick, Tierney, Clarke at WAC, the list goes n and on. I’m just trying to dig a little deeper on this. I just don’t see Cortland throwing the towel in when it comes to lacrosse.

[laxinaround23]

All I have to look at are his past coaching stops. The resume looks pretty strong to me. I know a few people who would know him but I have not looked for any feedback. I imagine it would be pretty strong. Lots of coaches past and present have mixed reviews and for various reasons some make sense others not so much. On the womens side Larry swears that Levy at UNC is not a good coach. He can name 40 - 50 better coaches. Never mind the 400 wins and the 3 nattys. Coach J at Gettysburg had his detractors when they went through a bit of a dry spell. If you call 9-6 a dry spell. Some people didn’t like coach B at Hartwick, Tierney, Clarke at WAC, the list goes n and on. I’m just trying to dig a little deeper on this. I just don’t see Cortland throwing the towel in when it comes to lacrosse.

RIP Coach B!

[Leonard Washington]

All I have to look at are his past coaching stops. The resume looks pretty strong to me.

That is all you had to say. Thanks for playing.

[richard]

I have seen his teams play and Know that he recruited very well when he was at Cortland. The 2006 championship team was full of his recruits and might be one of the most talented teams ever in D3. Barnes did a great job for that one year. The years prior to that when Rogers was the coach they certainly were very talented and were considered a threat to win a championship but Salisbury was in the middle of quite a run.
As far as playing and the implication that I should move on, I don’t think so Pal. All I can gather from your comments is that you have an ax to grind with Rogers. Not much meat on that bone.

[Leonard Washington]

I have seen his teams play and Know that he recruited very well when he was at Cortland. The 2006 championship team was full of his recruits and might be one of the most talented teams ever in D3. Barnes did a great job for that one year. The years prior to that when Rogers was the coach they certainly were very talented and were considered a threat to win a championship but Salisbury was in the middle of quite a run.
As far as playing and the implication that I should move on, I don’t think so Pal. All I can gather from your comments is that you have an ax to grind with Rogers. Not much meat on that bone.

Ok Pal. Keep living in that dream world of yours 18 years ago where Rogers couldn't get it done with all the talent he had when he was the big fish in a small pond. Times and teams have grown and changed. Sorry this isn't your Cortland or the one you would like from a quarter century ago or even further back when they were in the Super Six. It must be Utica last year carrying out and continuing those monstrous victories against Keuka, Poly and Sage that keeps you going. Wonder why that was left of of his press release.

Ax to grind is absolutely hilarious and I thought what Katt Williams said was funny. Even though I do not spew rhetoric on Hartwick or SLU, I have been around this particular program for quite a while. At least one of us will keep that same energy in the middle of (not early) May. There are some lovely parting gifts by the front door. Hope you enjoy them until then. Ok pumpkin.

[richard]

Leonard, jeez, here we are in pissing match about Rogers and all you got is that the game has changed so much in the last 15 years that he can’t keep up. That’s a crock. Giv me something with Leonard Washington meat on it. Maybe he can’t recruit. Maybe he can’t motivate. Maybe he’s a real jerk to his players. Maybe he pinned you in 30 seconds and called you names. Give me something.

And then you finish with don’t let the door hit you on the way out and call me pumpkin! I got chunks of guys like you in my stool.

[dp68]

I'll restate that I believe Geneseo is the clear favorite to repeat in 2024. However, with Cortland at home vs. Geneseo this year and what is, in my opinion, a clear coaching upgrade at Cortland, I believe the Red Dragons have "a chance" to reclaim the conference.

I don't particularly care what Rogers did/didn't accomplish during his one year at Utica. The years at SU are more meaningful to me, even though the Orange weren't the same at the end of Desko's reign.

Leonard -
You clearly have a negative opinion of Rogers. I've always enjoyed your posts and don't mean to challenge you on this point. But if there is something specific that you can elaborate on (particularly the ego comment), I'd be very interested in what you have to say. Given the strength of the coaching panel, Cortland must have liked Rogers quite a bit to choose him over the competition.

I doubt our long-term projections on Cortland's program are that far apart. Your comment on the changing (expanding) landscape of quality northern lacrosse is spot on. My expectations are for Cortland to slot around #10 in the nation within 4 years, which would be just a little better than the Cortland men's soccer ranking (I believe the soccer and lacrosse programs at Cortland face similar challenges nationally). A #10 average ranking probably gets you to the 2nd or 3rd round fairly regularly.

Rogers would have to coach and recruit at elite levels to return Cortland to 2003-2009 levels. There's nothing in his coaching resume that tells me he can't do it, but I believe something around #10 in the nation is probably a more realistic goal. We'll see.

[dp68]

Only one game so far, with St. John Fisher taking care of business against Brockport, 21-9. No surprises there. Fisher 2023 was among the unluckiest teams of the last decade. How many times can you lose by 1 goal against strong competition?

Fisher dominated and peppered Brockport with 51 shots. They also played a clean game by committing only 1 penalty. Impressive for game #1.

Lots more teams getting into the mix over the next 7-10 days. I'm excited to see what SUNY has to offer: Can Geneseo take the next step forward and become a 2nd/3rd round playoff team? What difference will Lelan Rogers make at Cortland? What (if any) help will the Oneonta coaching staff and new recruits give James O'Neil so they can compete with the top-2 conference teams ?

Then there is New Paltz and their obvious upward trajectory. They show marked improvement every season, but is their ceiling #2 or #3 in the SUNY, or is it #1? They certainly have a lot of talent nearby to recruit.

[dp68]

All I have to look at are his past coaching stops. The resume looks pretty strong to me. I know a few people who would know him but I have not looked for any feedback. I imagine it would be pretty strong. Lots of coaches past and present have mixed reviews and for various reasons some make sense others not so much. On the womens side Larry swears that Levy at UNC is not a good coach. He can name 40 - 50 better coaches. Never mind the 400 wins and the 3 nattys. Coach J at Gettysburg had his detractors when they went through a bit of a dry spell. If you call 9-6 a dry spell. Some people didn’t like coach B at Hartwick, Tierney, Clarke at WAC, the list goes n and on. I’m just trying to dig a little deeper on this. I just don’t see Cortland throwing the towel in when it comes to lacrosse.

Agreed, Richard. Every coach has his or her detractors, regardless of their track records. Go back 3-4 seasons to the archives and check out the Salisbury forum. There were a few people who thought maybe it was time to bring in a new coach with a fresh outlook to replace Berkman. Cue the laugh track.

Rogers coordinated the D and recruited at a high-level D1 program after leaving Cortland. Tough for me to put him in the "retread" category, but like Leonard, I'd hoped Cortland would choose a young coach.

I haven't asked around for opinions on Rogers either, but one person I know close to Cortland athletics loved Rogers as a person during his first run. A fan who attends all sports and gets a lot of the inside info from people in athletics almost fell over in excitement when I broke the news to him that Rogers had replaced Beville. He instantly compared Rogers to Fitzpatrick (football) and Brown (baseball). Time will tell.

I feel like Rogers is a significant step up from the end of Beville's run...who I have nothing but respect for. Beville brought home a second D3 natty and put elite teams on the field through 2013. I'm unsure what happened thereafter, but he deserves a ton of credit for what he accomplished during the first decade.

[Leonard Washington]

Leonard -
You clearly have a negative opinion of Rogers. I've always enjoyed your posts and don't mean to challenge you on this point. But if there is something specific that you can elaborate on (particularly the ego comment), I'd be very interested in what you have to say. Given the strength of the coaching panel, Cortland must have liked Rogers quite a bit to choose him over the competition.

Believe me when I say, I do not air any dirty laundry other then "golfing with Athletic Directors" or certain runs before practices each day

I may at some point DM you and let you know.

[Dadlax]

Brockport could be battling Plattsburgh this year for last place, but a confidence booster for SJF nonetheless. They did what they needed to do against a bad team. Geneseo and Cortland clear number 1 & 2, but time will tell who takes the top spot. Oneonta may have a few tricks up their sleeve this year, check out some new additions to their roster to boost their offensive production. New paltz, well, quite honestly they don’t recruit well so they probably don’t have the talent to be top 3. However they win off of good coaching and good culture, so they’ll beat the bottom four based on that alone. Will be a fun year! Enjoy it, it’s the last one of its kind. Changes are a comin…

[VTLaxGuy]

Watched a lot of Platt v Norwich yesterday.

Norwich has some guys who can score, and has done a nice job of building their program over the past decade; but if you told me 5 years ago that Norwich would double up Platty at Plattsburgh I'd have said you're out of your mind.

Between COVID and a few coaching changes; it really seems like Plattsburgh has fallen faster than some of their peers. Are there other institutional issues up there that have impacted the lacrosse program? Seems like nobody but hockey is doing well up there.

[River Donkey]

The last coach was an alumni who couldn’t get out of there fast enough and with the new coach’s past record I don’t see much hope for them.

[dp68]

Watched a lot of Platt v Norwich yesterday.

Norwich has some guys who can score, and has done a nice job of building their program over the past decade; but if you told me 5 years ago that Norwich would double up Platty at Plattsburgh I'd have said you're out of your mind.

Between COVID and a few coaching changes; it really seems like Plattsburgh has fallen faster than some of their peers. Are there other institutional issues up there that have impacted the lacrosse program? Seems like nobody but hockey is doing well up there.

Plattsburgh was a league powerhouse when they had back to back excellent coaches. Otherwise, they've always been an afterthought, which is a shame, as Northern NY is really beautiful. I'd assume it's a great place to spend 4 years. Unless they grab another hot young coach and catch lightning in a bottle, they'll stay near the lower half of the league. Clearly though, one particular coach proved a lot of kids wouid attend Plattsburgh if they had a chance to win.

[richard]

[quote=VTLaxGuy post_id=521468 time=<a href="tel:1708620781">1708620781</a> user_id=1812]
Watched a lot of Platt v Norwich yesterday.

Norwich has some guys who can score, and has done a nice job of building their program over the past decade; but if you told me 5 years ago that Norwich would double up Platty at Plattsburgh I'd have said you're out of your mind.

Between COVID and a few coaching changes; it really seems like Plattsburgh has fallen faster than some of their peers. Are there other institutional issues up there that have impacted the lacrosse program? Seems like nobody but hockey is doing well up there.

Plattsburgh was a league powerhouse when they had back to back excellent coaches. Otherwise, they've always been an afterthought, which is a shame, as Northern NY is really beautiful. I'd assume it's a great place to spend 4 years. Unless they grab another hot young coach and catch lightning in a bottle, they'll stay near the lower half of the league. Clearly though, one particular coach proved a lot of kids wouid attend Plattsburgh if they had a chance to win.
[/quote]

Agree that Plattsburgh has lots to offer. Good school, nice town with things of its own going on, close to Montreal, the Adirondacks in the backyard, Burlington just across the lake . Recruiting is no problem for the Ice hockey program and has not been a problem for for lacrosse in the past. Like all of the SUNY schools it leaves you scratching your head as to why they aren’t consistently better at lacrosse. Maybe it’s the sun deprivation which come April and May will really mess with you.

[D3LaxFan2]

Like all of the SUNY schools it leaves you scratching your head as to why they aren’t consistently better at lacrosse.

Whenever this question is asked, it is always the same answer: coaching. Some D3 coaches work their tail off, connect with their players, create a productive environment where they enjoy their time and develop, recruit well, game prep well, and you can see the fruit of their labor. Others fail at one or more of those areas, and they do not. It is pretty simple, really.

[HomerCoach]

Pay your coaches.

[richard]

[quote=richard post_id=521903 time=<a href="tel:1708781521">1708781521</a> user_id=418]
Like all of the SUNY schools it leaves you scratching your head as to why they aren’t consistently better at lacrosse.

Whenever this question is asked, it is always the same answer: coaching. Some D3 coaches work their tail off, connect with their players, create a productive environment where they enjoy their time and develop, recruit well, game prep well, and you can see the fruit of their labor. Others fail at one or more of those areas, and they do not. It is pretty simple, really.
[/quote

The Oswego coach moved to Geneseo and immediately won the SUNY championship.

[dp68]

Agree that Plattsburgh has lots to offer. Good school, nice town with things of its own going on, close to Montreal, the Adirondacks in the backyard, Burlington just across the lake . Recruiting is no problem for the Ice hockey program and has not been a problem for for lacrosse in the past. Like all of the SUNY schools it leaves you scratching your head as to why they aren’t consistently better at lacrosse. Maybe it’s the sun deprivation which come April and May will really mess with you.

That's Central and Upstate NY in a nutshell. By mid-April, the clouds turn me in Jack Torrance running amok.

[Leonard Washington]

That's Central and Upstate NY in a nutshell. By mid-April, the clouds turn me in Jack Torrance running amok.

Who doesn't love a good "The Shining" reference ?

Early in the season, as good as RPI is, not sure what to think about
Geneseo and their loss to them