year earlier than Jacksonville brought her in. The Gators had a leg up in recruiting. Florida also had resources, McCord said, as a “mega-athletics school” with a “facility better than some NFL teams.” “There was more of the expectation
that’s where they would be because of the commitment their school was putting into it,” she said.
While Florida snagged blue-chip recruits, the Dolphins carved out their niche by tapping talent in non-traditional lacrosse regions and from less established high school and club programs. Following a third-place finish in the National Lacrosse Conference in 2010 with a roster of 21 freshmen, two sophomores and two juniors, McCord roped in her husband, Paul McCord, as her assistant. She hoped his expertise in speed training and systems would jumpstart the program.
The McCords moved to Florida in 2003 when Paul, a former NFL special teams and strength and conditioning coach with the Baltimore Ravens, got a job with the Jacksonville Jaguars. When his stint with the Jaguars ended, they decided to stay in Florida, where Paul could work in the strength and conditioning field and where Mindy could focus on lacrosse development through their LaxManiax club program. “What he didn’t know was I was going to bring him along with me in the journey,” Mindy McCord said at the 2009 US Lacrosse National Convention. The couple devised a marketing plan to pitch men’s and women’s lacrosse to colleges in the Southeast. Jacksonville added both.
“JU turned it around in three months,” Paul McCord said at the convention. “JU looked at it as, ‘This can help [differentiate] us from other small schools in the Southeast. We’re the lacrosse school. We had it first.’” Using a run-and-gun style, Jacksonville found quick results. The Dolphins opened the 2011 season with a surprise win over Cincinnati, and five days later — after an 18-9 loss to Florida — they stunned Denver, which was ranked No. 20 at the time.
Jacksonville went on to a 14-5
finish, including a close loss to No. 11 Vanderbilt, and second place in the NLC. “We had a lot of southern girls who could run up and down the field and who were competitors, and we knew we couldn’t go head-to-head with all these other teams that have been around longer than we have, playing a traditional style,” Paul McCord said. “The girls bought into the system. They enjoy it.” Jacksonville built on that success, going 15-4 in 2012 and winning the NLC championship but failing to claim an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament. And then last season, Jacksonville finished 13-6, averaged 15.86 goals per game, limited opponents to 8.37 goals per game and racked up a Division I-best 256 caused turnovers. All six losses were to NCAA tournament teams, including Denver in the first round. Mindy McCord was the Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year. One key factor in 2013 was the addition of the McCords’ daughter, Taylor, who transferred from Florida as a sophomore and became the team’s top scorer with 32 goals and 28 assists. Over the past few years, recruiting has picked up, as Jacksonville became
’TIL LAX DO US PART
For these lacrosse couples, the honey-do list doesn’t end at home. A look at some notable wife-husband coaching tandems:
Kelly Amonte and Scott Hiller Northwestern
Scott, a former men’s assistant at Harvard and Boston Cannons head coach, has been a volunteer assistant for the Wildcats since their revival in 2002.
Deanna and K.C. Knobloch Moorestown (N.J.) High Deanna has more wins
50 LACROSSE MAGAZINE November 2013 >>
(450) than any other coach in New Jersey girls’ lacrosse history and has the Quakers back in dynasty mode (51-0 over the last two seasons). They also co-direct South Jersey Select, a club program.
Sonia and Mike LaMonica Towson
The former Terps, whose playing careers coincided at Maryland, have taken the Tigers to three straight NCAA tournaments. Mike also was an assistant coach for Australia at the World Cup. (Sonia played.)
Mandee and Kevin O’Leary Florida
Kevin, the all-time saves leader at Maryland and former Terps assistant, could be seen patrolling the sidelines with Mandee during Florida’s inaugural season in 2010. He’s also a veteran NCAA men’s lacrosse official.
Allison and John Pfeffer Bay Shore (N.Y.) High Neither played lacrosse, but Allison, the head coach, and John, her assistant, have become Long Island icons and in May won their 300th game together.
Cathy and Brian Reese Maryland
While also serving as general manager of the MLL’s Denver Outlaws and Chesapeake Bayhawks, Brian had a three-year stint as Cathy’s volunteer assistant with the Terps, helping them to the NCAA championship in 2010.
Janine and John Tucker Johns Hopkins Where hasn’t John
Tucker coached? The current Boston Cannons skipper was Janine’s volunteer assistant for two seasons at Homewood.
A Publication of US Lacrosse
more selective and found its beachside location made it easier to entice players. The roster now features a broader geographic spread. An 11-member recruiting class for 2013-14 includes two players each from Long Island, New Jersey and the Southeast, four from Maryland and one from Pittsburgh. “It was creating a culture of players that wanted to stay and be committed to building this program to become a top- 20 program,” Mindy McCord said, “and finding recruits that saw that vision.” Senior midfielder Chelsea Watts said her class of 14 recruits, who were freshmen during the first winning season, were motivated by that vision. “We were so amped and excited about the season,” Watts said. “I came into JU knowing it was a starter program, and I told coach Mindy I wanted to make this a top-20 program.”
The Dolphins graduated their first full senior class last year (12 who stayed), including top scorer Amanda Hurley and goalkeeper Karli Tobin. Jacksonville now will lean on a group of eight new seniors, such as Morgan Derner (34 goals, eight assists) and Brit Orashen (31 goals, nine assists). “We want to build on that momentum this year with a strong senior group that was a very talented group coming into year two,” Mindy McCord said. “It was great to see their talent push us to the next level in year two and show our team they could compete with other good programs. Now, those kids are leading our team.” “We are hoping to contend for our conference championship and be competitive in the NCAAs,” she added. “And to keep our scoring title — that would just be icing on the cake.” LM
©JOHN STROHSACKER
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76