the early signing period approached in November. Last spring, following successful junior seasons in both his sports, college football coaches began showing more interest, and Navy, in particular, became a viable option. “All three of them always had a love, affinity or connection to football, but frankly, the lacrosse opportunities presented themselves, partly because of how early the recruiting process goes in lacrosse,” Jim Bernhardt said. “Jared hadn’t hit his growth spurt or finished filling out, so the football prospects hadn’t let themselves out yet.”
Football Mentality in a Lacrosse World
232 goals and 197 assists.
JARED BERNHARDT CARRIES ON THE FAMILY TRADITION
By Laurel Pfahler
Jared Bernhardt recalls his dad advising him and his brothers to play lacrosse with a football mindset. The U.S. U19 midfielder says doing so has a lot to do with his success on the lacrosse field. An all-state quarterback at Lake Brantley (Fla.) High School, Bernhardt brings his skills running the Patriots’ triple option attack to the way he carries himself with a stick — explosive, athletic, elusive. In the same smooth rhythm he pitched a football to the running back at his side or found a receiver down field, he has a knack for finding the open man in lacrosse, too, whenever he’s not finding the back of the net himself. As a four-year starter at Lake Brantley, he tallied 429 career points on
28 LACROSSE MAGAZINE » June 2016
“I definitely think football has an impact on the way I play in lacrosse,” Bernhardt said. “My dad always said, ‘Have a football mentality in a lacrosse world,’ and me and my brothers took that over. It’s definitely helped us throughout our years playing.” Bernhardt began playing football before lacrosse was available to him around second grade, but his background is steeped in both sports. His father, Jim, played football and lacrosse at Hofstra, and now serves as the Houston Texans’ director of football research. His brothers, 26-year-old Jake, and 25-year-old Jesse, were successful two-sport athletes at Lake Brantley before playing lacrosse at Maryland and then in Major League Lacrosse. Jesse Bernhardt was on the U.S. senior team in 2014. Maryland nabbed its third Bernhardt before Jared entered his sophomore year. He was widely considered a top-five recruit from the class of 2016. However, his first love almost dragged him in a different direction as
Bernhardt found himself in a tug- of-war between opportunities to play college football and lacrosse, but ultimately decided to stick with his commitment to Maryland. “It wasn’t easy,” Bernhardt said about the decision. “I’ve been playing football since Pop Warner and lacrosse came after that. I didn’t think [the opportunity to play college football] would come around, so I had to step back and look at my options. I just wanted to make sure I was making the right decision.“ As a father, Jim Bernhardt wanted to make sure Jared considered the demands of Division I football and a service academy, which Jared could handle but might not have enjoyed so much.
“He lives a relatively Spartan lifestyle
now,” Jim Bernhardt said. “He has friends, but he’s not a big party guy. He gets home at a relatively decent hour and always checks in when he is out late. He gets his schoolwork done on his own – he’s a self-starter. I don’t recall a time we ever had to remind him to buckle down. He’s a 3.9 student, so between that and whether it’s working out or going to field to shoot, he’s pretty disciplined that way. He’s a lot better kid than I was his age.” Bernhardt inked his letter of intent
Nov. 11. Two days later he led Lake Brantley’s undefeated football team to a playoff win over Jacksonville-Sandalwood before jetting off to Ohio State that weekend to train with Team USA. “He’s put in a lot of work that’s unseen,” said eldest brother Jake Bernhardt, Jared’s high school coach the last two years. “People think it’s automatically inherited because he has two older brothers that play, but I couldn’t have asked him to do anything more than he did.”
A Publication of US Lacrosse
MIDFIELD
©PRESTON MACK (RIGHT); ©SCOTT MCCALL (L)
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