The Many Upshots of Tierney to Denver

By now, most readers of this blog will have heard that Bill Tierney is leaving Princeton to head to the University of Denver. Let's discuss the some of many points surrounding this move.

First, why Coach Tierney left. No one with the sophistication of Bill Tierney makes a move like this for a single reason. We can start with the rumored 250,000 reasons and just put those aside for the moment. Tierney has family in that area and might be able to hire his son, Trevor, as an assistant. Coach Tierney is also 57 years old and if he ever wanted to make a move like this, there are not many years left to do so.

Let's stick on that age issue for a moment as well. Does anyone know what these numbers represent in Ivy League lacrosse: 39, 40, 41? Those are the approximate ages of Jeff Tambroni, John Tillman and Lars Tiffany. Bill Tierney found himself competing directly against three GenX coaches on the rise in his own conference. And if he looked around lacrosse Tierney would find lots of other coaches on the other side of 50 -- Pietromala, Breschi, Cassese, Toomey, Fedorjaka, Myers and Marr just to name a few. I have litle doubt that Bill Tierney was confident in his ability to compete against coaches a generation his junior. But he also probably recognized that his margin for error was decreasing with so many talented younger coaches emerging on the scene.

Going to Denver was a game-changing move. We can debate the various tribal differences between the eastern lacrosse schools, but they are virtually cookie-cutter copies when compared to Denver. Tierney now gets to engage in the college lacrosse equivalent of asymmetrical warfare at Denver. Rather than chasing the same guys from some exit off I-95, I-90 or the LIE, Tierney will be digging for the players from the rest of the lacrosse universe as an icon in the sport. It will make for a different challenge for a person who likes them.

Second, what does this mean for Princeton? Simply put, rarely does an icon move from a program and his successor finds the same level of success. The passing of the torch from Simmons to Desko is one of the few instances I can name. Either it takes the new coach a few years to get the program up to speed or it takes the program a few coaches to find the right fit. Fortunately, whoever takes over at Princeton will inherit a team that is absolutely stacked. Unfortunately, for lots of underclassmen, Princeton just went from a very known and familiar program to an unknown one.

Third, what does this mean for the rest of college lacrosse? I would focus on a couple of things. For one, Tierney's mere presence out west jump-starts the expansion and growth of the sport outside the hotbeds. There is also the inevitable reshuffling of the coaching deck. Someone will get the Dartmouth and Princeton jobs and leave two positions open that must be filled. As always, there will be a ripple effect as coaches move around.

Lastly, this should be a reminder to everyone in all college sports that any coach can decide he or she sees a greener pasture somewhere. With luck you will have the same coaches from the time that you arrive at a school until you leave, but the odds are against it.