July 9, 2025 • 30 mins
In this episode of Get the Lax Scoop, hosts Big Dawg and Jaybird interview Nic Bell, the 2025 USA Lacrosse Coach of the Year. They discuss Nic's coaching philosophy, emphasizing the importance of authenticity, relationship building, and mental toughness. Nic shares insights on effective communication with players, the value of consistent effort, and how to navigate the pressures of high-level lacrosse. The episode provides valuable tips for players, parents, and coaches looking to succeed in lacrosse, highlighting the impact of dedication and a strong mindset.
00:00 Introduction to Get the Lax Scoop
00:23 Meet the Hosts and Guest
00:59 Interview with Coach Nick Bell Begins
01:44 Keys to Success and Coaching Philosophy
06:15 Consistency and Mental Toughness
11:56 Mindset and Player Development
21:20 Navigating the Recruiting Process
27:05 Listener Questions and Fun Stories
28:32 Conclusion and Sign-Off
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
It's time for Get the LackScoop, a podcast bringing you
all the people and stuff youshould know in the game of
lacrosse.
We take lack seriously, butourselves, not so much.
Join host Big Dog and Jaybirdand the biggest names in the
game brought to you by JayMcMahon lacrosse.
That's JML skills, mindset, andlacks IQ training.
(00:23):
Ron Doglish, the big dog, was acollegiate football and lacrosse
player at Brown.
He was also an assistantlacrosse coach and the executive
director of the SportsFoundation.
And Jay McMahon, the Jaybird, athree time All American
midfielder at Brown.
He was the captain of the U.
S.
Junior National Team and is thefounder of JML.
(00:43):
And Joining us in the studio,Steve Grisolfi, who's collegiate
lacrosse career statisticsequals one goal against
Dartmouth brought to you by JayMcMahon lacrosse.
That's JML skills, mindset, andlacks IQ training, helping the
next generation of lacrosseplayers get to the next level
Hello everyone and welcome backto the show.
(01:03):
We're excited to bring you ourinterview with Nick Bell, the
2025 USA Lacrosse coach of theyear from St.
Anne's Bellfield inCharlottesville, Virginia.
If you have not heard part oneof the interview, we highly
recommend you go back and giveit a listen as it lays a super
solid foundation for what'scoming next.
(01:23):
We have many, many listeners,but only a small percentage of
you Subscribe to the podcast.
If you like what you're hearing,please subscribe.
Share our content with a friendand leave a review.
It really helped support theshow.
Now you will find our interviewpicking up right where we left
off last week.
Enjoy.
(01:44):
Getting to the finals and thenwinning the championship this
year and and becoming Coach ofthe Year.
So, you know, a lot of peopletalk about X's and O's.
A lot of people talk about thetalent and then other people,
like I talk about thoseintangibles, culture, things
like that.
What, what do you attribute thatall the success, you know, early
on here with Stab and, and thatearly improvement of the program
(02:07):
and and what are you looking tobuild there at St.
Anne's Bellfield?
I mean, I, I, it, it's.
I go back to the point that Imade earlier in that, you know,
nobody ever accused me of beinga good coach before I had good
players.
And I would even take that onestep further when I think about
You're too humble.
You know, it's true.
I mean, you know, it's like wecan do x or nos all, all day
(02:30):
long, but like if I haven't hadsome of the goalies that I've
had, if I haven't had some ofthe face off guys that I've had,
if I haven't had, you know, thePat Kavanaugh's and the Chris
Kavanaugh's and the JeffreyEllis, and the Colin Mayer is
the kid who's going to Brownfrom Stab, right?
Yeah.
You know, I, I, I really wouldnot be where I am.
And from day one at St.
Ann's, the group of kids that Iinherited, there was a wave of
(02:53):
new kids that came in.
They never questioned anything.
And they, they, they, you know,I, I've started some programs
now, had you recruited theseguys in with that, that new
wave?
Did you have time to help bringthem in for year one for you?
So yeah, there were a handful ofthem that had connections to me
or connections to my club orthat just kind of were aware of,
of the sort of programs that Ihave built and like, you know,
(03:16):
the work that I do in helpingkids get into college and things
like that, that, that all kindof happened pretty easily.
Mm-hmm.
But there was certainly like,especially my first two years,
like big influxes of new playersentering the school and entering
the program.
And that always helps, like, youknow, the teams that have the
most talent, you know, usuallywin.
But, and, and I think about ourteam this year.
(03:37):
I mean, we were.
We had two division onecommitted goalies.
We had an entire defense thatwas coming back, returning.
We had some new pieces at longState midfield that were really
good.
We had two really high level andathletic dynamic face-off guys.
We had some really goodfinishers and shooters
offensively.
We had the premier, you know,behind the net X player decision
(03:57):
maker in the state.
You know, we were, we, you know,which allowed us to play any
style that we wanted.
And I've always been drawn to,I.
You know, a lot of what, youknow, Lars and his teams have
been successful with in a reallyfast paced up and down full
field brand of lacrosse.
And we were 10 man riding atlike a 45% clip for a lot of the
(04:20):
year.
I mean, we were, that's fun overall, over the place.
That's great.
We were dominating possessiontime, you know, at the faceoff X
we were winning middle of thefield ground balls.
We were really stingy andefficient defensively, and we
were a little bit deeperoffensively than, than a lot of
the other teams in the state.
But it was just, you know,surrendering to coaching, like
(04:41):
there was not pushing back.
They really, you know, kind ofbought into the culture that we
were instilling.
Mm-hmm.
And it was a magic, it really amagical year and one of my, one
of my favorite in, in all theyears that I've had coaching.
Wow.
That's great.
It was a guy I coached for acouple years on travel.
Peyton Booth, who was a senior,I think for you last year.
Yes, right.
Righty.
(05:01):
Righty.
Slinger.
He had a quite a crank.
Yeah, I love Peyton.
He somehow has played foreverybody in North America.
Yeah.
Really been on, you know, andit's not just Charlottesville,
Richmond, I mean, he came fromDC He plays box, you know, for
the Toronto Patriot.
Oh, right, yeah.
Yeah.
(05:22):
And you know, was, I think hewas the first kid that I heard
from right when I took the job.
He's, he's an awesome kid.
I, I loved him.
Yeah.
Nick, you know the way, I lovethat you played that there.
Did you see how Jay was reallyever so subtly trying to take
full credit Nick and aconnection with everything that
Peyton had ever learned?
And Nick, I love how youreminded Jay, a lot of high
crank.
Ron, you're one of about a lotof high crank that the guys work
(05:43):
with.
And so Jay, I think your littlepiece really played a big nick.
That was Soly done.
It's sixth, seventh grade.
I was hearing you though, Nick,I was hearing you a little high
crank.
How many fifth graders got agreat load of high crank Ron?
Not many.
That was my intention.
That was not my intention.
Well, it was well played, I haveto say.
We'll hear.
Well look.
That's great, Jay.
Everybody coached him.
(06:04):
I mean, Jay, you were a hell ofa player.
And, and I always say that, buta high crank was not what you
were known for.
Jay, that was not your bread andbutter.
Okay, gimme a break Ron.
I did have to tone it.
Dan, senior year.
Go over.
So Nick, you know, we got acouple more que questions before
we wrap up, but I'm, I, as wetry to pull all this together I
do sense a tremendous level of,just how humble you are.
(06:27):
And so when I, I, I'm, I wannaask you about the, the Nick Bell
keys to success, and I wannatell you what I've heard so far
and maybe make some reflectionsback and then see what you
think.
I mean, you, it's clear, you'vetalked about your authenticity,
right?
Kids can smell the bullshit amile away.
And so if it's clear that youlive by that sense of, I gotta
(06:49):
be real with my kids, I gotta bereal with my families, they
gotta, you know, what they seeis what they get.
You know, you've talked a lotabout whether it was Pat
Kavanaugh or you talked aboutwhen you went to stab, all these
kids are so coachable.
Well, I always, I always findwhen a coach who says their kids
are coachable, they're a greatcommunicator.
So I, I, I'm interested when Ifinish my little reflection here
(07:11):
about how you think aboutcommunicating with kids.
'cause that gets to the otherthing I heard you say, which I
think is such a tough thingtoday.
Everybody has the highaspirations.
Everybody sees the social mediawhere everybody thinks they're
gonna get the game winning goaland everybody's go to, gonna go
to division one.
But there's a huge disconnectbetween the aspirations and
(07:31):
what, as you said, it actuallytakes the day in, day out
commitment.
To getting to that place.
And then another theme I've kindof heard from you is you seem a
12 month plan.
You, you seem to build a lot oftrust amongst your kids that
maybe is driven from thatauthenticity and communication
(07:52):
that creates a sense oftogetherness for your teams.
'cause I've heard you reflect asa coach, just how much you
enjoy, have enjoyed some ofthese groups of kids that you've
put together, which doesn't justhappen.
Those of us who've been aroundteams.
No, that's, that's not generallyan accident or something that
hasn't come from a lot of work.
And then I love to hear the wayyou love to play.
(08:14):
Let's go after him and let's getup and down the field.
So, so how do I, how am I doingso far on the Nick Bell keys to
success?
And are there other things,Nick, that I've missed that are
really central to who you are asa person and a coach?
I don't think so.
I mean, I think every coachwould say that they went tough.
(08:35):
And mentally resilient kids tocoach.
Yeah.
And I think that mentaltoughness is one of the most
misunderstood andmiscommunicated things in this
space.
And a lot of people, I think,equate mental toughness to some
kind of like physical,exaggerated, explosive feet on a
(08:57):
field.
Right.
I look at it as task completion,and that's something I talk to
our, my teams about all thetime.
Like, you know, it's like theNew Year's Eve sort of syndrome.
Like everybody works out for thefirst 14 days of January and
then they generally quit andmm-hmm.
I tell my players all the time,like, if I give you feedback on
(09:20):
something, I'm cataloging that.
I'm not forgetting it.
And if I, if I see you falter,I'm gonna call you on that.
But I'm also like making mentalnotes and observations to say
that, you know, for all of thekids that play for me, I really
want them to, to be able tofollow through on even the most
(09:42):
minute and seemingly like, youknow, simple tasks.
And I think that if, if everyplayer in my program can learn
to set goals, to be processoriented and pursuing those
goals and to complete tasks,right?
I'm talking about 15 minutespost practice of shooting a day
(10:05):
at your own speed, working onthe types of shots that you need
the most work on.
And a lot of kids, when I saythat to them that day, they will
do it and the next day they willdo it right?
And they might even do it forthe rest of the week.
But then I'm paying attention,you know, two weeks from now.
When it's raining, are you stilldoing it or are you not?
Mm-hmm.
Right.
When I say you need to work onyour footwork, I'll say that to
(10:27):
a kid in my office and we'llgive them some of the things
that they could do to improvethat.
And then I'll see them 10 dayslater and say, tell me about how
the cone drill is going.
And when they respond to thatquestion, it tells me whether or
not they were actually doing itright?
Mm-hmm.
'cause sometimes they will sayI, and it like, they start to
(10:47):
come up with excuses and I callthem on that immediately.
Like stop making excuses.
Like there's all of the, we allhave things going on in our
lives.
We all have these differentcommitments.
If you're looking me in the eyeand saying that you want to be a
starter for me, or You wanna bean All American, or you wanna
play at Brown or Virginia, thenlike, this is not like extra
(11:08):
work that I'm asking you to do.
This is like what's minimallyrequired to get better and
improve?
And so that's, you know, I, Ijust, we talk about cons in our,
in our program we talk aboutconsistency more than almost
anything else.
And I'm saying it, and they areprobably so sick of hearing me
say this, and I know that attimes they really are.
(11:28):
But if you can actually finishtasks on a regular basis, even
the most simple and mundane, youknow, that, that really starts
to add up.
And I want kids in my programand I want kids that, you know,
to learn that, you know, I lovethem.
The same if we win or lose solong as they're following this
and actually being consistent intheir habits.
(11:52):
How about if we, how about if wetransition to.
J m l and let's do that.
We'll get into a little bit ofthe mindset.
We'll do a mindset minute here.
Coach Nick Bell has just madesome fantastic points and is
giving great tips for all of uswho are involved in lacrosse,
whether as a player, parent, ora coach with the 2025 USA
(12:15):
Lacrosse High School coach ofthe Year as a guest, a coach who
four years ago led TAF to anational championship.
We're probably all wonderingwhat are some of the things that
make for success on a nationallevel.
And the answer, well, it's notall that exciting, but it does
provide for the most excitingresults you could possibly dream
of.
He starts off describing howimportant his relationship is
(12:39):
with his players, how thatrelationship has to come first,
so they know he has their bestinterest at heart.
Next, he reviews how hiscommunication with his players
is then much better understoodby his guys because of that
strong and solid foundation.
Then he reviews the tasks andthe habits he wants his players
(13:00):
to employ in their pursuit ofgreatness.
As you all know, our podcast issponsored by JML, which promotes
the development of skills,mindset, and lack IQ training,
practicing outside of practicewith the objective being.
To become not necessarily thebest, but as our logo says, to
(13:20):
become your best.
And what we found is that if aplayer stops worrying about
other players and insteadcompetes with themselves by
putting in the work outside ofpractice, they will be doing
more than the vast majority ofthe competition out there.
And then they may very wellbecome the best because of that
(13:40):
extra effort.
One of the keys is just, asCoach Bell has stated, set goals
for yourself.
Get on a process ofself-development.
Hold yourself accountable, orbetter yet, share your plan with
your coach or friends andfamily, and they can keep you on
track.
Coach Bell talks about beingtask-oriented and completing
(14:01):
those tasks on a long-term,regular basis.
Make it part of who you are.
My former coach, hall of Famer,Dom Staria used to say, and it
became a well-known quote in thelacrosse world, consistency is
the ultimate measure of mentaltoughness and is the
distinguishing characteristic ofa champion as a leader of teams
(14:25):
that won many Ivy League and ac.
C titles as well as fournational championships.
I'd say he'd know a thing or twoabout what constitutes mental
toughness.
And finally, and really mostimportantly, coach Bell also
said he makes sure his playersknow that they are loved.
No joke.
(14:45):
He makes sure they know hereally loves them, regardless of
wins and losses, regardless ofthe results.
He teaches them the focus on theprocess to give their best
effort day in and day out, andthen let the chips fall where
they may.
And based on his record, I'd sayhis approach is one worth
(15:05):
emulating.
Now we will hear a word from oursponsor.
So there you have it.
And also do, as Coach Bell did,listen to your mother.
Mothers are highly intuitive andwell connected to their right
brains.
All in all, it helps to get intouch with your inner GPS.
It is highly intelligent andnever steers you wrong, and
(15:28):
never takes you to a place ofutter chaos.
A place where there are noguardrails.
Speaking of no guardrails thatso many of our listeners
describe the college lacrosserecruiting trail.
So we've responded by puttingexcerpts of our 10 best
interviews with legendarycoaches, such as bill Tierney,
Lars, Tiffany and Andy towers.
(15:50):
Into a book that you can accesson Kindle, it is available on
Amazon, under the title insidethe recruiting game insights
from college lacrosse coaches.
That's great.
Jack, I wanna play for CoachBell.
I was just thinking I got aTotally, yeah, you fired up Jack
Line up.
Yeah.
Anything, you know, when you'retrying to, I do some skills
training and when you're tryingto get them to really improve.
(16:12):
You know, they got, they couldbe doing the same things and the
right things for two weeks, butthey actually haven't improved
until they've done it for likesix to eight weeks, and then it
becomes part of their game.
So like, it, it's so true.
It's, you can consistently getthem to do the same thing over a
stretch of time.
And then when you're talkingabout a whole team, you're
talking about a 12 monthprogram, that's when you're
(16:33):
gonna really see big leaps.
So that's, that's awesome stuff.
I love it.
Ron.
Good question.
I'm a little surprised, but hey,nice work.
You know, you know Nick, Jaydoes all this work with the his
scripting, but I like to justfollow the lead of the Ron
incredible guests that we have.
And actually, here's, here's askill Jay could improve on with
(16:54):
consistency over time.
His listening skills.
Nick, listen, we could have himbe, I'm listening.
A listener, a little bit of alistener.
Jay, I, I believe now I had ascripted question for Coach
Bell, and then you have thefinal question.
Nick, we doing okay on time foryou?
I know you had No, you're ingreat shape.
Okay, great.
So actually I'm gonna go offscript.
I'm because I got, I got onemore thing.
(17:14):
I'm really, I'm really just forthe schedule.
That's why we have a script,Nick.
He just said he is got plenty oftime.
Jason, don't be running all overthe yard.
Nick, all podcasts long.
I, I'm, I'm actually interestedin our guest, Jay, get him on a
leash.
I'm very interested.
I'm really enjoying in allseriousness, having you talk
about, no, it's more interestedthan me.
What's led.
To your success.
Can you get back to that?
(17:35):
I just got a feel for yourcommunication style right there,
Nick.
Oh, I was feeling direct clear,right?
Not there's no, there's noemotion attached to this.
This isn't about me liking youor not liking you.
This is about me asking you ortelling you what I think it
needs you need to do to besuccessful, because I want you
to be successful.
(17:56):
But, but can you say a littlebit more about how you approach
communication?
What have you learned over time?
You know, there's so much aboutkids today and how you need to
talk to'em.
Like, so how do you think aboutyour relationships and your
communication style with yourplayers?
Yeah.
So I think at the, at the rootof that is relationship
(18:17):
building, number one.
And you know, I think as a youngcoach, one of the mistakes that
I made, and even now I, I, I'llmake this mistake too, but I, I,
I'm, I'm really demanding.
I'm emotional.
I, I do think that I'm prettyfiery.
And I think in my twenties I wasfar too often, you know, letting
(18:40):
that emotion and letting thatfire come out without building
relationships with students awayfrom lacrosse where they knew
that I cared about more thanjust their lacrosse.
Yeah.
And, and I found that the moreI've invested time in my office
or in dorm spaces, or in thedining hall or on text or on
(19:00):
Snapchat or in or on the phonein really making a point to
touch with them.
On things that matter in theirlives that have nothing to do
with what they do for me in theafternoons, it allows me to be
that much more demanding and itallows me to re, when I need to
get to a kid and I need tohammer a point home, there's
(19:24):
trust already established.
And they So you, so you're gonnaget a lot more outta your
players, correct?
Right.
Correct.
Because without the rela, youknow, in the absence of that
relationship, I'm just like anyother coach that's upset and
emotional and yelling.
Mm-hmm.
And what I think a lot of peoplemight not see is, you know, I
(19:48):
was so adamant.
When I came to St.
Ann's about actually having afull-time job in the school
building where I could be anadvisor, I could be a college
counselor, I could havetouchpoint with all of these
different areas of school life.
That model to my players thatI'm in it just like you are and
I'm doing this, I'm going to thesame meetings and the same, I'm
(20:09):
following the same schedule, butI actually care about the things
that you're doing away from thefield that are making you a good
community member, a goodstudent, a good son, right, A
good friend, a leader.
Mm-hmm.
Right.
And so that's, you know, I thinkthat's something that I always
have to remind myself of.
And I don't always get it right.
And sometimes like inexplicablya kid is having a bad day and
(20:33):
there's something I'm not awareof and, you know, my demanding
of them can sort of spitfire inthe wrong direction.
I'm very aware of that and Ithink with, with young people.
And even the adults that I workwith, like, I don't think enough
people are comfortable orconfident enough just to say, I
made a mistake and I'm sorry.
Mm-hmm.
(20:54):
You know, like I think, I thinkabout Dom Staria would, would,
would often say like, you know,you can say whatever you want,
but remember that the words thatcome out of your mouth, you can
never take those words back.
Yeah.
Right.
And so sometimes you know it, Ido get to the end of my day and
I finished everything with myfamily and I'm reflecting on a
meeting I had in my office orsomething that happened at
(21:16):
practice and I'm like, I need tocircle with that kid because I
don't think that I handled thatperfectly well.
Or I was a little bit short withhis parent, you know?
And so I try to be mindful ofthat all the time and understand
that like at, at the core ofwhat we're doing and educating
and coaching is buildingrelationships and empowering
young people.
And so I try to get that rightas much as I can.
(21:38):
I think I've gotten better at itin some ways, but it's not, I, I
think that coaching, likeanything is like a lifelong
pursuit that you're constantlytweaking and improving and, and
trying to make better.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
So Nick, it's an, it is aninteresting transition from
there into, you know, the otherdimension today, right, of being
a successful high schoollacrosse coach at the level of
(22:02):
the programs that you'reinvolved with is, this is not
just the old days where thecoaches coached in the spring,
right?
And so, as you just said beforewe got on the call, you know,
you're going right from yourseason into the summer club
season, and I know have a lot ofyour guys, you know, who play on
that club team.
And so on the one hand, it'sawesome, right?
(22:24):
You're getting more access toyour guys, the relationships,
the skill building.
But man alive, these guys areplaying a lot of lacrosse.
And so I, I, I, you, I knowyou've been very successful in
the club world as well.
So what's your advice that aguy, as a guy who clearly
understands the balance aspectsin your life, you know is very
(22:44):
competitive and has proven theycan get teams to a high level.
What do you tell your ownplayers and parents about the
summer season and how to manageall those pressures and
different messages that kidsfeel you know, which, which
leads to how do, how, you know,what do you tell'em about time
and events and, you know, thelife of a student athlete today
(23:05):
who wants to get to that nextlevel?
I tell them that lacrosse is, iswhat you do.
It's not who you are.
And I think it's, it's that canbe lost.
And I think oftentimes that islost.
And like I said earlier in this,in this in this, you know,
(23:27):
podcast, in this show, you know,I just think that it's so much
harder for kids to navigate thisprocess now, and what was
different for me than it is forthem is that they have at their
fingertips regular updates andeither validations or, you know,
obvious displays of weaknessthat they're seeing whether they
(23:50):
like it or not.
And you know, I think about thefirst week in September when
recruiting starts for juniorsand how.
You know, kids that I work withor kids that I coach are just
constantly in fear and anxietyabout whether or not Princeton
is gonna take their long stigmaor not.
Am I gonna have a chance?
Right.
(24:10):
And I just, you know, I, I thinkthat if you fall back on a lot
of the things that we talkedabout on this show in term that
are process oriented andcentered around the human and
you take this in stride andunderstand that if you fail in
lacrosse, that's okay.
You're kind of supposed to.
And it's not always like acomplete completely linear path.
(24:30):
And I think the story that Iwould tell that illuminates this
the most is in reference to thekid that you're talking about,
who's who you had mentionedwho's going to Brown, I, you
know, this is a kid who wasactually entering St.
Anne's Bellfield as a senior,committed to Jacksonville
University.
And basically at the end of thesummer.
With all of the impending, youknow, NIL and you know, roster
(24:55):
cap changes, things that have todo with revenue sharing and, and
a lot of what's going on in theworld of college athletics put
Jacksonville in a tough positionwhere they needed to shrink
their roster quickly.
And, you know, they had to partways with him because they just
didn't think that they wouldhave a spot.
And this is a kid who had workedhis whole life to pursue
division one lacrosse.
Thought he had a greatsituation, was really coming to
(25:16):
St.
Ann's to improve in some coreareas and be challenged.
And then rub, rub, rub is pulledright out from under him.
He then like, kind of rebounds,but he's hurt all year.
He couldn't really play untilour spring season with a back
issue.
And then.
You know, he commits to AirForce and finds out three weeks
later that he's medicallydisqualified.
(25:36):
So he's literally going into thespring of his senior year with
us.
Wow.
Without a college, you know,thinking that he was probably
just gonna go back home to alocal school.
And you know, with the schedulethat we play.
There's a lot of exposure andopportunity in that.
And if it wasn't for BrianKelly, honestly saying, holy
(25:57):
cow, that that kid is awesomeand is one of the best kids
we've seen.
And actually taking the time,you know, to pick up the phone
and call someone like John Topi.
And John and I had talked abouthim in the past.
You know, but it was, you know,this is a story about a kid who
just stayed the course thatdefaulted to who he was as a
person and a student didn't losehimself when everything around
(26:18):
him seemed to be crumbling downand just was like, I love this
game.
I'm gonna take it as far as Ican.
I'm gonna give my teameverything that I can this year.
And he just simply performedhimself into something that a
lot of people would say wouldn'thave been possible for some of
the, the, you know, the, the,the stumbling blocks that he
encountered along the way and,right.
(26:38):
You know, like.
For all great story.
All of the kids that I workwith, you know, it's so great
for me to say, let me tell youabout the story about, of Pat
Kavanaugh and how he sort ofwrote up, you know, and nobody
thought that he was ever gonnalive up to what Matt is, and he
rewrote that story.
Right.
And in the case of this kid, hecommitted to a school that he
(27:00):
viewed as a dream school inApril of his senior year, in the
year 2, 20, 25.
Right, right.
That was more, that was more ofa 2005 story.
Right.
Like going through it like inthe senior year.
That's great.
But like, my point in all thisis, you know, believe in
yourself, you know, love thegame.
It will love you right back.
(27:21):
And you know, I, I just somehowlike this lacrosse universe
always works in the right way, Ithink.
And it, and it really honors thekids that invest and do the
things that, that we've talkedabout on this show, on this
show.
That's beautiful.
Beautiful stuff could end onthat one, except we had a few
listener questions really quick.
A collegiate coach of yourswould like to have their name
(27:43):
withheld from the record.
S what would you say youraccuracy was dead on or wildly
off as you fired an undisclosedfood item at the Brown
University Gate Dining Hall?
You remembering this?
I would say, I would say that myaccuracy in that moment was dead
on.
Okay.
It went exactly where I thoughtit was supposed to go.
(28:05):
You wanna tell us more or is it,is it not fit for everyone?
No, I'll leave it at that.
Okay.
Jack w inquires, what is thepolice vehicle story?
You don't have to tell itstupid.
I'll also leave it back.
And Thomas n says, why did coachTiffany describe your play at
times as resembling a crashtest?
Dummy?
(28:27):
I can answer that question.
He said that because.
Like I said earlier, I, I, I waslucky enough as a college player
to have a game day role as afreshman, sophomore, junior and
senior, but I was never reallygood at.
I, I was never excellent at anyof those things, and the only
chance that I had to contributeand help my team was to just
play hard and make hustlereckless.
(28:49):
Abandon.
Yeah.
Play with a sense of recklessabandon that you know, it's
probably not good for my body inthe long term, but it was the
only way that I could, you know,make my mark so nice.
That worked for me.
Love it.
Well, Nick, this has beenfantastic, huh?
Yeah.
And I think Jay, we learned inthe spirit of, of authenticity
that there were, you know, thatNick had a good time at Brown.
(29:10):
I mean, and I, and who's gonnahold that against him?
Apparently there's some storiesthere that we'll look forward to
hearing the next time we seeNick in person Right.
When we're down inCharlottesville, when he can
really be himself.
That sounds great.
That sounds great.
I, I, I, I look forward togetting into that and I
appreciate the discretion.
Absolutely.
Awesome.
Well, well, Nick, thanks somuch.
Have dinner Jay.
What a great episode with CoachNick Bell, the, the high school
(29:34):
coach of the year.
Incredible.
I would expect nothing less.
Awesome.
Well, good luck this summer,Nick, and as Ron and I just
said, we hope we'll run into youin person and, and finish up
some of these stories.
Sounds great, guys.
I really appreciate it.
Thanks so much and I lookforward to seeing you soon.
Best of luck, Nick.
Take care.
Alright.
Until we meet again.
Here's to hoping you find thetwine.
(29:57):
We're signing off here at theget the lax scoop.
Thanks again so much.
We will see you the next time.
It's time for Get the LackScoop, a podcast bringing you
all the people and stuff youshould know in the game of
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We take lack seriously, butourselves, not so much.
Join host Big Dog and Jaybirdand the biggest names in the
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That's JML skills, mindset, andlacks IQ training.
(00:23):
Ron Doglish, the big dog, was acollegiate football and lacrosse
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He was also an assistantlacrosse coach and the executive
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He was the captain of the U.
S.
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(00:43):
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That's JML skills, mindset, andlacks IQ training, helping the
next generation of lacrosseplayers get to the next level
Hello everyone and welcome backto the show.
(01:03):
We're excited to bring you ourinterview with Nick Bell, the
2025 USA Lacrosse coach of theyear from St.
Anne's Bellfield inCharlottesville, Virginia.
If you have not heard part oneof the interview, we highly
recommend you go back and giveit a listen as it lays a super
solid foundation for what'scoming next.
(01:23):
We have many, many listeners,but only a small percentage of
you Subscribe to the podcast.
If you like what you're hearing,please subscribe.
Share our content with a friendand leave a review.
It really helped support theshow.
Now you will find our interviewpicking up right where we left
off last week.
Enjoy.
(01:44):
Getting to the finals and thenwinning the championship this
year and and becoming Coach ofthe Year.
So, you know, a lot of peopletalk about X's and O's.
A lot of people talk about thetalent and then other people,
like I talk about thoseintangibles, culture, things
like that.
What, what do you attribute thatall the success, you know, early
on here with Stab and, and thatearly improvement of the program
(02:07):
and and what are you looking tobuild there at St.
Anne's Bellfield?
I mean, I, I, it, it's.
I go back to the point that Imade earlier in that, you know,
nobody ever accused me of beinga good coach before I had good
players.
And I would even take that onestep further when I think about
You're too humble.
You know, it's true.
I mean, you know, it's like wecan do x or nos all, all day
(02:30):
long, but like if I haven't hadsome of the goalies that I've
had, if I haven't had some ofthe face off guys that I've had,
if I haven't had, you know, thePat Kavanaugh's and the Chris
Kavanaugh's and the JeffreyEllis, and the Colin Mayer is
the kid who's going to Brownfrom Stab, right?
Yeah.
You know, I, I, I really wouldnot be where I am.
And from day one at St.
Ann's, the group of kids that Iinherited, there was a wave of
(02:53):
new kids that came in.
They never questioned anything.
And they, they, they, you know,I, I've started some programs
now, had you recruited theseguys in with that, that new
wave?
Did you have time to help bringthem in for year one for you?
So yeah, there were a handful ofthem that had connections to me
or connections to my club orthat just kind of were aware of,
of the sort of programs that Ihave built and like, you know,
(03:16):
the work that I do in helpingkids get into college and things
like that, that, that all kindof happened pretty easily.
Mm-hmm.
But there was certainly like,especially my first two years,
like big influxes of new playersentering the school and entering
the program.
And that always helps, like, youknow, the teams that have the
most talent, you know, usuallywin.
But, and, and I think about ourteam this year.
(03:37):
I mean, we were.
We had two division onecommitted goalies.
We had an entire defense thatwas coming back, returning.
We had some new pieces at longState midfield that were really
good.
We had two really high level andathletic dynamic face-off guys.
We had some really goodfinishers and shooters
offensively.
We had the premier, you know,behind the net X player decision
(03:57):
maker in the state.
You know, we were, we, you know,which allowed us to play any
style that we wanted.
And I've always been drawn to,I.
You know, a lot of what, youknow, Lars and his teams have
been successful with in a reallyfast paced up and down full
field brand of lacrosse.
And we were 10 man riding atlike a 45% clip for a lot of the
(04:20):
year.
I mean, we were, that's fun overall, over the place.
That's great.
We were dominating possessiontime, you know, at the faceoff X
we were winning middle of thefield ground balls.
We were really stingy andefficient defensively, and we
were a little bit deeperoffensively than, than a lot of
the other teams in the state.
But it was just, you know,surrendering to coaching, like
(04:41):
there was not pushing back.
They really, you know, kind ofbought into the culture that we
were instilling.
Mm-hmm.
And it was a magic, it really amagical year and one of my, one
of my favorite in, in all theyears that I've had coaching.
Wow.
That's great.
It was a guy I coached for acouple years on travel.
Peyton Booth, who was a senior,I think for you last year.
Yes, right.
Righty.
(05:01):
Righty.
Slinger.
He had a quite a crank.
Yeah, I love Peyton.
He somehow has played foreverybody in North America.
Yeah.
Really been on, you know, andit's not just Charlottesville,
Richmond, I mean, he came fromDC He plays box, you know, for
the Toronto Patriot.
Oh, right, yeah.
Yeah.
(05:22):
And you know, was, I think hewas the first kid that I heard
from right when I took the job.
He's, he's an awesome kid.
I, I loved him.
Yeah.
Nick, you know the way, I lovethat you played that there.
Did you see how Jay was reallyever so subtly trying to take
full credit Nick and aconnection with everything that
Peyton had ever learned?
And Nick, I love how youreminded Jay, a lot of high
crank.
Ron, you're one of about a lotof high crank that the guys work
(05:43):
with.
And so Jay, I think your littlepiece really played a big nick.
That was Soly done.
It's sixth, seventh grade.
I was hearing you though, Nick,I was hearing you a little high
crank.
How many fifth graders got agreat load of high crank Ron?
Not many.
That was my intention.
That was not my intention.
Well, it was well played, I haveto say.
We'll hear.
Well look.
That's great, Jay.
Everybody coached him.
(06:04):
I mean, Jay, you were a hell ofa player.
And, and I always say that, buta high crank was not what you
were known for.
Jay, that was not your bread andbutter.
Okay, gimme a break Ron.
I did have to tone it.
Dan, senior year.
Go over.
So Nick, you know, we got acouple more que questions before
we wrap up, but I'm, I, as wetry to pull all this together I
do sense a tremendous level of,just how humble you are.
(06:27):
And so when I, I, I'm, I wannaask you about the, the Nick Bell
keys to success, and I wannatell you what I've heard so far
and maybe make some reflectionsback and then see what you
think.
I mean, you, it's clear, you'vetalked about your authenticity,
right?
Kids can smell the bullshit amile away.
And so if it's clear that youlive by that sense of, I gotta
(06:49):
be real with my kids, I gotta bereal with my families, they
gotta, you know, what they seeis what they get.
You know, you've talked a lotabout whether it was Pat
Kavanaugh or you talked aboutwhen you went to stab, all these
kids are so coachable.
Well, I always, I always findwhen a coach who says their kids
are coachable, they're a greatcommunicator.
So I, I, I'm interested when Ifinish my little reflection here
(07:11):
about how you think aboutcommunicating with kids.
'cause that gets to the otherthing I heard you say, which I
think is such a tough thingtoday.
Everybody has the highaspirations.
Everybody sees the social mediawhere everybody thinks they're
gonna get the game winning goaland everybody's go to, gonna go
to division one.
But there's a huge disconnectbetween the aspirations and
(07:31):
what, as you said, it actuallytakes the day in, day out
commitment.
To getting to that place.
And then another theme I've kindof heard from you is you seem a
12 month plan.
You, you seem to build a lot oftrust amongst your kids that
maybe is driven from thatauthenticity and communication
(07:52):
that creates a sense oftogetherness for your teams.
'cause I've heard you reflect asa coach, just how much you
enjoy, have enjoyed some ofthese groups of kids that you've
put together, which doesn't justhappen.
Those of us who've been aroundteams.
No, that's, that's not generallyan accident or something that
hasn't come from a lot of work.
And then I love to hear the wayyou love to play.
(08:14):
Let's go after him and let's getup and down the field.
So, so how do I, how am I doingso far on the Nick Bell keys to
success?
And are there other things,Nick, that I've missed that are
really central to who you are asa person and a coach?
I don't think so.
I mean, I think every coachwould say that they went tough.
(08:35):
And mentally resilient kids tocoach.
Yeah.
And I think that mentaltoughness is one of the most
misunderstood andmiscommunicated things in this
space.
And a lot of people, I think,equate mental toughness to some
kind of like physical,exaggerated, explosive feet on a
(08:57):
field.
Right.
I look at it as task completion,and that's something I talk to
our, my teams about all thetime.
Like, you know, it's like theNew Year's Eve sort of syndrome.
Like everybody works out for thefirst 14 days of January and
then they generally quit andmm-hmm.
I tell my players all the time,like, if I give you feedback on
(09:20):
something, I'm cataloging that.
I'm not forgetting it.
And if I, if I see you falter,I'm gonna call you on that.
But I'm also like making mentalnotes and observations to say
that, you know, for all of thekids that play for me, I really
want them to, to be able tofollow through on even the most
(09:42):
minute and seemingly like, youknow, simple tasks.
And I think that if, if everyplayer in my program can learn
to set goals, to be processoriented and pursuing those
goals and to complete tasks,right?
I'm talking about 15 minutespost practice of shooting a day
(10:05):
at your own speed, working onthe types of shots that you need
the most work on.
And a lot of kids, when I saythat to them that day, they will
do it and the next day they willdo it right?
And they might even do it forthe rest of the week.
But then I'm paying attention,you know, two weeks from now.
When it's raining, are you stilldoing it or are you not?
Mm-hmm.
Right.
When I say you need to work onyour footwork, I'll say that to
(10:27):
a kid in my office and we'llgive them some of the things
that they could do to improvethat.
And then I'll see them 10 dayslater and say, tell me about how
the cone drill is going.
And when they respond to thatquestion, it tells me whether or
not they were actually doing itright?
Mm-hmm.
'cause sometimes they will sayI, and it like, they start to
(10:47):
come up with excuses and I callthem on that immediately.
Like stop making excuses.
Like there's all of the, we allhave things going on in our
lives.
We all have these differentcommitments.
If you're looking me in the eyeand saying that you want to be a
starter for me, or You wanna bean All American, or you wanna
play at Brown or Virginia, thenlike, this is not like extra
(11:08):
work that I'm asking you to do.
This is like what's minimallyrequired to get better and
improve?
And so that's, you know, I, Ijust, we talk about cons in our,
in our program we talk aboutconsistency more than almost
anything else.
And I'm saying it, and they areprobably so sick of hearing me
say this, and I know that attimes they really are.
(11:28):
But if you can actually finishtasks on a regular basis, even
the most simple and mundane, youknow, that, that really starts
to add up.
And I want kids in my programand I want kids that, you know,
to learn that, you know, I lovethem.
The same if we win or lose solong as they're following this
and actually being consistent intheir habits.
(11:52):
How about if we, how about if wetransition to.
J m l and let's do that.
We'll get into a little bit ofthe mindset.
We'll do a mindset minute here.
Coach Nick Bell has just madesome fantastic points and is
giving great tips for all of uswho are involved in lacrosse,
whether as a player, parent, ora coach with the 2025 USA
(12:15):
Lacrosse High School coach ofthe Year as a guest, a coach who
four years ago led TAF to anational championship.
We're probably all wonderingwhat are some of the things that
make for success on a nationallevel.
And the answer, well, it's notall that exciting, but it does
provide for the most excitingresults you could possibly dream
of.
He starts off describing howimportant his relationship is
(12:39):
with his players, how thatrelationship has to come first,
so they know he has their bestinterest at heart.
Next, he reviews how hiscommunication with his players
is then much better understoodby his guys because of that
strong and solid foundation.
Then he reviews the tasks andthe habits he wants his players
(13:00):
to employ in their pursuit ofgreatness.
As you all know, our podcast issponsored by JML, which promotes
the development of skills,mindset, and lack IQ training,
practicing outside of practicewith the objective being.
To become not necessarily thebest, but as our logo says, to
(13:20):
become your best.
And what we found is that if aplayer stops worrying about
other players and insteadcompetes with themselves by
putting in the work outside ofpractice, they will be doing
more than the vast majority ofthe competition out there.
And then they may very wellbecome the best because of that
(13:40):
extra effort.
One of the keys is just, asCoach Bell has stated, set goals
for yourself.
Get on a process ofself-development.
Hold yourself accountable, orbetter yet, share your plan with
your coach or friends andfamily, and they can keep you on
track.
Coach Bell talks about beingtask-oriented and completing
(14:01):
those tasks on a long-term,regular basis.
Make it part of who you are.
My former coach, hall of Famer,Dom Staria used to say, and it
became a well-known quote in thelacrosse world, consistency is
the ultimate measure of mentaltoughness and is the
distinguishing characteristic ofa champion as a leader of teams
(14:25):
that won many Ivy League and ac.
C titles as well as fournational championships.
I'd say he'd know a thing or twoabout what constitutes mental
toughness.
And finally, and really mostimportantly, coach Bell also
said he makes sure his playersknow that they are loved.
No joke.
(14:45):
He makes sure they know hereally loves them, regardless of
wins and losses, regardless ofthe results.
He teaches them the focus on theprocess to give their best
effort day in and day out, andthen let the chips fall where
they may.
And based on his record, I'd sayhis approach is one worth
(15:05):
emulating.
Now we will hear a word from oursponsor.
So there you have it.
And also do, as Coach Bell did,listen to your mother.
Mothers are highly intuitive andwell connected to their right
brains.
All in all, it helps to get intouch with your inner GPS.
It is highly intelligent andnever steers you wrong, and
(15:28):
never takes you to a place ofutter chaos.
A place where there are noguardrails.
Speaking of no guardrails thatso many of our listeners
describe the college lacrosserecruiting trail.
So we've responded by puttingexcerpts of our 10 best
interviews with legendarycoaches, such as bill Tierney,
Lars, Tiffany and Andy towers.
(15:50):
Into a book that you can accesson Kindle, it is available on
Amazon, under the title insidethe recruiting game insights
from college lacrosse coaches.
That's great.
Jack, I wanna play for CoachBell.
I was just thinking I got aTotally, yeah, you fired up Jack
Line up.
Yeah.
Anything, you know, when you'retrying to, I do some skills
training and when you're tryingto get them to really improve.
(16:12):
You know, they got, they couldbe doing the same things and the
right things for two weeks, butthey actually haven't improved
until they've done it for likesix to eight weeks, and then it
becomes part of their game.
So like, it, it's so true.
It's, you can consistently getthem to do the same thing over a
stretch of time.
And then when you're talkingabout a whole team, you're
talking about a 12 monthprogram, that's when you're
(16:33):
gonna really see big leaps.
So that's, that's awesome stuff.
I love it.
Ron.
Good question.
I'm a little surprised, but hey,nice work.
You know, you know Nick, Jaydoes all this work with the his
scripting, but I like to justfollow the lead of the Ron
incredible guests that we have.
And actually, here's, here's askill Jay could improve on with
(16:54):
consistency over time.
His listening skills.
Nick, listen, we could have himbe, I'm listening.
A listener, a little bit of alistener.
Jay, I, I believe now I had ascripted question for Coach
Bell, and then you have thefinal question.
Nick, we doing okay on time foryou?
I know you had No, you're ingreat shape.
Okay, great.
So actually I'm gonna go offscript.
I'm because I got, I got onemore thing.
(17:14):
I'm really, I'm really just forthe schedule.
That's why we have a script,Nick.
He just said he is got plenty oftime.
Jason, don't be running all overthe yard.
Nick, all podcasts long.
I, I'm, I'm actually interestedin our guest, Jay, get him on a
leash.
I'm very interested.
I'm really enjoying in allseriousness, having you talk
about, no, it's more interestedthan me.
What's led.
To your success.
Can you get back to that?
(17:35):
I just got a feel for yourcommunication style right there,
Nick.
Oh, I was feeling direct clear,right?
Not there's no, there's noemotion attached to this.
This isn't about me liking youor not liking you.
This is about me asking you ortelling you what I think it
needs you need to do to besuccessful, because I want you
to be successful.
(17:56):
But, but can you say a littlebit more about how you approach
communication?
What have you learned over time?
You know, there's so much aboutkids today and how you need to
talk to'em.
Like, so how do you think aboutyour relationships and your
communication style with yourplayers?
Yeah.
So I think at the, at the rootof that is relationship
(18:17):
building, number one.
And you know, I think as a youngcoach, one of the mistakes that
I made, and even now I, I, I'llmake this mistake too, but I, I,
I'm, I'm really demanding.
I'm emotional.
I, I do think that I'm prettyfiery.
And I think in my twenties I wasfar too often, you know, letting
(18:40):
that emotion and letting thatfire come out without building
relationships with students awayfrom lacrosse where they knew
that I cared about more thanjust their lacrosse.
Yeah.
And, and I found that the moreI've invested time in my office
or in dorm spaces, or in thedining hall or on text or on
(19:00):
Snapchat or in or on the phonein really making a point to
touch with them.
On things that matter in theirlives that have nothing to do
with what they do for me in theafternoons, it allows me to be
that much more demanding and itallows me to re, when I need to
get to a kid and I need tohammer a point home, there's
(19:24):
trust already established.
And they So you, so you're gonnaget a lot more outta your
players, correct?
Right.
Correct.
Because without the rela, youknow, in the absence of that
relationship, I'm just like anyother coach that's upset and
emotional and yelling.
Mm-hmm.
And what I think a lot of peoplemight not see is, you know, I
(19:48):
was so adamant.
When I came to St.
Ann's about actually having afull-time job in the school
building where I could be anadvisor, I could be a college
counselor, I could havetouchpoint with all of these
different areas of school life.
That model to my players thatI'm in it just like you are and
I'm doing this, I'm going to thesame meetings and the same, I'm
(20:09):
following the same schedule, butI actually care about the things
that you're doing away from thefield that are making you a good
community member, a goodstudent, a good son, right, A
good friend, a leader.
Mm-hmm.
Right.
And so that's, you know, I thinkthat's something that I always
have to remind myself of.
And I don't always get it right.
And sometimes like inexplicablya kid is having a bad day and
(20:33):
there's something I'm not awareof and, you know, my demanding
of them can sort of spitfire inthe wrong direction.
I'm very aware of that and Ithink with, with young people.
And even the adults that I workwith, like, I don't think enough
people are comfortable orconfident enough just to say, I
made a mistake and I'm sorry.
Mm-hmm.
(20:54):
You know, like I think, I thinkabout Dom Staria would, would,
would often say like, you know,you can say whatever you want,
but remember that the words thatcome out of your mouth, you can
never take those words back.
Yeah.
Right.
And so sometimes you know it, Ido get to the end of my day and
I finished everything with myfamily and I'm reflecting on a
meeting I had in my office orsomething that happened at
(21:16):
practice and I'm like, I need tocircle with that kid because I
don't think that I handled thatperfectly well.
Or I was a little bit short withhis parent, you know?
And so I try to be mindful ofthat all the time and understand
that like at, at the core ofwhat we're doing and educating
and coaching is buildingrelationships and empowering
young people.
And so I try to get that rightas much as I can.
(21:38):
I think I've gotten better at itin some ways, but it's not, I, I
think that coaching, likeanything is like a lifelong
pursuit that you're constantlytweaking and improving and, and
trying to make better.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
So Nick, it's an, it is aninteresting transition from
there into, you know, the otherdimension today, right, of being
a successful high schoollacrosse coach at the level of
(22:02):
the programs that you'reinvolved with is, this is not
just the old days where thecoaches coached in the spring,
right?
And so, as you just said beforewe got on the call, you know,
you're going right from yourseason into the summer club
season, and I know have a lot ofyour guys, you know, who play on
that club team.
And so on the one hand, it'sawesome, right?
(22:24):
You're getting more access toyour guys, the relationships,
the skill building.
But man alive, these guys areplaying a lot of lacrosse.
And so I, I, I, you, I knowyou've been very successful in
the club world as well.
So what's your advice that aguy, as a guy who clearly
understands the balance aspectsin your life, you know is very
(22:44):
competitive and has proven theycan get teams to a high level.
What do you tell your ownplayers and parents about the
summer season and how to manageall those pressures and
different messages that kidsfeel you know, which, which
leads to how do, how, you know,what do you tell'em about time
and events and, you know, thelife of a student athlete today
(23:05):
who wants to get to that nextlevel?
I tell them that lacrosse is, iswhat you do.
It's not who you are.
And I think it's, it's that canbe lost.
And I think oftentimes that islost.
And like I said earlier in this,in this in this, you know,
(23:27):
podcast, in this show, you know,I just think that it's so much
harder for kids to navigate thisprocess now, and what was
different for me than it is forthem is that they have at their
fingertips regular updates andeither validations or, you know,
obvious displays of weaknessthat they're seeing whether they
(23:50):
like it or not.
And you know, I think about thefirst week in September when
recruiting starts for juniorsand how.
You know, kids that I work withor kids that I coach are just
constantly in fear and anxietyabout whether or not Princeton
is gonna take their long stigmaor not.
Am I gonna have a chance?
Right.
(24:10):
And I just, you know, I, I thinkthat if you fall back on a lot
of the things that we talkedabout on this show in term that
are process oriented andcentered around the human and
you take this in stride andunderstand that if you fail in
lacrosse, that's okay.
You're kind of supposed to.
And it's not always like acomplete completely linear path.
(24:30):
And I think the story that Iwould tell that illuminates this
the most is in reference to thekid that you're talking about,
who's who you had mentionedwho's going to Brown, I, you
know, this is a kid who wasactually entering St.
Anne's Bellfield as a senior,committed to Jacksonville
University.
And basically at the end of thesummer.
With all of the impending, youknow, NIL and you know, roster
(24:55):
cap changes, things that have todo with revenue sharing and, and
a lot of what's going on in theworld of college athletics put
Jacksonville in a tough positionwhere they needed to shrink
their roster quickly.
And, you know, they had to partways with him because they just
didn't think that they wouldhave a spot.
And this is a kid who had workedhis whole life to pursue
division one lacrosse.
Thought he had a greatsituation, was really coming to
(25:16):
St.
Ann's to improve in some coreareas and be challenged.
And then rub, rub, rub is pulledright out from under him.
He then like, kind of rebounds,but he's hurt all year.
He couldn't really play untilour spring season with a back
issue.
And then.
You know, he commits to AirForce and finds out three weeks
later that he's medicallydisqualified.
(25:36):
So he's literally going into thespring of his senior year with
us.
Wow.
Without a college, you know,thinking that he was probably
just gonna go back home to alocal school.
And you know, with the schedulethat we play.
There's a lot of exposure andopportunity in that.
And if it wasn't for BrianKelly, honestly saying, holy
(25:57):
cow, that that kid is awesomeand is one of the best kids
we've seen.
And actually taking the time,you know, to pick up the phone
and call someone like John Topi.
And John and I had talked abouthim in the past.
You know, but it was, you know,this is a story about a kid who
just stayed the course thatdefaulted to who he was as a
person and a student didn't losehimself when everything around
(26:18):
him seemed to be crumbling downand just was like, I love this
game.
I'm gonna take it as far as Ican.
I'm gonna give my teameverything that I can this year.
And he just simply performedhimself into something that a
lot of people would say wouldn'thave been possible for some of
the, the, you know, the, the,the stumbling blocks that he
encountered along the way and,right.
(26:38):
You know, like.
For all great story.
All of the kids that I workwith, you know, it's so great
for me to say, let me tell youabout the story about, of Pat
Kavanaugh and how he sort ofwrote up, you know, and nobody
thought that he was ever gonnalive up to what Matt is, and he
rewrote that story.
Right.
And in the case of this kid, hecommitted to a school that he
(27:00):
viewed as a dream school inApril of his senior year, in the
year 2, 20, 25.
Right, right.
That was more, that was more ofa 2005 story.
Right.
Like going through it like inthe senior year.
That's great.
But like, my point in all thisis, you know, believe in
yourself, you know, love thegame.
It will love you right back.
(27:21):
And you know, I, I just somehowlike this lacrosse universe
always works in the right way, Ithink.
And it, and it really honors thekids that invest and do the
things that, that we've talkedabout on this show, on this
show.
That's beautiful.
Beautiful stuff could end onthat one, except we had a few
listener questions really quick.
A collegiate coach of yourswould like to have their name
(27:43):
withheld from the record.
S what would you say youraccuracy was dead on or wildly
off as you fired an undisclosedfood item at the Brown
University Gate Dining Hall?
You remembering this?
I would say, I would say that myaccuracy in that moment was dead
on.
Okay.
It went exactly where I thoughtit was supposed to go.
(28:05):
You wanna tell us more or is it,is it not fit for everyone?
No, I'll leave it at that.
Okay.
Jack w inquires, what is thepolice vehicle story?
You don't have to tell itstupid.
I'll also leave it back.
And Thomas n says, why did coachTiffany describe your play at
times as resembling a crashtest?
Dummy?
(28:27):
I can answer that question.
He said that because.
Like I said earlier, I, I, I waslucky enough as a college player
to have a game day role as afreshman, sophomore, junior and
senior, but I was never reallygood at.
I, I was never excellent at anyof those things, and the only
chance that I had to contributeand help my team was to just
play hard and make hustlereckless.
(28:49):
Abandon.
Yeah.
Play with a sense of recklessabandon that you know, it's
probably not good for my body inthe long term, but it was the
only way that I could, you know,make my mark so nice.
That worked for me.
Love it.
Well, Nick, this has beenfantastic, huh?
Yeah.
And I think Jay, we learned inthe spirit of, of authenticity
that there were, you know, thatNick had a good time at Brown.
(29:10):
I mean, and I, and who's gonnahold that against him?
Apparently there's some storiesthere that we'll look forward to
hearing the next time we seeNick in person Right.
When we're down inCharlottesville, when he can
really be himself.
That sounds great.
That sounds great.
I, I, I, I look forward togetting into that and I
appreciate the discretion.
Absolutely.
Awesome.
Well, well, Nick, thanks somuch.
Have dinner Jay.
What a great episode with CoachNick Bell, the, the high school
(29:34):
coach of the year.
Incredible.
I would expect nothing less.
Awesome.
Well, good luck this summer,Nick, and as Ron and I just
said, we hope we'll run into youin person and, and finish up
some of these stories.
Sounds great, guys.
I really appreciate it.
Thanks so much and I lookforward to seeing you soon.
Best of luck, Nick.
Take care.
Alright.
Until we meet again.
Here's to hoping you find thetwine.
(29:57):
We're signing off here at theget the lax scoop.
Thanks again so much.
We will see you the next time.
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