

Phi-Lacrosse-ophy Podcast
Jamie Munro
World class lacrosse analysis and consulting for both players AND Coaches.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Feb 18, 2019 ⢠1h 22min
Phi-Lacrosse-ophy Podcast Ep. 32 - Navy Head Coach Ricky Sowell
Ricky Sowell Navy Head Coach
00:30 Intro
-Coach Sowell's resume
-Days spent between Jamie and Coach Sowell
-RV stop in Annapolis
03:07 Coach Sowell's Journey
-Grew up in upstate New York
-3 Sport Athlete (Football, Basketball, Baseball) growing up
-How he started playing lacrosse
-Playing with a "shlong" (short - long stick)
-Moving around positions
-Being in shape and focusing on fundamentals
-Football influence
-Journey in college
-Playing at Washington College
-Got into coaching by helping at Washington
-Journey coaching
-Coach Dave Urick and his impact
-Players coach
25:05 Coaching at Dartmouth, St. Johns, Stoney Brook
-Dartmouth was a graveyard for coaches at the time
-New facilities had an impact
-Experienced all big 5 moments in a mans life in one year
-Recruits at that time
-The persistence at St. Johns
-Different AD's at St. Johns
-Network at Stoney Brook
-Opportunity to coach at USNA
36:16 Coaching at the Naval Academy
-Being apart of something special
-How impressive it is to go to an institution like that and compete at a high level
-1 of 3 people who has taken 3 teams to the NCAA tournament
-1 of very few to win tournament games with multiple programs
-Winning the NCAA tournament in 2016 vs Yale
-Taking advantage of time you do get
-Players from the 2016 team
47:47 141 Set and How it Plays into Coach Sowell's Offensive Philosophy
-Fundamentals
-Concepts more than set ways
-Shot selection is key
-Ability to dodge from all spots on the field
-Attacking the middle of the field
-Using 141 to get into other sets
-Emphasis on 2 man game
-"Slide" dodging
57:28 Ways Coach Sowell Sharpens his Saw
-Talking with coaches
-Knowing the greats helps and picking their brains
-Learning from box lacrosse
-Learning from everyone
-Getting stuff done and having fun
-Learning from your players and their reactions
1:06:46 Recruiting and Becoming What Coaches are Looking for
-Multi sport athletes
-Work ethic
-Being an athlete
-Showcases are not the end all be all
-New rules help
-Learning from outside resources
-Leveraging pick up games

Feb 13, 2019 ⢠1h 31min
Phi-Lacrosse-ophy Podcast In Season Edition with Andy Towers - Week 1
In Season with Andy Towers Week 1
"Speed Pig" Preseason Top 20 Teams Breakdown
01:27 #20 Syracuse and game vs Colgate
05:15 #19 University of Michigan and gams vs Cleveland State
08:36 Teams receiving votes and Hofstra
09:58 #18 Colgate and scrimmage vs Deleware and game vs Syracuse
13:40 #17 Johns Hopkins and game vs Towson
16:55 #16 Georgetown and win vs Sacred Heart
19:08 #15 Albany and face off questions
22:45 #14 North Carolina bouncing back from last year
26:12 #13 High Point and coach Torpey and the difference makers
32:25 #12 Ohio State and game vs BU and coming game
37:52 #11 Virginia and their personnel
41:47 #10 Duke and their potential
45:25 #9 Notre Dame and their consistency and personnel
50:37 #8 Rutgers and their sustainability
55:02 #7 Towson and their mentality
56:59 #6 Denver and their consistency
1:00:03 #5 Cornell and Jeff Teat
1:06:06 #4 Penn State and their past and future and Jeff Tambroni
1:12:52 #3 Maryland and Coach John Tillman
1:16:23 #2 Loyola and coaching staff and personnel
1:23:00 #1 Yale and Andy Shay

Feb 8, 2019 ⢠47min
Phi-Lacrosse-ophy Podcast In Season Edition with Andy Towers - Preseason
In Season with Andy Towers Preseason
00:30 Intro and Journey
-Background on Coach Towers
-Growing up
-Howard Benedict
-Coaching career journey
-Time commitment of coaching
-Beers on the bus
11:29 The Trip Move
-On and off the ball
-Stepping into their recovery
-Using it in other sports
-Offensive trip in the NLL now
-Getting defender to open up hips
18:35 PLL
-Comradery of the coaches
-Aspects of the excitement
-Paul Rabil
-Leveraging social media
-Traveling model
25:01 Thoughts Going into the Year
-Year of the attackman
-Top 5 teams
-UVA potential
-RV trip across 11 programs
-Commonality among these different programs
-Hospitality and commitment to building culture
-Bill Belichick and his coaching tree
-Gerry Byrne and his openness
-Shot clock impact
-Legal crosscheck holds
-Reffing the dive
-Size of the box

Feb 5, 2019 ⢠53min
Phi-Lacrosse-ophy Ep. 31 - PLL Player and Face-off Academy Coach Greg Gurenlian
Greg Gurenlian
00:30 Some of the Best Seasons for Greg (2015)
-Dark age of face offs
-Try to cut cheating out
-Rules changed in favor
-Able to keep ball in the back of the stick
-Equalized in 2016 with new class of guys
05:58 Greg Gurenlian's Journey
-Started playing because it was the cool thing to do
-Frustrating as an athlete
-Facing off for varsity team Jr. year
-Physical presence
-205 camp
-Gained 40 pounds at Penn State
-Face off and man up
-Changing from an injury
-Stand up to one knee down
15:14 Becoming a Strength Coach and How it Helps
-Olympic level strength coach
-Biomechanics are important
-Consistency
-Role of deception
22:02 Best Face off Guys
-Who he learned from
-What he learned from these guys
-Different generations of players
24:26 Best Face Off Guys in D1 Lacrosse in 2019
-Break down of some of the best players
-Big 10
-ACC
-A lot of talent coming in
26:30 Face Off Academy
-Inside Lacrosse forums
-How to videos on youtube
-Hub for face off guys
-String of clinics over the summer
-Snowball after that
-Learning to market
34:14 Advice to High School Players / Coaches on Face Offs
-Depends on personnel
-In game adjustments
-Hungry young assistant
-Wing play
-Add face offs in practice
-Let face off guys be apart of practice
42:20 Recruiting
-Easier to evaluate
-Two schools of thought for college coaches
-Depends on the school
-Not simple equation
50:49 PLL
-Missing brotherhood
-Better face off mechanics
-Being on TV

Jan 24, 2019 ⢠1h 3min
Phi - Lacrosse - Ophy Podcast Ep. 30 - Inside Lacrosse's Terry Foy
Terry Foy Publisher at Inside Lacrosse
00:31 Intro and Role as Publisher
-Who is Terry Foy?
-Turning roles
-Started at Inside Lacrosse in 2007 at lowest level
-The process of working his way up
-Content
-Running events
-Data development
-Laxpower
-Collecting data
07:25 Why it is a Golden Age of Lacrosse?
-Modern game and popularization in late 80's early 90's
-NFL Stadium final 4 era
-Recruiting rule legislation
-Utah adding lacrosse
-Recognition of the FIL by Olympics
-Formation of the PLL
-Combination of it all
13:45 Opinion on Possible Olympics Appearence and Rules
-Current rules are bad
-3 buckets of lacrosse now, box, field, and women's
-Satisfying the needs of everyone
-Leeway to allowing marketable sports
-Small rosters are of benefit
-Venue
-TV windows
-Player health and safety
-Scalability
-Rugby 7v7's
-Difference in the games
-Why box may not work
-Hypothetical rules
23:22 Impact Internationally if there is Olympic Lacrosse in 2028
-More funding from governments
-Associations will be able to be sturdier
-What these funds pay for
-68 Nations
26:46 Why PLL is Such a Big Deal?
-The amount of Wall Street investment
-Drawing attention from others
-Creating new fans
-WWE
-Following of different people
-Leveraging social marketing
33:02 New Rules
-Criticism addressing
-Progression of the shot clock
-Shrinking of the sub box
-Issue of being closer to one another
-Fewer fast breaks
-End of shot clock dives
-Telling of players
41:42 Riding With the New Rules
-More opportunities with more shots
-Fatigue
-Distribution of midfielders playing time
-More middies running
-More pressure on defense
48:41 What is the NCAA Transfer Portal?
-October 2018
-Website to help the process
-Way to express interest
-Changes power dynamic
52:34 Professionalization of Coaching
-College lacrosse coaches are very powerful stakeholders
-People are excited to share
-Bringing about change
-Pay scales
-More money in the game
-IMCLA impact
-Lacrosse Virtual Summit
-Golden era of digital media

Jan 16, 2019 ⢠1h 11min
Phi-Lacrosse-ophy Podcast Ep. 29 - Darris Kilgour
Darris Kilgour
00:30 Intro and Journey as a Player
-St. Catherines and won 2 Minto Cups
-5 Mann Cups with Six Nations
-Played and Coach Bandits
-Grew up in Tuscarora
-Played in Canada
-Learning humility early
03:04 Turning The Clock Back
-Personnel Darris played with in St. Catherines
-Becoming leaders
05:13 Organized Lacrosse vs backyard Lacrosse growing up
-Dad broke the game down and taught how to play the game
-Playing with guys that were older
-Becoming a good shooter in the backyard
-Learning the feel of the game
-Learning different ways to score
-Learning to shoot with tennis balls
-Learning to shoot a curveball
-Staats brothers curveballs best in the NLL
-Cody Jamieson
-Pass it down
12:10 Curveball explanation
14:00 Greatest Players Darris Played With and What He Took From Them
-Learning focus and toughness
-Learning how to score from John Tavares
-Pat Coyle intensity
-How Jamie and Darris met
-Talking lacrosse
-Athletics team Darris' son Kyler plays on
20:38 1992 Championship Game and Playing Majors / Pros
-Short side top corner shot
-Juniors to Majors
-Hitting the goalie in the head after missing his spot
-Goalie got married the next day
25:17 Memories From the Best
-Mann Cup memories
-Playing in dust
-Players involved in those championships
28:06 Shooting Philosophy
-Accuracy
-Deception
-Velocity
-The learning process of deception
-Used accuracy as a go to move
-Pointing your foot
-Shooting without a ball
-Using weight transfer to fool goalie
-The light bulb from shooting on a goalie a lot
37:30 Finishing Philosophy
-Setting up the goalie
-Reaching around far side
-Using shuffle to fool goalie
-Shooting jump shots
-Behind the back fake as a hesitation
-Victoria look back
49:16 2 Man Game
-Creating 2v1's
-Slip picks
-Seal pick
-Fight throughs are cue to cut
-Using video to identify things
-Swinging the ball and getting the ball from one side to another
-Defending a 2 man game
1:02:34 Best Box Lacrosse Player of All Time
-Casey Powell
-Couldn't pressure him the same
-Learned box lacrosse
-Learning to suck out other players to open up other players
1:05:00 Jeff Teat and Austin Staats
-Reminder of John Travares
-Did it the right way
-Made scoring look easy
-Involving others in the offense
-Off ball player
-18 Year old playing in the Mann Cup

Jan 10, 2019 ⢠1h 9min
Phi-Lacrosse-ophy Podcast Ep. 28 - Albany Head Coach Scott Marr
Scott Marr Head Coach at Albany University
00:30 Intro and Visiting Campus
-Starting as a team on the 16th
-Camping trip
-Team bonding
-Start of the season scrimmages and making adjustments
-Hikes together
-No cell phone service
06:08 Journey as a Player and a Coach
-Growing up in Yorktown
-From getting cut in baseball to playing lacrosse
-Players Coach Marr watched and knew growing up
-Youth coach impacts
-Playing at Yorktown High School
-Went to Johns Hopkins and played for Bill Tierney
-The importance of disciplined X's and O's
-National Champion freshman year
-The brotherhood of lacrosse
14:18 Thoughts on Players and Lessons Learned
-Tim Nelson
-Del Dressel
-Brian Wood
-Practicing against Dave Pietramala
18:33 Coaching Journey
-Deleware University in the 80's
-Developing own style and the opportunity to experiment
-Coach Marr's wife and how he met her
-The era for University of Maryland at that time
-Big Man
-Coach Dick Edell
-Watching Army Lacrosse
-How Coach Edell treated people
-1997 Semi Finals Maryland vs Syracuse
-Hopkins 1995 game after a loss going through the handshake line
33:41 Offensive Philosophy at Developing Players
-Overall philosophy is to move the ball
-Everything North/South
-Attack driven offense
-Dodging angles
-Good ball carrying attackmen
-Shooting midfielders
-Change to personell
-Off ball players
-Dodging nuances
-Draw a slide and spread 4 off ball players out
-Everything comes down to execution
47:44 Learning from Players Coach Marr has Coached
-Thought process
-Lax IQ
-Creativity
-Patience and focusing on the next play
-Accepting what happens and moving forward
-Lyle and Myles Thompson's repertoire and how they learned to play that way
-Playing in the backyard
-Admiring their play and how they worked and prepared for games
-Playing pick up games and pass it down model
54:34 Pick Up Games
-Pass it down model
-Non structure learning
-Focus on specific players hurts everyone else
-Coaching the Iroquois team
-Development models
-Backyard development model is producing more good player per capita
-Competing in the world with a severe numbers disadvantage
1:00:25 Typical Albany Practice
-Scappin (3v2 gb drill) to start
-O/D Split
-Transition drill
-Half field drills
-Riding/clearing scrimmage
-A lot of up and down
-Working on clearing game this fall a lot
-Next play mentality
-Time spent on man up / man down
1:04:30 Man Up Philosophy
-One set to another
-Spacing is important
-Open sets and 3-3 looks
-Hands free and making sure your in the right spots
1:05:19 Advice to Recruiting
-Big attitude and effort focus
-Positive Teammate
-"Control your controlables the right way"
-B to B+ players become an A unit

Dec 31, 2018 ⢠1h 19min
Phi-Lacrosse-ophy Podcast Ep. 27 - Utah Head Coach Brian Holman
Brian Holman Head Coach at Utah University
00:30 Intro to Coach Holman
-People and whether and Utah
-Salt Lake City
-University of North Carolina
-Coaching staff at UNC and their impact
-Importance of coaching for coach Holman
-Coaching his sons
-Story about coaching Marcus (his son)
-The change that came from that story
11:39 Playing and Coaching at Johns Hopkins
-Transferring schools in high school
-Given coach Holman everything to him
-A culture of strong brotherhood and blue collar mentality
-4 National Championship appearances in 4 years
-Freddy Smith
-Running on and off the field
-Dave Pietramala
-Brian Wood
26:48 Process of Starting the Program at Utah
-Building a program the way it is envisioned
-Being able to compete for a National Championship one day
-Being ourselves and growing the game
-The rest of the coaching staff
32:31 Building Culture
-Start with a vision
-Taking notes
-Pillars of Utah Lacrosse
-Humility, Honesty, Passion, Gratitude and Trust
-Touch each player personally each day
-Spiritual, Mental, Physical, Tactical components used everyday
-Do you love lacrosse?
-Implementing it all on and off the field
-Accountability
51:58 Pac 12 Lacrosse
-Unknown future
-More growth in 2-4 years
-PLL changing things
-Apart of a snowball
-Western lacrosse conference
-Olympics
-Women in the Pac 12
55:05 Recruiting
-Mixed messages
-Pressure for specialization
-Fitting a mold
-Passing and catching
-Multi sport athletes
-Interactions and little things
-Failure is okay
-Trusting the youth sports machine too much
-Playing pick up games

Dec 25, 2018 ⢠1h 20min
Phi-Lacrosse-ophy Ep. 26 - Notre Dame Defensive Coordinator Gerry Byrne
Gerry Byrne Defensive Coordinator at Notre Dame
00:30 Levittown and Growing Up
-Social experiment
-Suburbs of New York
-Blue Collar mentality
-Unique environment
-Did not play on a team until spring of Junior year in high school
-Grew up playing everything
-Brothers inspiration
-Class of 86' at UMass
-Business career
-Played in the MLL in 2001-2002
13:20 Business Background
-Run and shoot lacrosse company
-Using business background in coaching
-Understanding of people who have influence opinions
-Started a business
19:37 Defensive Philosophy
-Not in as much control as you think you are
-Everyone gets run by
-"Preparing for the intersection of the offensive players best play and your biggest mistake"
-Recognition of skill and ability
-Less focus on on ball defense and more off ball
-Start with respect for your opponents
-Signs of guys who are about to be beat
-Importance of being predictable
-Signs of being beat on defense
26:46 V Hold vs Cross Check Hold
-Creates double and triple move offense
-Indicator to off ball defenders
-Good ball pressure
-Use film and demonstrations that explain why
-Limits penalties
33:29 Jamies RV Trip
-12 days going around to different practices
-The schools Jamie is planning to go to
35:17 Notre Dame Defensive Practice
-Use middle of the field
-Mix in stick work
-No goals or creases with small groups
-Scaling drills
-Reps are what matter so players can really understand things
-Creates a culture within the culture
-"Pieces of the piece of the whole"
-Lack of 1v1 practice
-Finding 1v1's in other drills
44:37 Slowing Things Down and Communication and Off Ball Play
-"If you can't be loud you can't play"
-Oldest players in group sets the tone in drills
-Players understanding the true cost of not doing things
-Using peoples first names
-Using the right words or phrases
-Things change every time the ball moves
-Have to be able to do more than one thing
-Orientation
1:01:23 How to Evaluate in Recruiting?
-Good off ball defense is a standout
-Not too fixated on what they can not do yet
-Athleticism
-Consistency is good but not everything is perfect
-Test coach-ability
-Look for players who pull themselves out of slides
-Evaluating IQ
1:07:10 Timeline on Recruiting
-There is a lot to learn about people
-Timeline has not changed much with new rules
-Every school wants what they want
1:08:53 Offensive Defensemen and Highlight Videos
-New rules support it
-Need to see film and energy from people with on ball defense
-Highlight films are only take away checks and goals
-Strange highlight films
1:13:33 New Rules
-Happy for them
-Shot clock could take some tweaks
-Makes it easier for the refs
-Shots being taken that where not before
-More trying to score
-Dive is too complex

Dec 19, 2018 ⢠1h 7min
Phi-Lacrosse-ophy Podcast Ep. 25 - Northwestern Women's Head Coach Kelly Amonte Hiller
Kelly Amonte Hiller - Head Coach Northwestern Women's Team
00:30 New Facilities at Northwestern
-Some of the nicest facilities in D1 sports
-Field on Lake Michigan
-All in one facilities
-Indoor games
-$300 mil.
04:11 Coach Amonte Hiller's Journey
-Playing little league bass ball and hockey with her brothers
-Tried everything
-No exposure to lacrosse until 9th grade
-Athletic family
07:30 Playing at the University of Maryland
-Cindy Timchal
-Garry Gait
-Being taken seriously
-Sports psychology
-Impactful recruiting process
-Seeing the game being broken down so finely
-Developing fundamentals and teaching those fundamentals
-Passion for the game
-Maryland coaches tree
12:58 Coach Amonte Hiller's Journey and Coaching Tree
-Only coached on the field as an assistant prior to Northwestern
-Wanted to stay home after college
-Mentors
-Learning the administration side of coaching
-Take insight from everyone
-Scott Hiller
19:20 Beginning at Northwestern
-Different rules back then
-Great culture and leadership
-Boundary rules impact
22:44 The Metamorphosis of Women's Lacrosse
-Rule changes
-Stick technologies
-Reluctancy at first
-Marketable sport
-Great athletes, coaches, and administration in the last 20 years
-Back to the skill focus and innovation focus
-A lot of parody in the sport right now due to coaches being innovative
-Wide range of coaching experience
28:51 Box Lacrosse and Selena Lasota
-Seeing her in BC for the first time
-Dynamic person
-Made a decision quickly
-Player to watch
-Different style of play in the game
-22 goals in 2 games in the NCAA tournament
-Had to learn the field game
-Broadening horizons in different ways
-2 man game
37:36 Blending the Best of Everything to Evolve an Offense and Skill
-Able to execute in tighter space
-Better shooting
-Wanted to be able to try new things
-Confidence boost in the players
-Teaches IQ
-Learning to count on one another
43:03 Taking Advantage of Physical Attributes and Working Towards That
-Path of Holly Korn
-Became a manager
-Took notes and worked on fitness on her own
-Stepped up as a goalie for the team
-Gave her a shot as a lefty attackman
-Finishing sets people apart
47:04 What Coach Amonte Hiller Looks for in a Recruit
-A player that can develop that comes from hard work
-Accept feedback
-Resiliency
-Team player
-Doesn't categorize what they look for
-Its about development
-Look for potential
-Good fit for culture
-Is it a fit for what they are looking for
52:57 How to Recruit Character and IQ
-Hard to see
-Interacting with players on campus
-Like to see how kids learn
-Evaluating IQ at camps
-Seeing how player react
-Being coachable
58:37 Advice on Development
-Benefits to playing club
-A lot of travel and money and sacrifice
-Pick your spots if you can
-Focus on development
-Athletic development
-New ways to learn things
-Trust your gut and make the choice that is best for you