Get The Lax Scoop

S2 E7. Acorns Don't Fall Far From the Tree; DIII COYs Steve Koudelka & Brandon Childs, Part I.

April 03, 2024 Jay McMahon, Ron Dalgliesh, & Steve Gresalfi/Steve Koudleka, Brandon Childs Season 2 Episode 7
S2 E7. Acorns Don't Fall Far From the Tree; DIII COYs Steve Koudelka & Brandon Childs, Part I.
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Get The Lax Scoop
S2 E7. Acorns Don't Fall Far From the Tree; DIII COYs Steve Koudelka & Brandon Childs, Part I.
Apr 03, 2024 Season 2 Episode 7
Jay McMahon, Ron Dalgliesh, & Steve Gresalfi/Steve Koudleka, Brandon Childs

Our first guest, Steve Koudelka, established the Lynchburg men's lacrosse program as a national powerhouse in his nearly three decades on the Hornets’ sidelines. Since his arrival prior to the 1997 season, he has recorded an overall record of 337-145, including 24 winning seasons. Lynchburg has advanced to the NCAA tournament 16 times with our guest at the helm and he has hoisted the Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship trophy nine times. He was named the USILA Division III Coach of the Year in 2015. Coach K. played his college lacrosse at Gettysburg where he was a 2X All American goalie. He went on to become an assistant at his alma mater before taking the head coaching job at Lynchburg. 

Our next guest,  Brandon Childs, became only the fourth head men’s lacrosse coach at York College. In 12 years at York, he’s led the Green and White to a record of 176-51 and a .796 win percentage. The Spartans have advanced to the NCAA Tournament 8 times, including the school’s first trip to the “Final Four” in 2022. And with our next guest as their field general, York has advanced all the way to the National Quarterfinals four out of the last six years. He has been named the CAC / MAC Coach of the Year six times and in 2018 he was honored as The Division III Coach of The Year.

Brandon Childs was a 2X USILA All-American attackman at Lynchburg while he was also a Scholar All-American as a senior. 

In this first installment of our interview series, Steve talks about his relationship with his mentor, Hank Janczyk, who was the head coach at Gettysburg for over forty years. Koudelka is also thankful for the strong and positive influence of Fred Opie, a Team USA defenseman and Syracuse All American, who was the defensive coordinator at Gettysburg. 

Coach Childs discusses his early days in lacrosse, making the case for what he calls playing on the best U13 team of all time while growing up in Baltimore county. Listen in and see how your team stacks up against his roster! He also describes his playing days at St. Pauls and his warm first impressions of Coach Koudelka and his staff at Lynchburg.

Steve rounds out the segment describing a classic for the ages, “Top Star” summer camp where, as a young coach, he was able to learn from and interact with legends of the game such as Jim Berkeman, Dave Urick, and Sid Jamieson. This is an interview rich with history and the great camaraderie that’s become part of the game of lacrosse. 

If you enjoy this episode and want to hear more, you can support the

NEW BOOK!
Inside the Recruiting Game: Insights From College Lacrosse Coaches
-available for FREE on the JML Training App at:
https://jay-mcmahon-lacrosse.passion.io/checkout/79608
-And available on Amazon.com as an Ebook and paperback

Link to the FREE JML Mini Course-now with a FREE defense course taught by Lars Tiffany and a FREE Mini goalie course taught by Kip Turner- on our own App: https://jay-mcmahon-lacrosse.passion.io/checkout/79608

Check out our Patreon page with the link below:
patreon.com/GetTheLaxScoop
And take a look at our new virtual storefront here:
jml-online-store.company.site

Link to Video of the Week:
Master The 5 Best Dodges From the Wing!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_7LDOcQQ6Q&t=88s

Blazing Shots... on the Run!
https://youtu.be/XiptPlM63oQ

Check us out...

On YouTube @jaymcmahonlax23
On Instagram @jaymcmahonlax23
On Facebook @: facebook.com/jmcmahonlax23. Page name: Jay McMahon Lacrosse

SuccessHotline with Dr. Rob Gilbert on Ironclad & Apple Podcasts

Brian Cain Daily Dominator on Apple Podcasts

Jon Gordon Positive U. Podcast on Spotify

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol Dweck, PhD on Amazon.

Show Notes Transcript

Our first guest, Steve Koudelka, established the Lynchburg men's lacrosse program as a national powerhouse in his nearly three decades on the Hornets’ sidelines. Since his arrival prior to the 1997 season, he has recorded an overall record of 337-145, including 24 winning seasons. Lynchburg has advanced to the NCAA tournament 16 times with our guest at the helm and he has hoisted the Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship trophy nine times. He was named the USILA Division III Coach of the Year in 2015. Coach K. played his college lacrosse at Gettysburg where he was a 2X All American goalie. He went on to become an assistant at his alma mater before taking the head coaching job at Lynchburg. 

Our next guest,  Brandon Childs, became only the fourth head men’s lacrosse coach at York College. In 12 years at York, he’s led the Green and White to a record of 176-51 and a .796 win percentage. The Spartans have advanced to the NCAA Tournament 8 times, including the school’s first trip to the “Final Four” in 2022. And with our next guest as their field general, York has advanced all the way to the National Quarterfinals four out of the last six years. He has been named the CAC / MAC Coach of the Year six times and in 2018 he was honored as The Division III Coach of The Year.

Brandon Childs was a 2X USILA All-American attackman at Lynchburg while he was also a Scholar All-American as a senior. 

In this first installment of our interview series, Steve talks about his relationship with his mentor, Hank Janczyk, who was the head coach at Gettysburg for over forty years. Koudelka is also thankful for the strong and positive influence of Fred Opie, a Team USA defenseman and Syracuse All American, who was the defensive coordinator at Gettysburg. 

Coach Childs discusses his early days in lacrosse, making the case for what he calls playing on the best U13 team of all time while growing up in Baltimore county. Listen in and see how your team stacks up against his roster! He also describes his playing days at St. Pauls and his warm first impressions of Coach Koudelka and his staff at Lynchburg.

Steve rounds out the segment describing a classic for the ages, “Top Star” summer camp where, as a young coach, he was able to learn from and interact with legends of the game such as Jim Berkeman, Dave Urick, and Sid Jamieson. This is an interview rich with history and the great camaraderie that’s become part of the game of lacrosse. 

If you enjoy this episode and want to hear more, you can support the

NEW BOOK!
Inside the Recruiting Game: Insights From College Lacrosse Coaches
-available for FREE on the JML Training App at:
https://jay-mcmahon-lacrosse.passion.io/checkout/79608
-And available on Amazon.com as an Ebook and paperback

Link to the FREE JML Mini Course-now with a FREE defense course taught by Lars Tiffany and a FREE Mini goalie course taught by Kip Turner- on our own App: https://jay-mcmahon-lacrosse.passion.io/checkout/79608

Check out our Patreon page with the link below:
patreon.com/GetTheLaxScoop
And take a look at our new virtual storefront here:
jml-online-store.company.site

Link to Video of the Week:
Master The 5 Best Dodges From the Wing!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_7LDOcQQ6Q&t=88s

Blazing Shots... on the Run!
https://youtu.be/XiptPlM63oQ

Check us out...

On YouTube @jaymcmahonlax23
On Instagram @jaymcmahonlax23
On Facebook @: facebook.com/jmcmahonlax23. Page name: Jay McMahon Lacrosse

SuccessHotline with Dr. Rob Gilbert on Ironclad & Apple Podcasts

Brian Cain Daily Dominator on Apple Podcasts

Jon Gordon Positive U. Podcast on Spotify

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol Dweck, PhD on Amazon.

Jay:

It's time for get the La Scoop, a podcast bringing you all the people and stuff you should know. In the game of lacrosse, we take LAX seriously, but ourselves, not so much. Join hosts, big Dog and Jaybird, and the biggest names in the game. Brought to you by Jay McMahon lacrosse. That's J M L Skills, mindset, and LAX IQ training. Ron Doish, the big dog, was a collegiate football and lacrosse player at Brown. He was also an assistant lacrosse coach and the executive director of the sports found. and Jay McMahon, the Jaybird, a three time All-American Midfielder Brown. He was a captain of the US Junior National team and is the founder of J M L. And joining us in the studio, Steve gfi, who's collegiate lacrosse career statistics equals one goal against Dartmouth. Brought to you by Jay McMahon lacrosse. That's J M L Skills, mindset, and LAX IQ training. Helping the next generation cross players. Get to the next level.

Dawg:

Well, folks, it's a fun time of year because, the LAC season is in full swing and we're excited for another great episode of Get the LAC Scoop. Absolutely. We've got two fantastic guests. representatives of the high level of lacrosse. That's being played at the division three level. And, jam, I'm going to get us started with our first intro. Is that okay with you, Jay? I just want to ask you to run things started here. Jay

Jay:

go right ahead. That is

Dawg:

the script, by the way. So our first guest established the Lynchburg men's lacrosse program as a national powerhouse over his nearly three decades on the Hornet sidelines. Since his arrival, prior to the 1997 season, he's recorded an overall record of 337 wins. That's a lot of wins. Jay,

Jay:

that is a

Dawg:

lot of wins, 145 losses. He's had 24 winning seasons. Lynchburg's advanced the NCAA tournament 16 times with our guests at the helm. And he's hoisted the ODAC. Trophy. That's the old dominion athletic conference for any of you. Northerners the ODAC conference title. He's won that nine times. That's nine conference championships and 16 tournament appearances. And for all that coach, you get to be coach of the year once by the U S I L a, I mean, that's awful nice of them with those accomplishments, huh? Hell of an accomplishment in 2015 to be named coach of the year. Now In recent times, Lynsberg made their 11th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance in 2023 and turned it into the 6th NCAA quarterfinal appearance in program history and the 2nd in the last 3 years, so this coach just knows how to build consistent success. He was selected to coach the 2000 North South All Star game and was the past president of the U. S. Men's Lacrosse Division Coaches Council Executive Committee. He's currently the chairperson of the D3 Men's Lacrosse Championship Committee. Now, prior to assuming the head post at Lynchburg, At the young age of 26 years old, he spent three years as a grad assistant at his alma mater Gettysburg college, where he was a two time all American goalie he was inducted into the school's hall of fame in the fall of 2006. Now I think we'll get into this later, but Jay, you don't see many goalies. Attain that head coaching status because every goalie I've ever met in my life, they're just a little off, you know, they're not quite all there. So coach, I mean, not this guy, a tremendous goalie who had a tremendous career and then had the sensibility to also be able to lead a program to this kind of success. That's a unique lacrosse goalkeeping character that I hope we can explore. Now he hails from Long Valley, New Jersey. Where he earned a bachelor's and he earned a bachelor's degree from Gettysburg in 1993 and his master's from Western Maryland College in 1996, played two seasons of pro lacrosse with the New Jersey pride of the MLL, and was one of the 12 goalkeepers invited to try out for the 1998 U S world team. All that means that he was one of the best players of his era and has now clearly become one of the best coaches of his era. Please welcome. So the podcast head coach Steve Alka, coach. Hey.

Steve:

Hey. Welcome, welcome. Thank you. Thanks for having me. Thanks

Jay:

very much for, Hey, glad to have you on.

Steve:

Nice walk down memory lane there. I appreciate it. You know, we gotta,

Dawg:

we gotta treat you

Steve:

nice, coach. I appreciate it. Absolutely. Those are all the nicest things that have been said to me in the last, like, 48 hours. That was nice. Soak it all in.

Jay:

Now, our next guest is the head men's lacrosse coach at York College and is in his 13th year at the helm of the Spartan program. But we're going to back it up a little bit to his playing days at Lynchburg for Coach Koudelka, where he enjoyed a stellar four year tenure as an attackman for the Hornets. He was a two time U. S. ILA All American, while he was also a Scholar All American as a senior. He was a three time ODAC All Conference player for the Hornets, and in the fall of 2016, he was inducted into the Lynchburg College Athletic Hall of Fame. At the conclusion of his collegiate playing days, he began his coaching career as Koudelka. At his alma mater as he pursued his master's degree in educational leadership. He completed his advanced degree in May of 2008 and in May of 2009, he was named the lead assistant and offensive coordinator at Dickinson College. The Red Devils went 27 and 16 over his three years in Carlisle in 2012, he joined the Eastern University athletic staff as the head coach of their men's lacrosse program. He became the first coach to lead Eastern to a winning record in a season, and took Eastern to the MAAC playoffs in each of his three years at the helm. He finished with a 28 16 record and recruited several players who were critical, helping the school earn their first MAAC championship. Next, he became only the fourth, head men's lacrosse coach at York College. In 12 years at York, he's led the green and white to a record of 176 to 51, and that's good enough for a

79.6.

Jay:

Winning percentage, which is quite impressive. The Spartans have advanced to the NCAA tournament eight times, including the school's first ever trip to the Final Four in 2022. And with our next guest as their field general, York has advanced all the way to the national quarterfinals for the last six years. He's been named the C. A. C. And Mac coach of the year six times. And in 2018 he was honored as the division three men's coach of the year. Please give a very warm welcome to head coach Brandon Childs. Brandon, thanks for joining us. Yeah. Thank you.

brandon:

Appreciate

Jay:

it. Awesome. Well, I'm going to get us started here with coach Gidelka. We love to kick things off talking about the very beginning of our guest lacrosse journey. So please tell us in our audience where and when you first started playing lacrosse and who were the people in your life who may have guided you towards this great game

brandon:

of ours.

Steve:

The first time I ever saw the sport was we actually lived in Wilton, Connecticut for a little bit when I was elementary school, and then we eventually moved down to Houston, Texas. So there was about five years there that lacrosse did not exist down there at that time. Right, but Wilton was a big, big lacrosse team, right? Yeah, they were a powerhouse at the time. And we moved back there in middle school. And, and that was the first time I ever really played lacrosse was in seventh grade. And then in my freshman year in high school we moved down to New Jersey and that's where I spent all four years of my high school career at a high school called Westmore central proud proud Wolfpack. And we Yeah, that was really kind of where I fell in love with the sport. Coach King was was my lacrosse coach and had a great group of friends that we all really loved playing. And, and that was really kind of where I fell in love with and kind of gained a passion for it. I also played soccer and basketball in high school as well. So that was like the third sport of the year every year. And with a great group of friends and we had a really good time playing and, and then obviously, you know, from high school decided just to stick to, to lacrosse in college and, and was very fortunate to play for you know, for one of the most legendary coaches in the game and Hank Janczyk and coach Janczyk was, was, is will always be a mentor of mine as a, as a college lacrosse coach and, uh, just was phenomenal at. at really kind of probably even bringing out more of the passion that I had for the game and be able to play for him, go to school there and then also coach with him for three years was was really, you know, the start of what I was, what I've carried on for since I got to Lynchburg. That's great.

Jay:

Yeah, we usually kind of, we'll ask who was your biggest coaching influence and it sounds like it was coach Jancic.

Steve:

Yeah, that's awesome. He was awesome. And we had, you know, Fred Opie who was a world teamer from Syracuse at the time was one of our assistant coaches. Right. I remember coach Opie is still, you know, someone that I stay in contact with and just an awesome, awesome person, you know that's a great player, but yeah, that's awesome. Even better person and was at a college as a college kid. That was a pretty instrumental time in your life. And to be around those, those people was, was pretty phenomenal for me. That's awesome.

Dawg:

Good stuff. How about you Brandon? Like what, what were some of your early memories in the game and where, where did your passion really develop for the game of

brandon:

lacrosse? Yeah. So so different from coach. I started at a really, really young age. I have a older brother who's three years older than me. I grew up in Baltimore. And so lacrosse was just, just more popular than, than baseball or soccer. And so, you know, in all honesty, I think my parents just saw an opportunity to have both the kids out of the house at the same time. And so my brother started at eight, which meant I started at five. And so so yeah, I've been playing for a long time. My, my earliest memory of falling in love with the game. My dad, when, when we were young kids a coworker of my dad brought home a VHS tape. Of the Syracuse pen final four game where Gary gate does the right. So I still have the VHS tape and as a kid every Saturday I'd wake up early and I would get a bucket out and I'd wash my cleats and watch that game. And then the next year, my dad taped the the 89 final four when it was on tv, and then he did it again in 90. That's awesome. So the 89 championship game between Hopkins and Syracuse at that was a classic. Watched it a million times and then Right. In 1990 Yale played Loyola up at Rutgers. That game was in a monsoon and it went to overtime and Loyola was the underdog and they won. And so that was like, my upbringing was just watching those games and going to college games in Baltimore. I was fortunate enough. I actually think I might've played on one of the best 12 year old lacrosse teams of all time. Yeah. And you know, it's interesting. There's some really good players. Benson Irwin, who scored the game winner in the semifinal in 2005 for Johns Hopkins was a teammate of mine. And Conor Ford, who was one of the best shooters in Johns Hopkins history was a teammate of mine. And then ultimately I ended up at St. Paul's in Baltimore. And so I had a lot of good coaching as I was coming up as a kid. Just the foundation stuff, like the fundamentals and things. And so guys like Mitch Whiteley at St. Paul's and Rick Bercotto at St. Paul's and, and even guys that, you know Ben Strutt played at Princeton and was legendary. He came back and helped coach and Doug Knight who graduated from Virginia was on our coaching staff at times. So these were young guys that came back who had just played in college, who. Kind of just like we were college kids side. Some like legends who knew how to, who knew how to teach us as kids. And so. I was really spoiled upbringing when it came to to, to lacrosse, but my dad who didn't play lacrosse kind of generated that love for it by bringing those tapes home, to be honest.

Jay:

Right. That's great. Well, we get a lot of Long Islanders on here and I'm from Long Island, but Ron is from Maryland. So he's loving that you're, you're a Maryland

Steve:

guy.

Dawg:

So Jay, you beat me to the punch, thank God. We finally have some Maryland representation on here. I mean, what an amazing guy to listen to. Collection. Unbelievable. I, I love it. I can, I can support this. I would love for us to, to do a little I, I'm sure no one else out there thinks that their 12-year-old lacrosse team was better than yours, Brandon. So that right after Brandon's was pretty good though. Rosters, I've never heard anybody say that I played on the best 12-year-old team ever. I love it. I love that you could back it up there. Who's gonna disprove you, you know? Yeah.

brandon:

I dunno. I dunno.

Dawg:

That's awesome. Jay, Jay, this is always there. There was also a moment there where I realized. That coach Childs was apparently a little kid watching VHS tapes as he was becoming passionate about the game. Those were the years we were playing cross check. So we now are officially the old guys on the podcast. That was a little bit of a moment there for me. We play that. I'm thinking we're contemporaries, you know, no, no,

Jay:

no, no. He's a little kid. We're out there.

Dawg:

We're getting gray. Hey so coach Childs, it's kind of cool. Obviously. That you're now a head coach of a great program, establishing the kind of record that your head coach coach Koudelka built at Lynchburg. So tell us about how your journey to Lynchburg and the impact that. That coach had on your coach. I thought somehow he'd work you in there for those influences in the game, but that, I don't, I don't know how to skip through that. So I'm going to ask you a question that actually leads them there for you, pull out a little positives from them there a little bit

brandon:

after, after that long introduction you gave of how great he was. I didn't want to build up his head any bigger than it already was. So but yeah, you know, the, the recruiting process was great. I was pretty focused on Division three schools. Again, I had some good mentors in high school that kind of led me to that path. And, you know, I'm fortunate. I have a great set of parents and they were, you know, they kind of guided us through it appropriately, I think. And I knew I wanted to go south and I wanted to study journalism at the time. And so I just kind of narrowed my list down. And my dad and I were actually just touring through schools in Virginia. We got something in the mail about like private schools in Virginia week or something along those lines. And we were coming from Hampton, Sydney over to Lynchburg in the same day. And We got like twisted around in Lynchburg. This is like pre, you know, so PPS and and we were late and coach waited a really long time to just accommodate us. And that was a lasting, you know, he, he, he obviously had better things to be doing than waiting for us, but. In short, the answer is just the people. And when I went on my overnight visit the guy who ended up hosting me was in my wedding. And so was a younger brother who wasn't even a teammate of ours. And so it was the people that I met along the way. Lynchburg's really special in that regard from the lady who checks you in at lunch, Betty Spencer, to the secretary in the athletic department. Kelly, like. All the way down to the, the, the kid who hosted me and then the coaching staff and the coaching staff in general, just not just coach Koudelka, but TW Johnson, who was, was awesome. And then Mark Patron they just, it was just the people at the end of the day that That was the differentiating factor for me. And yeah, I guess I'll just leave it at that. But, but yeah, there was just something about the people and knowing that they were going to be good influences on me and it definitely put me at ease. And I think also my parents as well. That's great.

Jay:

Good stuff. Yeah.

It's time for a brief JML commercial break. Mentioned earlier, we put together a Patrion page for the show. This will allow those interested in supporting our efforts to do just that and to get exclusive access to unedited interviews. Big discounts on JML online courses and merchandise from our new online store. We have big additions to the JML course catalog. Now we have a defenseman's course taught by none other than UVA head lacrosse, coach Lars, Tiffany, and to goalie course taught by former two time All-American and two time national champion and UVA assistant coach kept Turner. You can check out our Patrion page with the link that is listed in the description, as well as taking a look at the online store again, with the link listed in the description. We will return to our interview in progress.

Jay:

And we love talking about these lifelong relationships that are just so common in the sport of lacrosse. And so, Steve, for you, you remember when Brandon was first coming on as a recruit? And then, like, what were the characteristics as he was developing as a player? That you started thinking, you know, this guy could be some, you know, serious coaching potential, like leadership qualities, things

Steve:

like that. What do you remember? Punctuality was not his his strong suit, as you could tell by being not an hour and a half late on that visit. But you know you know, quite honestly, I mean, I think I remember talking with coach Whiteley, you know, who, who was very instrumental like, like coach Childs had said. And you know, and for us at, we were just really starting to, to You know, really develop our program and, and, and we're very fortunate, you know, I know we'll talk about recruiting later, but at the time there were people like coach Whiteley, there are people like that, that were they didn't really care if it was division one, division two or division three, right? That they wanted the best fit. For the young man and the family. And we were very fortunate, you know, Brandon was, it was a really, you know, really good player on a really good St. Paul's team. And you know, we thought he could help us out. And I think Brandon, you know, proved that right away when he got to campus, he was you know, probably from watching all those VHS tapes. I mean, he was just super, always super smart to the game, was always a step ahead of. most of the players that he got to play against. And then also really had a great way of uniting and bringing his teammates along, you know, he was, he always let us in assists and was kind of that guy, you know, that stood behind the goal and, and really made everybody better by what he did. And so you know, his junior year was the first year we ever won a conference championship. And that was a really big deal for, for the school and for our program. And. And he was 100% one of the biggest catalyst to that success. And so, you know, those were kind of the, the fun memories of you know, Brandon, I mean, just a competitive, competitive person you know, did not like to lose. And, and, and that always sat well with me as a head coach, because I loved those kind of guys. And and just would, you know, willing to, you know, came in probably 145 pounds, soaking wet or whatever he weighed and, and left. You know, much bigger, faster, stronger and just as talented as anybody, any other attackman that, that we've had really in the program's history. So just, just really awesome to, you know, to have those early years and have people like Brandon and, and some of his best friends were not only really good lacrosse people, but, but just great people in general that you could kind of set this foundation for this program on. And no doubt about it, they're, they're the bricks and mortar of this place for sure. Right.

Jay:

That's great. And Brandon, as we mentioned, and coach just mentioned you had a very successful playing career at Lynchburg and I did see you were the assist leader, all time assist leader I think up until 2016. So pretty impressive. And now tell us what it was like playing for Coach Cadel Cup back in the day. Feel, feel free. You know, like I said, we've got that editing software. Oh great. If we need to take some

Steve:

stuff out, there

brandon:

we go. Yeah, I've yeah, I mean. It was a complete blessing to be honest with you. You know, I, I think when I got to Lynchburg you know, I just think coach was a very complimentary style. In terms of being a mentor than my parents were. And I'm going to use the word demanding coach Koudelka was demanding, but I say it in, in the best form of the word demanding, it was appropriate and it was needed and it was and at the end of the day, like he just brought out the best in every one of us because he wasn't willing to accept anything less than the best in any one of us. And so practices were, were tough but fun. And you know we were, we were taught to be prepared and we were taught to call back when you go down and bring the right energy and just all the stuff that you can apply to anything you do in life, we were taught. But, but there was this like. You know, even to this day, like coach, nobody loves like sports more than coach Koudelka. If I had a dime for every time we were at a recruiting event and he and I are watching together and there's like a, there's a group of kids playing like basketball on a court over on the side and He's actually watching the kids play basketball. He's not even watching the lacrosse. And I'm like, taking as many notes as I can. And he's like, do you see this kid over here? You know, he's like but that's just how he is. He loves sports. And so I can remember as a player after practice, like one of us hopping in the goal and like a box goal, he would, and us playing hockey with like a tennis ball in our lacrosse sticks. And coach doing it with us and like keeping score. And all of a sudden it was like, coach was an 11 year old after being this, like, you know, demanding, you know, coach who grew up idolizing bear Bryant to now all of a sudden he was just like one of us for 15 minutes and kind of the best way I could describe them. And you know, to this day. I've got three boys of my own. And if one of them gets like a, a Jersey, like I'll take a picture of it and send it to coach, you know, like, you know, Abel's got a Larry bird Jersey for Christmas. And he's like, he's like one of the first people I think of because he has such an appreciation for those things. And so when I was playing there, it was just this really awesome blend of like demanding the best from us, like loving us through it. And kind of like, not really being one of us, but being able to relate to the fact that we all love sports. And it really hadn't changed our relationship from then till now, you know, hasn't really all changed that much. So if the recruiting was still the way it was, we would go to a college and stay in the dorms and be playing, you know, floor hockey or pickup basketball. But unfortunately, now we just tell stories about that at like a Chipotle or something in between games.

Jay:

Right, right. I saw a coach on the sidelines of a scrimmage up in Northern Virginia and I was, that was a lot of enthusiasm. Definitely high energy, which

brandon:

is great. Yeah, I

Dawg:

bet. Hey Brandon, when did you, you know, did you always grow up thinking I want to be a coach or when did that, what was that process for you? And and, and what's the journey been like for you to get into the coaching field?

brandon:

Yeah, Yeah. So, you know, it wasn't like growing up. I wanted to be a coach, to be honest. I didn't even really know that that, you know, like they didn't do that for a living. Like I said earlier, like one of the draws to Lynchburg was I wanted to do journalism. And then I got there and, and we had a senior on the team who was from Maryland and he was sports management major and just interned with the Ravens. And it's like, okay, well, sports management seems pretty cool. The summer going into my sophomore year. I had the opportunity through coach and coach Jancic to work top star lacrosse camp. And so I went up there and worked the camp that summer and talk about an amazing experience. Like you had Sid Jamison there and Dave Uric there and Ray Ross stand there and. Jim Berkman there and, and you're watching these guys do, I can picture Jim Berkman riding his bike out to like field 12 with like, you know, his book, like all ready to go. And I'm, I'm watching it and I'm listening to coach Rostan tell stories and everybody's laughing. And it was the perfect blend of like loving the sport you love, but being able to like be competitive and be driven. And, and it just looked like, man, like. And so that's probably that summer when, you know, it all changed. I went back to top star, you know, I think I went to top star from that summer all the way until it ceased to exist all the way through. And that's where it all kind of started. And, and and that's when I decided I was going to do it. So, you know, from that point on, I was getting a sports management degree and a master's in educational leadership, but most of what I was doing was happening under coach Koudelka's watch between, you know, four and six. That's great.

Dawg:

So, so Guys, nothing Jay enjoys more than me going off his proposed question script. Oh God, here we go. Here we go. Watch

Jay:

out guys. So. Harper on the

Dawg:

coffee. Steve, I'm, I'm wondering what, you know, you clearly, you know, Brandon talks about, you know, your energy and your enthusiasm, not just for coaching, but for competition. And you've stayed at one place all these years and clearly still have that passion and that energy. What's kept you there at Lynchburg? No. How many people these days stay at one place that long? And then what, what still motivates you to get out there and do this every day, day in and day out? What, what do you still love?

Steve:

Well, to go back to your first question about the, the longevity, I think we moved around, we moved around a lot growing up you know, by, I mentioned you before. You know, there's probably four or five moves before Wilton, Connecticut. And so I had a brother that was seven and a half years older than me. And my, my parents rule was when we got to high school. My dad would stop transferring places and it was not in the military. I worked for a company called Union Carbide and and that would kind of put the pause for till he graduated high school. And so Houston was for a while. My brother graduated, went to Rice. And then we, then we moved again and moved again and finally settled in on New Jersey. So. You know, my grandfather, I had a grandfather who was a long time principal at Tom's River South High School down the Jersey shore. And you know, every day at lunch, he would leave school, walk down to broad street and go home with, with, with his wife and have lunch and then walk back to school and go through the afternoon activities and watch the high school football game on a Friday night. And there was something that like kind of was Brandon was talking about going to top star camp. I remember just going to visit, you know, my, my pop up and. Just thinking like that was like the coolest thing, you know, that he'd been the long time principal and and, and just to, so the longevity of that was always something that you know, when I took the job at Lynchburg, I didn't, it was part time the salary was not great. My parents were wondering what I was doing, but but I believe now I've been here 28 years and this is a pretty cool stat. I was actually telling someone this today that. I've, I've worked under three pre only three presidents and only two athletic directors. So, University of Lynchburg, Lynchburg College is now the University of Lynchburg is kind of, There's a ton of coaches in our athletic department that have been here a long time. And so I think that there's something here that kind of keeps you here. And it's a place that you can kind of be who you want to be. And at big dreams that we, you know, we want to win a national championship. We've been to that game one time. Our baseball team just won it. Our women's soccer team has won it. Our men's soccer team has played for it. So We have some pretty high aspirations here and it can be done. And and it's a, it's a great place to live too. It's a great place to raise a family. And I think from my standpoint as being a son and thank God I had sports. Cause that was kind of your way into these different, you know, different towns you lived in and to know people. And that's probably, you know, where some of the competitive fire was. Cause you, you kind of had to prove yourself, you know, every couple of years you moved to a new town and all right, who's the new kid, you know? And And, but, but for my own children, we have three children and I, I've always, I've, I've cherished the fact that they've been able to grow up in one town, one community and and you know, they don't, they don't think that all the time, but I do think the delayed gratification of that might really pay off. And I'm glad that they call Lynchburg home. Yeah.

Dawg:

Thanks for sharing that coach. That's great. That's awesome. What about, so what about this guy, Brandon Childs, 28 years, you know, You've been there and to see him grow into a coach who's now breathing down your neck, Steve, you know, having the same kind of success, getting to these, you know, NCAA quarterfinals, pretty consistently there at York. What's it like watching someone, you know, one of your players grow into that, that kind of a coach.

Dear the answer to that intriguing question, please tune in next week as we continue our series. With coach Brandon Childs and coach Steve Kudelka.

Ron:

until we meet again, here to, hoping you find the twine. We're signing off here at the Get the LAX coop. Thanks again so much. We will see you the next time.