S3 E32. Pearls of Wisdom for Lacrosse & Life: Insights from Bryan Kelly, A Compilation.

Join hosts Big Dawg and Jaybird with this compilation of their May 2025 interview on 'Get the Lax Scoop' as they sit down with lacrosse luminary Bryan Kelly, six-time MIAA champion and four-time Coach of the Year at Calvert Hall High School. Bryan shares insights from his playing days at UNC under legendary coach Willie Scroggs, details the creation of FCA lacrosse, and recounts the unforgettable moments from his undefeated 1991 National Championship team. The discussion also touches on his transformative coaching experiences, the importance of process-oriented training, and his tips for developing young players. The episode wraps up with humorous impersonations and the camaraderie that defines lacrosse. Tune in for a blend of history, coaching wisdom, and light-hearted banter.

00:00 Introduction to Get the Lax Scoop Podcast

00:59 Interview with Bryan Kelly: Lacrosse Legend

01:53 Formation of FCA Lacrosse

05:32 The 1988 U19 USA Team Experience

09:07 Brian Kelly's College Lacrosse Journey

14:58 Coaching Insights and Reflections

20:09 Early Coaching Days and Transformative Players

21:02 The Rise of Torpey and His Impact

21:48 Recruitment Stories and Coaching Philosophy

24:05 Calvert Hall's Championship Journey

27:50 The Turning Point in Coach Kelly's Career

31:40 Challenges in Modern Lacrosse and Listener Questions

35:23 Fun and Memorable Coaching Moments

38:31 Wrapping Up and Final Thoughts

NEW BOOK!
Inside the Recruiting Game: Insights From College Lacrosse Coaches
-Available on Amazon.com as an Ebook and paperback

Donate to Harlem Lacrosse Summer Camp:

https://www.harlemlacrosse.org/gmvs2025

Links to training videos:
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

Jules Heningburg: https://thelaxlab.com/

Check out!... Coach Tintle's Lacrosse Barn:

https://g.co/kgs/eXedCXf

SuccessHotline with Dr. Rob Gilbert on Ironclad & Apple Podcasts

Brian Cain Daily Dominator on Apple Podcasts

Lacrosse Charities Mentioned in S2 E36:
https://www.4thefuturefoundation.org/

https://www.harlemlacrosse.org/

https://15forlife.org/

Transcript

0:00

It's time for Get the Lack Scoop, a podcast bringing you all the people and stuff you should know in the game of lacrosse. We take lack seriously, but ourselves, not so much. Join host Big Dog and Jaybird and the biggest names in the game brought to you by Jay McMahon lacrosse. That's JML skills, mindset, and lacks IQ training. Ron Doglish, 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 Foundation. And Jay McMahon, the Jaybird, a three time All American midfielder at Brown. He was the captain of the U. S. Junior National Team and is the founder of JML. And Joining us in the studio, Steve Grisolfi, who's collegiate lacrosse career statistics equals one goal against Dartmouth brought to you by Jay McMahon lacrosse. That's JML skills, mindset, and lacks IQ training, helping the next generation of lacrosse players get to the next level Hello everyone and welcome back to the show. We're so glad you're joining us for this interview series with six time MIAA champion, and four time coach of the Year from Calvert Hall High School in Baltimore. The great Brian Kelly. There were so many great points to this podcast that we've decided to put together an episode dedicated to this three part series entirely on its own. For those who love a little lacrosse history, BK went to the University of North Carolina. And for three years, played for the legendary three-time NCAA Championship coach Willie Scroggs. So we get into that and we discuss Brian Kelly's 1991 Undefeated National Championship Team. Considered one of the best of all time Coach Kelly also discusses so many great points on how to develop young players and how to coach them. So sit back, relax, and enjoy all these pearls of lacrosse wisdom. We will kick it off with Coach Kelly discussing how FCA lacrosse was formed and the part he played in it. So in 1992 Okay. Was the first time we all went out to Veil and we had that miracle on the mountain with the FCA team and we beat the green turtle. Yeah. And we were a bunch of rag tags. It was myself and like George Gly. We were the only two, like the, and Steve pta, that's it. We only had three defenders and then we had some high school kid, and then we had my brother, Frank and some other guys. But I think we were the only team that wasn't out there overly partying. And we played the gates and and pet all those guys on the green turtle. We were out there too. Yeah. And we lost in the championship to Mount Washington. And, but that was the first experience of FCA. Really? That's so fun. And it just. Came and started growing. And then we did these little programs. And then, believe it or not, my wife and I started the cl, the local club in Maryland, FCA. Okay. Because we would take all of our kids to veil on these national teams and they would get this experience, but then they would come back home and they would kind of like the mountaintop experience of impact, just kind of with withered away. And so we came up with this idea of starting the club and just to try to really have an impact on kids and being in high school, you just saw like. These kids need it more than just lacrosse.'cause sometimes lacrosse is your whole identity and you're, it's like your God, it's just not a good God, you know? And then, right. These guys through FCA, it, it, it gives you the foundations of, of Judeo-Christian values and how to play one way to play drug and alcohol free. You know, the importance of, you know, building your house on a firm foundation and, and so forth. And so we helped start it from 2012 to 14 and then I got out of running it and then I just been coaching my son's teams, so I gotcha. That's cool. Good deal. Good background. Just sounds like Brian's Vail experience was slightly different than ours. Yes. It was good for him. Oh my god. We could have used a little, little detox. Yeah. We could have used the little stewardship. A little come to Jesus would've been nice too. Oh my. You'll get it. I got it later in life. I always, I always say though, that tournament was. The most fun, no doubt. And some of the best lacrosse I ever got to play, it was no doubt. I mean, those teams were just stacked right at McCabe Kisser. It was unreal. It was you know, it was, you know, you had MAB paints, you had like, you know, you had team Colorado was great to, to Green Turtle, to, you know, Mount Washington. It was, it was just so much fun. Thanks for, thanks for mentioning the New York Athletic Club team and the New York Athletic Club. Yeah, yeah. Uhhuh Uhhuh. They usually lost in the first round though. No, I'm just kidding. They, they were, I think we made the semis now. You guys were always great. It was, you know, it was, it was a battle of who can last the longest, you know? Right, right. Exactly. Guys. It was, it was just, it was. So different. And, and now I'm going out with my seventh grade son's team to Vail. Oh man, that's awesome. So they still have the Veil Shootout. That is awesome. Awesome. And it's, it's just for, you know, kids more than it is for the adults, but that they still have adult and they still do it. So we, every year we take a team out to Vail, so it's still That's great, great Experie. It's such a beautiful setting in the, in the summer, you know, I've been there in the winter, but God, it's beautiful in the summer too. I love it in the summer. Yeah, I agree. I agree. Well, in all seriousness, Brian, it's just another aspect of the way you've led young people in the game and use the game of lacrosse to teach a lot more than than stick skills and extra man. Next. Coach Kelly discusses a topic near and dear to my heart, the 1988 U 19 USA team that we both were a part of, and which won the gold medal in Adelaide, Australia. So now we get to probably the. Most difficult part of the show for me. Brian, I, I'm not sure if you're aware, but the only reason Jay had you on this show is so he gets to yet again talk about his membership on the U 19. Of course national team, this is the Warped, which Jay finds away mine virus that Ron has. He's, we've had about 60 episodes and we think there's one where Jay hasn't somehow found a way to weave in. So it's become a joke 30 years ago. I mentioned it one time, and dog like blew his gasket. I was like, you know, we had on, you know, like. I can't, I can't remember who it was, but Doug Care. I'm like, dogs. I can't believe you're mentioning that, Doug. I'm gonna mention it. So then after that I was like, every time I'm gonna mention it. So what isn't the reason, Ryan, Jay, lemme ask my question for God's sake. Well, don't make our guest think that that's why he's here. You moron. That's a good reason to be here. It was a great, in all seriousness that you know, that was quite, read the question as it's written. Please. I'm not reading your damn question. Jay. When you, when you think about the guys that were on that team, first of all. Knowing them, some of many of them myself. What a group of characters. And then but then also character on the lacrosse field. Those were a group of players who came to define the next four years of college across and beyond. Yeah. And so tell, just tell us about what that, how did you get to be on that? Like what was your journey to get onto that team and then talk about some of your highlights of that experience. The Calvert Hall contingent I was, was strong. It was great. We all had a tryout at the Hill School in Pennsylvania and. You know the guys who were coaching, it was coach Tiering was one, coach Shriver and oh. Shriver from Bo, you know, BK initiated the contact. Yeah. And and guy Whitten, coach Guy Whitten. Yeah. And so you know, there, there were so many great players. Doc, doc Doty from Garden City. Can't forget. Doc Doherty was, yeah. He coached the defense and talk about a character was, he was awesome. I mean, we had a blast. I mean, it was like we were fortunate enough to make it, they could have picked a lot of other kids and there was just so many good players out there. It was the first time they ever did it. You know, and just being a part of it, you're still friends with these guys for life. I think about. You know, I'm watching I have a son at Georgetown and I'm watching Georgetown Villanova and Keith Moe's sons playing for Villanova, you know, and I'm like, oh man, it's Mike. And we all talking, and, you know, I see Towers that was on the team, and Mark NuGen and Chris Colbeck and Michael Heifer, and were all Caler Hall guys with me that were on it. And there was like four Garden City guys on it. You know, so it was just it, it, it, it was just a great experience for me personally. And just, and it was great lacrosse. You know, we had so many, you know, from Pat McCabe to Matt Panetta, you know, obviously Jay Mickey Vodi. We just, Jerry de Lorenzo the greatest character of all times in the goal of being, oh, Jerry d. I mean, it was, we had a lot of fun. We probably had too much fun, you know? And then we had to buckle down. Like we, we played Team Canada and we were like, it was, I think we won by two or maybe one. And then we were like, all right, we got it. Let's go. And then we, we, we rolled them the next time we played'em. So it was good, right? But we, we had a blast. It was great. And then, you know, Brian, talk about how that, it's gotta be such obviously an awesome experience. You're representing your country and, and traveling to Australia, but then as a player, right, the leg up that gives you heading to Carolina. I mean, you gotta go there. Not as the typical you know, college freshman. Or was that between your freshman and sophomore year? It was, we, we had our freshman year after freshman year, Carolina. It was right after our freshman year. Oh, got it, got it. So, lemme reframe my question'cause that doesn't make any sense. Go ahead, restart Ron. Alright, we'll that out. I'll restart. So, so I'll, I'll, I'll put it this way. Jack. So, so Brian, then you, you're, you know, tell me about what it's like playing on that junior national team, which is obviously a great experience. You're representing your country, but also as a player, you're playing with the best players in the country every day. You're covering some of the best offensive players every day in the country in practice. And what's it like going back to Carolina in your sophomore year? What did that do for you as a player? Going back to chapel Hill? I mean, it, it, it was nothing but positives that it helped me a ton because you got to, you experienced some of the best players every day in practice and, you know iron sharpens iron and I think it gave me definitely a leg up going in when you're, you're competing against the, the, the, the top players in your class. And, and practice. And then as we play together, you know, you pick up things, you learn a lot, you know you know, playing with the shady and then Lebo and the guys like that, two guys at UUVA that were great players and just with Pat McCabe and, you know, you just really, you, you, you took things from each player of what they did and just like tried to emulate it to your game. So it was nothing but a positive experience. I definitely think it helped me become a better, a better player. And it was also learning from Doc Daughty a different type of style defense that I was used to. So I really took a, a lot and learned a lot from him from a defensive perspective. So it was there, there, there was not one negative experience I could say about that trip. Here, Brian Kelly discusses his days as an undergrad in Chapel Hill at UNC. So what was, flash forward to your senior year, what were, what were the difference makers for that undefeated 91 national championship team at Carolina that you were a part of? What really defined that group? I, I would say was a hell of a team. Yeah. It, it was a team like I would say the, the 88 team that I was on as a freshman. That was the most talented team I. Played with it. Carolina unfortunately ran into sch smaller Cornell, and he, he just was unreal. Kind of like your experience against Marilyn run into a hot goalie and, and that happens, you know, and Yeah. Mm-hmm. They, they, they, we went home early and, you know, that year I felt like we had the talent to win it, but in 91. Again, it was kind of like Marilyn this year with like, not a lot of stars going in. No one really thought we were great. But Dennis Goldstein, you know Timmy's younger brother, who's a senior with me that year he was the offensive player of the year. He was just, Dennis was one of those guys that was really good at everything. He wasn't like great at anything. He just did. He could score, he could feed. He just was tough. And he did that and then super, super solid, you know, maintained possession, like, you know, everything like a master. Like if you watched him play, you'd be like, not popping off the screen, but you would look at the statue. He's like, God, he was three and two. He was four and three. You know, he was that guy and he just could end a game. And then defensively we had Graham Harden. He was my roommate and he was great. God rest his soul. He was unbelievable. He covered the number one and he was the defensive player of the year, and he was outstanding. And then, you know, midfield, it was super, super intense too. You know, he coached us, was that our freshman year at Brown? It was his older brother. His older brother. Yeah. That was boy. Oh, that's right. That was Boyo. Right, right, right, right, right. Yes. Graham was out here. Yeah, right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Graham had great hands. He played hockey and you know, now you can't take the ball away, but Graham could take the ball away and I, I made a living off of Graham'cause he would get the ball on the ground and I was good at it, right up ball up. So, you know, I led the team in ground balls and that was completely because of ground. Oh man. He just would just get the ball on the ground and I would get it. Yeah. And then but I think what set us apart was. We rode really well. We had a great riding team. We would score three or four goals off of rides. We played five attack men. You know, we played three midfield units. Fortunately, I liked that we only played three download defenders, but, you know, because I didn't like to rotate out, but Right. You know, we also rotate, and that could be demoralizing when you're scoring goals off a ride, you know, it's one thing, you know, you don't clear it. It's another thing that they get an immediate goal. You know what I mean? I remember that from that team. They were, it's like a, just a million people playing, you know, like you said, you're playing three midfield, you're playing five attack men. Yes. And it was just like a swarm. I mean, it was like, forget about it. Yeah. And Coach k Carmen, he had one rule, like.... And Coach k Carmen, he had one rule, like if you don't ride, you don't play. And so, like if guys weren't riding hard, they came off and he put another guy on. Yeah. And you know and defensively we, you know, we weren't the biggest group. We just played great team defense. And then we had a guy named Andy Piazza in the Goal who was Oh yeah. Outstanding. And for me personally, I loved playing in front of Andy'cause he was the best communicating goalie I've ever played for in my life. Mm-hmm. Like, and I loved that'cause he, he was your eyes and ears and he was just, he was great to play with. So it was, it was this, you know, just, it was a team we won because it was just completely a team. Yep. That's great. Then tell us best team ever tell the, yeah, tell us about the young assistant coach. That's also a friend of the show who I think I, I, the last time we got to really hang out, Brian was at this guy's 50th birthday party. Yeah. Down at Chapel Hill. Yeah. So tell us about a young assistant coach, Joe Brushy went from teammate to your assistant coach that year in 91, and now of course. The very successful head coach of the Tar Heels. Right. Of course. You played alongside him for three years too, right? Yeah, he was great. I mean, you know, I love playing with Joe. He was one of the all time best defenders ever to come outta Carolina. And then he, when he came in and, and he took over the defense, you know, not obviously Coach Klarman became the head coach. Our senior year he was the defensive coordinator, so his hand print was in on it. But like, I'll tell you a little side story. So when Job first became. The defensive coordinator, you know, him and I talked and I told him, I'm like,'cause I was a senior, I was like, Joe, you just gotta rip me one day in practice and, and I'll just, we'll take it like, just rip me. And so to set the tone. And Joe's so nice. Like, he, he never really did it. He got on me as nice as Joe does. But you know, he, I knew he knew what he was doing and he coached us and it, and, and he had complete authority over our defense. And everybody, you know, Graham and I both played with Joe. We were one year removed, but there was that respect of knowing, like, he's our coach and what he says goes, and there was no question in that. And it was also great too, because Joe could understand and relate to us. And so yeah, you know, he, he did an awesome job with, with our defense and you know, and he, there's, it didn't matter. He was only one year removed. We all knew he was our coach and he was in charge. Mm, that's great. And that was the first year. That's a tough thing to do for, yeah. Yeah, honor, that was the first year of school. First year that Klarman was the head coach Was when you were a senior. Okay. Gotcha. And again, he did a, and was Scroggs the head coach right before that? Scroggs was my head coach for three years. So Willie brought all, it was all Willie's guys. He brought in and Willie was great. I mean, he, he, because I remember meeting Carmen in a recruiting. Meeting, he came to Garden City and he was not the friendliest guy in the world. No. He did not make any friends that day. I'll tell you that. I think that's, you know, I, I, we called him coach happy, you know, sometimes because, you know, but Coach K was great, you know, he was, it took me a while to you know, it was hard my first two years playing for coach, you know? Yeah. But then I, I learned a lot from him and it, it, you know, helped me. And he ended up being a really great coach, and he knew what he was talking about, and he really loved the guys, and he loved his players. And, and he was all about his, his guys, you know, type of guy, Uhhuh, but, you know, he was brutally honest. Right. Brutal. That's what I, brutally honest. Right. And that carried over to his recruiting. He was brutally honest. And you Right. You know, you knew what you were getting, I guess, with him. Yeah. You, you, you knew what you saw as what you got, you know, right. Now, what was Scroggs like? He's kind of a legendary guy. He was a legendary coach. I mean, he's one of the best coaches ever. Willie was very calm. But Willie, when he got mad, he, he knew he would let you play, but he ran a, a tight ship without many rules, you know, his rules were like, you know just don't be stupid, you know, type of thing. Yeah. But, you know, he, he was great in the riding and clearing game. He, he was very smart offensively defensively. He let Coach Carmen run the, the defense. I, I learned a lot from Willie. And he managed the game and, and he was one of the all time best college coaches to, to be, you know, I think he won three national championships as a right college coach. So he, yeah. It's funny, Jay listening, listening to that and remembering Dom's two rules. You know, and, and I think there is something to learn from these guys who kept it simple. You know, Dom's two rules, don't be late and don't be an asshole. Right? Yeah. Like, and, and you know, like, it sounds silly, but when you think about it, right? He's saying, be on time, take responsibility and be a good person. You know? Right. Don't be a jerk. And then, and then when he would leave, you know, practice, he'd say like, you know, take care of yourself. Take care of each other. You know, that was Yeah. Every day. That's what he'd say every time. Yeah. Yeah. And that's how, you know, Willie was, he, you know, you never wanted to be called into his office. You know, he, he was like, look it, I'm, I'm in charge. You know, like I make the rules. So like, if you cross it, you're, you're, you know, and you knew the boundary, you know? Mm-hmm. Right. He, he, he was, you know, he was a legend. He. He is a legend. He was just a he, he made, he built Carolina Lacrosse. Right. It was Willie Scroggs who, who created it. Yeah. So, yeah. Pretty cool. Another interesting connection and one that quite frankly makes us on this podcast feel a little old to say the least, and that is the fact that Brian Kelly coached Brown's current head coach, John Tope in high school at Calvert Hall. Here, coach Kelly discusses his experience with John Tope, the player. Now, another guest we had in the program was Brown's new head coach, John Tope. Yeah. And after a little research, we found out that his senior year was your first year coaching, right. As a head coach at Hall. Yep. So tell us, you know, what that was like and what, what a younger coach tope was like back then. That must've been fun. My first year, year, I remember, can't remember exactly what he said, but he was like, oh, you know, if it wasn't for Brian Kelly, I wasn't gonna go. It was something, I forget exactly what it was, but it was something big. Well, when Toury, my first year as the JV head coach was his freshman year, so I coached him his freshman year. Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I, he came in, he was this chubby fat kid, you know, coming in on the jv and he couldn't really run, you know, he was a little overweight, but he was, he had the greatest stick, he could get everything off the ground. And, you know, he made jv and then TOI just transformed himself in high school, you know, like Really? Yeah. And, and became a, a dominant player. And then, so my senior year his senior year I became the head varsity coach. And Uhhuh, you know, toury was a awesome, and, and at that time he was trying to figure out where to go and getting recruited and he ended up being one of the first guys to go to Ohio State. But. Corp's the guy, like if you were in a fight, you want him in the foxhole with you. Like Yeah. Right. And he was the player that just, he, he gave it everything he had. He was a awesome, awesome player. He played down low and he played pole for us. Yeah. He was pretty versatile. He tra, I mean he transformed himself and you know, he, he just is a guy like, you want K Hall to be model after, you know? Right. Like Brown's got themselves an absolute winner. Like, I love tours. He's, he's the best and what you see is what you get. He is, no. And he will he'll do an amazing job there. Yeah. We had Jamie Monroe on, and Jamie Monroe was the head coach of Denver and to was an assistant for him and he was like, you know, everyone says. People work hard and all this. He's like, no, I'm telling you like, you can't even believe how much this guy gets done. Like between eight to 10:00 AM on a Monday, it's like someone's whole week. Like the guy is a nut, you know? So there, there's just got an incredible motor right here. There's no one I enjoy more like talking to, like we, he's a guy who I call and we connect and we're, we're very close. Oh, that's great. And he is just he's, he's so smart and every, if you look at his kids that from high point that when they played, they always played hard and you watch Brown this year, they might not have had the results, but they played hard and he will have Brown on top. He'll, I, there's no question in my mind it's gonna take some time. I mean, I, Jay, I would, I would hope that the, the coach of the number one team in the country. Down there at Calver Hall is gonna be sending, you know, a coward hall long. You would think he'd get some on, give us some guys some boots. Film down in that neck of the woods. I mean, says he loves coach. Make a priority trophy. I think we're gonna remember that. Jack us the love We're gonna be watching. I'll, I'll, I, I'll share a story. We played stab this year and, there was a, our first game of the year and there was a kid on Stab team number. It's going Brown number. Yeah, yeah. Number 10. So I'm like, he played great against us. So after the game, I talked to the stab coach, his friend, and I'm like, number ten's really, really good. He's like, yeah, he was going to Air Force, but they, he can't go to Air Force for whatever reason. So he's totally, I, my first phone call was Toury. I was like, trp, oh, nice. You got, you gotta recruit this kid, number 10. Like, he's a great student. He is going to stab you. He's like, yeah, I know who he is. And then, and long story short, he started recruiting him. He ends up going to Brown, so, yeah. Nice. And that's the thing I share with kids. Like, you never know, like Yeah. As a coach, like I, if I, I see a kid that's really good. Like I got a text from another coach, college coach on a kid at Loyola High School. What do you think? I'm like, he's really good. You should recruit him. You know what I mean? Like but if that kid was a kid that I didn't, I. You know, treated our team with disrespect or something like that. I'm, I'm, I might have a different answer, you know, so. Right. I always tell our guys, you gotta carry yourself. You never know who's watching. You never know, and it could help you. Right. That's great. In this next portion, BK describes just how Calvert Hall won it all in the MIAA this season. Tell us what was special about this this Calver Hall group. You know, like we, we didn't have any five stars or four star guys. We were all a bunch of three stars, you know? It was just really, wow. Yeah, we had maybe two, four stars, a face off guy and a long pole, you know, going to Carolina. But no five stars. It was just, you know, look. We work hard. You know, we're the only school in the MIA that's won a championship that doesn't have a middle school. You know, our kids don't reclassify. Our kids are 17 and 18, maybe have one 19 here or there, but like our kids are normal age kids. Mm-hmm. We don't have that. So every bit of our success has come through failure. It's been five failures that I could go through of like how I, we built this program and how I've, you know, focused on things. But, you know, our kids work hard and they were in the weight room. Five, four days a week. And it was through a lot of hard work and I think we had great senior leadership and, you know, our kids just always found a way to win, you know, and it just was a really fun group to coach. You know, it wasn't an easy, you know, always easy. I mean, we had two losses, which I'm okay with, but there were two games we played absolutely horrendous in. And I felt like we were intimidated and afraid. And, you know, after that second loss of our season, the spading I shared with my wife, like, I'm either gonna lose this team or I'm gonna galvanize this team the next day.'cause I was infuriated with our effort and, you know I had son on the team and after that game of driving back, that poor kid had to hear, hear it all. Like I, every kid on the team's calling like, dad mad. Your dad mad? He's like, oh my. But we got, the guys took the challenge and then they just, we just played as a team, you know, and one of the kids. And then you beat them in the championship, I think, right? Yeah. We beat the two teams we lost to McDonna. That's sweet. And, and then we beat Spalding in the championship. Wow. And and, you know, and our, our guys were just, they just played hard and they worked hard and, and they, they really they, they, they, they were green. Like, so we have this thing where we worked with this company called Lead'em up in the green, gray, and red, and. If the gray sway, it's hard to explain, but if you're green, you're that great teammate and you gotta get the guys in the gray to be green. And if you gotta get reds or the guys that pull the kids down, and we didn't have any reds, we had all green. I, every kid was all, all in from all the kids that played to all the kids that didn't play. And I think, you know, our team's very process oriented. We never talk about winning. And our big thing we tell'em is to play with joy. And, and that's the greatest emotion you can possibly have. So we always challenge our kids to pick something to be thankful for and just go out and play with joy and just focus on the process and do your job. And, you know, the way we won the game against Spalding in the championship you know, our guys executed what we wanted to do to tie the game and, and in, in overtime. I. They just ran their own thing. You know, everybody thinks it was a play, but I tell'em, it's just our offensive set and they just took advantage of what the defense was giving them. And it was really fun though. It's, that's the best part about coaching, is when you see kids do it on their own, you know? Right. We run a read, react offense. I don't run plays, you know, you have your quick hitters, but I, I wanna teach'em how to read a defense and then once kids can figure that out, it's hard to stop. And Nice guys did. They did that all on their own, so I was super proud of'em. That's awesome. That's such great fundamentals too, like getting their mindset to the point where it's like, don't focus on winning. Right. Focus on running the offense, focus on the process and focus on having fun. Right. All that positive energy. In this next section, coach Kelly describes the turning point of his Hall of fame career, and I would add what he describes, what often makes or breaks a coach as far as whether or not he's going to succeed or fail in the coaching profession. I. In 2012 was probably, we were number one ranked team in the country and we played Conestoga and they were four in the country and we were loaded. I had Ryan Brown I had Garrett, apple, apple, Evan Connell. Wow. Steven Kelly. Like I had five PLL guys on that team. Like we were loaded and we ended up, we were winning 10 to five going into the fourth. And they started pressuring us and, and, and, and, and, and created havoc. And they got it to ten seven. And prior to that I started working with a sports psychologist because of the year before we lost in the championship and we kind of faltered a little bit and didn't like how he did it. So I started working with a sports psychologist and and it, he really helped me to understand the pro, like a lot of things. And so, yeah. I, mindset minute, Ron, we do this little mindset thing. We talk about the mindset. Ended up, that's huge. Losing the game. Kind of soga ended up winning in overtime and Oh, man, it was that. Like I wasn't, I was, so after the, the next day of that game, I, we had practice and I didn't practice. I, I, I had him write down on a piece of paper three things they were thinking about when the comeback came because mm-hmm. My guy who mentored me the most was Dave Huntley, who was my assistant, and he was brutally honest. Okay. So like, I would go into the coach's room and he would tell me if I stunk as a coach or if I did a good job. He is like, we did a good job. It was, this one's on the kids. Mm-hmm. So, make a long story short, they all get their tallies. They bring it to me. We tally up the things, the number three thing that they were thinking about when the run was coming was mm-hmm. What will lacks power and all those things would say, what would they say? Oh my god, that's great. The, the number two thing was the rankings and what will all my friends say? Yeah. What do you think? This is great for that to come out, right? Yeah. What's number one? What do you think the number one, number one thing they were thinking about? Don't wanna lose that maybe you might be mad or ju you know, something external. What will my parents, my parents say, what will my parents think? Oh my God. Yeah. Right. What will my pa That was the number one thing. So there's a study and if you ask the study, if you could ask a kid to pick one person to watch them play, who do you think they would pick? You'd think would be their parents. It's their grandparents. It's because grandparents have no expectations of them. They don't have that. Yeah. They just enjoy the lot watching em play. Right. Well, I shared that information with Dr. Spencer and he to said, Brian, you're totally outcome focused. Yeah, your kids are all thinking about outcomes. And so that's when we started really tackling process and I was outcome focused because when I started thinking like, I gotta win this game in order to make the playoffs, I get anxious and I get all this stuff. But when I started realizing I just gotta coach each quarter, each second, each moment, right? And that loss transcended our program to be since 2012. It's been all about the process and it's all everyday thing. You have to continue to retrain these kids' mind to be process, process, process. So very cool. I think that's something that's really important. The next 200 feet there, there's some saying in that, like, think of yourself as like a car driving down the road in the pitch black. You know, you don't need to see, if you're driving cross country, you don't need to see 3000 miles across. You just need to see the next 20 or 200 feet in front of you kind of thing. So yeah, a hundred percent. That was very cool. A hundred percent. Excellent. Love it. Love it. Yeah. So, so Brian. I, there's so many things from what you just said that I want to ask, but I I, I feel like I want to ask you what's, because I know you're gonna, well, I, I, I'll, I'll tell you what I, I'm hoping you'll do is turn this into a positive, but so many of the things that just said make me think about the things that are wrong in the game today. Oh, yeah. You know what, what's your sense of what we need to do better as people who care about the game and care about kids? And, you know, when we see what's happening, you think about your youth experience and you see what's happening in youth, and you see what's happening in club and the way that impacts your ability to try to build the kind of culture you want to build on your team. Well, we usually have a roving reporter who could not make it tonight, but he's great for listener questions. And we do have a few to wrap things up. Good. If you have a minute. Yeah, I got'em. One, one was from an email from a coach Andy Towers, and the question was, who's the best camp lacrosse team you ever assembled and played with? And would it be that team from Cornell in 1985? Yes. Yeah. So you guys were on the same team? Yeah, we were. It was great. And it's so funny'cause that the final four, this y weekend I ran into our coach Coach de Mayo at Oh really? At the final four. So we were talking about it. Yeah. We had a, we were pretty legit. Yeah, it was great. That's hilarious. With legendary Peter code there. And, you know, remember Peter? Yeah. He, I think he had Hil Gartner on your team and Flug. He gave me a few of the guys. Yeah, we had some players. Yeah, it was good. We had a good team. It was fun. That was a great camp. Yeah. That's awesome. And then I had a question someone wrote in I think it was George G, he said, you're a defenseman now. Please explain to me why all of your sons play attack. That's a really good question. You know, they just, they just, they naturally went that way, you know, and honestly, I think I, I love coaching offense. I coach the offense at Calvert Hall, so it's Oh, you do? Nice. Yeah, I've always been, I didn't know that the offensive end since probably 17, you know? Gotcha. So may, but they were playing attack prior to that. I just let'em play whatever they wanted to play, you know, and that's where they all kind of navigated towards. Good stuff. And this last one, we'll, we may include it, but we don't have to. But there's a rumor that you're really excellent at striking a pose. For example, you have one of the best poses of an Olympic sprinter that's ever been seen. Can you describe to us and to our audience what that pose is all about? It's probably something that we won't put this on. Tell dog what that was though. I, if I can explain it. Jay, it seems like you really got Coach Kelly there. I dunno what the hell that's all about. And I think we'll probably have to stop recording to find out. But it took you, it took us an hour and a half, but Oh yeah, you got Coach Kelly. A little nervous. Now he's unflappable. Except when you bring up the sprinter. Yeah, he's, he's unflappable. But you finally broke him down. Jay, just say I was really fast. No. Oh my God. It was hilarious. You'd have to, you, you'd have to take the recording off to be honest with you. Right. Let's take that off. We can take it off. Alright. Yeah. Now, now. Coach Kelly, we're gonna end this way. We're gonna do a coach impersonation off because my favorite coach impersonation to do is Coach Coddle. And I'd like to hear your coach Coddle. And then I'm gonna do my coach coddle and we'll let Jay judge this. Okay? Yeah,'cause I just, I think Coach Coddles sort of a caricature of himself and I, and I'd love to hear your coach Coddle. I, I can do shrives, Bobby do really well. God coddle, that would be tough for me. Really. Well mix it up. You could do Shriver then, if that's, if that's just you want me to do, I can do Shrives. Alright. Do you know Shrives? Oh yeah. All right. Alright, so I'll dohr. So, background story, Kevin Hunt was my player, and I was going in the to the officials before the game. Like everybody would just try to pound this kid. And I'm, I'm meeting with the officials and I'll do my Shriver invitation at the meeting. He, you know, when you meet with the officials before the game, usually the other coach stands off, but Shrives is listening the whole thing. And I said to the officials, like, you know, Kevin Huntley gets beat up. They're gonna come after him. Like just, you know, really just, if you can call it like, and then tribe's comes walking. He is like, bk, wait a second. Bk, I mean, it Hunts initiates the contact. I mean, he can't, he can't call that. I mean, come on, bk. And so that's my SHS invitation. That's what Taman do. They just, you know, running into people and then I'm like. Who, wait, what Attack man doesn't initiate the contractor or going the goal. He's like, well, mean, come on bk, lemme stop you let me interrupt you. That's great. Or lemme hear call limitations. Yeah. So this is my, oh, that's gonna be tough to beat. That was, that was, that was very strong. So I got to coach with Coach Breschi at Brown for a couple years. Okay. And, and I, we, we would always, you know, we had our way with with Coach Coddle at Brown for a, for a few years there. And so every time before the game, the little conversation, you know, during the pregame warm up, Hey, hi Ronnie, how you doing? I mean, I'll tell you, you guys are just a hell of a ball club. I mean, you know, and you always got a little something for us. Got a little wrinkle. You always got a little wrinkle for us. Well coach, but not this year. We're, no, I You always think like this was the year they were gonna beat us, right? Yeah. And I'd say, well coach, how, you know, you guys seem to be really coming together and playing well. Well, I don't know Ronnie. I think we're still trying to find ourselves, you know, I mean we're, I mean, we'll we're giving it the college try Ronnie, but I don't know why it's gonna be a tough one today for us. I mean, you guys are really strong. I think you, I think you got me. I think you got me. I think that's better. And he's just like, buttering it up.'cause you talked to the guys Oh my god. After the game and Oh, are so full of shit. Right. We never thought in million years we would lose you guys and Coach Co. Never did either. No. Oh God. That's hilarious. It's so, so true. Good. Well Coach, it was awesome to talk to you and thanks for giving us all this time. Really appreciate it. Thank you. Absolutely. It was great. It was, it was great. Really appreciate it. It really was on many levels. So friends, what a, what a tremendous job coach Kelly has done. Wrapping up. Jay, the 2025 college lacrosse season and another tremendous season of Get Let Scoop absolutely. And couldn't have thought of a better way to, to polish things off. So thanks a million, Brian. Thank you. And we will, we'll sign off from there. Until we meet again. Here's to hoping you find the twine. We're signing off here at the get the lax scoop. Thanks again so much. We will see you the next time.