Saturday Jul 10, 2021
BILL TIERNEY - Men’s Head Lacrosse Coach, U. of Denver
Meg and Dr. G interview the University of Denver’s head Men’s Lacrosse coach, Bill Tierney. Coach Tierney’s lifetime accomplishments include thirty-six years of coaching, seven national championships, twenty-seven regular season and conference tournament championships, and being the second coach to achieve over 400 wins as a coach. Additionally, took the Johns Hopkins Men’s Soccer team, who previously had one winning year of the past thirty, to the NCAA championship in 1986 with no prior experience coaching or playing soccer.
In this episode, Coach Tierney discusses the relationship between teaching and coaching and how his background as a K-12 Physical Education teacher impacted his coaching style. He discusses his experience coaching football, soccer, and lacrosse, and how he has collaborated with his students and athletes over the years. Dr. G asks Coach Tierney about the differences he noticed between coaching football and lacrosse, and Meg wonders about how he stays at the top after all these years.
Coach Tierney speaks about his lifetime in coaching, insights into coaching and teaching strategies, and how he advocates for and encourages his athletes to become educated and defines quality coaching. He discusses what it was like to win the National Championship in 2001 with both of his sons playing on the field, and what it was like to be inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame shortly after. He further discusses what “family” can mean within the context of a team sport, and shares some of his go-to personal mantras. Coach Tierney also describes his four pillars of success, and how to remain humble after so many winning seasons.
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TIPS & TOPICS
- Teaching as related to coaching
- Changing norms between generations
- Failure as a part of growth
- Defensive coaching
- Failure as a part of sports
- Coach Tierney’s background and story
- Coaching techniques: X’s and O’s, physical, social/emotional, psychological
- Coaches’ impacts on athletes
- Teaching strategies
- Four step teaching method
- Differences in football, soccer, and lacrosse from a coaching standpoint
- Virtual coaching as part of the COVID-19 pandemic
- Teaching as related to coaching
- Importance of academics as a student athlete
- Impactful coaching
- Attentional focus and shifting
- Respect for experienced coaches and teachers
- Scoreboards as a measure of success
- Ethics of sports and athletic admissions
- Mindsets where coaching is not effective
- The few reasons to cut recruits
- Giving recruits and players a chance
- Recruiting during the pandemic
- What “family” is in coaching
- Personal mantras
- Staying humble in light of success
- Coaching family members
- Lessons from winning and losing
- What success means
- Team leadership
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