"The problem with the defense [in Saturday's loss to Johns Hopkins] was me," men's lacrosse head coach Bill Tierney said.
It was an ironic statement, seeing as how it came from the mouth of a man who was recently inducted into the United States Lacrosse Hall of Fame as one of the greatest coaches the sport has ever known.
On the surface, a lacrosse coach blaming himself for his team's ineffective defensive performance sounds self-deprecating, something only a coach without the foggiest idea about what he is doing would admit. But, on the contrary, the statement highlights Tierney's superpower status in the world of college lacrosse — and the enormous responsibility that such a position entails.
Tierney has made Princeton's defense almost too good for its opponents — so good, in fact, that other coaches, Hopkins' included, make their players study it religiously before facing Tierney's Tigers. Defense is so central to Tierney as a coach that when Tierney's defense fails it is almost as if he has failed.
"It's like a big chess match," Tierney said. "You have to stay ahead of the curve. Our kids are doing everything they're told to do, so it's not our personnel that concerns me; I'm concerned with making sure that we coaches are doing whatever we can to stay ahead of the game."
A legend
Tierney's untouchable status in the lacrosse world, in other words, has come with the price tag of having to constantly tweak and adjust his team's strategies, defensive and offensive, in order to stay one step ahead of his ever-scrutinizing rivals.
Interestingly, sometimes staying ahead of the game means slipping back to a strategy from previous years.
"Like I always tell young coaches," Tierney said, "lacrosse is like fashion: if you hang on to it long enough it will come back in vogue."
It cannot be disputed that ever since Tierney took the reigns of Princeton men's lacrosse in 1988, the Tigers have become major trendsetters in the lacrosse world.
Tierney inherited a Princeton program in 1988 that was a ghost town in comparison to the dynasty it has become today. The team had not won as much as an Ivy League title in 25 years and had won just five Ivy games in the four years before Tierney's arrival.
Just three seasons later, Tierney's Tigers found themselves at the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament.
Not a shabby resume
Since then, Tierney has guided Princeton to six NCAA championships, eight NCAA championship games, nine NCAA Final Fours, and 10 Ivy League championships.
This season, therefore, it made sense for Tierney to say something he never could have said 15 years ago: "To a lot of people winning the Ivy League championship would be huge, whereas for us, we think it's great, we really do, and we set that as our first goal every year, but that's just another step on the way to a bigger one. After all, if you can get to the national championships, why not try?"
During his Princeton career, Tierney has won 170 games and lost just 54. His 204-61 overall record includes three seasons as head coach at Rochester Institute of Technology. He also spent three seasons at Johns Hopkins as assistant coach, helping the Blue Jays to the 1985 and 1987 NCAA championships.
Tierney's ability to win close games in the NCAA Tournament is legendary, and his 25-7 NCAA Div. I Tournament record is the best in history.
Despite the fact that Tierney has coached 20 first-team All-Americas and 57 first-team All-Ivy League players, greater knowledge of the game of lacrosse is not the only quality Tierney strives to pass on to his athletes.
"When kids graduate I always want them to have learned something more then just lacrosse out of this whole thing," Tierney said. "I like to think that athletics do more than that. I think that was what last year did for this year's team — it made them realize that when your back is against the wall you can do more than you think you can do."
A look at the dynasty that Tierney created from the rubble that was Princeton lacrosse in 1988 teaches the same lesson.
Read More
Preview: No. 3 men’s lacrosse plays No. 5 Syracuse in NCAA quarterfinals
Hayk YengibaryanShould the Tigers beat the Orange, they will advance to the Final Four for the first time since 2022 as they look to win their first national championship since 2001.
Should the Tigers beat the Orange, they will advance to the Final Four for the first time since 2022 as they look to win their first national championship since 2001.
Six for six: men’s and women’s track and field both complete triple crown
Luke StocklessMen’s and women’s track and field each won the Ivy League title this past weekend, capping off a dominant season in which both teams won the triple crown — a feat not seen in 14 years.
Men’s and women’s track and field each won the Ivy League title this past weekend, capping off a dominant season in which both teams won the triple crown — a feat not seen in 14 years.
Nation’s No. 2 miler Mena Scatchard ’25 to transfer to Stanford for graduate year
Luke StocklessThe Tigers’ most decorated distance runner ever has decided to use her final year of eligibility at Stanford after graduating from Princeton this May.
The Tigers’ most decorated distance runner ever has decided to use her final year of eligibility at Stanford after graduating from Princeton this May.