Tierney resigns, will coach at the University of Denver

In one of the most significant coaching changes in the sport’s history, men’s lacrosse head coach Bill Tierney announced Monday that he is leaving Princeton to become the new head coach at the University of Denver.

“I wasn’t looking for anything, but it just feels right,” Tierney said in an interview. “When I went out there, I wasn’t expecting that I’d be this excited about it. And then I get out there, and the people, the facilities, the opportunity for me at DU [the University of Denver] and for me in the lacrosse world in general — it was just a confluence of a lot of things that made it seem right.”

Tierney stands peerless among lacrosse coaches past and present. In 22 seasons at the helm of Princeton’s men’s lacrosse program, he compiled a 238-86 record, collecting six NCAA championships and 14 Ivy League titles along the way. He was the head coach of the U.S. men’s lacrosse team that won the 1998 World Lacrosse Championship, and he was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2002.

What truly sets him apart from many of his peers, however, is that he built Princeton’s reputation largely by himself.

Tierney won his first NCAA title in 1992, when the members of his first recruiting class were seniors. That victory was the beginning of one of the greatest periods of dominance in the history of lacrosse: Princeton won titles in 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2001, and it was the NCAA tournament runner-up in 2000 and 2002.

But his team struggled at times over the last seven years. Princeton last reached the NCAA Final Four in 2004 and failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament in 2005 and 2008.

In 2009, a diligent senior class helped the Tigers return to some semblance of their 1990s form. The Tigers finished this year’s campaign 13-3, split the Ivy League title with Cornell and advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals, where they fell to the Big Red. Princeton’s biggest accomplishment of the season was a 12-8 victory over Syracuse at Giants Stadium. Syracuse won the NCAA championship in 2008 and went on to repeat as champions this season.

“The 2009 seniors reminded me so much of my 1992 seniors,” Tierney said. “It was just such a tight group that really did things that were remarkable. We beat the national champs by four goals, and it wasn’t even that close.”

“What the 2009 kids did is they brought Princeton back to where it belonged,” he added. “And they did it with fun — with hard work, yes, but they did it enjoying themselves, loving one another — and they really made it a pleasant experience for me and all the other coaches. It rejuvenated me and probably gave me the confidence to take this job.”

Those memories will never be forgotten.

“Clearly the things I’ll remember most about Princeton are the people in the place, because that’s what’s always most important,” Tierney said. “I had a championship with my two sons on the same team. There are just so many memories, so many great guys, so many great players. I got to do that in a place where a guy like [Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism professor] John McPhee [’53] is one of my best friends and [former dean of admission] Fred Hargadon. You don’t get to do that in a lot of places.”

Tierney also said he believes that the challenges posed by Princeton’s tough academic standards — standards that aren’t faced by many of the players in the other lacrosse programs in the country — actually helped make the experience more enjoyable.

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“Having to search for better students than my peers, having kids turning a senior thesis one day and playing a game against Syracuse in Giants Stadium the next, giving final exams in hotels in Final Fours and quarterfinal games — all those things that were the struggles really feel worth it,” he said.

Tierney’s reasons for leaving are closely tied to his family: His son Trevor Tierney ’01, who was an All-American goalie at Princeton, will serve as his top assistant coach at Denver. And while Bill Tierney long had plans to retire to Denver, the job opening allowed him to speed up his move to the Mile High City.

“Helen and I have always thought about going to Denver to retire,” Tierney said to alumni of the team in an e-mail obtained by The Daily Princetonian. “Having seen me on the sideline this year, you know I am nowhere near retirement, but the chance to go to that spot ten or fifteen years ahead of plan while still being able to coach a great program is enticing.”

The Denver men’s lacrosse team, which plays in the ECAC Lacrosse League beginning next season, has been a Division I program for the last 10 years and has made a handful of trips to the NCAA tournament. Former Denver head coach Jamie Munro resigned on May 7 after a rough 7-8 season that also saw the dismissal of three players from the team in March for violations of team rules.

“Our goal is to win the national championship,” Tierney said, “because if you don’t set high goals, you don’t reach any goals. The big difference coming into 2009 Denver compared to 1987 Princeton is you’re talking about a really established program that’s been in the tournament. They had a couple of rough things happen this past year which precipitated this opening, but they’ve got good kids in the program and a lot of talent.”

In leaving, Tierney had nothing but good things to say about his time at Princeton.

“Be assured that there is nothing wrong with or at Princeton when it comes to the men’s lacrosse program,” Tierney said in the e-mail to alumni of the men’s lacrosse team. “I have and continue to receive the utmost in support from our administration, from Gary Walters our Athletic Director all the way up to Shirley Tilghman, our president. We have amazing guys in the program and continue to have very good recruiting classes.”

Tierney’s accomplishments at Princeton will never be forgotten. His famously nuanced defense has had a permanent impact on the game, in much the same way that former men’s basketball coach Pete Carril’s famous offense has had a permanent effect on basketball.

“The glory of Princeton comes in its standards,” he said. “It makes us all make a decision on whether we want to make excuses and bemoan the difficulty or drop out, or do we want to let it strengthen us and make us better and allow us to achieve some things that no one thought we ever could, maybe even ourselves. I think that legacy was carried through in the lacrosse program like it is the classroom, and there’s just so much quality there. It’s hard to duplicate, but it’s a very, very special place. I’ll miss that very much.”