Feb. 8, 2016
Penn State Men's Lacrosse
Spring Sports Media Day
February 8, 2016
Head Coach Jeff Tambroni
Opening Statement:
We're excited to be back for spring media day; it means our season is back in full effect. We have had an extremely productive offseason and preseason. Starting back from Augusts 23rd when we started and returned back from the summer. We felt like we were really motivated coming back this Fall because of a disappointing year last year in a lot of regards. We have a young group that is very eager to return to campus and represent Penn State again in the 2016 season with heavy hearts and high expectations. We're excited to be back in the season and have a little bit more normalcy with the regular season under way and having our first win under our belt. We're excited to get the rest of the season going.
Q: Speaking about the game yesterday, could you have asked for a better start, not only with the win but with the amount of players that were able to score.
Jeff Tambroni: We met as a coaching staff this morning to debrief the win and you hit it right on the head. You never really know what to expect when you don't have any film on your opponent from this year. We really didn't know what to expect other than what they did last year. I thought our guys brought a lot of energy from both ends of the field. We certainly made some mistakes but I thought we recovered very well and that we played with a great deal of emotion. I think that helped us get through some of the tougher stretches. Everyone had a chance to play yesterday which is a feel good moment. You go through those things at the beginning of the season where you have the chance to get some of the anxiety wiped off and get some experience under their belts and I think it will go a long way on both ends of the field.
Q: Can you talk about the feelings after the win?
TJ Sanders: After every win there is going to be some good feelings. A win is a win and that is how we look at it. We want to get a win every week and that's our main goal. We did what needed to be done and obviously that's a good feeling.
James Chakey: Just to repeat what TJ (Sanders) said. A win is a win and it's always going to be a good feeling. I thought we played together with a lot of emotion and energy. It's good to see that during the game and then after, when it all comes together and you see the scoreboard, it's a great feeling.
Q: Coach, you mentioned some of the disappointments from last year. How does going through that experience maybe help them to understand what happened last year versus what you can do.
Jeff Tambroni: The process is what we've tried to instill into our guys and we've talked a great deal about the importance of the process. In any great success there is always going to be a moment or several moments of struggle or adversity that make the triumph important or real. When we were going through the season last year, it was our first year in the Big Ten Conference and the first year for Big Ten lacrosse so we were certainly excited to enter that level of competition in the conference.
We were excited to be in the 14 playoff but we felt that we left a lot of opportunities on the table and we've stepped back from that. I think it is important for our coaching staff and our team to realize the mistakes and errors of judgment that we made as coaches and as players but also the opportunities that we have in front of us. It was important for us to realize the potential that we have, we were so young, and to remain confident in the overall macro- of the process. We've had great leadership.
I look at James (Chakey) and TJ (Sanders) and we've had great, great leadership. I don't think you overcome any bit of adversity or any bit of struggle unless you have guys who truly believe in the system and believe in the each other. That trust has carried us through the summer and into this fall and now into this season. I am hopeful that is part of the process and we can recover quickly and continue to go through this year with the great understanding that it's not going to be perfect but that's not what we signed up for. Hopefully from the lesson we learned last year, we can continue to learn each and every year and it will pay big dividends as the spring continues.
Q: As a player going into the offseason with that taste in your mouth, how much harder does that make you want to work and get back out there to be better.
TJ Sanders: Last year was a disappointing year, we're all competitors and no one wants to finish off the season like that. It definitely keeps you hungry and you want to get back to work right away. I think that's what we did this fall and in the preseason. We're all ready for the season and we're all excited.
James Chakey: I would say the same. We ended the season with a bad taste in our mouth but now we get a new slate. From day 1 as soon as we got home in the summer we really got after it and got after each other. We made sure we communicated throughout the offseason. Heading into the fall, we really got after each other, and not just ourselves which was really beneficial this year.
Q: How important is it for you guys to encourage each other and maybe challenge your other teammates to get better?
TJ Sanders: I think it's really important. When you know you have all of your teammates behind you it definitely makes things a lot easier. It's nice being a part of something bigger than yourself and I think that's very encouraging and motivating as a player.
James Chakey: It really benefits the team also. You always say you're working for that spot (in the lineup) but without younger guys or guys pushing you, you can't really sit in that spot for too long and feel good about yourself. So it's always good, especially after this last game. We saw younger guys really compete and work hard. From scoring goals and running the whole field like Kevin Fox, James Burke, and a couple of other mid fielders. You see guys like that that really push the older guy and younger guys and make everyone better. We really need team players like that.
Q: With a number of games on BTN and the ESPN family networks, how big is that going foreword when you have those big games televised?
Jeff Tambroni: I think if you look at it from the big picture, it's great for the sport of lacrosse. If you look at some of the premiere sports like basketball and football that are world wide they are shown each and every week with national coverage. Lacrosse has been a little behind that and knowing we have the kind of coverage that we have now I think a lot of it has started with ESPN and now Big Ten Network.
It's significant for us in a number of different ways, for the sport of lacrosse, the growth of lacrosse and the exposure that we will receive. Also for Penn State and our growth, it provides the families that can't travel to state college the opportunity to watch their boys and teammates play. It also provides more of a recruiting advantage for us within the Big Ten and in the larger scope of college lacrosse. Last year we were hoping it wasn't just going to be a blip on the radar screen because the Big Ten really wanted to promote it.
Knowing that they followed up in year two with the same amount, maybe a little bit more coverage, speaks volumes about their support for the sport of lacrosse but also for the growth of lacrosse. We're really excited about the opportunity. I think it's a thrill for our guys to compete and play on TV. That certainly doesn't change what you do on the field but I think it's great for the growth of the sport and Penn State lacrosse as well.
Q: On that front for all three of you, what was your initial take away from Year 1 in the Big Ten. How much did you enjoy it, how much do you feel that it helped the program grow and what did you think overall?
TJ Sanders: I thought it was awesome. In the big picture, being able to play in a major conference like the Big 10 is pretty cool. With the increased coverage and other perks, basically everything was a step up. Being the first year in the conference is always something you can say you were a part of which is pretty cool. Its definitely an exciting time for lacrosse and I think for all of us it's exciting to be able to be a part of it.
James Chakey: Definitely, it's something you dream of as a little kid, playing in a big time conference like the Big Ten and being a part of a lacrosse team for the first time, having lacrosse as a big ten conference, and even having the tournament. We we're fortunate enough to get the fourth spot in the Big Ten tournament last year and compete in it to represent Penn State. It's something you dream about from the time you're a little kid to the day you step on campus so it's awesome.
Going into year two of the Big Ten, what's the biggest thing that you learned last year that will allow you compete better against teams like Maryland and Johns Hopkins?
Jeff Tambroni: Consistency is probably one of our greatest takeaways. Each and every week the completion is stiff. It's not just that the teams are that good. When you're playing in the Big Ten, you're playing conference rivals that will always be prepared and they are extremely well coached. They will be excited to compete and play for something a little bit more. It's the chance to play in that conference tournament, the chance to win the Big Ten Conference and last year, the chance to win the inaugural Big Ten tournament. We've stepped back as a coaching staff and tried to look big picture for that as well and just try to do as good of a job as we can even in the preseason. We were making sure that we are in a good position, both with the teams we've scheduled but also with the health of our young men by the time we get to the Big Ten season.
I feel that we have a great schedule, very, very competitive, we will know who we are. I think it will be a very accurate look at who we are by the time we get to the Big Ten schedule. Also, we want to maintain some health. We want to make sure that in practices every week we do our best to cater to some of our veteran players. I think we finally have some veteran players at key positions that we need to make sure they are in a position to do what they can do on the field. That consistency is going to be a coaching staff and player product of our environment of practice schedules and we will do a little bit better this year with the knowledge of our takeaway last year.
Q: Do you expect the conference to get a little more competitive as more and more kids play lacrosse and there are more and more good players in high school? Do you expect college lacrosse to grow and get more difficult to win in?
Jeff Tambroni: I think lacrosse in general will continue to be more competitive, I don't know if that's just going to be a Big Ten thing. There is a huge buzz about the Big Ten right now and I think it was because it's brand new and anytime something that comes out and is brand new it is generally more publicized and talked about because of the exposure we have, we have all benefitted from that greatly.
I think the experience of a Big Ten institution, socially, academically and athletically will be as much a part of that product in the growth of that product as anything. So I think the short answer is yes. But I think the growth of the lacrosse is creating competition everywhere: Big schools, small schools, Ivy League schools, including big ten schools. But I think the experience that we can provide just makes us a little bit unique. In the sport of lacrosse there's just not a lot of schools like us, a Penn State, a Michigan, an Ohio State. I think a lot of young student athletes are looking at the overall experience and are taking away a greater benefit.