The Comparisons for Michigan Lacrosse

As The New Kid On The Block, how Michigan lacrosse fares on the varsity level will remain a mystery until they hit the field this Spring. However, we aren’t without a few reference points. There are a couple types of schools that Michigan fits nicely into, either short-term or long-term, so let’s make with the comparisons.

The New Guys

Though there are a couple other programs on the way in Marquette and High Point, the Wolverines will actually beat them to the punch in terms of actually getting on the field. I’ll compare Michigan’s situation to each of the last few programs to attain Division 1 varsity status, including one not too far from Ann Arbor.

The University of Detroit Mercy Titans joined the D-1 ranks for the 2009 season, competing as an independent. They went 0-11 in their first season, and didn’t earn their first win until their eighth contest of year two, against Presbyterian. Matt Holtz, the Titans’ coach, came to Detroit from the MCLA program at Michigan State, and several players left Michigan State to help form his first team. Detroit’s team, by most measures, was basically a decent MCLA team, with some additional D-1 caliber players. For that reason, it might be the best comparison – though Michigan has been no “decent” MCLA team. U of D joined the Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference for the 2010 season, and they finished 3-12 that year, and this past season they finished just a 6-10 record, but were regular-season co-champs, and were just one game away from playing in the NCAA Tournament.

Jacksonville University is a more recent addition to NCAA Division 1, completing their inaugural season in 2010. Like Detroit, they competed in their first season as an independent, . They finished the season 6-7, but that included a win over #18 Denver (about whom more in a bit). They obviously had much more success in their debut than did Detroit, partially due to an impressive recruiting class. They had down to go along with their ups, however, losing a game to Bellarmine (who Michigan’s club team actually beat in 2010). They joined the MAAC this season, and were about as good as UDM.

This past season saw the entry of Mercer to the Division-1 ranks. They were bad. Really bad. “Detroit beat them by 16”-level bad. Their lone victory came against D3 Carthage, and the closest they came to a D-1 win was a 6-goal loss to an awful VMI team.

So where does that leave Michigan? Encouragingly, probably better than any of these teams started in their first season, given all available evidence. Michigan has a bigger name, a lacrosse history (albeit at the club level) and much better institutional support than any of those have likely received.

The Football Powers

Several schools with BCS-level football have longstanding lacrosse history, so they aren’t apt comparisons to Michigan. Maryland, Syracuse, UVA, Duke, and North Carolina, you’re out. That leaves just a couple Big Ten schools – Ohio State and Penn State – and a small assortment of others. Rutgers, Notre Dame, Air Force, Army, and Navy all have lacrosse programs as well. The service academies aren’t a great comparison either (and really, nor is Rutgers, as an East Coast school that’s historically terrible at football, they aren’t the best Michigan doppelganger themselves).

That leaves three schools we’re pretty darn familiar with in Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Penn State. None have a great tradition of success in the game, though Penn State is looked to remedy that with a new coach, hiring Jeff Tambroni away from Cornell. He went 8-6 in his first year as a Nittany Lion, and is expected to bring PSU to new heights.

Ohio State has made the NCAA Tournament a couple times, but not advanced out of the first round. Their current coach, Nick Myers, was hired from within, though he was a varsity assistant, a completely different situation than a longtime club coach’s first foray at the varsity level. It will be interesting to see going forward whether the Buckeyes get a bit more institutional support – and the Showdown in the Shoe event hosted before the football spring game each of the past few years indicates they’re going in that direction.

The most optimistic comparison then is Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish made the 2010 NCAA Championship game before losing to Duke. They struck a serious blow for the Western schools in reaching the next plateau of lacrosse at the D-1 level. The Fighting Irish added the sport in 1981 (the most recent football power to do so), and languished as a partially-funded squad for several years. They are now fully-supported, have a beautiful venue, and made the NCAA quarterfinals again this year. They are making a claim to be in the second tier of lacrosse programs nationally.

Michigan has some similarities with the other football powers. They’re hiring an unknown quantity at coach (at least in relation to the D-1 level) like the Buckeyes, and have a similar academic profile to all three schools – though, with Notre Dame, they stand above the other two. Thankfully, the most successful program seems to be the most apt comparison. Michigan and Notre Dame are both excellent academic institutions (more important in the lacrosse community than it is in, say, football), they’re the two most recent additions, and Michigan seems to be making a full commitment to the sport, including with a dedicated facility.

Michigan 2012 is not going to be on a level with Notre Dame 2012 (or probably even Ohio State or Penn State 2012), but going forward, the Irish seem to be a pretty solid indicator of Michigan’s potential as a program.

The Non-Hotbed Guys

There is another group of schools that Michigan shares similarities with: teams from outside lacrosse hotbeds of the Northeast and down through Virginia and North Carolina. Again, the service academies aren’t great comparisons to Michigan, so Air Force won’t be a factor here.

As of 2011, the poster child for teams outside of traditional lacrosse areas (aside from Notre Dame, as covered above) is Denver. In the summer of 2009, the Pioneers wanted to take their program to the next level, so they hired legendary coach Bill Tierney away from Princeton, where he had won six NCAA Championships in nine years. In his first year at the helm, Tierney improved the team’s record from 7-8 to 12-5, won the ECAC Lacrosse Conference, and made the NCAA Tournament. By year 3, he’s in the Final Four and the Pioneers are looking to complete the West’s dream of a non-hotbed champion.

Michigan’s blueprint, at this point at least, doesn’t not appear to include “hiring one of the most proven coaches in the game” (though there are some bogus Dave Pietramala rumors floating around the nether regions of the lacrosse interwebs). That means that Denver’s path to success has been different than Michigan’s will be, at least to start.

Other schools not in hotbed areas not covered in previous sections include Robert Morris, Bellarmine, and Presbyterian College. All three are small private schools with fewer than 5,000 students, and aren’t great comparisons to Michigan. Hopefully, Presbyterian’s example (dropping varsity lacrosse within 5 years) is not one that will be repeated.

Best Guess?

With a program already in place (albeit a club program), there’s a capable group of guys who aren’t going to be stars at the D-1 level, and even some who turned down offers to play club ball at Michigan. Add in a successful first recruiting class, and you have a pretty good nucleus to start with. Michigan won’t be Detroit 2009 or Mercer 2011 bad this Spring.

That said, they won’t be world-beaters either. Nobody on Michigan’s club team has lost more than two games in their college careers, and they’ll definitely be taught a lesson in humility. For Michigan’s purposes, it is more important to get exposure for the program and lay a foundation for the future than run up a gaudy record in year 1.