MSU Lacrosse president Seth Clickner explains coach dismissal

Michigan State lacrosse, off their best season in MCLA history, fired head coach Dwayne Hicks and assistant Chris Cooper last night. Though it outwardly appears to be an indication that the club is headed in the wrong direction, club president Seth Clickner, a junior defenseman from Albany, N.Y., explains that’s not the case.

“This was an entire team thing,” Clickner said. “Michigan State lacrosse is bigger than one person. I can’t say enough good things about them.”

However, with a talented roster coming back next year, the Spartans are looking to take the next step from perennial tournament participants to national title contenders. That includes a change at the top.

“They’re just not right for us,” Clickner said. “With our personnel, we can reach an even higher level with a new coach. It’s not about making it to nationals anymore, it’s about winning it.

“We’re committed to winning, and that’s all that matters.”

Clickner says the team’s reputation as a casual club, rather than an elite athletic outfit couldn’t be further from the truth. Although the Spartans have fun, they’re committed to doing whatever it takes on the field to win. Adding a top coach is the next piece of the puzzle in building a serious program.

MSU is confident in landing a high-level coach. Though a few candidates are in mind, last night’s tweets announcing the departures of Hicks and Cooper were made with the intent to draw any other potential applicants out of the woodwork. The club expects to compensate the coach with a reasonable monetary package, and is advertising their program as a stepping stone to an NCAA position for qualified candidates.

Another piece of bringing the Michigan State program to the next level is talking to someone who’s done it just down the road.

“I talked to JP [Michigan coach John Paul]. He did what every program wants to do. He built Michigan into a winner.”

Paul also took Michigan from the ranks of the MCLA to the Division-1 level, something that’s not on the horizon for the Spartans. However, with a new structure to the coach’s duties (such as no longer being responsible for travel arrangements, which a current player’s parent will do for the time being), MSU is looking to take the next step from being a club or team, into being a program.