Best friends build champions

Jupiter coaches began their long association while playing at Duke

BOCA RATON — Danny Loftus and Nick O’Hara never expected to be here this long.

After finishing an All-American career at Duke in 2008, Loftus was recruited soon after to become the head coach at Jupiter, which had started its club program just three years earlier.

“It was one of those things where I thought I would do it for a year to pass some time,” Loftus said.

O’Hara — his best friend and fellow All-American teammate at Duke — decided to join the staff after coming down to help Loftus move.

Nine years later, the Warrior coaches are still here and have transformed the program into one of Florida’s elite. On Saturday night, Jupiter reached the mountaintop, topping Bishop Moore 11-8 to capture its first state championship in school history.

With the victory, the Warriors became the first public school to win a FHSAA boys lacrosse state title.

“We told these guys ‘I don’t think too many people outside the locker room thought this was possible at the beginning of the season,’” O’Hara said. “It’s unbelievable and all the credit goes to the kids.”

New York natives, O’Hara [Orchard Park] and Loftus [Syossett] didn’t know each other in high school, but competed against each other in the Empire State Games. The duo became best friends at Duke and were starters on the Blue Devils’ 2007 NCAA runner-up team.

After arriving in South Florida, the duo quickly began to build the Warriors up. The team played in the club division for the first three years before beginning FHSAA play in 2012. That year, Jupiter reached the state semifinals, falling to eventual state champion St. Andrew’s, 10-7.

The two placed a strong emphasis on the youth development program, working the Jupiter Tequesta Athletic Association (JTAA) and their club team Blue Devil Elite — now Palm Beach Revolution.

For the first eight years of their tenure, Loftus was the head coach, while O’Hara served as his right-hand man. In the fall, the two decided to swap roles with O’Hara taking the reins atop the program.

While the situation may seem odd at first, the two have essentially been co-head coaches from the start. The duo’s tight-knit relationship after rooming together in college and now living down the street from each other helped make the transition seamless.

“We’re best friends,” Loftus said. “We’re willing to tell each other whatever is on our mind. I think that’s what allows us to be successful coaching together for so long. It’s not only winning. Winning is great, but winning with your best friend is something special.”

As the clock wound down on Saturday night at Boca Raton High School, the players stormed the field, throwing their sticks in the air as they mobbed each other near the goal. The veteran coaches hugged on the sideline as the two celebrated their achievement and success — nearly a decade after taking a chance in South Florida as a pair of 24-year-olds.

“Our families are close,” O’Hara said. “Both of our wives were here, hopefully our kiddos are asleep...[This] has turned into a lifetime of hopefully continued happiness down here.”