Albany Times Union

Mentor keeping eye on Union

Retired coach watches former assistant lead Dutchmen in NCAA

- By Mark Singelais Schenectad­y

When Union men’s lacrosse coach Paul Wehrum retired three years ago, ending a Hall of Fame career, he knew he had a worthy successor in his assistant and former player Derek Witheford.

Otherwise, Wehrum said, he never would have left.

“In all honesty, I wouldn’t have left those kids unless I knew they were in great hands,” Wehrum said. “I told people I’d re-apply for the job before I’d let somebody I didn’t have faith in (replace him) and I had all the faith in the world and still do in Derek and his path.”

Using the lessons learned under Wehrum and leaving his own imprint, Witheford has guided the Dutchmen to the Division III NCAA Tournament quarterfin­als. Union (16-2), which set a program record for victories, will face Gettysburg at 3 p.m. Saturday at Christophe­r Newport University in Newport News, Va.

The winner plays either host Christophe­r Newport or York (Pa.) in a 3 p.m. Sunday semifinal.

“You can’t fill Coach Wehrum’s shoes, and I’m not trying to walk in them, because I don’t think many people can,” Witheford said. “I’ve learned from him. He was a great mentor, friend and father figure to me and I’m just trying to do what he’s done for this program, what he’s done for me and the kids in this program.”

Wehrum won 138 games in 13 years as the first full-time head coach in program history and

took the Dutchmen to their first five NCAA Tournament appearance­s, including two quarterfin­als. Before that, he coached the dominant Herkimer County Community College program to 403 wins over 24 seasons.

Wehrum said Witheford never needed to worry about replacing him because Witheford had his own identity since arriving on campus in 2007 as a defenseman from Wellesley, Mass.

“To be honest with you, he was his own man as a freshman,” Wehrum said. “He was doing things as a freshman that I hadn’t seen in a young man. His leadership on the field, his communicat­ion, his knowledge with the substituti­on patterns, which is really crucial in lacrosse now. We became close really quick.”

Witheford began his Union career as an engineerin­g student, but soon realized what he really wanted to do is coach. After he graduated in 2011 as an honorable mention All-american, Wehrum set him up with a job in England coaching club lacrosse teams for a year.

Then he returned to Union and spent seven years as Wehrum’s assistant. They enjoyed great success together, but Wehrum said this year’s team has the best chance of reaching the first NCAA semifinals in program history — and even the national championsh­ip game on May 29 at Rentschler Field in East Harford, Conn.

Though he spent a couple of months traveling in Italy, Wehrum has attended Union games and also watched the Dutchmen from his home in Little Falls. That’s where he’ll be watching this weekend. He’s already bought his ticket to the national title game.

“This is the best Union lacrosse team I’ve ever seen,” Wehrum said. “The things Derek and his assistant (Marcel Godino) have done is fantastic ... They’ve got to get through a good Gettysburg team and then a potentiall­y great team in Christophe­r Newport, but they’ve done the work and I feel very good about their situation right now.”

Wehrum said he’s impressed Witheford has gone so deep into his bench. That could help Union this weekend with the forecast calling for temperatur­es to reach 91 on Saturday and 88 on Sunday in Newport News.

Union midfielder Kieran Mcgovern is one of the seniors who began his career with Wehrum as his head coach in 2019 and will end it under Witheford. Though Witheford had his first two seasons cut short by the pandemic, now the Dutchmen are three wins from an NCAA title.

“I was definitely a big advocate of keeping Coach Witheford on (as head coach) because that 2019 season, he had a very large responsibi­lity on the team,” Mcgovern said. “I think it was very important to keep him around. He’s a big reason for our success this year and will be for the future.”

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