New coach a change agent
Ryan Moran had never been a head coach any level, but that inexperience did not deter UMBC athletic director Tim Hall from recommending his hiring.
“It was clear that Ryan wants to be here and that Ryan wants to build a program,” Hall said. “Ryan knows that we’re in this for the long view, and that there’s going to be a lot of rolling up the sleeves and sweat equity here. That resonated, certainly with me and the [search] committee and other senior leadership.”
Moran has wasted little time infusing the program with his philosophy and priorities. Players have commented about how meticulously practice schedules are organized, with drills changing at the exact time written by Moran. Academics have been emphasized to the point where coaches sit with players during evening study hall at least twice a week, and players who consistently miss classes trigger extra conditioning exercises for either the individual or the entire team.
Senior defenseman Garrett Hasken said the players watch about 25 minutes of film before every practice and then work on specific areas highlighted in the video.
“A lot of guys are getting in the film room with him — whether it’s one-on-one or an attack line or a midfield unit,” he said. “I know, defensively, we’re getting in with the defensive coaches and going over schemes and looking at guys’ tendencies. It’s definitely helped so far.”
Not surprisingly, he has replaced the previous offensive system with his own, which averaged 11.2 goals in 2015 and 10.9 in 2016 at Loyola.
Senior attackman Max Maxwell said the players have embraced the change because of the success of Moran’s previous squads.
“He brought his offense, and his offense has proven to be one of the best in the country in the past couple of years,” Maxwell said. “So we’ve been doing a lot of new stuff. Nothing from last year is really here. It’s just a completely different offense.”
Moran’s former boss, Greyhounds coach Charley Toomey, predicted Moran would shake things up with the Retrievers.
“He’s definitely going to leave his imprint, and he’s going to demand that they’re UMBC men’s lacrosse coach Ryan Moran, who was an offensive coordinator at Maryland for six seasons and at Loyola Maryland for two, is retooling the Retrievers’ offense. doing things the right way,” Toomey said. “He’s going to pay attention to the small details, he’s going to design new drills that are going to be up-tempo and competitive, that emulate the type of lacrosse that he wants played down there. He’s going to do a heck of a job down there.”
Moran and UMBC did not get off to the start they had hoped for, falling hard in a 17-6 loss to No. 1 and reigning NCAA champion North Carolina on Saturday. But even in that setback, Moran found a positive in that the team outscored the Tar Heels 3-2 in the third quarter and matched their five goals in the second half.
“If anything, it showed me that, going back to [Maryland coach John Tillman], you can’t be thorough enough,” Moran said. “Even when you think you’re good, you’ve got to take that extra step. But you live and you learn with it.
“I think it was a great opportunity as a coach and for our players. There are some negatives to every game, in terms of adversity that you’re going to see, but being able to get that adversity early in the game and then work through it was really helpful for us.”
During the season, Moran spends nearly 12 hours a day at the UMBC campus in Catonsville, trying to beat assistant coaches Jamison Koesterer and Neil Hutchinson to the office (but often failing) before 7 a.m., and leaving after 6 p.m. to eat dinner with wife, Danielle, and daughters Madelynn, Kelly and Lucia.
The schedule is tiring, but Moran said he is up for the challenge.
“I kind of recognized that this is something you’re going to have to completely entrench your life in to try to make it into the vision I have of it becoming,” he said.
“In order to do that, I’m going to have to make sure that I consistently surround myself with great people and intelligent people, and constantly devote time to this program in making it better. I don’t think there’s any other way to do it.”