Muskingum men's lacrosse Head Coach Nick Gallagher was interviewed recently by Inside Lacrosse. The Q&A session with Matt Kinnear allowed Coach Gallagher to highlight Muskingum's inaugural season of varsity competition and Muskingum University.
Muskingum University
What is your program's history?
We are a brand-new program; we have absolutely no history. We are working diligently to create a culture of success around our team, so when we do have some history it will be great.
The growth of the sport into nontraditional areas has been well-documented. How have you seen that growth in your school's state?
Ohio has a great history of lacrosse, but it really hasn't been until recently that the growth has really shown. We have seen growth considerably at every level over the past five5 years here. Large youth numbers about seven to 10 years ago pushed a ton of high schools to add lacrosse, and now we are seeing a huge growth at collegiate level as well. In 2009, there were only eight Division III teams playing in Ohio; by next year, there will be 19. For me personally being from Ohio, it is great to see how much it has grown and how much talent is out here.
What makes NCAA men's lacrosse a good fit at your school? What are the administration's reasons for adding/elevating the sport?
I think what makes lacrosse a good fit here is the type of people we have on campus. This is a tight-knit community, and it kind of mimics the lacrosse community. The main reason our administration added lacrosse was because of a student push. We pride ourselves in having a campus community in which the students are given a true voice about what goes on. Also, other conference schools have added, and there is the increase in prep lacrosse around the state. I think all three had a huge impact on adding lacrosse here at Muskingum.
Tell us a little about the university itself and what makes it an appealing institution?
We are a small school about 65 miles east of Columbus, Ohio. We have about 1,700 undergrads on campus. By being small and having the support we do, it helps our students have the best colligate experience possible. We do everything for our students here, and they have huge influence over what we do as a University. The campus is always expanding; we have built and opened three academic buildings in the last five years. Our curriculum is always expanding; we currently offer over 45 majors, which will continue to grow as our students want more offered.
What are the expectations for your team in the short-term? Long-term?
Short term on the field, we want to become a competitive team in our conference. I think we have hurdles just like any other new program, but we take pride in our young men and how they represent us not only on the field but also on campus and in the community. Long term on the field, obviously we want to win a conference championship and have the ability to compete for an NCAA title. I think for our program, long term, we want to grow the game out here in eastern Ohio. There is very little lacrosse out this way, and we want to change that, continue the growth and give more kids the opportunity to compete at this level.
What is the make-up of your roster in Year One?
We have a great group of older guys with little to no experience, along with a solid recruiting class we brought in for this season.
On the field, what "style" of team do you want to put out there?
We are going to be "athletic and blue collar." We want to have the ability to play teams tough and make every team earn everything against us. We have some guys who are great athletically, coupled with some young talent.
It's early, but who are a handful of players you expect to be leaders and contributors?
We have a group of guys, at the core, who we believe can help us earn some victories as well as help us build a winning culture here. Joey Alford and Andrew Buchbinder are our captains to start the season. As a group I think we have young men who are committed to building a strong program here.
