In the future, will the hiring of Cassese be looked back on as a success, or as a rash decision that could torpedo a season — or worse, an era?
Monday, Chris Feifs was named the associate head coach and defensive coordinator for Virginia men’s lacrosse. The arrival of Feifs marks the first choice at the assistant coach level under Coach Kevin Cassese’s leadership of the Cavaliers.
Cassese fielded multiple questions about fundraising and athletic department support and alumni relationships — those are the things that zipped to the top of his checklist almost the moment he accepted the coaching post.
The press conference capped a wild nine-day saga. Virginia announced May 18 that Lars Tiffany, its 10-year head coach and two-time national champion, “will not return.”
Cassese’s hire follows a May 18 announcement from Virginia Athletics that stated the program would begin a nationwide search for a new leader.
This year the event is in Charlottesville, its first time at a campus site since 2002, at Rutgers.
In curtly dismissing Tiffany, Virginia Athletics has opened a Pandora’s Box of allegations over culture issues and criticisms of players and off-field behavior, which, whether they are sound or not, will continue to abound and are destructive to what Tiffany built over the last decade.
The release noted that a national search for a new men’s lacrosse head coach will begin immediately.
“This whole year has [not been] a failure by any means,” Schroter said. ”I truly believe with my whole heart that we have the best culture in the whole … lacrosse world.”
“Having Brendan has just unlocked so much,” Sunderland said. “It takes some weight off McCabe’s shoulders.”
Virginia will be riding into the NCAA tournament match after a weekend trip to Charlotte, N.C., where the lacrosse squad vanquished the Queen City ghosts that had plagued the football and men’s basketball teams.
“We killed both the teams,” Marek said. “We're just playing some really consistent lacrosse right now.”
“He is the best communicator I think I've ever had for a captain,” Tiffany said. “His emotional intelligence is through the roof, and yet he's a ferocious warrior … it almost feels like a spiritual lift as well.”
Virginia will now almost certainly host a first-round game, crucial in its chances of reaching Championship Weekend at Scott Stadium.
There is a lot on the line in this weekend’s ACC Tournament for the fourth-seeded Cavaliers, starting with a semifinal showdown Friday at 5 p.m. against No. 1 seed Notre Dame.
As the postseason commences this week, Virginia will have to account for what has been a less-than-soundproof defense.
“We're just trying to play our best lacrosse,” Tiffany said. “As we go down to Charlotte, first and foremost, I want to win an ACC tournament … that's what we're striving for right now.”
“I know I still have a lot more to do, and I think I know I can still have a lot greater impact,” Hausmann said. “Help this team in any way — that’s always been my biggest piece.”
“I couldn’t be any happier with my men, the fight back,” Coach Lars Tiffany said. “And just unfortunately, how that final one went in off the rebound.”
“I want to give Syracuse credit,” Tiffany said. “I felt like their entire team had a greater sense of urgency … Syracuse’s offense is really, really difficult to stop.”
