Phi-Lacrosse-ophy Podcast Ep. 61 - Boston University Head Coach Ryan Polley

Ryan Polley - Head Coach at Boston University 01:02 Coach Polly's Coaching Journey -Starting in high school -Introduction to lacrosse at Malvern -The competition of other sports -Playing two years of basketball in college -Trying lacrosse -The decision to coach girls lacrosse and start a program -Moving into the accounting world while coaching -Leaving it all on the table to go to Yale -Making the transition to Boston -The experience of learning shooting space 12:30 Mentors and Stories Learned Along the Way -Coach Polly's Mother as a mentor -The introduction to coaching -Learning from coaches -Learning how to do a career and coach -Learning from Andy Shay -Learning about the life outside of lacrosse -Understanding recruiting philosophy -Climbing out of the hole at Yale 21:50 Creating and Evolving the Culture at BU -The timing of everything -The process of getting the job at BU -Studying the blueprint of other club teams that had transitioned to D1 -Recruiting like a mad house at first -Needing senior leadership at first -Non-negotiables learned from Coach Polley's Mom -Time of collecting reflections after the Loyola game -Accountability -Motor Hard Work -Compete -Family -Instilling accountability -Reading books -The cycle of leadership styles 33:19 Instilling Quality Control In a Culture -Starts with the assistants -Listening to the players opinions -Open dialog with the other coaches 35:53 Difference Between Hard Work and Motor -Hard work happens over a length of time -Motor is in the moment -Bringing a good attitude to a 6 am lift 37:01 Player Development Philosophy -Part whole philosophy -The first week of the year -Working on skill development in smaller numbers -Laying down a foundation of individual skills before complete team work -Live vs scripted time during practice -Working on decision making in drills -The development of athletic IQ from Basketball 45:19 Offensive Philosophy -Up Tempo-Free flowing -The difference when you don't have a dominant player -More sharing of the ball -Taking the opportunities that arise -Playing 6v6 during the week -Using West Genny -Using 4v4 and 5v5 drills 50:55 Defensive Philosophy -Personnel based -Best year was a "slide when you need to" year -The use of the automatic slide defenses -Searching for an identity -Balancing sliding early and being able to rotate efficiently 55:49 Playing in the Patriot League -The coaches in the conference -Murderers row of a conference -The parity of the Patriot League -The changing of the guard -The importance of being a 1 or 2 seed 59:57 Recruiting -Starts with the transfers -Commitment to academics -Athleticism -Stick skills-Toughness -Character -How to tell if a dodger is really breaking a defender down -Judging IQ -Assessing off-ball play -On ball vs off-ball play for defensemen -Recruiting Canadians