First Class Lacrosse Podcast

Deemer Class and Matt Dunn welcome Tim McCormack, head women’s lacrosse coach at Johns Hopkins, and review his path from UMass All-American goalie to Northwestern assistant under Kelly Amonte Hiller, Arizona State head coach, and Johns Hopkins leader since 2022, where the Blue Jays set a program-record 17 wins and reached championship weekend. McCormack describes the steep learning curve transitioning into the women’s game, emphasizing authenticity, relationship-building, and confidence-building differences he observed versus coaching boys. He recounts growing up on Long Island, becoming a goalie at age five, and developing broad stick skills through constant play. The conversation focuses on his coaching evolution: creating decision-heavy, principles-based practice environments, using constraints and point systems, leveraging trust and player ownership, managing accountability through core values and principles, embracing “messy” gameplay, and offering recruiting advice around strengths, comparisons, and social media.

Timecodes
0:00 - Intro

6:15 - Growing Up A Goalie

27:45 - Coaching Journey

46:30 - Coaching Principals

1:00:00 - Leadership Trust

1:06:00 - Recruiting Landscape Today

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Deemer Class and Matt Dunn host Coach Dave Pietramala, UNC’s defensive coordinator and former Johns Hopkins head coach, reviewing his accolades as an elite defender and championship coach. Pietramala recounts starting lacrosse late, switching from midfield to defense using basketball footwork principles, developing stick skills through constant reps and watching others, and his favorite over-the-head check. He discusses what drives high-level success—compete level and working through discomfort—then reflects on guarding Gary Gait and why Gait changed the game. Pietramala explains translating playing experience into coaching through fundamentals, adapting to personnel, and teaching defensive approaches with game-like drills and coordination with strength staff. He outlines his coaching path, key mentors, emphasis on gratitude and relationships, first head-coaching challenges, and critiques early and current recruiting while emphasizing relationship-based recruiting and finding the right families.

Timecodes

0:00 - Intro

7:30 - Player Journey

16:00 - Desire To Compete

27:00 - Transition To Coaching

34:30 - Gratitude & Asking For Help

46:30 - Nerding Out On Defense

52:00 - Player Development & Recruiting

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On the First Class Lacrosse podcast, Deemer Class and Matt Dunn interview Army West Point head coach Michelle Tumolo, covering her path from starting lacrosse just before ninth grade to becoming a Tewaaraton finalist at Syracuse, Team USA World Cup gold medalist and 2017 All-World selection, pro player, and coach at Florida, Syracuse, Oregon, Wagner, and Army (hired June 2021). Tumolo explains how basketball and soccer shaped her vision and passing, her rapid development through camps and club, and key Syracuse memories, including early physicality and a comeback win vs Florida, plus the program’s coaching tree. She details her coaching philosophy of authenticity, communication, belief, and high standards, including supporting cadet-athletes’ demanding schedules. Tumolo also discusses practice structure, daily stickwork, skill development, X usage, two-man game emphasis, man/zone defenses, and learning from other sports and Sixes coaching, plus playing pickup hockey at West Point.

Timecodes

0:00 - Sports Journey

5:00 - Syracuse Experience

12:15 - Coaching Philosophy

27:00 - Coaching at West Point

33:30 - X's & O's

45:45 - Player Development

55:40 - Keep Learning & Ice Hockey

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Deemer Class and Matt Dunn welcome John Odierna, newly appointed head coach of Fairfield men’s lacrosse, formerly Syracuse’s defensive coordinator after back-to-back Final Four runs, with prior stints at Manhattan, Stevens, and Colby. Odierna describes a whirlwind summer of a lengthy interview process, rapid onboarding, recruiting and scheduling demands, concurrent staff searches, and becoming a father to son Brooks. He recounts starting lacrosse late after his father’s death, switching to defense, developing at Gettysburg, and learning coaching through multiple programs and mentors. The conversation emphasizes player-led culture, consistent standards, and Fairfield’s notable zero transfers after the coaching change. Odierna outlines staff-building priorities—connection and communication—and his CEO-style head coaching role. He also discusses man-down “Junkyard Dogs,” defensive fundamentals (approaches, trailing, communication), multi-sport benefits, and recruiting advice on avoiding comparisons and communicating appropriately.

Timecodes
0:00 - New Baby, New Job
7:00 - Lacrosse Journey
35:00 - Taking Over At Fairfield
50:30 - Defensive Talk
1:05:00 - Multi-Sport Athletes
1:12:30 - Practical Advice

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Deemer Class and Matt Dunn return to the First Class Lacrosse podcast for the fall and welcome new FCL team member Kyle Hayes, a Long Island native and former college coach who most recently served as LIU’s offensive coordinator. Hayes recounts learning lacrosse late in high school after playing basketball and baseball, his college experience including the MCLA and its administrative responsibilities, and his decade-long coaching path from part-time roles to full-time positions at Misericordia, Babson, Manhattanville (as head coach), and LIU at the Division I level. The group discusses beginner challenges centered on stick skills, the benefits of multi-sport decision-making, and coaching lessons about networking, trust, and preparation. They also examine recruiting amid five years of eligibility and roster caps, emphasizing fewer spots, parity, evaluation stages, authenticity on visits, and the importance of fit and open-mindedness.

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Deemer Class and Matt Dunn host Jamie Munro, former Brown player, longtime college coach (including Yale as an assistant and Denver’s first Division I head coach), founder of 3d Lacrosse, and current head of JM3 Lacrosse. Munro recounts discovering lacrosse as a child, favoring soccer and pickup sports before choosing lacrosse late in high school, and stumbling into coaching through Australia, Colorado, and then Yale. He discusses Dom Starsia’s player-development emphasis and freer play models, plus the influence of Dave Huntley and box lacrosse on his box-field hybrid philosophy. Munro defines the constraints-led approach (ecological dynamics) as intentional, variable, game-context training that develops lacrosse IQ through reading “what are we doing, what are they doing,” using constraints, accountability scoring, and co-design, while balancing limited practice time and isolated skill work.

Timecodes

0:00 - Intro & Background

8:45 - Pickup Games

13:30 - Dave Huntley & Box

17:05 - Constraints-Led Approach

38:00 - Accountability Drilling

52:00 - Practicing With Intent

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Deemer Class and Matt Dunn interview film producer and former chairman of Netflix Films Scott Stuber, discussing his career from Bluegrass Films to leading Netflix’s award-nominated film slate (2017–2024) and his 2024 move to Amazon MGM Studios to relaunch United Artists. Stuber shares how lacrosse entered his family when his wife steered their son from tackle football, and describes his relationship with Class as a mentor to his son. He recounts starstruck moments with Denzel Washington and Martin Scorsese, explains producing as a GM-like role blending creative taste with business realities, and emphasizes authenticity over purely commercial thinking. Stuber details breaking into Hollywood through persistence, highlights the value of mentors, communication, and individualized leadership, and reflects on modern youth-sports pressures, travel-team economics, early recruiting, and helping kids develop grit while navigating social media and over-parenting.

Timecodes

0:00 - Starstruck

13:05 - Process vs Taste

17:30 - Foot In The Door

28:30 - Entrepreneurship

33:00 - Strategic Decisions

38:30 - Youthful Success

47:00 - Psychology

53:40 - Youth Sports

1:07:00 - Team Experience

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First Class Lacrosse hosts Deemer Class and Matt Dunn welcome Pat Carney and Dan Krikorian of Slapping Glass to discuss how their basketball podcast and coaching resource began during COVID after a long friendship, driven by curiosity and self-improvement. Carney and Krikorian describe their coaching paths, their willingness to experiment and learn from “micro-failures,” and how they iterate on podcasts, newsletters, and film content without getting too narrow too soon. The conversation shifts to coaching principles: building culture and selflessness, teaching spacing, advantage creation, adaptability, and shared cognition, and using a “slice of the pie” approach to blend on-air reps with constraints-led methods depending on context and time. They cover attacking zone defenses, shot selection hierarchies and role-based green lights, and modern screening concepts (ghost screens, angles) plus defensive approaches. They close with how they balance content creation with coaching and family, emphasizing routines, saying no, quality, and being active coaches to stay relevant.

Timecodes

0:00 - Background

12:00 - Trial & Error

14:30 - Core Coaching Principals

20:30 - Where To Start

30:00 - Zone vs Man

34:45 - Start, Sub, Sit

42:00 - Shot Selection

54:30 - Picks & Screens

1:13:00 - Time Management

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Watch "How To Become An Accurate Shooter with Coach Kasemeyer over on the First Class Lacrosse YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/33uK-JiLgj8?si=8bOaDN5ruS5ziJ5y

Deemer welcomes Torre Kasemeyer to the podcast. Torre and Deemer go back, first discussing a 17-year relationship, beginning after a Loyola–Calvert Hall championship loss when MIAA restrictions initially prevented them from training together. Kasemeyer describes joining Calvert Hall in 1997, launching Got Skillz Lacrosse around 2002 with help from Sean Burke, and developing a teaching style rooted in work ethic, competitiveness, resilience, and helping players reach their potential. He explains how playing with Mount Washington’s star-studded club team (including the Gait brothers and others) shaped his standards, and highlights training elite shooters like Ryan Brown, whom he calls the best lacrosse ball shooter ever. He credits Dave Huntley’s influence on principles, teammate culture, and “honest” fundamentals like shot selection and getting to high-value scoring areas, emphasizing open-mindedness, individualized coaching, analogies, and protecting reputation and relationships.

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Checkout The FCL Coaches Community: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠1stclasslax.com/community

First Class Lacrosse podcast hosts Deemer Class and Matt Dunn welcome Katie Chrest Erbe, highlighting her decorated playing career at Duke, U.S. National Team world title, Hall of Fame inductions, and Division I coaching stops before becoming head varsity coach at O’Neill High School. Erbe discusses growing up in Carroll County with four older brothers, getting introduced to lacrosse by a neighbor, and being shaped by early coaches and teammates, especially Tara Singleton’s unselfish leadership. She reflects on idols like Jen Adams, differences in eras of the sport (rules, physicality, stick technology), and challenges in youth development.  Erbe describes “majoring in lacrosse” at Duke, lessons about wholehearted commitment, culture, and role acceptance, and why fear can hold athletes back. She explains joining First Class Lacrosse to keep coaching, learn, and help standardize teaching, emphasizing slowing down offensively and restoring a team-first mindset in the club/recruiting environment.

Timecodes

0:00 - Katie's Background

14:15 - Investing In Others

16:30 - The Next Level

20:00 - Player Influences

25:00 - Then vs Now

32:30 - The Courage To Fail

45:00 - Navigating Youth Sports

49:00 - FCL Contributions

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