S2 E4. The Brothers Byrne; Harvard Head Coach Gerry Byrne & UVA HOFer Steve Byrne.

03/13/24 • 44 min

We’re so excited to release our interview with coaches and brothers, Gerry and Steve Byrne. The pair, along with their older brother and parents, grew up in Levittown, NY on Long Island with their older brother and parents in the nineteen seventies and early nineteen eighties. Steve, older than Gerry by five years, states in his understated, tongue in cheek manner, that he attended the local public high school, Levittown Division, so his parents could save up their money for their favorite son, Gerry. That way Gerry could attend perennial powerhouse Chaminade, the private Catholic school in Nassau county.

Gerry disputes whether or not he was the favorite son but is quick to point out there was no disputing what a great talent his older brother Steve was as the top recruited high school defensemen on Long Island back in 1979. Steve became a 3X All American at Virginia and eventually was a starter on defense for Team USA helping them win gold in Toronto, Canada in 1986.

Gerry states he was quite exceptional himself, as he was the only player at Chaminade who tried out for the lacrosse team in a thick Irish sweater. Despite his bewildering choice of apparel, he did make the team and enjoyed a solid high school career. He went on to play, also as a defensemen, at Umass Amherst where he was a 2X All New England selection and lead the Minutemen to the NCAA quarterfinals in 1986.

Gerry Byrne, of course, would go on to a stellar coaching career as the defensive coordinator at Notre Dame until 2019. Since 2020 has been the head coach at Harvard. Harvard is currently 6-0 and ranked #12 in the nation, one of the highest rankings the program has ever achieved in the NCAA era.
In this first episode, the brothers Byrne describe their upbringing and how lacrosse became a big part of both their lives growing up leading Steve to the University of Virginia and Gerry to the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Steve describes his days on grounds in Charlottesville in raucous fashion as he and a number of Long Island lacrosse players clash with the local inhabitants. This is an enlightening, fun, and dramatic interview you won’t want to miss!

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Links to training videos:
Master The 5 Best Dodges From the Wing!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_7LDOcQQ6Q&t=88s
Blazing Shots... on the Run!
https://youtu.be/XiptPlM63oQ
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Jules Heningburg: https://thelaxlab.com/

Check out!... Coach Tintle's Lacrosse Barn:

https://g.co/kgs/eXedCXf
SuccessHotline with Dr. Rob Gilbert on Ironclad & Apple Podcasts
Brian Cain Daily Dominator on Apple Podcasts

Lacrosse Charities Mentioned in S2 E36:
https://www.4thefuturefoundation.org/

https://www.harlemlacrosse.org/

https://15forlife.org/

Jules Heningburg: https://thelaxlab.com/

Check out!... Coach Tintle's Lacrosse Barn:

https://g.co/kgs/eXedCXf
SuccessHotline with Dr. Rob Gilbert on Ironclad & Apple Podcasts
Brian Cain Daily Dominator on Apple Podcasts

Lacrosse Charities Mentioned in S2 E36:
https://www.4thefuturefoundation.org/

https://www.harlemlacrosse.org/

https://15forlife.org/

Previous Episode

S2 E3. Reunited & It Feels So Good. Coaches Lars Tiffany and Kevin Cassese, Part III.

In this third and final installment of our interview series these two lacrosse legends discuss how their twenty year relationship, which started back in 2004 when the two coached together at Stony Brook, has culminated in Kevin Cassese electing to join head coach Lars Tiffany as the associate head coach at the University of Virginia for the 2024 season and beyond.

Coach Cassese discusses one of the main elements that attracted him to the opportunity at UVA; coaching elite players. He references his experience playing with coaching elite players such as Paul Rabil and the Powell brothers for Team USA. He describes what it has been like to work with the elite players of this perennial powerhouse that is UVA lacrosse, detailing his first sit down meeting with Connor Shellenberger and how impressed he was when the three X First Team All American’s first words were “How do I get better Coach?”

Coach Tiffany reviews some of the similarities and some of the differences between Coach Sean Kirwan-the former Virginia offensive coordinator who is now a head coach at Dartmouth-and Coach Kevin Cassese’s approach to offense and offensive tempo.

Tiffany also shares some humorous yet awkward moments when Cassese, who after being a successful head coach at Lehigh for sixteen years and is accustomed to calling the shots, has done just that at team meetings and practices more than a few times.

All and all this is another exciting interview that gives us a real behind the scenes view of the way two great coaches work together for the success of their team.

If you enjoy this episode and want to hear more, you can support the show by joining our Patreon page, checking out our online store (links listed below) , subscribing, telling a friend, and writing a review... we’d really appreciate it!

Jules Heningburg: https://thelaxlab.com/

Check out!... Coach Tintle's Lacrosse Barn:

https://g.co/kgs/eXedCXf
SuccessHotline with Dr. Rob Gilbert on Ironclad & Apple Podcasts
Brian Cain Daily Dominator on Apple Podcasts

Lacrosse Charities Mentioned in S2 E36:
https://www.4thefuturefoundation.org/

https://www.harlemlacrosse.org/

https://15forlife.org/

Next Episode

S2 E5. The Brothers Byrne; Harvard Head Coach Gerry Byrne & UVA HOFer Steve Byrne.

We’re excited to release our second installment of our three part interview series with coaches and brothers, Gerry and Steve Byrne. Gerry Byrne is the head coach at Harvard and his brother Steve was selected as one the top players in ACC history as a 3X All American defenseman for UVA and gold medalist for Team USA back in 1986.

In this episode, Steve describes what it was like for him as a freshman at UVA in 1979 coming in from a public high school on Long Island. A bit of culture shock is quite the understatement. However, Steve would go on to have an amazing season often covering top teams’ #1 attackman, as he did against John Hopkins in that year’s national championship game which UVA lost in sudden death OT in front of 16,000 fans.

Gerry states he was quite exceptional himself at UMass Amherst, as he was on the team that would record Coach Garber’s only losing season during his over thirty year career. Things did improve however, as he went on to play, also as a defensemen, on more successful campaigns where he was a 2X All New England selection and led the Minutemen to the NCAA quarterfinals in 1986.

Steve also describes what it was like to play for the legendary Virginia head coach, Jim ‘Ace’ Adams. As you’ll hear, it was not easy but it was rewarding as this penultimate Southern Gentlemen taught the rough and tumble Long Islander valuable life lessons and awarded Steve a full scholarship after his breakout freshman season.

Coach Gerry Byrne also tells a classic story of how the Abott brothers, with Chris a player at archrival Brown and Robert, a top attackmen at UMass, placed a hefty wager on what would be their final game against each other and of their college lacrosse careers. As Brown had beaten UMass for three consecutive years, Chris was feeling over confident and bet it all that Brown would win the fourth contest. As you can imagine, they did not. Hear the resulting celebration as Gerry tells the tale in riveting fashion. This is another enlightening, fun, and dramatic interview you won’t want to miss!
If you enjoy this episode and want to hear more, you can support the show by joining our Patreon page, checking out our online store (links listed below) , subscribing, telling a friend, and writing a review... we’d really appreciate it!

Jules Heningburg: https://thelaxlab.com/

Check out!... Coach Tintle's Lacrosse Barn:

https://g.co/kgs/eXedCXf
SuccessHotline with Dr. Rob Gilbert on Ironclad & Apple Podcasts
Brian Cain Daily Dominator on Apple Podcasts

Lacrosse Charities Mentioned in S2 E36:
https://www.4thefuturefoundation.org/

https://www.harlemlacrosse.org/

https://15forlife.org/

Get The Lax Scoop - S2 E4. The Brothers Byrne; Harvard Head Coach Gerry Byrne & UVA HOFer Steve Byrne.

Transcript

Jay00:00:00.500

It's time for get the La Scoop, a podcast bringing you all the people and stuff you should know. In the game of lacrosse, we take LAX seriously, but ourselves, not so much. Join hosts, big Dog and Jaybird, and the biggest names in the game. Brought to you by Jay McMahon lacrosse. That's J M L Skills, mindset, and LAX IQ training.

Jay00:00:23.100

Ron Doish, the big dog, was a collegiate football and lacrosse player at Bro