Coach John Tillman and the Terps face four top-15 teams in their next five games.
Before the Terrapins men’s lacrosse team steps on the Byrd Stadium field to face in-state rival Navy tonight, it may want to deliver a thank-you card to the visitor’s locker room.
Because even though no one in the room may know him personally, the institution the Midshipmen represent played a critical role in coach John Tillman’s development. It helped him become the tireless leader he is today.
When Tillman was a fresh-faced 26-year-old in 1996, he arrived in Annapolis eager to begin his Division I coaching career. He had been lured away from a volunteer gig at Ithaca College for a Midshipmen assistant position with a whopping $20,000 annual salary. And he couldn’t have been happier.
He took to Navy immediately. He loved everything it represented. He appreciated that his student-athletes were willing to pledge years of their lives to their country, and was amazed by their commitment to one another.
And it didn’t take long before the principles the academy instills – integrity,discipline, honor, leadership – began to rub off on him. Almost instantly, Tillman developed a reputation as a man of character, a man others could depend upon.
Perhaps just as important, he gained respect for his dogged work ethic. He spent countless hours poring over mounds of film, intent on gaining every possible advantage over the opponent.
“We were convinced he slept in his office,” said Jon Birsner, a former All-America attackman who played under Tillman at Navy. “He just worked so hard and was so dedicated to what he was doing. He would find something on a player from his junior high rec film. It was ridiculous.”
The late nights began to pay off. Before the 2002 season, Tillman was named the Midshipmen’s head assistant and offensive coordinator.
He thrived in his new roles. With Tillman’s offense leading the way, Navy made its second-ever appearance in the national championship game in 2004. When the season ended, the Maryland State Lacrosse Coaches Association awarded Tillman his first of two Collegiate Lacrosse Assistant Coach of the Year Awards.
Programs across the country began taking notice. At least twice during his 12-year tenure at Navy, Tillman was considered a top candidate for Division I coaching positions. One offer even came from the Midshipmen’s archrival, Army.
But Tillman felt entrenched in Navy’s culture. He wasn’t ready to leave behind his players, his brothers.
“He really bought into everything the Naval Academy’s about,” Birsner said. “Even today, I’m convinced he didn’t try to get that Army job.”
Eventually, the allure of leading a program proved too great. He accepted the coaching job at Harvard, bidding Annapolis goodbye after an 104-63 record at Navy.
Leaving the school that had given him his first Division I opportunity was “difficult,” Tillman said, but he was finally ready for a new set of challenges. He was eager for more responsibility, for even longer nights.
“I think it was tough because I was very happy. I was very content,” Tillman said. “But if you go into coaching and you don’t ultimately aspire to be a head coach, then you’re limiting yourself.”
Since parting ways with the Midshipmen, Tillman has experienced little but success. In just three seasons in Cambridge, Mass., he took a struggling Crimson team as high as No. 11 in the national polls and its best record (8-5) in 10 years.
After longtime Terps coach Dave Cottle resigned following the 2010 season, Tillman couldn’t pass up the opportunity to lead one of the country’s premier programs. In his first season in College Park last year, he took a senior-laden Terps squad to the brink of its first national title since 1975, making it all the way to the championship before falling to Virginia.
“Wherever he was going to go,” former Navy coach Richie Meade said, “he was going to be successful.”
Yet even though he’s now five years removed from his days patrolling The Yard, Tillman thinks about his experience with the military often. He reflects on the people he met and the ideals he cherished.
He tries to instill the same philosophies he learned at Navy in his players. Only this time around, “Maryland” is stitched across their chests.
“I learned a lot,” Tillman said. “A lot of things we did well there I’ve taken with me.”
In June, Tillman had the opportunity to take it all back to where it started. Meade, who served Navy for 17 years, was fired after the Midshipmen finished the season 4-9 and missed the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year.
Navy Athletic Director Chet Gladchuk called his former employee, wondering whether he’d be interested in succeeding his old boss. Before he could even meet with Terps Athletic Director Kevin Anderson, Tillman declined. He wanted to finish what he’d started.
“I owe it to everybody here to stay longer than 10 months,” he told Gladchuk.
Meade wasn’t surprised. Neither was Birsner. After all, they knew Tillman was a man of loyalty. Darting after less than a year on the job would’ve been out of character.
Surprising or not, though, the Terps can’t help but feel thankful. They have the coach they want, the one they feel can lead them to that elusive third national title.
“He’s one of the most hard-working – if not the hardest-working – coach in Division I,” midfielder John Haus said. “I feel like every second he gets, he’s there trying to make our team the best it possibly can be.”
Time to start writing those thank-yous.
letourneau@umdbk.com
