The FLG College Road Tour

The FLG College Road Tour started as a one-man journey towards two up-and-coming NCAA Division I lacrosse programs in the Washington, D.C.-area. Today, Mike Winkoff (FLG Co-Founder, CEO, and my dad) and I transformed year two of the FLG College Road Tour into a visit to eight diverse schools, all located in Central New York. Here’s a closer look at our experiences, stories, and lessons learned during our 2015 #CollegeTour.

The mission of FLG is simple— do what is in the best interest of the studlete. “Studlete” is a term we coined in order to name individuals who balance both their studies and their sport as an integral part of their competitive advantage in the classroom and on the field. The mission of our College Road Tour is just as simple— learn as much as possible about each school, coaching staff and program, so we can help find the right school for our studletes.

Our Road Tour consists of meetings with coaching staffs, attending games, attending practices and campus visits. Our goal isn’t just to get these great lacrosse programs to understand the philosophies of FLG, but to also better understand the type of studlete they want at their school.

The Dome
The 2015 FLG College Road Tour began with a stop at the historic Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York. The purpose of this stop was to catch the 100th meet between longtime rivals Syracuse and Cornell.

The drive from Long Island started with the temperature reading 17 degrees. Five hours, three bags of David’s sunflower seeds, and one pit stop on I-80 North later, the temperature read one degree below zero on the dashboard as the FLG crew pulled up to the Carrier Dome. This game was special for us because we got a chance to see three FLG Alums in action:

• Chandler Kirby— Cornell— Sophomore—Defenseman/Midfielder—2014 FLG Intern
• JT Forkin— Syracuse— Sophomore— Attack
• Ryan Matthews— Cornell— Junior— Midfield

During the game, we weren’t necessarily rooting for a specific team; we were rooting for the players who were a part of the FLG Program.

Ryan Matthews ran second midfield for Cornell. After recovering from two knee surgeries and transferring from Hopkins, it was great to see Matthews back on the field. JT Forkin is the 4th attackman behind Syracuse’s stellar attack unit. Forkin looked really good when he came in during the 4th quarter. He was putting pressure on the defense, finding open cutters and moving really well off of the ball. Last but not least, we got to see Chandler Kirby. Kirby is the glue to the Big Red’s defense and team. Coach Milliman at Cornell refers to Kirby’s kind as “Superstars.” His enthusiasm and raw passion for his team’s success is unmeasurable.

Fortunately, Coach Wink and I got a chance to see Kirby before and after the game. It was great catching up with an old FLG Program member who was also FLG’s 2014 Summer intern. Chandler crushed it in the office and on the field coaching for FLG last summer. We hope to hire superstar studletes like him on an annual basis.

Continentals or Studletes?
After the game, Coach Wink and I drove towards Hamilton, which is about an hour away from the Dome. Hamilton, home of the Contintentals, is a quaint NESCAC school with about 1800 undergraduate students. The campus sits on a beautiful hilltop, overlooking the mountains of Central New York. Head men’s lacrosse coach Scott Barnard and newly acquired assistant coach Matt Johansmeyer took us on a tour of the campus.

In our tour, we learned that the Hamilton hockey rink is the second oldest in New England and that one-third of the student body at Hamilton are athletes. We also learned that the men’s lacrosse team is extremely fired up to take on in-conference rival, Wesleyan in their season opener. Coaches Barnard and Johansmeyer were extremely enthusiastic about the Hamilton program and for the up-coming season.

After our tour, the coaches took us into their office to discuss Hamilton. The coaches said, “If there is one thing you should know about Hamilton as a school, it’s that we have an uncommon curriculum.”

Hamilton’s open curriculum allows you to choose courses because they interest you and fit your individual academic plan, not because you need to fulfill a requirement. A faculty advisor will help you make responsible and informed decisions about your education. Allowing young minds to build a major around their interests and plans for the future is such an impressive and unique concept.

In addition to the unique academic programs at Hamilton, I was very impressed with the type of players Hamilton recruited. Not only are they bringing in Division I-caliber athletes, they are recruiting exceptional students. The average Hamilton men’s lacrosse player has over a 3.6 GPA, a 30 on his ACT and over a 1300 (2-part) SAT score. Coach Barnard made it very clear that the Hamilton men’s lacrosse program has built a winning tradition around quality young men, who are driven in the classroom and look to excel in life after college. His emphasis on building studletes was refreshing and something we can relate to very much. Being that FLG is a program which builds more than just athletes, we hope some of our studletes one day become Continentals.

From Ditch Diggers to CEOs
Next stop on the FLG College Tour was Colgate University in Colgate, New York. After a pit stop at the highly recommended No.10 Tavern, we headed over to Colgate’s Men’s Lacrosse office to meet up with Coach Mike Murphy and his two assistants– Coach Stephen Toomy and Coach Mike Abbott.
Coach Murphy, after a brief stint coaching at Denison College, spent seven seasons as the assistant coach of Army consistently leading their defenses to being one of the best in the Patriot League. In his fourth season as the head coach of Colgate, Murphy had an impressive 31-18 record that included one NCAA Tournament berth and advancement each year to the Patriot League Tournament semifinals.

After meeting with Coach Murphy, it’s no surprise that he has such an impressive resume. His knowledge of the game is matched by how much he cares about the studletes he coaches and recruits. We spent most of the meeting discussing what Colgate does to build quality young men to stand as future leaders and CEOs.

Coach Murphy invests a lot of time into his players and uses metaphors to keep them motivated. Murphy has a silver lunch pail atop a cabinet in his office with stickers that have all different numbers on it. Each number represents a different player on the Colgate team that earned their right to be on the lunch pail. This lunch pail is a reminder to his players that they first must become ditch-diggers before they become CEOs. Coach Murphy says a hard-working, selfless and tough mentality will be Colgate players’ foundation for future success on the field, in the classroom and in life.

Another example of how the Colgate men’s lacrosse team develops future leaders is through their Adopt-a-Classroom program. The Colgate team has adopted a kindergarten and first-grade class from a struggling rural school just outside of Hamilton. Twice a week, at least four Colgate lacrosse players go to their respective classrooms and spend a few hours tutoring the students, playing games and expressing the importance of education.

FLG will continue to support this growing program and we look forward to watching Colgate for the rest of the 2015 Spring season.

The Day Off
The next stop on our College Tour was Ithaca, New York. Ithaca sits in a valley between two large hills, on one hill is Ithaca College and on the other hill is Cornell University. We visited Cornell and met with head coach Matt Kerwick and second-year assistant coach Pete Milliman to briefly discuss Cornell’s home opener and Cornell’s plan for the day. The recap of their opening game loss to Syracuse was short and sweet. Basically, we all unanimously agreed that Orange looked good that day. Coach Milliman said Syracuse looked as if they were in mid-season form, rather than season’s opening. He was very impressed with their top six offensive players and how they worked as a unit.

While Coach Kerwick and his staff welcomed us with open arms, it was apparent they were determined to get right back to work. Their enthusiasm was contagious and excitement, palpable.
On the surface, people might say Cornell has built a winning tradition because they can play fast and compete hard. However—while that may be true— the answer to why Cornell is so successful lies much deeper than their athletic roster. Cornell’s success comes from the Big Red Culture.

On a Tuesday in February, Cornell classes were canceled. Most college students utilize their days off to sleep in, do some laundry or organize their class work. However, the Cornell men’s lacrosse team had a different idea of what it means to have the day off from school. The Big Red lacrosse team spent their day off from school getting better in every facet of the game. From breaking down film on their laptops to getting/taking extra shots outside, each studlete on the Big Red did something extra to get better that particular day. Players on the team were constantly hooting and hollering, supporting and rewarding, grooving and moving in a direction that will hopefully get them back on track to doing what Cornell does best—win.

I believe this culture is built from the top down. Coach Kerwick and his staff are contributing to a program with rich tradition by keeping the Big Red culture alive. Through excitement, enthusiasm, and old-fashioned hard work, the Big Red continues to strive for greatness. We can’t thank the Cornell staff and team enough for welcoming FLG to their day off. Good luck this season, #BigRed.

Dropping Bombs
After fueling up, we headed towards the opposite side of the Valley to Mike Winkoff’s Alma Mater, Ithaca College. Ithaca is a small private college with one of the best communication programs in the country. Coach Jeff Long has been at the helm of the Bombers lacrosse program for almost 30 years. Up-and-coming coach Mike Silipo met us outside the newly constructed, absolutely magnificent, Ithaca College Athletics and Events Center. The $66 million athletic center opened in the Fall of 2011 and serves the Ithaca Bombers as a state-of-the-art facility to gather, learn, rehab, train and compete. Inside the center, Coach Silip escorted us to the Ithaca men’s lacrosse offices, where we met up with long-time head coach Jeff Long.

Coach Jeff Long, former United States Naval Academy All-American, is Ithaca’s winningest lacrosse coach. Long has compiled an overall record of 266-140. He was voted the Empire 8 Coach of the Year, five times. In 2009, Long was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame, and the Ithaca College Hall of Fame in 2010. Being that Long has coached for Ithaca College for nearly three decades, and Mike Winkoff was a fellow Bomber, the meeting’s discussion defaulted to lacrosse stories about some of Ithaca’s greatest players from the past.

All in all, the Ithaca program is on the upswing. While under the same leadership, the Bombers have a great young assistant in Mike Silipo. Coach Silip gets along great with coach Long. They share a plethora of responsibilities with the team which allows for very little to slip through the cracks. Coach Silipo has a very good lacrosse mind and is an absolute animal on the recruiting scene. He is all over the map throughout the year recruiting for this competitive Empire 8 college. Silipo definitely knows what it takes to be successful in the Empire 8. Silipo, who wore #10 for Ithaca, graduated in 2010. Silipo was a do-it-all guy who has an affinity for playing the game the right way. After graduating from Ithaca College, Coach Silipo became the Assistant Men’s Lacrosse coach at Williams College. In 2014, Coach Silipo joined the Ithaca Bombers staff. Silipo is motivated to capture a Conference Championship and bring the Bombers to the top of the Division III ranks.

We left Ithaca and cruised about one hour away to Binghamton, New York, where Mike and I unwound at a Quality Inn next to the Binghamton campus. We needed to get a good night’s sleep because the next day would involve the most traveling. Our plan was to visit Binghamton in the morning, travel two hours to Union College, and finally travel another half hour to meet with the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute coaches in the late afternoon. Despite all the traveling, we were very excited to meet with so many awesome program heads.

Bearcat Nation
At Binghamton, Mike and I sat with Coach Nelson in his office for about an hour before he gave us a tour of Binghamton’s incredible athletic facility. One of the cooler things about Binghamton Athletics is all the men’s and women’s sports teams are in one building. Inside their basketball arena houses locker rooms, equipment rooms and weight rooms for all of the sports at Binghamton University. The men’s lacrosse team plays on a brand new field-turf stadium which houses approximately 2,000 fans.

Coach Nelson is going on his fourth season with the Bearcats and is definitely taking the program in the right direction. When Coach Nelson first got to Binghamton, practices consisted of assistant coaches suiting up so their team could go full field. Today, Binghamton has a 41-man roster and plans on expanding that to 44 in the near future. Their recruiting classes are becoming more and more competitive every year, bringing in premier talent from Upstate NY, Long Island and the Tristate area.

The Binghamton staff has two young assistants, Coach Erick Skelly and Coach Matt Francis that are enthusiastic and knowledgeable of the game. Coach Francis was a stud for in-conference rival Marist and graduated in 2010.

I would like to thank Coach Nelson for taking a couple hours out of his schedule to meet with us about recruiting, life and Bearcat Nation. He’s a straight shooter who has a deep passion for the game of lacrosse. FLG wishes him the best of luck this season and in developing a competitive program.

Electric City
While traveling on 88 East, Coach Wink and I decided to make a pit-stop in Schenectady, New York, AKA “Electric City,” to visit Union College. Driving up to Union’s campus for the first time, we were very impressed. The campus is welcoming with historic brick buildings and an athletic center that’s full of life. Derek Witheford, who was an Academic and Athletic All-American Defenseman at Union, now serves as Union’s assistant men’s lacrosse coach. He has been vital in the success of Union men’s lacrosse, not just as a player, but as a coach. Coach Witheford is dedicated to taking Union from an Elite 8 Division III Program to a National Championship contender.

Another reason for Union’s recent success on the lacrosse field is Coach Paul Wehrum. Head coach of Union for the last eight seasons, Coach Wehrum holds a 65 percent win statistic and has made it to the Division III Quarterfinals two of his last three seasons. Coach Wehrum hails from Long Island and sheds dry humor from the moment you shake his hand.
We met up with Coach Wehrum and Assistant Coach Witheford in Union’s conference center to briefly discuss recruiting, their school and which studletes are the best fit for their program. While the academic standards for Union College are high, they are a test optional school. This means applicants can choose to not submit SAT or ACT scores. For athletes, even though you don’t have to submit SAT scores, you still need to take the exam at least once and get over a 1000 on two parts. Union is reportedly looking to bring in more studletes from Long Island. Wehrum’s roots run deep with LI, so it only makes sense to recruit more athletes from the hot-bed.

Witheford does a lot of recruiting for Union. He works all the FLG Recruiting Showcases and continues to build a name for himself as a quality up-and-coming coach. Coach Wink and I appreciate the Union coaches for meeting with us on such notice. We look forward to seeing Coach Witheford and Wehrum on the recruiting trail!

The Engineers
Next on the Road Tour was Rensselaer, RPI. Driving up to RPI’s athletic complex, Mike and I were in shock. The President of RPI, who is the highest paid President in the country, approved construction on a multi-million dollar athletic village on the east side of campus. This athletic village includes a 4,800 square foot weight room, athletic training facility, $100,000 whirlpool, locker rooms, press box, Jumbo Tron and a 5,200-person stadium. The stadium is overlooked by the weight-room and athletic training facility. Also, the Men’s locker room is located underneath the stands on the 50-yard line of the field. When the players enter the arena for warm-ups, before the game and after halftime, they are literally running through a tunnel at the 50-yard line onto the field. If that doesn’t get you excited to play some lacrosse, I don’t know what would!

RPI’s head coach Jim Townsend and assistant Bill Els showed us around the athletic village. Coach Townsend is an animated character, who absolutely loves what he does and where he is. Coach Townsend educated us on RPI’s athletic complex and the school. RPI has some impressive programs. Some of RPI’s majors include architecture, business, humanities, arts, social sciences, information technology, web science, science and the most popular, engineering. Coach Townsend’s team has athletes that excel in math and sciences. His players are not only stand-out high school lacrosse players, but they are special students. One of the highlights of our trip came when we met up with Zach Moro, one of our FLG alums.

Speaking of studletes, Zach is studying biomedical engineering and is a senior leader for RPI’s men’s lacrosse team. Seeing kids like Zach, go off to a great school, have a successful career on the field, and study in a program that will set him up for a professional career is what make us come to work every day. Zach is a perfect example of a studlete who found a school that was a great fit for him. We wish Zach and the rest of Coach Townsend’s program the best of luck this season.

Best For Last
Below are ten reasons why I would love to play for Siena Men’s head coach John Svec:
1. Player’s respect him
2. He’s a great role model
3. He’s a family man
4. He loves what he does
5. He’s humble
6. He’s respectful
7. He’s a great coach
8. He expects a lot
9. He cares about his players
10. He is a winner

As a player, John Svec played for the Loyola Greyhounds. He graduated in 2001. Svec participated in four NCAA Tournaments and a Final Four. In his four years, his team posted a 46-10 record. In coach Svec’s first three seasons at the helm for the Saints, Siena has gone to the MAAC Championship every year. Last year, the Saints captured a MAAC Championship and were one goal away from advancing to the NCAA Division I Quarterfinals. As a player and coach, Svec knows a thing or two about winning.

During our visit, we got a chance to meet with coach Svec and his assistant Rob Cross, nicknamed, Sizzle. Coach Cross inherited the nickname ‘Sizzle’ due to his play on the basketball court during the summer recruiting circuit. Cross is known for his superior ball handling skills and for making defenders look silly on the floor. Both Cross and Svec run a stand-up program that is getting better each year. Coach Svec looks to bring in tough, skilled players, who are “we-and-not-me,” kind of guys. He currently has a team just like this. When they recruit, the Siena coaches do their homework. Not only do they watch their recruits play live as much as possible, they also talk with their recruits club team coaches, high school coaches, and family members to learn as much as they can. They understand the importance of building a positive culture with stand-up young men.

Fortunately, coach Wink and I got to see the Saints interact as a team after our meeting with the coaches. Due to inclement weather, coach Svec decided to move practice into their indoor gymnasium. Conor Prunty, Siena’s stud senior captain, was called into the coach office and told to move practice. Before we even knew it, every player on Siena’s team was dressed for practice and in the gym ready to go. The organization and communication was on point.

The Siena practice was very organized. Players were flying around the court, excited and sharp. Siena’s practice plan was to focus on two things: adapting and overcoming. Siena opened the season with two losses, one to Syracuse and one to Hobart. Overcoming two straight losses in Division I lacrosse isn’t easy. Every game is competitive and Siena knows that. Adapting is something that needs to be done any time a team experiences adversity. If they get stuck doing the same bad habits and not changing for the better, they will continue to experience defeat. Coach Svec never lets poor decisions and bad habits go unnoticed in practice. He wants his players to continuously progress and develop every minute of every practice.

After practice we got a chance to see FLG alumni, Devin Votta. Devin is not only an alumni to our program, he also coaches our FLG Select Players during his winter break in the box rink. Devin is a stand-up studlete who is always looking to give back to our program. He has a passion for the game and loves sharing his knowledge to the younger players.
Overall, our trip to Siena and the rest of the schools on the FLG College Road Tour was a huge success. We spent time at some of New York’s top-rated schools. Each school is unique in their own way. The coaches that work there, the kids that go there and the towns they reside in are all different. With that said, whether a school is big or small, Division I or Division III, small town or no town— they all share one thing in common— they offer a great place to get an education after high school.

Going to college is not a right, it’s a privilege. If you are lucky enough to earn an opportunity to go to college make sure to do your research. It’s highly recommended you take the time to visit some schools you’re interested in to get a good feel for the environment and programs they are running there so you know how you are going to make the most out of the four years that will impact your life most.

Schools visited on the 2015 College Road Tour:
1. Syracuse University
2. Hamilton College
3. Colgate University
4. Cornell University
5. Ithaca College
6. SUNY at Binghamton
7. Union College
8. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
9. Siena College