Just a year after head coach Mike Murphy was hired, three new assistants have been added to the men’s lacrosse coaching staff.
Jason Archbell, a Hampden-Sydney alumnus, will serve as defensive and recruiting coordinator while former Mount St. Mary’s assistant Cory Coffman is the new offensive coordinator. Mike Keating, a graduate of the Duke lacrosse program, will fill in as the substitution and personnel coordinator.
The coaches sat down with The Daily Pennsylvanian to talk about their new positions.
The Daily Pennsylvanian: What is it like working with Murphy?
Jason Archbell: I think our recruiting philosophy is pretty similar. How we go about those, identifying recruits that will be the right fit for Penn athletically and academically and all that stuff.
Coach is kind of a no-nonsense guy — just like myself, I think. He really likes to keep things simple and let the players play.
Mike Keating: It’s important for me to say this — I am unbelievably grateful for this opportunity and very excited to be here. Coach Murphy is one of the hardest workers I’ve ever met. He is a true teacher.
DP: And so what are your coaching philosophies?
JA: I don’t think you ever want athletes to think too much. You want to let them be athletes and be aggressive. I think you can definitely overcomplicate things sometimes.
You just need to have a simple plan, simple rules for the guys to follow — guidelines. And then the rest, they can kind of learn on their own through playing.
DP: What was your take on the team coming into your position?
Cory Coffman: There were five all-Ivy players on this team. I had a good idea that they were going to be returning some players. They did a good job with these guys as far as teaching them the game and helping them develop — they were a little bit younger last year — and they did well offensively.
DP: So now that you’ve had a few weeks on the job, what is your take on the team so far?
CC: These are some of the most receptive players I’ve been around. They typically need to hear things one time, and they can integrate that into their games. You don’t get that with everyone.
There’s actually a lot more talent here than I was really expecting — there are a lot of kids here that I think could play almost anywhere.
MK: So far the energy and enthusiasm as displayed by the players has been great — both on the field and in the weight room. So far the leadership has been great. The seniors have done a great job so far. They are a great senior class.
DP: What are your plans for the season?
MK: We graduated [All-Ivy honorable mention] Justin Lynch, he’s a good player, so [his position] is open. We’re looking at a host of different personnel out there, both at the X — directly right at the faceoff — and then we are also closely examining our wing play.
CC: I just want to come in and build on [their experience] and hopefully add a couple of things myself, a few nuances to the game. And really just try to not get in their way.
I think our goal is to win the Ivy League championship, and everything else is secondary to that. I think that our offense’s job is to score easy goals when we have the opportunities and to control the tempo of the game as much as possible.
