University Of Maryland's Men's Lacrosse Head Coach John Tillman's Thoughts On Facing Duke In The Final Four
John Tillman, Head Coach of the University Of Maryland's Men's Lacrosse team, called into The Norris and Davis show to talk about the team's upcoming game against Duke in the Final Four of the NCAA Division I Lacrosse Championship.
Tillman, in his second season of coaching the Terps, said he really credits his coaching staff and older players with the team's success.
"We have a really new team, with twenty-two guys lost off of last year's roster. We really had to grow up fast and I think our older players have done a great job. Our assistant coaches have done a great job of bringing this team along and getting them to a Final Four weekend," he said.
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Tillman also had high praise for fellow Final Four team, the Loyola Greyhounds.
"I couldn't be happier for Charley Toomey and his staff and what they've done this year. Their just a class act up there. It's great for Baltimore, it's great for our state, and we certainly hope Loyola has a lot of success on Saturday," he said.
This weekend the team plays a familiar opponent in Duke. The have already met twice this year, and have played each other six times in the past fifteen months. Tillman said the teams are very familiar with one another.
"I don't know if there are going to be a a lot of secrets. Their familiar with our style of play, our personnel, and some of of our schemes, and vice versa," he said.
Florio also talked about the support the team has gotten back in Maryland, and how it drives the team to work harder.
"I know for some of those people it would mean a lot to them to try and bring back a title and I think that's what really drives a lot of us. It allows us to stay a little later, and it drives us to come in earlier an watch a little more film and put in the hours that we do, because we know that it would make a lot of people happy," he said.
Maryland's Final Four match up against Duke takes place at Gillette Stadium at 5 pm on Saturday, in Foxburough, Massachusetts.
-Sarah Davis
