A small family sticks together

Lacrosse: Dave Pietramala's hiring as Johns Hopkins' coach completes a circle and illustrates the job shuffling within a close-knit fraternity.

College Lacrosse Preview

If familiarity breeds contempt, then the Book of Cliches never encountered lacrosse.

With the hiring of Dave Pietramala at Johns Hopkins last June, what was already an insular game in Baltimore and beyond is cozier than ever before.

When Pietramala did two stints as a Blue Jays assistant, his boss was Tony Seaman, who moved up Charles Street to Towson. "Petro" also spent a season at Loyola, so he has learned from Dave Cottle.

Pietramala's coach when he played for Hopkins was Don Zimmerman, who's now the boss at UMBC. A new Blue Jays assistant is Seth Tierney, whose uncle built the Princeton dynasty. When Bill Tierney was the defensive coordinator at Hopkins, who was his star pupil?

Pietramala.

"It does get a little bit incestuous," said Tierney, the Princeton coach, who recruits against his friends in Baltimore. "Good, young coaches grow from their experiences. With good, older coaches as mentors, they become good coaches themselves. It is interesting, though. The one that's always on the outside is Syracuse, yet it's the most successful of all."

The chase to catch defending NCAA champion Syracuse begins in earnest tomorrow. With only 55 programs in Division I, there's a good chance that a guy will spend a week or three preparing to beat someone with whom he's played, coached or staffed a camp.

"Lacrosse is an interesting sport," Pietramala said. "It's a pretty small community, and we do a lot of talking. I've been very fortunate that people shared their thoughts and opinions with me. I'm not so dumb that I don't realize you can't learn a lot. We're talking about some pretty important people, and they always had time for me."

It's not as if Pietramala was one of the little people when he knocked on doors to talk tactics.

Pietramala, 33, is already in the Blue Jays' Hall of Fame. He is regarded as one of the best defensemen ever, combining a rock-hard athleticism and an inquisitiveness that made him a sponge. What has he absorbed along the way?

Start with Zimmerman.

"I learned more from Don Zimmerman than I ever thought," Pietramala said. "I was a typical college guy who wondered, `Why are we doing this, why are doing that?' He taught me that the little things are what make the difference and the discipline to take care of the little things."

And Tierney?

"I learned a lot about life from Bill," Pietramala said. "I'm sure that a lot of what we believe is similar. Recruiting is the most important thing. You want great players, but not at the sacrifice of the right kind of people."

Pietramala's first assistant's job was at Gilman School, where the head coach was John Tucker, another former Hopkins player.

"Tucker has a tremendous offensive mind," Pietramala said. "He was anxious to find out what the colleges were doing, and he was pretty innovative."

During his brief stay at Loyola, there were bull sessions with Cottle, then-assistant Bill Dirrigl, who's begun the process of resurrecting Rutgers, and athletic director Joe Boylan.

"I learned how to be a coach there," Pietramala said. "Dave and Bill [Dirrigl] and Joe Boylan challenged me every day, in every aspect of my life, whether it was over lunch or planning an EMO [extra-man offense]. I was there only one year, and it was exciting."

Pietramala was back at Hopkins in 1995. He and Seaman took an unbeaten team to the final four, only to be done in by a hot Maryland goalie. Seaman extended Pietramala's knowledge of clearing rides, and showed that it isn't always necessary to ride players.

"Sometimes, you can forget what it's like to be a player," Pietramala said. "It's helpful to think about what that was like."

It appeared Pietramala's destiny was to be the head coach at Hopkins, but Cottle advised him to first seek experience elsewhere.

"If they [the Blue Jays] ever made a change while he was an assistant, it meant that something was wrong," Cottle said.

Pietramala needed just three seasons to turn Cornell into a player again, and he was ready when John Haus left Hopkins after two seasons - the shortest stay for a Blue Jays head coach since the early 1950s.

Who was Pietramala's last defensive coordinator at Hopkins? Haus.

"He allowed me to play," Pietramala said. "He didn't pull in the reins too tight."

Pietramala was a sophomore when Hopkins won its last title, in 1987. His college career concluded in the 1989 NCAA final with a one-goal loss to Syracuse - a team the Blue Jays had beaten in that season's opener.

Early on, Pietramala grasped the expectations at Homewood. Each time he has returned, the alumni have been antsier and his knowledge more complete.

"It's Dave's dream," Seaman said. "It's perfect for him. He'll be tremendously successful. He's a hard worker who loves the place and what it's done for him."

Coaching factory

Ten Division I coaches who played for Johns Hopkins:

Name .................... Position

Todd Cavallaro ........... N.C. assistant

Bill Dwan ................. JHU assistant

Dave Marks .............. Villanova asst.

Scott Marr .............. Albany St. coach

Howard Offit............ JHU assistant

Matt Panetta ............ Stony Brook asst.

Dave Pietramala ......... JHU coach

Dave Slafkofsky ........ UM assistant

Seth Tierney ............ JHU assistant

Don Zimmerman ......... UMBC coach

Source: Johns Hopkins