Inside Lacrosse Podcasts

In the midst of counting down the Top 50 Men's College Lacrosse Players for 2024, IL's Matt Kinnear, Kevin Brown, Dan Kaplan and Patrick McEwen join Terry Foy to discuss their choices. Each submitted a ranking Nos. 1 to 50, then that was tallied to form the final list. As a result, they examine the players that each was particularly high or low on — though they start with a unanimous No. 1 and uniform Top 5.

As has become an annual tradition, IL CEO Terry Foy sits down with Premier Lacrosse League Co-Founder and President Paul Rabil to reflect on 2023 and look ahead to the league and the sport's future. They discuss the inaugural Championship Series, the World Lacrosse Championship and the :32-second shot clock before transitioning to the home city announcements. They expand the scope to the sport more broadly, including the Olympic news, Elevate 28, the state of college lacrosse, then conclude with a look down the road at the PLL's future.

IL's Matt Kinnear and Terry Foy discuss the news of the LA Hosting Committee recommending lacrosse for inclusion of the 2028 Games. They explain how the process got to this point and tackle the hot-button, including "Why Sixes?" and "What About the Haudenosaunee?" After working through the Olympic news, they discuss Florida State adding women's lacrosse, the fallout of the rule changes to women's lacrosse, the impending move of the 2026 NCAA Championship and the commitments of the No. 1 recruits in the 2025 class.

PLL Championship MVP Brett Dobson recaps his epic title-winning save and stresses the importance of being prepared for every shooter. The ultimate lax rat, Dobson also discusses his background from the Hill Academy and St. Bonaventure as well as the NLL's Georgia Swarm before divulging what he's learned from Dillon Ward's mentorship and what it's like being Mike Sisselberger's roommate on the road.

PLL analyst Joe Keegan joins Inside Lacrosse's Dan Kaplan and Kevin Brown to set the stage for the 2023 PLL title game between the defending champion Waterdogs and the high-powered Archers. Can the Waterdogs repeat? Will the Archers become the league's fourth title winner? From comparing overarching storylines to discussing coaching strategies and the impact of injuries, this is a must-listen.

Inside Lacrosse's Dan Kaplan and Kevin Brown welcome on both PLL championship game head coaches in Waterdogs' Andy Copelan and Archers' Chris Bates. From their thoughts on the underlying storylines with the Waterdogs' repeat bid and the Archers getting over the semifinal hump to explaining different coaching choices throughout the season, this podcast is a must listen. Bates' Archers and Copelan's Waterdogs play for the PLL title on Sept. 24 at 3 p.m. in Chester, Pa. on ABC.

Because of his unique perspective on the field as a goalie, Jacksonville coach John Galloway joins IL's Terry Foy for the 13th installment of the "How Recruiting Works" Series and they begin by discussing Galloway's evaluative criteria at each position on the field. From there, they transition into discuss how recruiting is impacted by two of the most significant hallmarks of the program — its unique location and its rate of bringing in transfers.

The 12th installment of the "How Recruiting Works" series, Boston U coach Ryan Polley joins IL's Terry Foy to discuss the first 11 years of recruiting to the Terriers (and how he managed to find so many good players — hint: he valued hands and didn't concern himself as much with size), how he's had to protect his recruits from being poached (and cope with losing others) and how he's managing a "salary cap" and success.

Now that the "How Recruiting Works" series has heard from a coach of a team in each of the 10 men's DI lacrosse conferences, IL's Terry Foy opens the doors to coaches from other programs with unique recruiting situations. First up? Harvard and Gerry Byrne. Whether it was how he helped promote the program or his method of talent acquisition while at Notre Dame, Byrne made a name for himself as a pitbull on the trail. Now with four years under his belt in Cambridge, how similar are his tactics and in what ways has he adjusted his strategy?

Vermont head coach Chris Feifs joins for the 10h installment of the series in which IL's Terry Foy tries to answer question, "How does recruiting work?" Representing an America East program, the series now includes a coach from one of each of the 10 conferences in men's Division I lacrosse. Feifs threw down the gauntlet in preparing for the conversation, saying that the Catamounts' recruiting strategy is "vanilla." The discussion proved to be anything but, starting with UVM's unique appeal to Canadians, how their methods have evolved with the program's success, how he frames Burlington and more.

The 2022 PLL Championship MVP Michael Sowers joins the PLL Happy Hour Podcast to talk about the Waterdogs' quest to repeat as league title winners as Matt Kinnear, Dan Kaplan and Kevin Brown set the stage for the Quarterfinal round at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.

Providence head coach Bob Benson joins for the ninth installment of this month's series in which IL's Terry Foy tries to answer question, "How does recruiting work?" Heading into his second recruiting cycle leading the Friars, Foy starts by (jokingly) confronting Benson on a core aspect of their friendship that is both true and overblown — that because he worked for two coaches who handled such a significant percentage of the recruiting burden, he wasn't involved. From there, they discuss how Benson values athleticism vs. IQ, what he's learned about what attracts prospects to Friartown and much, much more.

Drexel coach Brian Voelker joins for the eighth installment of this month's series in which IL's Terry Foy tries to answer question, "How does recruiting work?" Foy starts by asking Voelker whether, among programs that have won an NCAA Tournament game in the last decade, Drexel's recruiting strategy is the biggest outlier. Voelker says yes, and from there, they discuss why and how, and eventually get to one of the aspects of Voelker's experience that most informs how he conducts his recruiting strategy: his son went through the process.

Iona coach Chad Surman joins for the seventh installment of this month's series in which IL's Terry Foy tries to answer question, "How does recruiting work?" The newest program in Division I, Iona is a member of the MAAC located in New Rochelle, N.Y., just north of New York City. Surman explains how he went from Le Moyne to Salisbury to Lehigh to Mercer — ultimately becoming the Bears' head coach — to Manhattan before getting tapped to lead the startup program in the fall of 2022. He's bringing in 17 members of the Class of 2023 for a Year Zero before they begin competition in the spring of 2025.

Bellarmine head coach Andy Whitley joins for the sixth installment of this month's series in which IL's Terry Foy tries to answer question, "How does recruiting work?" Whitley's path to being a Division I head coach was not conventional, nor was it a straight line. He starts by explaining how he get to Louisville, then the conversation turns to June 2019, when he produced about 500 player evaluations for Inside Lacrosse's Recruiting Database when he was between his tenure as a Fairfield assistant and taking over for the Knights. Through that lens, they discuss the system and process of evaluating players, and how that's informed how Whitley and his staff approach building their roster.

High Point head coach Jon Torpey joins for the fifth installment of this month's series in which IL's Terry Foy tries to answer question, "How does recruiting work?" Like the last podcast with Andy Shay, Foy starts by outlining Torpey's background and career stops — Calvert Hall (Md.), Ohio State, Denver and Dartmouth, most prominently — the led to becoming the first coach in Panther program history. From there, he outlines how he found and recruited the likes of Dan Lomas and Matt Thistle, Connor McKemey, Tim Troutner and Asher Nolting. They end by discussing where he sits with ’24s and how they'll attack the Class of 2025.

Coming off an MVP-winning season, Trevor Baptiste joined the PLL Happy Hour Podcast with Chris Rosenthall and Kevin Brown to discuss the new :32 shot clock rule and the ripple effects its had on the face-off position this season. Editor's Note: Due to  technical difficulties, this podcast is being released late. It was recorded prior the Week 8 action at Homewood Field in Baltimore, Md.

Yale head coach Andy Shay joins for the fourth installment of this month's series in which IL's Terry Foy tries to answer question, "How does recruiting work?" As opposed to the "How do you evaluate?" and "How do you communicate?" formats that Foy used with Navy's Joe Amplo, Ohio State's Nick Myers and Virginia's Lars Tiffany, Foy starts by asking Shay how his recruiting has evolved since he arrived in New Haven ahead of the 2004 season. They move through culture-building, admissions standards, emphasizing athletic potential and handling success. They end with how the Yale staff is approaching the Class of 2025; the role that highlight videos and athlete outreach plays, how they build their list and much more.

Around this time every year, dozens of parents of high school prospects ask IL's Terry Foy some version of the question, "How does recruiting work?" In an effort to round out that answer, he's interviewing a series of DI men's lacrosse coaches about their process, continuing with Virginia head coach Lars Tiffany.  From comments like "At Virginia, we don't lose a lot," to "No. 1 recruits don't come for 30% [of a full scholarship]," Tiffany's candor is on full display. He discusses how unique his summer was, spending two weeks in June in San Diego with the Haudenosaunee Nationals and replacing longtime assistant Sean Kirwan with former Lehigh coach Kevin Cassese, his tendency to track player production, how they juggle players more interested in UVA than the staff is in them and much, much more.

Around this time every year, dozens of parents of high school prospects ask IL's Terry Foy some version of the question, "How does recruiting work?" In an effort to round out that answer, he's interviewing a series of DI men's lacrosse coaches about their process, continuing with Ohio State head coach Nick Myers.  On the eve of his team's trip to Italy, Myers joins to discuss when and how his staff starts to identify the talent in a class, how they balance evaluation vs. communication, how he tries to get to know a prospect and what he thinks is appropriate when the conversation turns to finances, including NIL opportunities.