Coaches Corner: 05/20/25

Good morning, Coach.

Welcome back to FCL’s Coaches Corner. Where we dig into coaching lessons, share resources, and work to grow together. Every other Sunday, we distill ideas we’ve learned from great coaches across all sports, hoping to give you a few tools and thoughts you can bring back to your team.

Yesterday were some exciting quarterfinal men’s games and Thursday’s women’s games were high level.

Let’s dive in.

(Missed the last Coaches Corner? Catch up here.)

Matt Dunn & Deemer Class

Today’s Menu Includes:

• 🔦 Coach Spotlight: John Tillman of Maryland

• 🧠 Some Outside Inspiration: It Takes What It Takes

• 🤓 A Trip to the Principles Office: Defensive Packages vs the Mirror

• 🔥 A Webinar Freebie: UNC’s “Butt Ball” Drill

🔦 Coach Spotlight
John Tillman, Maryland Head Coach

This is a quote from Coach Tills after their first round game against Air Force this past weekend. I believe this is one of Coach Tillman’s superpowers. The need to earn everything and expecting nothing no matter who the opponent.

🎥: FCL Fall Podcast with Coach Tillman

🧠 Outside Inspiration
It Takes What It Takes: Trevor Moawad

When it comes to reading this spring, I (Deemer) have been in a bit of a lull if I’m being honest. However, one book was gifted to me by Colin Masterson really hit home and I finished it rather quickly. It Takes What It Takes was a great read from Trevor Moawad, former IMG Mental Performance Coach who went on to work with Russell Wilson, Nick Saban, Fred Taylor, Freddy Adu and many other high performing athletes, teams, and organizations.

I love how he talks about neutral thinking, the illusion of choice, and many other lessons. This quote stuck out:

I hope you get a chance to give it a read.

🤓 The Principles Office
Defensive Packages vs the Mirror

Welcome back to The Principles Office, where we break down essential concepts. In last weeks edition we introduced the mirror: when an off-ball defender shadows the ball carrier’s move and pops opposite.

It’s a favorite wrinkle in pairs-style offenses, pairing a dodger with a mirror to bait and disrupt defensive sliding. Today we’ll tighten up a framework for deciding who slides and who recovers, without losing any of the nuance you need.

If you want some more context, we have written on this topic before in our positionless defense and offensive principles blogs.

Why It’s Challenging to Defend

Traditional defenses in men’s lacrosse often rely on crease slides, but offenses are getting smarter at targeting those slide decisions. One reason the mirror is so effective is because it forces the defense into tough choices.

When the dodger gets a step, the mirrored player becomes an easy slide candidate — but is that the right player to support from? It depends…

We’ve seen a rise in the mirror in both the men’s and women’s game. Let’s break down some defensive options.

Key Principles for Choosing Your Slider

1. Slide Path & Launch Point - You want someone who can get to the dodger’s line quickly, at an angle that cuts off the path to goal. Long slides leave you out of position, late and easy to manipulate. Aim for a short, direct line that meets the dodge head-on.

2. Recovery Speed - After you slide, is the defense set to support the next threats? If the defense isn’t quick to recover, the offense will exploit that temporary overload. High-level defenses tend to avoid adjacent slides for this very reason, but the mirror concept has similar considerations. Ideally, your slider can be easily supported.

Ways to Slide Against a Pairs-Style Offense

For clarity, we’ll focus on wing and alley dodges where a mirror is active.

There are three basic options:

• Slide off the mirror

• Designate from the backside

• Slide adjacent (rare, and not recommended at high levels)

We won’t dive into adjacent slides today. That’s more situational and, frankly, often not viable against good offenses in men’s lacrosse. In the women’s game, adjacent support can make more sense to some of these dodges, but some of these concepts below still apply and we have included film examples.

So let’s focus on the two real choices.

“Shallow” vs. “Deep”

I have always found it helpful to have names for these types things. You may already have names for these, but let’s keep it simple today and go with:

• “Shallow” = Slide off the mirror

• “Deep” = Designate a slider from deeper in the defense

When going shallow, the mirror defender is hot. They raise their stick, communicate, and prepare to slide. Everyone else supports the action accordingly.

When going deep, a defender from the crease or backside becomes the primary slide. The mirror defender drops into support or rotation duty, not the initial slide.

Dodges Down the Side (Wing to Alley)

These are often easier to defend, especially at lower levels. When the dodger goes down the side, the mirror usually pops toward the middle — towards backside help.

This can be a great shallow slide opportunity if:

• The mirror defender has a clean launch angle

• Recovery paths are short and efficient

• The timing syncs well with defensive rotation

If it feels natural to “sink” under the dodge and help, shallow works well. Just make sure the backside is ready to rotate into throwbacks.

Shallow Film Examples
In this first example below, Colin Burlace of Maryland (#40) holds ground under the dodge as his man “mirrors” and pops behind the dodge. It is much easier to support off the mirror when the ball moves down the side vs on a sweep.

Here Burlace reads the dodge and recovers himself to his man up top; although, Maryland is ready to rotate if needed.

This next clips looks very similar to the Maryland vs Loyola clip above, but with a few differences:

• The Hopkins mirror is slightly higher, creating more separation between the MD defender and the spot he needs to slide from.

• The Hopkins dodger creates more separation and at a north/south angle (rather than 45 like the Loyola clip) — this forces MD defender to respect the dodge more

• Hopkins has better backside action which makes it challenging for MD to have a bump or rotate guy read on the throwback.

Maryland is able to recover here, but you can see how this puts much more pressure on the approach to the mirror.

When you watch Ohio State play, they tend to hold ground under these dodges and automatically rotate into the throwback. This is a good strategy to stay consistent.

It slightly differs from Maryland’s strategy of reading whether or not the rotation is needed. In this clip, Will Schaller (#27) holds ground and sinks under the dodge. He tries to recover himself on the throwback, but his teammate makes the rotation call.

Hopkins actually uses these opportunities to create on-ball pressure. Their short sticks aggressively force the ball down the side and they often slide off the mirror, extend to X, and rotate hard into the throwback.

Deep Examples
Sometimes as the dodge moves down the side teams may opt to slide deep from a backside defender that pulls over. You can see in this clip below how Maryland chooses to designate from underneath the mirror. The mirror defender needs to fold down level with the ball here and open to the crease.

This can be a game plan decision for a number of reasons. You need to factor in backside spacing and how teams like to attack. Typically the higher the mirror is away from GLE, the less you want to support off of it due to a long rotation and easy throwback.

Another reason to go deep may be if the dodge flattens out (more east-west than north-south) or if backside help gets stretched out, then a shallow slide risks creating a gap. In that case, go deep — designate a slider from the backside where help is already positioned.

In this clip below, UNC slides shallow off on a low wing dodge going at a much flatter angle (east / west). UNC’s help is spread so far to the backside, they would be better served designating deep from the crease here to cover up the easy throwback.

These are things you can scout from opponents.

Dodges to the Middle (Sweeps)

Now it gets more challenging.

When the dodger goes middle, the mirror often pops away from help. That creates a real challenge for two-slide coverage. Offenses are great at hitting quick throwbacks here for clean looks.

Sliding shallow in this case usually leads to a late, trailing slide and poor angles. Instead, you want to slide deep — from someone already stationed near the crease or inside. This gets your slide into the dodger’s path and helps cut off shooting options early.

Shallow Examples
This first clip from Duke vs Notre Dame shows Notre Dame hedge off of the mirror. This is a gray area where the mirror is basically a picker that slips. In these areas it can be very challenging, but it generally shows why it can be so dangerous to hedge or support off the mirror in these scenarios.

In this next clip, we see Duke support off the mirror as BC dodges to the middle. The throwback in these scenarios is often an even better look than if the dodger just shot unassisted.

Focus On-Ball First

An important note is that on-ball play changes everything here. Even the best slide won’t save you if your on-ball defense breaks down tragically. The first job is always to win the matchup or delay it long enough to trigger support. This is especially true on sweeps to the middle, but holds true down the side too if we allow “S Dodges”.

Use What Fits Your Unit

Defense is problem solving with the tools and personnel you have. There will always be exceptions based on matchups and scouting, but this Shallow vs Deep framework helps build consistent decision-making.

The worst-case scenario is having two hot players… or none. Define your slide, establish your support, and stay connected.

Shallow or deep — just be on the same page.

Until Next Time

Thanks for taking a trip down the hallway. If you are looking for a deeper dive, we have posted numerous videos on our Instagram, Twitter and YouTube channels on this topic.

Stay tuned for more content all spring and email us at [email protected] with any questions and let us know your thoughts.

🚨 Webinar Freebie 🚨

We believe our coaching community is the best resource on the market for any men’s or women’s coaching staff to continue developing through new drills and strategies. It includes over 30 college coach webinars, 100+ drills for offense, defense and full team compete.

As a perk of this newsletter, you get a free clip from one of the webinars. Today’s clip is from UNC’s Offensive Coordinator, Marie McCool. The Tar Heels are Final Four bound.

• 📺 FREEBIE: UNC’s 5v5 Butt Ball Drill Here.

• 🔦 COMMUNITY TOUR: Watch Community Tour Here.

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