Coaches Corner: 08/24/25

Welcome back, 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.

Let’s dive in.

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

Matt Dunn & Deemer Class

Today’s Menu Includes:

• 🔦 Coach Spotlight: Acacia Walker-Weinstein BC Women’s Lacrosse

• 🧠 Some Outside Inspiration: Eleven Rings by Phil Jackson

• 🤓 A Trip to the Principles Office: 3 Ways To Improve On-Ball Defense

• 🔥 A Webinar Freebie: Peter Toner on Invert Defense

🔦 Coach Spotlight
Acacia Walker-Weinstein, Boston College Lacrosse

Boston College had been to 7 NCAA finals in a row when we interviewed Coach last fall. Acacia expands on how the 5 title losses had paved the way to win their 2 titles. Often times it takes going through that pain and heartbreak of losing to learn how to win it at the end. And the seniors that don’t win - there is a silver lining in what they helped their respective programs accomplish.

🧠 Outside Inspiration
Eleven Rings - by Phil Jackson

Phil Jackson won 11 NBA championships by doing more than drawing up plays, he built cultures. In Eleven Rings, he talks about balancing egos, creating sacred team spaces, and teaching players to surrender individual agendas for the group.

For coaches, the takeaway is simple: schemes matter, but the environment you create matters more. Teams that trust, communicate, and buy in will outperform even the most talented collection of individuals.

🤓 The Principles Office
3 Ways to Improve On-Ball Defense

Today’s Principles Office focuses on ways to improve your team’s on-ball defense.

We could certainly spend time on technical footwork and on-ball play, but there are other methods that often get overlooked. In a recent podcast we recorded with Army Head Coach Joe Alberici (to be released this fall), he shared some great points on defensive philosophy worth highlighting.

1. Define Defensive Success

Defenders must clearly understand what success actually looks like. Their job isn’t to erase every shot, but to force lower-quality shots our goalie can handle.

You can define shot quality by asking:

• Location: Is the shooter in range or being pushed away?

• Disruption: Are we affecting mechanics or giving a clean release?

• Momentum/Angle: Is the dodger driving to the cage or being forced off-line?

We’ve written about this before, and you can certainly make this more specific, but the point is that we want to define success and shot quality as a defender.

2. Improve Your Approach (Timing)

Coach Alberici has a great saying: “we want to do our work while the ball is in the air”.

I’ve always been a fan of the phrase “flowing with the ball”, but Coach A’s quote above is one I have been stealing recently.

We want to arrive early as an on-ball defender. Much of the on-ball defensive battle is won before the dodge. Here are some things a great approach does:

• Forces the dodger to catch the ball wider

• Allows us to get set and establish our leverage / shade before the dodger can attack us

• Forces the dodger to catch the ball moving backwards, thus allowing our team to get set up behind the ball

Now we often can’t afford to just face guard guys, but with some anticipation and hard work, there is often some meat on the bone here. Timing matters as we get out to guard the ball.

My high school defensive coordinator, Tim Sullivan, once told me there is an art to not getting dodged. He was partially joking (I think) as an off-ball defender. However, I do believe there is an art to getting dodged on your terms.

3. On-Ball Defense Requires Every Defender

This is another point Coach Alberici brought up. In men’s lacrosse, he says on-ball defense requires all 7 guys. The on-ball defender, 5 off-ball defenders and the goalie. All pieces must be working in unison. In women’s lacrosse this would be the same thing but with all 8 players.

A 1v1 in practice is often harder than in games because the dodger has no fear of a slide. But in live play, good off-ball stances, eating space, and a clear goalie plan all make the on-ball defender’s job easier.

When they know which shots the goalie is expected to save, they can focus on their role instead of trying to take away everything.

Wrapping It Up

On-ball defense isn’t only about individual technique. It’s about defining success, winning the approach, and trusting the full team defense behind you. Great defenses make even strong dodgers uncomfortable… not by accident, but by principle.

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 🚨

This week’s freebie is from our webinar with Gettysburg Head Coach Peter Toner. Coach Toner was incredibly generous with his time and transparency on invert defense. One segment we really liked touched on some of his overarching principles behind the cage. See a brief excerpt of the presentation below.

The FCL Circle 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.

• 🎥 WEBINAR FREEBIE: Invert Defense Principles

• 🔦 COMMUNITY TOUR: Watch Community Tour Here.

🎙️ FCL PODCAST & COACH COMMUNITY

Want to keep sharpening your coaching toolbox?

🎧 Podcast – Check out our free podcast on Spotify, YouTube and Apple podcast. Who’s ready for season 2?

🔥 Online Community – For coaches who want to level up. Join our men’s and women’s coaching communities for in-depth webinars, drills, and strategy sessions with top college coaches.