2018 U.S. Men’s National Team Assistants and Support Staff Named
By Lane Errington | @Lane_Errington
BALTIMORE – US Lacrosse today announced the assistant coaches and support staff for the 2018 U.S. Men’s National Team. Joe Amplo (Marquette University), Seth Tierney (Hofstra University) and Tony Resch (2015 Team USA indoor head coach) have been selected as assistant coaches. They will be led by John Danowski (Duke University), who in November was named head coach of Team USA, and will guide the team in pursuit of a record 10th gold medal at the 2018 Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) World Championship in Manchester, England.
“This was one of the toughest set of decisions that I have ever been involved with,” Danowski said. “We received applications from 31 dynamite professionals who were all so deserving. In the end, since we don’t have a lot of time together, the committee has chosen three men who I know well and who know me well. They all love and respect the game. We will hit the ground running in January.”
Jimmy Butler (general manager), Ben DeLuca (assistant general manager), Jay Bissette (equipment manager) and Torrey Taylor (videographer) round out the staff.
Joe Amplo is in his fourth season as head coach of Marquette University, where he started the university’s Division I program in 2011. The 2014 Big East Coach of the Year, Amplo’s Golden Eagles reached the national top ten as a third-year program in 2015. Prior to Marquette, Amplo spent 10 of his 11 years as a college assistant coach at his alma mater, Hofstra University (1999-2001, 2002-11) in addition to a one-year stint at the University of Pennsylvania (2001-02). While at Hofstra—where he worked under Danowski—Amplo helped lead the Pride to eight NCAA tournament appearances and four conference championships.
Seth Tierney is entering his 10th season as head coach at Hofstra University, where he has led the Pride to 78 victories, the 2008 CAA Championship, the 2009, 2001 and 2014 CAA regular-season titles and berth in four consecutive NCAA tournaments from 2008-11. A former team captain at Johns Hopkins University (’91), Tierney served as assistant and later associate head coach for the Blue Jays from 2001-06, winning a national title in 2005 as the Jays led the nation in scoring offense. He began his coaching career at Hofstra as an assistant from 1995-2001 under Danowski, after a five-year tenure with the NLL’s New York Saints as a player and assistant coach.
Tony Resch was an assistant coach for the gold medal-winning 2010 U.S. men’s national team, and recently led the 2015 U.S. men’s national indoor team to a bronze medal at the FIL World Indoor Lacrosse Championship. A 2008 NLL Hall of Fame inductee, Resch was head coach of the Philadelphia Wings from 1993-2001, where he led the team to four NLL titles (1994-95, 1998, 2001) and was named 2001 NLL coach of the year. In the MLL, Resch led the Philadelphia Barrage from 2005-2008, winning league championships in 2006 and 2007 and earning coach of the year in 2006 and 2008. He also has been an assistant coach on three MLL championship teams with the Chesapeake Bayhawks (2003, 2012-13). As a player, Resch was a defenseman on the gold-medal winning 1990 U.S. men’s national team. He currently works a guidance counselor and associate head coach at La Salle (Pa.) College High School, where his teams have won four state titles in 12 years.
Jimmy Butler has been tabbed as general manager of the U.S. outdoor team for the first time. Butler has served as general manager of the 2015 U.S. men’s national indoor team, assistant general manager of the 2010 U.S. men’s national team and equipment manager of the 2002 and 2006 U.S. men’s national teams. In his nine-year NLL front-office tenure, he was general manager of the New York/Orlando Titans (2006-10) and assistant general manager of the Philadelphia Wings (2011-14). Earlier this year, he earned the Spirit of Lacrosse Award at the FIL World Indoor Lacrosse Championship.
Assistant general manager Ben DeLuca is in his first season as associate head coach at Harvard University. Prior to joining the Crimson, DeLuca spent two seasons as a defensive assistant under Danowski at Duke, helping the Blue Devils to the 2014 NCAA championship. He spent 18 years at Cornell as a player and coach, including three seasons as head coach—where the Big Red reached the NCAA quarterfinals (2011) and semifinals (2013)—and 11 seasons as both an assistant and the associate head coach that included nine NCAA tournament appearances.
Equipment manager Jay Bissette is the head equipment manager for the Duke University men’s lacrosse team, as well as the school’s men’s and women’s soccer programs. He has been part of Duke’s 2010, 2013 and 2014 national championship teams. Bissette served in the same capacity for the world champion 2012 U.S. men’s under-19 team, and is currently the equipment manager for the 2016 U.S. men’s under-19 team.
Videographer Torrey Taylor joins the U.S. national teams program for the first team. He currently works as video coordinator for the University of Michigan’s women’s lacrosse team (2014-present) as well as technical videographer for the U.S. Soccer Federation’s U-23 Men’s National Team. A graduate of Kent State University, Taylor has more than 10 years experience in various video capacities.
The Team USA staff will begin their tenure at the Team USA Spring Premiere, Jan. 9-10 at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., where the U.S. will face defending NCAA champion University of Denver in an exhibition game. The Team USA roster will be announced later this month. Tryouts for the 2018 U.S. men’s national team will be held in summer 2017.
The U.S. men’s national team has amassed a 59-4 all-time record in international play, claiming gold at nine World Championships (1967, 1974, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2010).
The world champion U.S. men’s national team trains and plays using best-in-class products provided by Nike (apparel and footwear), STX (equipment), and Cascade (helmets). Nationwide and Marriott International are official sponsors of Team USA. For more information on the U.S. Men’s National Team, visit uslacrosse.org/teamusa. Follow the team on social media @USLacrosse and use #USAMLAX on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Vine and Snapchat.
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