Bill Tierney’s second act as a Division I head lacrosse coach just got pushed to the decade-and-a-half mark.
Tierney and Denver have agreed to a contract extension through 2024, the school announced Wednesday, pushing the National Lacrosse Hall of Famer’s stint at the school to 15 seasons by the end of the deal.
“God’s blessed me,” Tierney said. “I’m healthy, knock on wood. I have a great family, a great wife. All the good things that have happened to me, I still don’t understand why, but I’m going to continue to roll with that blessing.”
Tierney’s decision to leave Princeton in 2009 after leading the Tigers to six national titles in 22 seasons remains one of the biggest coaching jolts in the sport’s history. And that was merely at the time. Much as he did at Princeton, he turned Denver into a consistent winner.
The Pioneers are 132-41 with nine NCAA tournament appearances, five trips to Memorial Day weekend and the 2015 national title in the 10 years since Tierney’s arrival. There was appeal at the time to have the chance to work with his son Trevor. But it also marked the start of a partnership with offensive coordinator Matt Brown, who was already on the Pioneers’ staff.
“He’s had as much or more impact than I feel like I have,” Tierney said. “I want to make sure everybody in the lacrosse world knows that Matt and I are together and by signing this contract, we will stay together and my hope is after that, maybe we just switch roles. There are things a head coach has to go through that they don’t know or understand [as a typical assistant]. What I know with Matt Brown is I could turn this team over tomorrow and there would be absolutely no difference.”
Nonetheless, Tierney’s move has proven exceptionally influential. His sheer presence is a boost to lacrosse in the western portion of the country, and Denver was part of a string of first-time national champions this decade that also included Duke, Loyola and Yale as the college game finally moved beyond a small group of traditional powers which annually traded turns hoisting a trophy each May.
But there’s a case to be made it also extended the longevity of Tierney’s own career. As he bounced around in his 20s and 30s at both the high school and college levels, he thought of himself as a guy who would stay three years and leave a place better than he found it. Then three years turned into 22 at Princeton. Then, the Mile High challenge presented itself.
“In general, that’s made me better, it’s made me healthier and it’s opened my eyes to new things,” Tierney said. “Certainly going back to Matt Brown, his inventiveness and creativity kind of reminded me of what we did in the early 1990s when we did things defensively that were different and that lasted a long time.”
While there is little question about where Tierney would finish his career, it’s reasonable to wonder how long a man with more than 400 Division I wins and seven national titles would want to keep going. And he has a two-pronged test for figuring when he’ll eventually walk away.
One is tied to how much he enjoys recruiting and whether long days of scouting high school players and meeting their families is appealing. And the other?
“On Sept. 1, am I still nervous and excited when the freshmen are coming in?” Tierney said. “And I definitely am. My wife and I had the freshmen come over when they moved in, and it still excites me. I get visions of what these 12-14 young men can do and it still gets my blood going.”
Given the fun he’s still having, Tierney doesn’t see that changing in the immediate future.
“The extension is nice. I’m 68 years old. In 2024, I’ll be 73,” Tierney said. “Who knows? I want to make sure people recognize that I recognize how blessed I am. Why would I stop doing that?”