Andrew Stimmel can’t help but get excited about Marquette’s energy at practice this fall. The complex at Valley Fields on campus is full of men’s lacrosse players eager to get back to action and compete.
The game was taken away for the better part of six months, and the Golden Eagles are happy to make it back on the field.
“They get a little tired of the fundamentals,” said Stimmel, the second-year coach at Marquette. “If they had to do another week of fundamentals, they would have been very unhappy. Guys are fighting ground balls all the way over to the canal on our field. I have to blow the whistle five times sometimes to get them to stop.”
The players feel the same intensity. Lacrosse is back.
“It doesn’t matter what drill or activity we’re doing at practice, it could be just stretching — everyone is fired up,” freshman Ellison Burt-Murray said. “Coach says, ‘Alright, let’s get in our lines,’ and guys are sprinting just to get in line to stretch.”
Between his players hustling from canal to canal and the excited smack talk coming from different units, Stimmel has had his hands full this fall. He’d have it no other way.
Stimmel certainly didn’t have the first year he would have expected. The former offensive coordinator at Yale signed on as head coach in June 2019, ready to continue the momentum generated by Joe Amplo for seven years prior.
He’s experienced the ups and downs that college lacrosse can bring — both as a player at Ohio State (2007-11) and as a coach at Yale. Still, the 2020 season’s abrupt end and the ensuing social issues that arose this summer were not on the radar of the first-year Division I head coach.
In a matter of months, Stimmel went from trying to instill the culture he wants to see at Marquette to supporting his players in their efforts to bring awareness to social causes and helping them navigate a world crippled by a pandemic.
At 33, the Golden Eagles’ head coach has taken on a tough gig, and he’s embracing everything that comes with it. He’s inspired his team to be open and vocal about their challenges, as well.
“We literally do not know what tomorrow brings,” he said. “We’ve decided as a team that we’re going to make the most of today, whether that’s at practice or on a lift. We can reflect back and understand that we played seven games last year and then it was over. Things are changing rapidly and we have to focus on what we can control.”
The only constant in college lacrosse this year was change. Marquette’s 2020 season, and Stimmel’s first year as head coach, ended immediately following a 13-12 loss to Michigan on March 11 — part of three straight losses by two or fewer goals.
The Golden Eagles finished 3-4 and headed into quarantine both encouraged by the start and disappointed about four close losses. The sadness stemming from the cancellation of the season lasted weeks until the focus shifted away from the field.
By June, the country had focused its lens on the issues of racial injustice after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Floyd’s tragic death touched Americans across the country and hit home for some of the Marquette men’s lacrosse players.
Redshirt sophomore and faceoff man Thomas Washington was born and raised in Minneapolis, just blocks from where Floyd was killed. As a young Black man, watching the ensuing protests took its toll on him.
“I remember driving down [to Minneapolis] during the night and it looked like the sun was coming up,” he said. “The whole city was in flames. It’s still something that I’m trying to process. It doesn’t make sense. I was proud of where I’m from. I didn’t think anything would happen there, but I also didn’t think this whole global movement could come from my city.
Washington didn’t vocalize his emotions initially, thinking his teammates couldn’t relate to his experiences. However, those same teammates started reaching out to him via text and phone calls, offering support in any way that they could.
“Trying to go inward was a natural response, but it wasn’t super healthy,” Washington said. “I tried to open up a bit more. These guys actually want to know how I’m doing. They aren’t just checking a box.”
At the same time, players like P.J. Cox and Jordan Schmid reached out to incoming freshmen with whom they’d never stepped on the field. Burt-Murray got messages in Atlanta while he was in quarantine.
“As a Black man in a predominantly white sport, you are used to the injustice,” Burt-Murray said. “You are comfortable being uncomfortable. At first, I was frustrated with the fact that I was in the house while everyone was protesting. Half the team texted me and asked how I was doing. It really justified my decision to come to Marquette.”
“We’re more than athletes, we’re human beings,” Cox said. “It’s bigger than all of that. It’s about showing unity for our teammates and the other athletes. It’s about taking a stand for the things that weren’t going right.”
The issue of police brutality hit even closer to campus after Jacob Blake was killed in Kenosha, Wisc., on Aug. 23, just 40 miles away from Milwaukee. Marquette men’s lacrosse decided on Sept. 4 to join the rest of the athletics department in a one-mile march to spread awareness for racial injustice.
“I want you guys to think of this march five, 10, or 30 years from now and remember this as the last time that you were silent."
— Marquette Athletics (@muathletics) September 8, 2020
Powerful words from @Theojohn123 at Friday's @MarqSAAC march in Milwaukee. #BeTheDifference #mubb pic.twitter.com/opDRR7nNdP
Washington was still at home in the suburbs of Minneapolis. Burt-Murray, in Atlanta, FaceTimed assistant coach Jacob Richard during the march so he could experience it from home.
Schmid helped organize the march along with members of Marquette’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, for which he serves as president. Although he hadn’t made it to campus for the fall, he watched teammates and coaches march and fellow student-athletes join in along the route.
“Our teammates are going through something that we can’t fully understand because as a white male in America, I don’t have to worry about the same things that they have to,” he said. “But we’re trying to learn and we’re having those conversations.”
In Schmid’s absence, his teammate Jacob Hallam addressed the crowd of hundreds of Golden Eagles’ athletes.
“Change may not be tomorrow. It may not be in a week. But that doesn’t mean it’s not possible,” he said. “Today marks our path to leaving Marquette and Milwaukee a better place than we found it.”
Stimmel walked alongside members of the program he’s led for over a year. This time of year, he was supposed to be preparing his team for a fall ball slate that usually includes a handful of scrimmages. Just like everyone in 2020, he’s had to adjust his expectations to fit the climate.
Even with the absence of lacrosse in its physical form, Marquette’s men’s program continued to build its team chemistry. The Silent March in September was another chance for the Golden Eagles to continue growing, and Stimmel was filled with pride.
“There are moments as a coach that you can look back on in your career and be proud of, and that’s one of the proudest moments to date,” he said. “To have one of our players stand up and speak from his heart and stand up for what is right, that’s a great thing. Hearing these guys talk about this, it gives me hope. You get the feeling that they’re hungry for change. I truly believe this is a generation to bring about long-lasting change.”
In addition to speaking out on social issues, Schmid and Cox helped lead an effort to get the entire team registered to vote. It took a few Zoom calls with teammates for the men’s lacrosse program to be one of four Marquette athletic teams to be 100 percent registered as of last week.
As much as the Marquette men’s lacrosse team has answered the call on and off the field this fall, the focus will soon shift toward a potential 2021 season — where Marquette hopes to find its spot in the thick of the Big East title race.
Getting back on the field and putting on the Golden Eagles’ jersey once again could make this world feel a little closer to normal. However, the men in this program, and their head coach, won’t forget the challenges and triumphs of 2020.
The bonds this team created will exist with or without the game.