Carcaterra: What team was your most unique?
Tierney: The ’92 team. They were the Bad News Bears with all of a sudden a couple gems mixed in there. You’re talking about Kevin Lowe and Scott Bacigalupo and Scott Reinhardt. That was a unique team that just came together at the right time.
Carcaterra: What allowed you to close that gap between Princeton and the elite lacrosse programs in 1992?
Tierney: We just recruited guys that would believe in it. Looking back on it a bit, I was probably lying to them a bit when I told them they’d win a national championship by the time they were seniors. They bought into that.
Carcaterra: Some people were shocked when you decided to leave Princeton in 2010. Why did you leave?
Tierney: One thing I said to myself was, if I’m ever going to leave a program, two things had to have happened. No. 1, it had to be better than when I got it, and No. 2, I had to leave the cupboard full. I felt at the time, there was nothing wrong at Princeton and everything was going well. I was 57 years old. I could have gone on automatic pilot. … I thought with Tom Schreiber and [Jeff] Froccaro coming in and Mike Chanenchuk, we were going to be really good. But this offered an opportunity for change.
Carcaterra: We knew it was a big day for the sport of lacrosse. But if you rewind that moment and then come into the present time, what impact do you think that championship has had on the sport?
Tierney: I hope it’s helped Utah start a program. I hope it’s helped other western programs — and now maybe southern programs and northern ones; look at Marquette — to believe that it can be done. My hope is that when people look at Denver winning the championship that year, they believe that they can do it as well. I’ve heard ADs and administrators say, “Hey, if Denver can do it, why can’t we?’”
Carcaterra: People that don’t know you might see you as an intense guy, maybe getting after the refs once in a while. What is your response to those who ask why the refs fire you up at times?
Tierney: One is a recognition of my own flaws in my own character. If I don’t recognize that, then there’s absolutely no other way to even go deeper in an explanation. I’ve had every athletic director since I coached in high school help me with that, and it’s something I’m not proud of if I’m wrong. On the other side of it, there are times I’ve been right.
Carcaterra: Regardless of what generation or coaching stop, who was that guy from the opposition that just gave you nightmares game planning against?
Tierney: Whether it was Casey, Ryan or Michael, you certainly had to shudder at the Powell name.
Carcaterra: What are your long-term plans?
Tierney: I’m next door to a young man (Matt Brown) who will be the next head coach here, and he could take over tomorrow. He has given me his blessing to do this as long as I can and want. He will be by my side. Maybe someday soon — maybe someday not so soon — we’ll just switch offices. I become the volunteer and he becomes the head guy.
