Lacrosse coaches are busy preparing for the upcoming 2018 season, but many are doing so with a heavy heart after legendary colleague Dave Huntley, one of seven people men or women elected to both the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame and Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame, died on Dec. 18 while coaching a clinic in Florida. 

The news triggered an a flurry of reactions, from well wishes for Huntley, 60, and his family, to stories of Huntley’s impact on the lacrosse world. It was a loss that hit the lacrosse community hard, from his fellow coaches down to youth players — some with which he had recently worked. He is survived by his wife, Nancy, and two children, Kevin and Michelle.

Huntley’s death left a void, and for good reason.

“When you look at what happened when Dave passed, and the outpouring of support and the outpouring of kind words for him,” said Johns Hopkins coach Dave Pietramala, whose relationship with Huntley went back to his playing days and continued when Kevin Huntley joined the Hopkins program. “I have 14-year-old kids and they were really struck when Dave passed, because in a very short period of time, Dave Huntley had an impact on them. The story is the impact that Dave has had on so many lives and how, at the end of the book, all those people and their outpouring of support for him and his family.”

Huntley, one of few Canadian players to head to the U.S. for field lacrosse at the time, was a three-time All-American at Johns Hopkins and won the McLaughlin Award for the nation’s top midfielder in 1979. He also competed with the Canadian national team in 1978, winning a world championship as the youngest player on the team.

He was known for his positive outlook and passion for the game almost immediately. After finishing his career at Hopkins, Huntley joined the Dave Cottle’s Loyola staff as a graduate assistant alongside former teammate Steve Wey.

That’s where Cottle and others began to see what made Huntley special. He came into practices and games extremely organized and never found an opponent he feared. He’d test his players in conditioning, waiting for them to make a stand.

“He starts them running, and they go, sprint one, sprint two, sprint three,” Cottle said. “We get to sprint 50, and they’re still running and finally one of the kids goes ‘This is B.S.' Dave said ‘Alright, that’s it.’ They were too compliant. He wanted them to stand up for themselves and when the first kid complained about the running, he stopped. That was a Dave Huntleyism.”

Huntley carried his confidence and charisma into a career in professional lacrosse. He joined the Philadelphia Wings of the Eagle Pro Box League as coach and general manager in 1987. There, he recruited players like John Grant Sr., Michael French — another member of both the Canadian and National Lacrosse Hall of Fame — and his brother, Dean, to join his team.

Huntley was there for his team when it needed him, both figuratively and literally. A few games into the 1987 season, Huntley decided he was going to suit up.

“One day, all of a sudden, Hunts said ‘I think we need another lefty,’” French said. “He strapped on the equipment and I said ‘What the hell. Come on up and play.’ … He put himself in the lineup. It was hilarious.”

After winning the world championships as a player for team Canada, Huntley, served as an assistant on the 2006 team that also won gold in London, Canada and orchestrated another world championship win in 2014 as the director of men’s field lacrosse, a position he held until shortly before his death. He helped foster a new generation of Canadian talent, after inspiring others to get into field lacrosse.

Huntley rounded out his coaching with multiple gigs in MLL. He joined as the Toronto Nationals’ first head coach, leading expansion franchise to its first MLL title in 2009. He also served as an assistant with the Chesapeake Bayhawks in 2014 before being named head coach of the Atlanta Blaze in July of 2016.

There, he joined with general manager and assistant coach Spencer Ford, whom he had known since Ford was a child. Huntley and Ford developed a relationship while coaching at Calvert Hall (Md.) starting in 2013. Huntley, a Towson, Md. native, lended his time to the historic program as an aide to coach Bryan Kelly while Ford led the JV team.

It wasn’t necessary, but Huntley was at every home JV game. He’d grab Ford at halftime of those games and ask him about certain offensive sets, always eager to learn.

“He was just a guy that knew everything, but would love to learn,” Ford said. “He had all the knowledge of the game and could teach everybody, and he probably knew more in his back pocket than anyone had in their entire body, but he still wanted to learn and still made you feel like you had something extra to give.”

Working with the Blaze only strengthened Ford’s relationship with the man who would later become the godfather to his son, Jackson. Huntley, an avid “foodie,” arranged all of his meetings around a meal. Even after games, win or loss, you’d find Huntley at Pappasito’s Cantina.

“The only time he’d get mad at you is if you didn’t get a bite to eat and a beer afterwards,” Ford said. “It didn’t matter what time it was or where we were or if we got beat by 15 goals, it was ‘Hey, we’re going to Pappasito’s. Get ready.’”

And it wasn’t just with the Blaze. Huntley’s passion for food sometimes rivaled that of lacrosse.

“We would go from practice to figuring out the next meal,” Cottle said. “Everybody that coaches with him, they laugh about it because it was ‘Where are we going to eat now?’ We started with a breakfast meeting and it turned into lunch.”

Huntley, according to his colleagues, was one of the most genuine people in the lacrosse world. He knew what he loved and pursued a life surrounding it.

He was always willing to sit down and talk lacrosse, hoping to help in any way he could. He took on multiple coaching jobs at once, while working as a principal at HR Investment Consultants. It didn’t matter what was on his plate, he found a way to get the job done.

“What Dave gave, which is so unbelievable, is the gift of time,” Cottle said. “He gave so much of himself to others. He’s coaching Calvert Hall while coaching in the MLL while helping run the Canadian World Games team. He donated so much of his time to the game of lacrosse and to the people of lacrosse.”

Although the loss of such a wealth of lacrosse experience and knowledge hurts, Huntley’s impact on the game will be felt for years to come.

“He brought great energy. He brought great passion. He brought great love for our game,” Ford said. “Every time we are lucky enough to watch a game, whether it’s tomorrow or 10 years from now, we’re going to see skilled plays that are going to happen and somebody is going to turn and say ‘Man, Hunts would be proud.’ … I can’t imagine any of my loved ones going out any other way. I hear the exact words from Hunts. ‘I’m going to have a jammer on the field.’ Damned if he didn't do it that way.”

Dave Huntley was always generous with his time and quick with his wit. Here is a sampling of memorable Dave Huntley moments on LSN. Rest in Peace. pic.twitter.com/8mxPJv3lm2

— Lax Sports Network (@LaxSportsNet) December 19, 2017