Aug. 17, 2011
Link to Original Story
First published August 17, 2011
When John Svec headed off to Loyola College back in 1997, he figured on becoming a teacher just like his parents.
Michael Svec just retired after a 40-year career at Annapolis High, where he served as head of the music department and orchestra director. Judy Svec has taught at Annapolis, Broadneck and Chesapeake - coaching field hockey, gymnastics and other sports along the way.
John Svec wanted to follow in their footsteps and thus majored in education while playing lacrosse at Loyola. Svec even took the first step toward joining that profession by doing his student teaching at Cape St. Claire Elementary.
However, a strange thing happened along the way. Svec worked lacrosse camps while in college and discovered he really enjoyed working with youngsters in that way. After graduating from Loyola, Svec was offered an assistant coaching position at the University of Albany and decided to give it a shot.
During a seven-year tenure as defensive coordinator at Albany under head coach Scott Marr, Svec realized that he wanted to be a coach more than a teacher.
"I'm one of the lucky people who found out what they love to do," Svec said. "Once I started coaching, I discovered that I had a real passion for it."
That love and passion has brought the Arnold native to the pinnacle of the profession. Last month, Svec was hired as the ninth head coach of men's lacrosse at Siena College in Loudonville, N.Y.
"We wanted to find somebody who could continue the success we've had and help us win games and championships, and to get things done the right way while keeping the interest of our student athletes at heart," Siena Director of Athletics John D'Argenio said upon announcing the hire. "We found John Svec and he's the person to help us continue that success here at Siena College."
Svec takes over a program that is certainly on an upswing as Siena has captured the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship and earned an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament two of the past three years. The Saints set a school record by winning 13 games in 2011, and that success is what got head coach Brian Brecht hired away by Rutgers.
"This is a great opportunity to be part of a program that has learned how to win," Svec said at his introductory news conference.
"That winning has bred a certain level of expectation. That high level of expectation of success from both the administration and the very supportive and active alumni is very impressive. That was evident to me the first time I set foot on campus and is one of the many reasons I am so eager to join the Siena lacrosse family."
Svec suffered a severe knee injury as a freshman at Loyola and never quite regained his mobility, but nonetheless developed into a top-notch man-down defender under head coach Dave Cottle. Watching Svec operate in practice and games, Cottle recognized the youngster would one day make a good coach.
"John was always a great leader and communicator. He was like a coach on the field," said Cottle, an Edgewater resident who is now president of the Chesapeake Bayhawks. "What John lacked in quickness, he made up for with intelligence. He's always been a very bright individual and a really good person. Put all those traits together and you have the makings of an outstanding coach."
Svec said he learned a ton about strategy and in-game adjustments from Cottle, whom he called "one of the legendary coaches in the game." Marr, a former Johns Hopkins University standout, has a different coaching style than Cottle, but also taught Svec a lot.
"Scott does an incredible job of developing relationships with players. He just knows how to interact with them," Svec said. "I've never seen somebody who cares more about people than Scott Marr, and he engenders a lot of loyalty from all those who play for him."
Svec loved working with Marr and enjoyed Albany, but felt he needed a change of scenery in order to grow as a coach. That is why Svec spent the past three seasons at Hobart under head coach T.W. Johnson.
"T.W. is very detail-oriented and a real planner. He showed me how important organization is when it comes to running a program," Svec said. "Coaching at Hobart gave me a different experience. Hobart is a small, liberal arts school while Albany is a big state school. It helped my development to learn from two great, but very different, bosses."
Svec said his own coaching style has been culled from his experiences as a player and an assistant. The 32-year-old Broadneck High product believes in being aggressive and building a team that is well-conditioned.
"I want our guys to play as hard as they can for as long as they can. I like the idea of playing at a high speed for a prolonged period of time," Svec said. "We want to put pressure on opponents on both ends of the field. We want to play with toughness, intelligence and skill."
The MAAC, also comprised of Canisius, Detroit, Jacksonville, Marist, Manhattan and VMI, is one of the weaker conferences in Division I lacrosse. However, the tournament champ earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament so Svec is focusing on playing non-conference opponents in order to condition Siena to play high-caliber competition.
"We're looking to upgrade the schedule for the purpose of preparing for the playoffs. Our conference is going to always draw a high seed in the NCAA Tournament and we want to know that we can compete and beat that type of team," said Svec, noting that Siena opens with Johns Hopkins next season.
Svec will serve as his own defensive coordinator and said he is close to hiring an offensive coordinator along with a third assistant. As a one-man show for the past month, Svec has been working nonstop - traveling for recruiting purposes, running Siena's summer camp and watching film in order to become familiar with his new players.
"I haven't been home to Geneva to see my wife in two and a half weeks," said Svec, who is married to the former Lindsay Hart, head coach of the Albany women's lacrosse team from 2006 through 2010.
