S3 E21. Gut Check: An Interview with 2025's, USA Lacrosse COY, Nic Bell. Part, II.

In this episode of Get the Lax Scoop, hosts Big Dawg and Jaybird sit down with USA Lacrosse 2025 Coach of the Year Nic Bell from St. Anne’s Belfield in Charlottesville, VA. The discussion covers Nic's journey from a collegiate lacrosse player at Brown to a successful coach, including his first job at Blue Ridge School and his significant time at Taft School. Bell emphasizes the importance of being authentic, owning mistakes, and fostering a culture of trust and accountability. Furthermore, the episode highlights his personal motivations for coaching, his impressive career trajectory, and the value of adopting genuine leadership skills both on and off the field.

00:00 Introduction to Get the Lax Scoop

00:23 Meet the Hosts and Guest

00:59 Interview with Nic Bell Begins

01:51 Nic Bell's Early Career and Influences

05:39 Building a Lacrosse Program at Blue Ridge

11:25 Success at Taft School

20:30 Mindset Minute: The Power of Authenticity

23:27 Harlem Lacrosse Boston Summer Camp

24:18 Returning to the Interview

28:04 Coaching Philosophy and Success at St. Anne's Belfield

33:32 Conclusion and Sign Off

NEW BOOK!
Inside the Recruiting Game: Insights From College Lacrosse Coaches
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Donate to Harlem Lacrosse Summer Camp:

https://www.harlemlacrosse.org/gmvs2025

Links to training videos:
Master The 5 Best Dodges From the Wing!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_7LDOcQQ6Q&t=88s

Blazing Shots... on the Run!
https://youtu.be/XiptPlM63oQ

Check us out...

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On Facebook @: facebook.com/jmcmahonlax23. Page name: Jay McMahon Lacrosse

Jules Heningburg: https://thelaxlab.com/

Check out!... Coach Tintle's Lacrosse Barn:

https://g.co/kgs/eXedCXf

SuccessHotline with Dr. Rob Gilbert on Ironclad & Apple Podcasts

Brian Cain Daily Dominator on Apple Podcasts

Lacrosse Charities Mentioned in S2 E36:
https://www.4thefuturefoundation.org/

https://www.harlemlacrosse.org/

https://15forlife.org/

Transcript

0:00

It's time for Get the Lack Scoop, a podcast bringing you all the people and stuff you should know in the game of lacrosse. We take lack seriously, but ourselves, not so much. Join host Big Dog and Jaybird and the biggest names in the game brought to you by Jay McMahon lacrosse. That's JML skills, mindset, and lacks IQ training. Ron Doglish, the big dog, was a collegiate football and lacrosse player at Brown. He was also an assistant lacrosse coach and the executive director of the Sports Foundation. And Jay McMahon, the Jaybird, a three time All American midfielder at Brown. He was the captain of the U. S. Junior National Team and is the founder of JML. And Joining us in the studio, Steve Grisolfi, who's collegiate lacrosse career statistics equals one goal against Dartmouth brought to you by Jay McMahon lacrosse. That's JML skills, mindset, and lacks IQ training, helping the next generation of lacrosse players get to the next level Hello everyone and welcome back to the show. We're excited to bring you the second portion of our interview with Nick Bell, the 2025 USA Lacrosse coach of the year from St. Anne's Bellfield in Charlottesville, Virginia. If you have not heard part one of the interview, we highly recommend you go back and give it a listen as it lays a super solid foundation for what's coming next. We have many, many listeners, but only a small percentage of you Subscribe to the podcast. If you like what you're hearing, please subscribe. Share our content with a friend and leave a review. It really helped support the show. Now you will find our interview picking up right where we left off last week. Enjoy. There you are, brown senior year and you're thinking about what am I gonna do with the rest of my life? I'm sure you might have thought about it before that time, but what were some of the things you said, obviously Coach Tiffany was a big influence. What was it that stirred you into the teaching and coaching profession? Good question. So I, when I was a freshman at Brown, I vividly remember in October of that year, every single one of the seniors on the team had either a commercial real estate or private equity or some sort of financial services job, almost a year ahead of, of time and, and remind, you know, that was 2006. Fast forward to 2008 and 2009, none of those jobs were hiring. And I had Good for you, you know, some internships in commercial real estate in the, I thought I was gonna do something like that. And it was actually, I vividly remember a practice where Dave Evans, who was on ours on the staff for a couple years there, but mys was the offensive coordinator my senior year. He said, Dave Evans, He said, He said, Hmm. To the whole team. You know, I know a bunch of, you're looking for jobs. One of the best things that I did in my life was when I graduated, I worked at Woodbury Forest School and I was a teacher and I was a coach, and I was eating all the free food in the dining hall, and I was going to Charlottesville and like partying. It was great. If you don't know what you wanna do, this could be a great, like stepping stone for you. And so it was actually through Chaz Woodson, who Oh, mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah. Who I had just missed by a year. But you know, he and his family had moved from Norfolk Academy for his dad, Woody, to take the. The head football coaching job at Blue Ridge School, and he brought the whole family with him. And this was in Jazz's senior year, and they're just like salt of the earth people. Woody was great. He was always working the lacrosse campus at Brown. I knew him really well. But it was through that connection that I got connected to Blue Ridge School, and at the time I was like, you know, I'm the, I'm the first, you know, member of my class at Brown on the lacrosse team to actually have a job in April of my senior year. And I was, I felt really grateful for that. And I was like, I'll try this and see how it goes. And the moment that I stepped into it and started working with kids and I was teaching and I was doing some admissions work and I was coaching three sports and I was living in a dorm, it was just like hook line, sinker. I, I loved it and I never, never questioned it, you know, looking ahead. That's amazing. David Evans with the career advice. Beautiful. Wow. And that was at Bluebird School, Nick, that that was the first job. Yep. Yeah, that's cool. I mean, it's those are two obviously great players and great people in Dave Evans and Chaz Woodson. It's also interesting when you think about the success that those two have had and the different dimensions of their life and career. Talk about authenticity again, like those two know who they are and and they are who they are all the time, no matter what, you know? Right. And so, very cool. And so so tell us about, obviously you said it, it was kind of hook, light and sinker. And as you, as you mentioned, when you're a young pup, when you're the rookie at a boarding school, there's not a moment in the day where they're not having you do something. Right. Right. And so, and so what, you know. Tell us a little bit about how that, of course, you were in, but what did you start to think about, about how you wanted to take the, all right, this is actually a path for me. What were the experiences at Blue Ridge that kind of honed you forward into, into where you wanted to go from there? Yeah, so it, it actually was the perfect situation for me because at the time when Blue Ridge hired me their board had done a lot of like market research in the independent school space, and they were realizing that it would be a really good thing for the school to revamp their lacrosse program. And I don't know why. They made me the head coach there when I was 22. I had no idea what I was doing. Wow. That's amazing. I really like going day by day on it. But it was an opportunity where they, you know, the school was very supportive and the director of admissions at the time is now the head of school of their trip. Darren, who, who gave me my first job and he was basically like, I, you know, I don't know a ton about lacrosse, but I know that this is an important thing for the school. We really want you to build out this program as best you can. And so I. Like I just, you know, I knew about some, some prep school coaches that had gone to Canada and, you know, started to generate some real interest from, you know, different communities there that could come down to the us, get a great education, get more college exposure, get the college readiness piece that the boarding school and the private school, you know, sector provides. Mm-hmm. And so I literally, like, as a graduating senior brown, I think I googled like Canadian lacrosse tournaments and opened up, I found one that was in Van Vancouver actually, that was run by the ray brothers called the West Coast one 50, and I literally booked a flight. Booked a hotel. I didn't tell them I was even coming. I just sort of showed up. And when I was there I was like blown away by the talent. This is in Vancouver, so a lot of the prep schools at the time were recruiting a lot of kids from Ontario. Wasn't a lot of people that were looking out west. And I sort of stumbled into something there by making some connections with coaches and, and some of the players that were at the event. And in my first year we, we had seven kids come, came down to Blue Ridge from Western Canada. No way. Wow. Yeah. That's amazing. That's where the gates and Oliver Marty are from. So all of a sudden you had a team real quick. Yeah. You could finish. You could finish. Yeah. If you could get it down there, they could finish. Right. I mean that like, and that was again, like at 22, that was real life, you know, experience in something that I kind of stumbled into. And and they trusted me and they backed me and they really supported me and, you know, mentored me. And in my first year we had seven of them. In my second year we had 13 of them. So we basically Wow. You know, a six and 11 team in Vista Division two to, in that first year with that immediate injection of talent, we had. We went, we were 14 and four and made it to the state semis. Mm-hmm. And then next year we made the jump to division one and we were, we were 16 and four. And so that, like, again, I look back at those two years as like a real inflection point and I, I felt just grateful to have a job period at the time, but then to find something that I was so passionate about and, you know, was supported and really growing in that you know, I'll, I'll be forever grateful for those two years. So That's great. So Nick, you find a way to have some success. You know, you, you're 22 years old, just like, screw it, I'll go to Vancouver. These kids trust you. While you had all that success, what, what is, what is Nick Bell now wish that 22-year-old kid knew at Blue Ridge? What would you tell that guy now? Knowing what, you know, probably it would've been you, you shouldn't stop working out and exercising because in my, when I was done playing college lacrosse in 2009, it was the first time, you know, in like 12 years that I wasn't like training for something. And I loved everything that, that Charlottesville had to offer, which is like great foods. I was having, letting it all hang out. So much fun. And I actually, I, I was so again, I was like, you know, getting all these Canadian kids, you know, to be really excited about the school. I was like coaching football. I was coaching basketball, I was coaching'em, lacrosse. I was teaching a full load. I was doing admissions work and and I was eating my face off. And so like for those, for like the first seven years outta college, I probably put on like five to seven pounds a year and Nice. Do the math. It took me about 10, 12 years to like, get back together and like, you know, eat more healthily and, you know, sleep better and like become more aware of like my own body because it's a slippery slope. And, just the flip. Tell me about it, Nick. Tell me about it. You know, just like not, you know, wanting my division one athlete metabolism to last forever. And it really didn't. So you know, I think it was actually Lars, we were at a wedding for I wanna say Jake Westerman in Oh yeah, Cincinnati. And I think he said, he like looked at me when I showed up and he is like, you need to get ahold of yourself. Like, this is, you know, and it, and again, like, he was like, Hey Nick, you look like shit. Jesus, right. I'll be at your room at 6:00 AM for a run after this wedding. Let's go. You know, but so many other people just didn't have the courage to say that to my face. And he did. Yep. And you know, a couple years after that, I, you know, I got back into a good, a good rhythm and routine. I always do put on a lot of weight in the spring. I'm like stress eating. I'm watching film all the time. I'm like eating, or parents take really good care of us, great tailgates, things like that. But it, like that would've been, you know, it would've been like, keep being fit and mm-hmm. Slow down. I love it. Right, right. So let's jump to the TAF School. I know you had another stop at Trinity Pauling, but let's jump to the TAF School and I know you, you know, when you were there, obviously the, the team did extremely well. I know it's a school that's steeped in tradition, and I know you had some great players there, like the Kavanaugh brothers. So tell us about those years, how that opportunity came up with the rhinos and you know, how, how you were able to get them to be so successful. So. I met my now wife at Brown Ann, the clerk now Ann Bell, who played field hockey actually for Tara Harrington, I'm pretty sure. Oh, really? And I know Laura's told me at one point that, that Tara told Annie, who, you know, she calls her Annie you really shouldn't date him. You know, probably not. This is probably not like, good for you. And oh my gosh, that's hilarious. You know, I, I do, I do that. And we're very, you got a little window into how special us the cross guys are at that age. Right. You know? Well, she's dating Lars who's living in like a, a trailer at the ocean. Yeah. On like a gravel pit. But anyway, no. And it, if it wasn't so. Ann had graduated the same year that I did from Brown and she stayed in New England. If it wasn't for her, I probably would've never left Blue Ridge. I was perfectly happy there. And so that's what brought me up to Trinity Pauling. Gotcha. And then after we were there, I was there for six years and I had become really close with Casey Defo who was coaching at Taft. And it's kind of cra just, this is like a, a snapshot of how wild, you know, and small the lacrosse world is. But basically, you know, in that during that time, you know, Dom is no longer the coach at UVA, Lars goes from Brown to UVA, Casey Olfo, I'm sorry, Mike Daley then goes from Tufts to Brown. Mm-hmm. Casey goes from the TAF school to Tufts. I went from Pauling to Taft. Right. And the weird thing about that is that. Lars played for Dom, I played for Lars, and then Casey played for Mike Daly at Tufts. Right? So like that in a snapshot is this lacrosse world of live in Tu. Talk about the dominoes falling in the right places. Right. So we moved over to Taft, so that mainly because we were, we had a growing family. We wanted a co-ed school. I loved Trinity Pauling. I love all the people that I worked with there and the kids that I coached. It was an incredible place for me at that time. And but we, yeah, we moved over to Taft in 2018, so 1718 school year. And we had a really good run. I mean, my, my first year there, we did not have the, the deepest roster and we did not have the most talent, but we had a bunch of like brown state overachieving kids that like Nice. We actually won a founders league championship that first year with the least talent that I've coached. In the last 10 years. And when you have, you know, in that league, it's so competitive and when you have that sort of success, it starts to really just, you know, it starts to kind of multiply on top of itself and mm-hmm. That very next year I had recruited Pat Kavanaugh in, and, and this was before Pat Kavanaugh. Was Pat Kavanaugh. I mean, he was kind of a, a little bit of a runt at at Shamina was Shaina attack man. You know, he was their what? Attack man. He was like their fifth attack man at Shamina. Wow. Wow. Geez. And was was a small undersized off ball kid, but there was just from, what grade was he in when he was the fifth attack man? A senior. Wow. That's what I thought. He was a PG at Taft. Wow. Senior at Shaman is the fifth attack man. He came to us in 2019 as a postgraduate, and you're probably like, I'm not sure I want this guy. I, you know, I was, I was, and we actually had a Taft at the time, some, so a couple kids that were going to Michigan. They were good players. We had another kid who came in that same year that was going to Notre Dame. You know, pat was really like, we, we didn't necessarily need another one in that year, but there was just this like, quiet intensity in this fire and I just, I was drawn to him in a big way and I really went to bat for him and I was thrilled when he actually chose Taft over Hotchkiss. Where? Where Matt had gone. Mm-hmm. And he came in and just, you know, took to coaching, listened, worked his butt off, put on 15 pounds of muscle. His confidence went through the roof. And after his PG year, he was by far our best player at Taft in 2019. We had a, a decent team the year that he was there, like we were like a nine and six team that year. We didn't win the league. But then he made the U 19 team after that, and then the rest is really history. Mm-hmm. And, you know, but just, you know, the consummate, overachiever grinder worker. And then we got Chris to come over. Chris transferred in as a junior and became part of like, what was my first really strong group of kids at Taft in that 2021 class. Mm-hmm. So it was a, I mean, incredible run. I mean, that team, you know, kind of survived through COVID, but they won the Geico event. Then we won N-H-S-L-S that year in 22. We had a lot of key pieces back, even though all the Kavanaugh's were gone. But we had, you know, Thomas, Richard Deli we had Trait, yeah. Jason Whitney. We had Dash Sachs who went on to, to face off at Brown. I mean, we, we, we ended up, you know, there was a point in time there where we were cranking out like 12 division one kids a year, 15 college bound players a year in 22. Amazing. 24. Right. Wow. So it was just momentum, huh? It was kind of like a, a snowball that ball's going downhill and it's just getting bigger and bigger. Total momentum and kind of got lucky with Patrick, you know, working out the way that he did. And then it wasn't a hard sell for a lot of other kids considering that same path. Yeah. Right. Yeah. So I mean, it's, it's a pretty quick you know, timeline there from starting a program at Blue, blue Ridge, right. Or taking over program. I, I don't know if it existed, but certainly you didn't have a lot of high level credibility. All of a sudden you're the national, the high school national champion at Taft, you know? And so, so what was it like coaching that caliber of player and playing against, you know, playing the Hill School, St. John's College, as you said, that League is incredibly talented. You know, you got all those PG kids that our future. A lot of'em, future division one players. So, so how did things, did things shift for you in terms of your approach when all of a sudden you're, you're playing and, and you're playing against that caliber of talent, you're coaching a different caliber of kid who's got higher expectations. All the pressures that go with it at a place like Taft, I mean, you know, those places are amazing and they also come with certain expectations. So what was that whole dynamic like, Nick? Yeah, it was, I mean, I, everyone always asked me the question like, man, those parents must have been like so hard to deal with, or like, mm-hmm. Right. You think, you know, like high maintenance, high maintenance, and it's all of that, like New York City. Fairfield County, Westchester, New York. We had kids from the Bay Area. We had kids from like West Palm Beach. We had, you know, some really smart but privileged, you know, kids and families in the program. And I, I look back on my six years there and I have nothing but love for all of the kids that I coached and all of the parents that, that really supported me there. They were, you, you were a long way from Warrington, Virginia. Yes. But the parents were supportive. They were, they were totally supportive and they weren't high maintenance at all in the ways that you would think. I mean, they were all driven for like greener pastures academically for their kids, but they always like went about it in the right way. I didn't have a lot of like confrontation. I was really, I, I tried to sort of. Just default to being myself, being really authentic, working really hard, and I think that they could see and feel that I had their kids' best interests at heart. And e even though I'm, I make mistakes all the time. You know, I was gonna be, I was gonna own those mistakes and just do the best that I could for them. And I think that always shines through. And so it, it, it was a, it was a wonderful ride and, i, I just, I look back on those years again, I, I, I took over as the head coach there. I was, I was in my mid twenties, you know, late twenties, I guess. And I was relatively young to be a head coach in the Founders League and a head coach in West One. But, you know, I just kind of kept rolling with it and I defaulted to being myself, being authentic and working really hard. I defaulted to being myself, being authentic and working really hard. How about if we, how about if we transition to. J m l and let's do that. We'll get into a little bit of the mindset. We'll do a mindset minute here. As we have so many listeners out there who are in the midst of their travel across schedules, I thought I would do a short pep talk based on Coach Bell's approach. It's all about the power of authenticity, honesty, and ownership. Guys, bring it in. I wanna share something real with you.'cause what we do on this field is not just about skills and scores, it's about trust. And trust starts with being real. Being your authentic self. You want your teammates to play with heart, to show up when it counts, to hold themselves accountable when no one's watching. Then it starts with you doing the same as a coach, as a leader, or as a teammate. Being authentic means showing up as you, not who you think people want you to be. It means admitting when you don't have the answer. Being honest when something's not right. And owning your mistakes instead of hiding them. And I'll tell you what, when you do that, you give everyone else permission to do the same. You want to unlock the full potential of this team. Don't act perfect. Be sincere. Tell the truth if you mess up in a drill or blow a play, own it. Say, that's on me. That one sentence is powerful because it builds a culture of accountability, not excuses. When your teammates know you're real with them, when they see you take responsibility, see that you care about them more than your ego, they start doing the same. That's when you stop playing as individuals and start playing as a team, and that's where greatness begins. So be honest, be sincere. Own your flaws. That's not weakness, that's leadership. That's how you create a team that's not just talented, but unbreakable. Now let's go out there and let it rip. Okay? I hope that pep talk puts a little swing in your step and propels you through this summer into greatness. Now we will hear a word from our sponsor. So there you have it. And also do, as Coach Bell did, listen to your mother. Mothers are highly intuitive and well connected to their right brains. All in all, it helps to get in touch with your inner GPS. It is highly intelligent and never steers you wrong, and never takes you to a place of utter chaos. A place where there are no guardrails. Speaking of no guardrails that so many of our listeners describe the college lacrosse recruiting trail. So we've responded by putting excerpts of our 10 best interviews with legendary coaches, such as bill Tierney, Lars, Tiffany and Andy towers. Into a book that you can access on Kindle, it is available on Amazon, under the title inside the recruiting game insights from college lacrosse coaches. Also we would like to mention the Harlem Lacrosse Boston Summer Camp for Boys and Girls will be offered again this summer and run by Brown Lacrosse alum and guest on our show, Sam Jackson. This camp is targeted for players who are with Harlem Lacrosse, but will be making that all important transition from middle school to high school. It is a critical time to help these young people feel connected to lacrosse and to their program players who continue with Harlem lacrosse into high school not only have nearly a hundred percent high school graduation rate, but also have a significantly higher chance of going to college compared to those who leave the program after middle school. Even a small donation can make a big difference. So with that, you will see the description of these items in the show notes. Now we will return to our interview and you will find that interview in progress. And those are all things that, you know, I learned from those high school coaches I talked about earlier. And certainly Lars and the Dave Evans of the worlds and you know, so many other people that were part of my life at Brown. And then Blue Ridge. So it just, you know, yeah, it was, it was quite a ride. It is like the hard work, like, all right, I'm gonna put more time in on film, or I'm gonna, like, what was evolving a bit like, all right, I gotta, did you think I gotta up my game a bit as far as preparation or things you're doing on the field or the amount of practice time? Like any, anything like that changing? Yeah, so it was, you know. Everybody wants to win on game day, but not everybody has the discipline or mental toughness to really make a 12 month commitment to being great. Mm-hmm. Right. You know, I just felt like I. You know, I knew as a player, I wasn't the most talented player, and the only chance that I had to, to help my team was to outwork and, and was to really roll up my sleeves on things. And, you know, I look back on some of those experiences at Blue Ridge where I just as a 22-year-old had to figure out a lot on my own as, as being things that really prepared me. And I think that, you know, nobody ever accused me of being a good coach before I had good players. I know that's like a saying. It, it, it did get to be easier. I found over time easier and easier. You know, as our talent pool increased, but it also like became a job in management and, you know, fitting all of these roster pieces together to maximize our potential. So it was like, you know, it's not just about having the best players. And in that league, my criticism of Taft and, and the Founders League in West One is that. It's such a traditional place and, and league that there isn't a lot of out of season lacrosse. Like the coaches there can't really coach their own players until we get basically get to the spring. So that was mm-hmm. That was challenging and different than even Blue Ridge where I could coach those kids in the fall, winter, leading into the spring. I could build relationships through that. I could start to, you know, like lay out a foundation for schematically what we wanted to do and at taf mm-hmm. It was like, you know, we were starting practice in like late, late February. We were on spring break for all of March. We were back in school in late March and our season was done by the middle of May. It was like a six week season. Right. Wow. Total short and but that taught me different things. It taught me how to like, make very quick decisions and it, it taught me how to like, prepare and plan and and, and really be intelligent and smart with our time. You know, like as a young coach, I think that, you know, I wanted to be good at too many things at the same time and, and defaulting to what is most important now. Like, we need to get better in full field sets. We can't spend 30 minutes in practice doing od split time where coordinators are just with their teams. We need to get immediately into things that were more pertinent for our success. So it just, you know, it was different lessons learned, it was management, managing people and personalities. And again, I just, you know, I, I think that the coaches and the teams that are most successful are, are the ones that work the hardest and, and the ones that don't you know, relent on their own standards. You know, so that's what I tried to do. Right. Good stuff. So so Nick, you, you, you know, I guess you couldn't keep from coming home for too long, huh? So have a great state of Virginia, Ron. Yes. It's a heck of a place. Look at you. Look at you. The Long Islander. Now, you know, part of the Chamber of Commerce over 20 years for Virginia. Now Jay, look at you. I know how to pick'em. Yes, you do. C certainly Jay, it's all you, Jay, everything about Virginia changed when you moved there. Clearly. It always is. Ron. Don't mistake it. So Nick, other than the obvious right, of being a, a Virginia native what were some of the key decisions of of coming back to Virginia, being in Charlottesville, taking on the head coaching role at St. Anne's Bellfield which, which, you know, had a great lacrosse tradition in itself. And, you know, in our time we had the stauffer brothers who came through, came through stab JP Williamson. So, and I, and I understand there may be a, a stab player on his way to Brown right now who people are telling me was a great late recruiting season find for the Bears. So, so anyway, tell us Nick, about coach Brian. Kelly took a little credit for that too. Yes, he did in our last episode. He sure did. And so tell us a little bit about. The decision to go back to Stab and then, you know, boy having success right off the bat. Just stepping it up. Stepping up the game at Stab. Yeah. Well I think the main reason why we did this was all about family. And you know, when I was in my like fourth, fifth, and sixth year at Taft, we were basically, Ann and I were trying to solve for two things, home ownership. Because of those prep schools, they give you housing. Yeah. And you're essentially a renter, right? Yeah. That's reflected your salary. But I, you know, I had been working for 15 years without any home equity and so in thinking bigger picture about what our, the needs of our growing family would be, we knew that we needed. To do that, whether we stayed at Taft or not. And the second thing was the education for our kids. And Ann and I have three daughters. Mary Jo is our oldest. She's eight, turning nine very soon. Greer is six, turning seven very soon. And then Dailey is three and she'll be four in the fall. And so, oh, Jay, he is in it. Jay. Whoa, boy. It's, it's nice to be on the backside of that Jay, as you and I are now. Yeah. Except when my 22-year-old daughter had some friends over last night and kept me up all night all the same. My son did the same like the week before. So yeah. You know, it'll come back. He'll, he'll come full circle again. Eight, eight year olds do that too, but they call you at 11 o'clock at night and need you to come pick them up and, you know, so we're like dealing with different things. But it, you know, at the, at the core of what we were looking for was really just, you know, how, how do we best position our family? Like where do we wanna raise our kids? Yeah. And that was our guiding light through all of this. And when the Saint Ann's Bellfield thing came up it literally checked every single one of those boxes at the same time. I mean. Next year, all three of our kids will be in the school. My older two started there immediately. I think it's a, it's, it's, it is a, a really incredible school, top to bottom, but the experience that our daughters have had in the lower school has been more than we could have ever asked for already in just two years. The community there is incredibly warm and supportive. It's really nice to have a social life that's not attached to a campus and like to have actually friends in Charlottesville that are not, you know, connected to our school. You're not at the, yeah. The, the campus playground with the ad and the director of admissions, like, you get a little bit more personal space, which we were looking for at the time. So number one is certainly family. Number two would've just been, I fell in love with lacrosse. You know, for me personally, I fell in love with lacrosse in this state and in Virginia. And, you know, I think my, some of my first memories of. What a great high school lacrosse program looked like came from Doug tearing and the work that he had done at Stab and just as a high school school, playing against them and seeing the level of professionalism and precision and attention to detail that were seno, that was synonymous with all of his programs was something that I was just, I've always been drawn to this place. Mm-hmm. And it's certainly like those first two years at Blue Ridge School, which is like 45 minutes from St. Anne's reminded me that this would be a great place to raise a family. This would be a great place for kids to grow up. This would be a great place, you know, to live as a young adult and would be a great place to retire. So it kind of, you know, you know, that that was a big part of it for me. Professionally. And also having the college counseling opening that that St. Ann's did at the time you know, w was equally part of my professional consideration. So that's really, you know, that's a lot of it. My, a lot of my family is still in the States, so my brother lives in Virginia Beach with his wife. My parents live in Northern Virginia still. My, the older of my two sisters is also in Northern Virginia, living in Fairfax, and my youngest sister is in New York, but she's a total homebody and she's, she's back with us all the time, so, mm-hmm. That's great. Family, family first. Now you know, right off the bat there, you're having a lot of success though, right? Getting to the finals and then winning the championship this year and and becoming Coach of the Year. So, you know, a lot of people talk about X's and O's. A lot of people talk about the talent and then other people, like I talk about those intangibles, culture, things like that. What, what do you attribute that all the success, you know, early on here with Stab and, and that early improvement of the program and what are you looking to build there at St. Anne's Bellfield? I mean, I, I, it, it's. I mean, I, I, it, it's. It's it's tune in next week to see just what Coach Bell means and what it is. Until we meet again. Here's to hoping you find the twine. We're signing off here at the get the lax scoop. Thanks again so much. We will see you the next time.