Lelan Rogers is leading a lacrosse revolution. Rogers was hired at Syracuse this year to become the first Director of Lacrosse Operations in the nation. This move is already being imitated by other lacrosse programs like the Naval Academy.

The new position, which is a necessity at any college football or college basketball program, is a telling sign of the rapid growing popularity of lacrosse. It is fitting that Syracuse, a university with arguably the greatest lacrosse legacy in the country, was the first to create this position.

After its creation, Rogers was quickly deemed the man for the job.

‘(The new position) is going to help in many ways.’ SU men’s lacrosse head coach John Desko said. ‘The team benefits with someone who has had so many years in administration and coaching. The coaching staff can become more organized.’

Rogers will serve a variety of roles at the newly created position. His job will include assisting players with academic advising, player development, scheduling, arranging game trips and generating positive exposure for the Syracuse lacrosse program. He plays an important part in helping players maintain themselves as both a student and an athlete.

On some days, he will aid students in need of tutoring. Other times, he can be found teaching students how to lift weights properly in order to avoid injury.

‘I’m in contact with every single (athlete) every single day,’ Rogers said. ‘We want athletes that represent the university well.’

In addition to assisting the lacrosse players, Rogers also benefits the coaching staff. This is extremely important for lacrosse, since the coaching staff consists of three members that must instruct a 50-man roster. Now, Rogers has taken over some of the responsibilities the coaching staff used to have the coaches can concentrate more on preparing the team. This is especially true with the recruiting process.

‘Recruiting is most important. To be good, you got to get athletes,’ Rogers said. ‘My job frees up coaches so they can go on the road.’

Rogers will also work on increasing exposure for the lacrosse program. He is putting together both player and coaching clinics that will be sponsored by SU. The player clinics will be designed to better expose the university to high schools and fulfill the needs of high school lacrosse players.

The coaching clinics will be designed for educating coaches. Rogers believes the best way to educate a high school player is to educate their high school coach. These clinics will include presentations by the Syracuse coaching staff. The first coaching clinic has already been set for this Sunday.

Director of Athletics Daryl Gross wanted every sport at Syracuse to have what it needed to be competitive at the national level. When he met with the coaches of the most consistently successful sport at the university, he learned other responsibilities might start to take away the focus from recruiting and practice.

As a result of lacrosse’s mounting popularity, a problem might have been looming in the future due to a more competitive lacrosse atmosphere. To overcome this problem, Gross created the director of lacrosse operations.

Now, with its creation, Syracuse might now hold the edge personnel-wise in lacrosse, as other colleges scurry to replicate the position that Rogers now holds.

Rogers and Desko both agree the new position is still a work in progress. However, they also believe that Rogers’ role as a former player and graduate assistant will benefit Rogers in helping him promptly layout a completed blueprint for his job. Rogers’ familiarity with the coaching staff and sharing their same goals has already led to some immediate effects.

After spending 15 years coaching national contenders at Division III, Rogers sees this position as the perfect stepping stone to his final career move. Whether he wants to be involved with coaching or delve deeper into administrative work, he sees this job as the springboard to the highest level of achievement.

Although for now, Rogers could not be happier with the new spot he occupies in the world of college lacrosse.

‘To be director of lacrosse operations at the most visible program in the nation was too good of an opportunity to pass up,’ Rogers said. ‘It is just what I was looking for.’

Published on March 21, 2006 at 12:00 pm