Once a former Cabrini lacrosse player, Tommy DeLuca, is joining the lacrosse coaching staff to start his career in coaching. After being a top defender in the nation, the team is more than excited to have him.
DeLuca said, “Just wanting to be apart of the success and the coaching staff, I think that’s a really good opportunity and certainly a difficult one to pass up.”
“Given the fact that COVID-19 happened and I came back for a fifth year that actually allowed me to come into this role,” he said.
DeLuca touched on what he will bring to the coaching staff.
DeLuca has an advantage that other coaches don’t usually have. “Having played here and knowing the guys on a more personal level outside of just lacrosse, having that relationship kind of allows me to talk and help coach them in ways that might benefit them more,” DeLuca said.
DeLuca joining the staff will have more of an impact considering the connections.
“Listening to the guys and having played lacrosse and being part of this team so recently, I know that from a player’s perspective, the best thing a coach can do is listen to them,” he said.
Moving from a player to a coach, there’s many things to learn. “I’m kind of looking forward to seeing the reasons behind doing the things the way that we do,” DeLuca said.
Ron Garling, associate head coach, said, “It’s been great having Tommy on the coaching staff. We were very excited when we found out that he was going to do grad school to finish his fifth year of playing. Then obviously after finishing that year last year, join the coaching staff.”
“He brings a unique perspective to our staff with being a former player and obviously being a very knowledgeable player that will be a very good coach going forward,” Garling said.
Garling has a great amount of trust in DeLuca to fulfill his role as a coach.
“I hope that Tommy brings added knowledge to our defense where he’ll do a lot of his primary work. Being a defensive player himself he’s going to really help with the defensive side of things,” he said.
Garling brought up DeLuca’s perspective of knowing the players. “He brings a really unique perspective of knowing these guys personally off the field and on the field more so than I do as a coach. He’ll be able to communicate with those guys in a really good way,” Garling said.
From someone who’s known DeLuca, Garling has known that he’s kept his eye on coaching. He said, “Tommy is a guy that has been talking about coaching for the last three years that I’ve been on staff. From there, you always knew that Tommy had an eye for coaching.”
“He had the drive for it and the want to be a really good coach. I’m extremely confident that Tommy will be a very good coach,” Garling said.
DeLuca has been very energetic about wanting to become a coach for lacrosse.
Garling said, “He’s brought a great deal of organization, a great deal of drive and being a former player, he has knowledge of some things that he thought could’ve been improved while he was a player. He’s brought a lot of fresh ideas and things that he always thinks the players would like to see, do and hear.”
Steve Colfer, head coach, said, “I feel great, he was a great player for us. He spent five years in our program, knows the coaches and our culture so I think he’ll be able to carry on the things that he’s learned and bring them to this team.”
Colfer said, “I’m confident that I trust he has high character and the right work ethic. He comes from a great family and was raised the right way so I’m confident that he’ll bring all those attributes to our coaching staff.”
“He brings a youthful perspective. He was just a former player so we can tap into that. I’m optimistic that he’ll handle the transition the right way. I think he brings a strong program knowledge and understanding of what our goals are for each year,” he said.
Lots of high praise from Colfer shows more confidence the staff has in DeLuca.
Being able to make players better is something DeLuca will have to be able to do.
Colfer said, “Taking all of his success as a player, being able to break that down and translate that to help the current players become better.”
Colton Padgett, defender, said, “Having a grad assistant who’s been in the program and knows all our systems is going to be really helpful.”
“I’m confident because it’s everything Tommy has been doing for the past five years. I’m sure he’ll do a really good job for us,” Padgett said.
Padgett shared his thoughts on what he believes DeLuca will bring to the staff.
He said, “Having a coach that had previously played in the system is going to be really unique because he’s going to know from experience where our systems lack and where we need to fix them.”
Understanding the culture will help DeLuca. “He’ll be able to make players better because he understands the culture of our team and kind of where it needs to go,” Padgett said.
Coaches and players are excited that DeLuca is joining the staff. Time will tell what sort of impact he’ll have on the team.
