Ex-Navy coach Meade takes reins of Furman program

Richie Meade recalled that his first conversation with Furman University about becoming the lacrosse program?s first head coach took place in April. And the relationship blossomed after that.

?It was kind of like a first date,? he remembered of his tour of the school's campus in Greenville, S.C. ?After that, I was invited over [to] their house, and it?s pretty nice. It?s a nice house.?

That interview and visit laid the foundation for Meade to be introduced Saturday as the Paladins? first head coach. Ninety minutes before No. 1 seed Loyola and No. 4 seed Notre Dame tangled in the first semifinal of the NCAA tournament at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., on Saturday afternoon, university president Rod Smolla and athletic director Dr. Gary Clark made official what Inside Lacrosse had reported late Tuesday.
On more than one occasion, Smolla and Clark cited as a major factor in their decision Meade?s track record, which includes a 162-120 record in 17 years at Navy and four at the University of Baltimore, five Patriot League regular-season and tournament championships, and seven NCAA tournament appearances, including a berth in the national title game in 2004.

Meade, who was dismissed from the Midshipmen last May and was named the head coach of the U.S. men?s national senior team in December, said the year away from lacrosse was beneficial.

?I did learn a lot of things over the last year,? he said. ?I think the thing that a coach misses more than anything else is the interaction with the players. I?ve been doing this a long time, obviously, and the ending process, the outcome is what everybody?s interested in. If you look at the four teams that are here playing for the national championship and the Division II and Division III teams, every one of those teams went through peaks and valleys, and there was a point in time when they had to stare down the throat of the dragon and meet that challenge. And that happens because of the individual relationships between the players and the coaches, and that?s what coaches miss when they don?t coach more than anything else.?

Furman won?t officially play in Division I until 2015. Until then, Meade and the Paladins would appear to have an uphill climb in terms of competing for recruits with the likes of Duke, North Carolina and other well-established programs. But Meade is undaunted.

?Furman University is open for business for lacrosse,? he said. ?And we are anxiously pursuing outstanding prospects to come down and look at the school and look at the education opportunities and look at the facilities. The one thing I didn?t mention is it doesn?t snow in South Carolina. I can imagine that turf and 60 degrees is pretty appealing.?

gabby giffords geithner gabrielle giffords juliette lewis chelsea handler mitch daniels shirataki noodles