Lacrosse Internship Takes Unusual Turn for Scots' Assistant Coach

Monmouth, IL (04/07/2020) — When Jordan Coates decided to take the men's lacrosse assistant coaching internship position at Monmouth College, he had no idea what was in store, nor did the rest of the country.

That was last fall when Coates, working on his master of management degree from Shorter University, joined head coach Chris Klaiber as the Fighting Scots prepared for Year 4 of the lacrosse program. When the coronavirus reached the U.S. mainland this spring, the dominoes began to fall. First the NCAA canceled all remaining winter and spring championships. Then, one by one, schools and conferences began closing shop.

The Scots had just rolled off a four-game win streak to open the season, but had dropped a pair of close losses, one a 10-9 double overtime loss to Dubuque, followed by a narrow league loss to the University of Northwestern-St. Paul. Sitting at 4-2, the Scots were still enjoying their best start in program history, were leading the nation in man-down defense and were 15th in overall defense. Then the season was shut down.

"It was tough," admitted Coates of the drawn out, yet sudden end of a promising season. "We had just come off of a close conference loss. The guys were pretty upset about dropping the first conference game so the practice for Marion (the next scheduled game) was going pretty well. Then the Marion game got canceled as the schools around us got canceled. We were one of the last schools to get canceled, which gave the guys an edge, a true focus in practice. We had really good practices because everyone knew it could be the last one and we could be shut down at any time. I'm excited to see the returners come back next year with that same mindset."

Coates and Klaiber had to shift their own mindsets when practice and game planning turned to full-time time recruiting. Not exactly the schedule they had in mind for the months of March and April.

"We have started working and focusing solely on next year," explained Coates. "We're recruiting, reaching out, and talking to high school guys who just had their seasons canceled. Obviously it's a bummer to be canceled, but it's a wakeup call and they (the teams) aren't taking it (the season) for granted anymore. It seems like our guys are trying to put in more work now on their own, which makes us excited for next season."

The good news for Coates is that his master's program is continuing, and he's getting extra experience on the recruiting trail. He, and the rest of the coaches across the nation, are facing new challenges without campus and in-person contact. That may only strengthen his recruiting skills as he keeps an eye on his main goal - earning his graduate degree.

"I'm on track to complete my master's in about a year," said Coates, who has opted to stay in Monmouth instead of returning to his home city of Baltimore. "I would like to return to Monmouth for another year to see how the team has grown and to coach the recruits we're bringing in."

The journey thus far to his master's degree, detours included, has given Coates a clear vision for his future.

"It's important to focus on the practice of 'today'," said a philosophical Coates, who aspires to land a head coaching positon at a scholarship school one day. "Overlooking a current practice for the game tomorrow is wasteful since the next day could be canceled at any time. Really focusing on getting the guys better each day and not just waiting for games is the greatest lesson to be learned from the 2020 season."

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