Feb 26 2024 48 mins 1
Patrick Merrill coaches a super team and has one of the best gigs in lacrosse.
He is the first and only Head Coach and General Manager of the San Diego Seals of the National Lacrosse League. Lacrosse and sunshine.
A playoff team every season of their existence so far.
A roster riddled with some of the league’s most electrifying players but early playoff exits in 2022 and 2023 are obviously leaving something to be desired for this group and Merrill and his staff are working tirelessly to get this group to the finals where the whole lacrosse world feels they belong. But is there pressure there?
Merrill played 15 seasons in the NLL under some of the game’s best coaches. The first overall pick in the 2002 draft - he won three championships with the Toronto rock.
His early coaching gigs saw him win two Minto Cup championships coaching the Six Nations Arrows.
Away from the NLL, but not away from lacrosse, he co-founded and coached at the Hill Academy, a lacrosse powerhouse independent private high school in Ontario.
He is a World Champion and four-time Mann Cup champion.
Super smart, super passionate and a very calm, focused and intense leader.
The Seals are going to be able to recruit based on location, ownership, and being competitive but I really think Patrick Merrill is a person that players want to play for first. He is a leader of men.
On this episode, we walk through a typical week in a coach’s life, talk about the importance of building relationships with players, and talk about how teams get what they earn, and get what they deserve.
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