University of North Carolina Athletics
From From Fetzer To Finley: Eyes Wide Open
October 25, 2008 | Men's Lacrosse
Oct. 25, 2008
By Dave Lohse
Associate Athletic Communications Director
It had been a decade and a half since I had spent a considerable amount of time in the presence of Joe Breschi. That all changd in June 2008 when he was hired as UNC's lacrosse coach and I am now a better person as a result of that event. Breschi doesn't allow you to have it any other way. Seriously!
"Bresch," as he is often called, was a superb lacrosse player at the University of North Carolina from 1987-90 when I had the privilege of publicizing his career as an assistant sports information director. He played here for legendary Tar Heel head coach Willie Scroggs and was the senior captain and a first-team All-America defenseman on Scroggs' last Carolina team in 1990.
Bresch stayed on in Chapel Hill for a couple of years after graduation, serving as an assistant coach to Dave Klarmann, who had a distinguished 10-year head coaching career of his own, going 100-52 from 1991-2000. Joe was on Klarmann's staff when the Tar Heels won the last of their four national championships in 1991. After the 1992 season, Joe left Chapel Hill to take a great opportunity at Brown University as the chief assistant coach there. Five years later he had his own head-coaching gig at The Ohio State University.
In 12 seasons in Columbus, he built a lacrosse program that had never been on the national map in any respect and he turned it into a consistent winner, a Great Western Lacrosse League champion and a team that earned NCAA Tournament invitations regularly since the early part of this decade.
It is a measure of Breschi's ability that he took the Buckeyes so far so quickly in his 12 years at Columbus. To give some perspective, take in this fact. Just eight years before Bresch took over as head coach in Columbus, Ohio State lost to Carolina 29-1. Breschi knows that fact well. He played in that game. He was a junior at Carolina at the time.
This past April, even as a proud Tar Heel alumnus, Breschi finally avenged that defeat on behalf of the Buckeyes as Ohio State beat Carolina for the first time in history. The 14-11 win at the Boys' Latin School in Baltimore helped propel the Buckeyes to an end-of-the-season surge that resulted in an NCAA Tournament quarterfinal appearance for OSU. The manner in which the Buckeyes also dominated the Tar Heels that day in Baltimore also spoke volumes about what he might be able to attain if he ever took the reins in The Southern Part of Heaven.
Just two months later, Breschi made his game-changing decision to return to Chapel Hill as the head coach. His résumé has prepared him well for this professional change of course. He could easily have stayed at Ohio State, where he had built a solid program, was recruiting at a high level and was well respected by colleagues in the athletic program at OSU, including football coach Jim Tressel, and by those in the Midwest lacrosse community. The future for Bresch at Ohio State was gleaming.
But his alma mater came knocking and Bresch answered the door. He did so with his eyes wide open. He knows that a program that won four NCAA championships between 1980-91 has won only two NCAA Tournament games since 1993 and has not reached the Final Four in a decade and a half. He knows that a program that won 11 ACC championships between 1981-96 has not won a game in the ACC Tournament in the past 12 years. Bresch did not return to Chapel Hill without knowing the job he faces. His eyes are wide open. He knows success will only come through hard work and by inhaling a healthy dose of patience in the process.
None of what has happened in the past will blunt Joe's enthusiasm. His ardor is infectious. At 6-4, Bresch is a big Teddy Bear. His smile is welcoming. His work ethic is unremitting. Cut him and the blood oozing out will be of the hue known as Carolina Blue. He has a twinkle in his eye when you meet him that makes you know he genuinely cares about you. You can tell he loves his new job and he yearns to tell every potential recruit in the country why they need to become a Tar Heel someday.
The East Coast based lacrosse media has hailed the decision the Carolina administration made in hiring Coach Breschi. Whether their opinion proves correct will only be determined by time.
What seems apparent is that Joe Breschi has returned to a place where he really seems to fit in, not unlike how your favorite well-worn sweatshirt comforts you on a chilly day. It's as if those 16 years in between his Carolina gigs flew by. His avidity for his new job is that more consistent with a 24-year-old's. His moxie for it is that of a teenager. At 40 years young, he now needs to wear glasses and his hair is a bit better for the gray. But on that latter point I have no room to talk. At least Bresch still has a full head of gray. Congrats on that one Bresch.
So welcome back Coach Breschi. Enjoy your new job. And keep those eyes wide open - ready to enjoy with a sense of awe and wonderment the future of Carolina lacrosse and especially, the role you will play in it. I know a lot of people who are ready and willing to take the ride with you. It should be fun. Approach it with the thrill of a little kid eagerly opening his first Christmas package, paper flying every where, the sole destination to find out what lies within. Channel the better parts of your inner Peter Pan and lacrosse at Carolina will quickly become something of which everyone wants to partake. What a cross that will be to bear Coach Bresch. Frankly, I doubt it can happen quickly enough. This is going to be one heckua a roller coaster ride. I'm glad you gave more one of the first tickets. I'll be forever grateful.
