With an optimistic attitude focusing on brotherhood, the men’s lacrosse team welcomes new head coach Cosey Carlisle, UNT’s former coach, to TCU.
Carlisle said he is excited to work with the talent TCU has to offer because of the exposure it has received from being in the Big 12. He looks forward to incorporating his own values into the program.
“I love the sport, and I’ve donated a lot of my own money to my teams in the past,” Carlisle said. “Right now I’m focused on just having fun with it. I’d like to think of the team as a fraternity hanging out together and also going out and competing with each other representing this university. I’m focusing on the brotherhood.”
Players anticipate many new changes and additions to the team.
“We fired our old coach because he was rude and disrespectful, and didn’t get the job done very well,” senior goalie Charlie Wade said. “I am really excited about having coach Cosey Carlisle as the new head coach and working with my fellow officers, president Mac Kelly and co-vice president Traug Keller. It should be great working with them, and I look forward to it.”
Carlisle coached collegiately for three years at North Texas and has coached in high school and youth ranks since 2007. He also played lacrosse at the University of Missouri and UNT.
“I knew a few guys at TCU from coaching against them from last year and heard they were looking for a new coach,” Carlisle said.
The team has high expectations for the season and will look to Carlisle for a new set of guidelines, Wade said.
“I expect us to do very well this year, ultimately winning the Lone Star Alliance,” Wade said. “I expect a lot from our players. I expect them to be dedicated as well as have as much fun as possible playing here. Our offense will be different as well as our defense because coach Carlisle brings a whole new set of plays to the table.”
Carlisle is bringing changes to the program including longer, harder practices.
“I’m making the team work harder than ever before by making them run more and incorporating yoga,” Carlisle said. “I’m planning on getting a yoga teacher to come out to practice. It really can help the players.”
The team was expecting about 30-35 players, half returners and half new players, Carlisle said.
“It’s still early in the fall to see who is fully committed right now. We’re missing a lot of our top talent," he said. "Our first practice only about 15 people showed up. Some people can’t fully commit until the spring. Essentially we might be building from scratch, and that’s okay. We’re still figuring out how we’re going to go about rebuilding.”
The team is planning on having a fall tournament on campus in November and Carlisle is trying to arrange six games for scrimmages in the fall. There are also plans to go outside of the conference in the spring playing schools like Vanderbilt and Ole Miss.
“I’d like to get eight teams to come out here for the tournament, which could also help us raise some money for the team, and we wouldn’t have to travel, Carlisle said. “Last year, they only had about 12 games, and I’m shooting for 18 this year with at least 500 people at each game. It’s our 30th anniversary, so I plan on heavily promoting the games.”
Right now, word of mouth is helping the team with recruits. Carlisle has been looking into other avenues such as posting flyers in the University Recreation Center.
“I have to rely on the older leadership on the team to get to know the team’s in and outs better and help push them,” Carlisle said. "All I can do is speak my philosophy and hopefully they like what they hear.”
The season will start after Christmas break and the official schedule will be finalized in December.
