Happy trails to an absolute legend.
Syracuse made the official announcement, followed by Desko's statement, confirming that the 4th Head Coach of the Syracuse Lacrosse program has elected to retire. In the history of the Syracuse program, John was just the 4th head coach in over 100 years of playing lacrosse. And, like all of his predecessors, he too is in the Lacrosse Hall of Fame. So upon his retirement, we at Orange::44 need to celebrate the contributions and legacy of John Desko.
His accomplishments are almost unmatched. He finishes his career with a 258-86 record, with a win percentage of .750 in 22 years. He earned 5 National Championships as a Head Coach, and 6 as an assistant on the team. He's been involved with Syracuse University Lacrosse since stepping on the field as a freshman in 1976. Much like Jim Boeheim, he never left. He spend 19 years as an assistant to Roy Simmons, Jr. before being elevated to Head Coach. He's won 35 NCAA Tournament games, and from 2000-2009, Desko won half the NCAA title games played, playing in the title game six times. In 2020 he was elected to the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame. Only Bill Tierney of Denver has a better win percentage among active coaches. Only DIII coach Steve Colfer reached 250 wins faster than Desko, who did it in 22 seasons. Not to mention four Big East Conference Tournament titles, two ACC Tournament titles, Division 1 Coach of the Year honors in 2008, and ACC Coach of the Year four times from 2015-2018. He made the NCAA Tournament 21 out of his 22 seasons as Head Coach, ten Final Fours, three NCAA runner ups, and obviously the five titles. It's hard to believe that any coach could achieve all that Desko has done, let alone be only the fourth coach at a program and continue to win National Championships. But he did it better than almost everyone, and for a very long time.
I'm sad to see him go, but I'm glad that it's through retirement, and not because he was fired. People love the narrative he was shoved out, but there isn't any evidence of that. The anonymous source that leaked the news Gait was replacing him said "retirement", and an anonymous source doesn't need to lie to protect anyone's feelings. It's just a shame some athletic compliance member, or some clout chasing parent decided to spoil what should have been a grand celebration farewell to a legend. And I'm not using that word legend lightly. He is, and will be forever known as, a lacrosse coaching legend. Only 3 Division 1head coaches have more titles in the NCAA era than Desko, and one of them is Roy Simmons, Jr. He's tied with only one other. But in his entire coaching career, was part of 11 titles in the NCAA era, a feat unmatched by any other D1 coach. I look forward to seeing him sit besides Roy and Jim Boeheim in that famous box as next season tips off. Lord knows he's earned it. And hopefully he'll get a nice ceremony.
Next season it something to worry about in the future. Right now, we should thank John Desko for keeping Syracuse the best Division 1 Lacrosse Program in history. We'll likely never see another coach, and another run like that again. But here's hoping.
Labels: Athletic Department, Business Ethics, Lacrosse, Syracuse Lacrosse
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