Hey everyone,
For our college players and coaches, fall ball is here. It’s a great opportunity for programs to develop their players and establish an identity. We’ve been fortunate to host some incredible coaches on our podcast last year and again this fall.
Today, we pulled teaching takeaways from our conversation with Navy’s Joe Amplo and turned them into clear, usable ideas you can bring to practice. Coach Amplo talks about how being a coach is really being a teacher, and we love having these kinds of conversations.
Also, check out our recruiting coverage and latest content. Our goal is to be a thought leader in this sport, and we put a ton of time and energy into what we share. Let us know what you’re enjoying and what you’d like to see more of. We appreciate you reading.
Let’s get into it. Happy Friday ☕️,
Matt & Deemer
Forwarded this email? You can subscribe here to stay in the loop 👍.
THIS WEEKS CONTENT AT A GLANCE
✍️ Coaches Corner: Catching it Loaded
🗓️ Sep 23 Webinar: Building Your Offensive System Around Core Principles with LIU’s Kyle Hayes
🎬 Webinar Recording: Lynchburg’s Steve Koudelka on Shooting/Team Drills and Multiple Sports
🎬 Webinar Recording: “What You Don’t Know About 9/1” with Adam Sear
🔒 FCL Webinar - Premium
LIU’s Kyle Hayes: “Building Your Offensive System Around Core Principles”
💭 WEEKLY THOUGHT
🤝 Teaching Points From Coach Amplo
Coaching has never been static. The game changes, athletes change, and the best coaches evolve with them. Navy head coach Joe Amplo put it best on our podcast last week: at his core, he doesn’t see himself as a coach… he sees himself as a teacher.
Coach Amplo’s Core Philosophy
At the core of coaching, you are teaching. You are teaching players the game, while also teaching them life lessons. Sports are an avenue to teach young athletes accountability, dedication, leadership, time management, what it means to be a part of a team, the list goes on.
“The core of who I am is education, and that comes from Coach Danowski. He told me, you’re not a coach, you’re a teacher. Any drill, any technique, any philosophy, strategy, I tried to look at from a like the eyes through a classroom. How would I teach this to a third grader or a seventh grader or a high school class? What's the visual that I need to give them, what's the auditory and what's the tactile? Those three learning styles, I have to try and hit in everything that I do. And sometimes you're going to hit them all. Sometimes you're not. But it's it's imperative on me to try and figure out who learns in a specific way.”
The three different ways to reach athletes as described by Coach Amplo are:
Visual - Show what a great rep looks like with clips, diagrams, or live demos. Seeing sets the picture, but it isn’t mastery. Pair visuals with reps and feedback.
Auditory - Use clear, simple cues. Keep it to one or two phrases and stay consistent. Have players teach it back so they understand the why, not just the words.
Tactile - Let them feel it. Create reps that require decisions. Use constraints, guided discovery, and small adjustments as they go. This ties it all together.
This is such a simple way to break down how to reach players, but used in combination, this can be such a powerful form of teaching.
Often times, just showing a player what a perfect rep looks like does not translate to mastering a skill. Just telling a player what to do does not mean that they are going to go out and execute it to perfection. Tactile learning is the key that ties it all together.
Coach Amplo at our Best in Class event.
Introducing Dynamic Environments
Coach Amplo found that players learn best when they are required to make decisions along the journey to mastering a skill. Players learn best when they can reach the understanding of why the “right technique” is what it is through experimentation, experience, and small adjustments given along the way.
“We used to do the same type of repetition drill, repetition, repetition, repetition. While we didn't get as many repetitions in of what perfect looks like, we got more valuable experience in what an approach looks like. We felt like, okay, the reps may not have been close to perfect every time, but they were much more valuable reps because they learned a lot more and it felt more realistic.”
Instead of just laying out cones, showing them a drill and telling them what to do, introduce a dynamic environment where players learn from making mistakes.
An environment where each rep looks slightly different, players must learn to adapt on the fly. You can coach them along the way, directing their focus to certain aspects of the technique you want to focus on, telling them “Hey that was an awesome rep, remember that one!”
By actively working through a skill in a live environment, you can take players to a deeper understanding of a skill. As a coach, this is sometimes hard because you have to trust that players will develop the technique and deal with the reps that don’t look pretty. But that is just part of the journey.
FCL Note: We are seeing this trend much more consistently as we speak with college coaches. If you are familiar with CLA (ie, Constraints Led Approach), many coaches are adopting this style of skill development. They are often not throwing out their traditional approach, but rather, they are utilizing it as a tool to develop players that can handle the dynamic needs of gameplay.
Concluding Thoughts
We wanted to leave you with one last quote:
“We’re lifelong learners in this sport.”
Coach Amplo stressed that to this day, he is still learning in every interaction he has with this sport. Whether it is on the summer recruiting circuit in conversations with other coaches or watching a young coach run a drill, there is always something to learn (if you are willing to look for it).
Coach Dunn & Coach Class
🔥 RECRUITING COVERAGE
Recruiting has been a sprint these past few weeks. To those still uncommitted - dig your heels in. This adversity will only make you better. Keep working, keep fighting, and keep betting on yourself.
Here are a few things I’ve noticed:
Some top kids realize they can drive the process and take their time. Though there’s been a flurry of commitments, top ranked recruits like James Holbrough (UNC), JT Cross (Notre Dame), and Riley Davis (Penn State) seemed to work through their process.
Deadlines continue to be a theme. They are forcing decisions and pushing prospects to decide quickly. The class of 2028 can expect them to continue and even increase.
Specialists and goalies move quick. There is a constant rush of coaches to lock in these spots on both sides.
Relative strength of a class matters. If a position group is perceived weaker than the grade above or below, coaches will move slower on that position, or move down their list slower, even for some higher ranked kids for their position.
Five years to play five. This has been less discussed. Will this be passed soon by the NCAA? How will this impact classes and current rosters? I will be looking to do more work on this soon.
Below, take a look at some uncommitted kids (not an exhaustive list) I think colleges should continue to be looking at as they work through their classes.
-Deemer
Men’s Uncommitted
TC Goodman | 2027 | Attack | Crabs
I love TC’s game. He reminds me of a combination of a Xander Dickson and Jake Taylor. He’s only going to improve and fill that key role of a second or third attackman in a college offense. What do top offenses at the college level have? Guys with hands, like Dickson, Taylor, Payton Cormier and Dyson Williams. These are lofty comparisons, but TC’s hands are legit, and he knows the game.
TC Goodman at our Best in Class event this summer.
Mason Holm | 2027 | Midfield | Brotherly Love
Holm thrived at BIC. He’s a big strong athlete that can move and create. He’s dynamic off the dodge and did a great job making the extra pass and kicking it to X. He projects very well to the next level as a guy that can beat his man. Eager to see where Mason lands!
Rex Adamson | 2027 | Attack | Next Level
Adamson is another guy that actually reminds me of Georgetown Prep alum Colin Burns. I see some similarities in their game and he’s another attacker that I think will be a really nice piece to the puzzle in a recruiting class to fill that second or third attack spot. He’s got great hands, can score in a variety of ways, and is a smart player. He will thrive for new coach Andy Hilgartner and work well off 2026 Princeton commit Noah Han.
Women’s Uncommitted
Maddie Brown | 2027 | Midfield | Mass Elite
Brown is a speedy, scrappy two-way midfielder. She plays well in the pick game, can score off the dodge, and competes well in the middle of the field. I like her feet a lot on defense. Maddie would be a great midfield addition to any class. Check out here standout writeup from BIC here.
Maddie Brown at our Best in Class event this summer.
Chase Hobson | 2027 | Attack | Hero’s
Chase is a strong right handed attacker. She has great strength and can accelerate upfield to get topside, but is also nimble around the crease on her inside rolls and intigh moves. When you watch Chase’s tape, you realize she has inside and outside game - the strength to shoot from 6-8 meters, but also the hands to finish inside. She is another strong attacker on a loaded Hero’s attack.
Sarah Anderson | 2027 | Attack | Primetime
Lefties are a dime a dozen, and Sarah is skilled with speed and ability to create leverage on her dodge. She plays heads up and looks to feed, and will only get stronger as a slasher type dodger.
Men’s School Commitment Leaders
North Carolina - 11 commits
Notre Dame - 9 commits
Boston University - 9 commits
Princeton - 8 commits
Harvard - 8 commits
Penn State - 7 commits
Brown - 7 commits
Women’s School Commitment Leaders
Syracuse - 10 commits
Florida - 9 commits
UPenn - 9 commits
Ohio State - 9 commits
Clemson - 8 commits
Penn State - 8 commits
Check out our @fclbestinclass Instagram page for more commitment collabs!
🎥 VIDEO OF THE WEEK
STEVE KOUDELKA’S SCRAMBLE DRILL
Lynchburg head coach Steve Koudelka gave an outstanding presentation on our Circle community, including this scramble drill which was one of our favorites!
📈 WEEKLY THOUGHT SPONSORSHIP
Partner with FCL each Friday
Reach parents, players, and coaches at every level—from youth to pro—with a single Friday email.
The Weekly Thought is one of lacrosse’s most-read newsletters, delivering insights, tips, and stories to a rapidly growing global audience.
11,135+ subscribers (and growing weekly)
75.9% average open rate — more than 3x industry average
Read by parents, high school & college athletes, and coaches at all levels
Trusted source for lacrosse insights, training tips, and recruiting guidance
If you’re interested in reaching this highly engaged community, reply to this email or contact us at [email protected] for sponsorship opportunities