Player Transfers, Coaching Moves, Pro Lacrosse in Dallas?

A number of small news bits to come in the past week or so.

Player Transfers

We’ll begin with the Mercer Bears, who are probably the first team to officially announce the addition of any transfers to their roster for the 2018 season.

According to their release, the Bears picked up former Cleveland State Vikings defenseman Logan Bradford and former Rutgers Scarlet Knights midfielder Patrick Marks. Bradford is a native of Peachtree City, Georgia and appeared in seven games with a caused turnover last season. Bradford was also named to the Deans' List at Cleveland State as the only player with a 4.0 GPA. Marks did not appear in any games with the Scarlet Knights last season. He was named Trinity Pawling's Most Improved Player in his senior season.

The Towson Tigers also get another big addition on offense in former Richmond Spiders midfielder Jean-Luc Chetner, according to Ty Xanders. Chetner last played with the Spiders in 2016, when he recorded nine goals and 18 assists in his junior season. He was an All-Southern Conference Second Team selection as well. Chetner joins Timmy Monahan as offensive additions to the team, although Xanders notes there’s four total offensive transfers.

Not a transfer, but a notable name in the college and box lacrosse world, as Onondaga Community College stud Austin Staats is staying at OCC for another year, according to head coach Chuck Wilbur to Inside Lacrosse. There has been speculation on whether or not the younger brother of former Syracuse Orange attackman Randy Staats would follow in his brother’s footsteps and to to Syracuse this year or declare for the National Lacrosse League draft.

The most likely situation appears to be Staats heading to Syracuse for his junior and senior seasons before declaring for the NLL Draft in 2020. The rising sophomore had 81 points in his freshman season with the Lazers, leading the team with 59 goals. He was a first-team All-American choice and won a JuCo national championship.

Here’s an updated list of transfers. There’s been a few additions since our last check-in:

(Assistant) Coaching Carousel

The Princeton Tigers have found their replacement for the departed Jesse Bernhardt.

Former Tiger captain Jeremy Hirsch will become the team’s new defensive coordinator after spending four years with the Hobart Statesmen at the same position, according to Matt Kinnear and later confirmed by the school. He’s the first full-time Princeton alum to join the coaching staff since Matt Striebel joined in 2005.

With the Statesmen, Hirsch was the spearhead behind the nation’s top man-down defensive unit when Hobart won the NEC championship in 2016.

Prior to Hobart, Hirsch made stops at Malvern Prep and Hampton-Sydney.

To replace Hirsch, sources tell College Crosse that former Binghamton Bearcats assistant Kyle Turri will head to Hobart as their defensive coordinator.

Also, Cleveland State has announced Mark Frey as their new volunteer assistant. He takes over for Gary Cintron, who took over as the head coach at Saint Ignatius High School this summer.

Frey has been a collegiate head coach for 11 years, spending time at Ferrum College and MCLA’s Loyola Marymount.

Frey has served as a collegiate head coach for the past 11 seasons, including taking a NCAA program from its inaugural season to its first conference championship.

Dallas In The MLL?

One of the biggest offseason questions has been the future of the Rochester Rattlers organization. Last year, there was heavy speculation the team would relocate to either Houston or Dallas for this season, but plans fell through prior to the start of the season.

With Major League Lacrosse hosting their championship game in Dallas this weekend, rumors about a Dallas MLL team have started up again. But the bigger question surrounds the uncertainty of the Rattlers organization. And depending on who you talk to, it differs.

A couple of sources within the MLL have told College Crosse the Rattlers are moving to Dallas for 2018. But when reached for comment, MLL commissioner David Gross said the information that was provided was incorrect “at this point in time.”

However, two other sources have told College Crosse the Rattlers are not moving. One source said the reason was because the team made the playoffs this past season.

The Rattlers have been faced with uncertainty in Rochester for the past few years. It began back in 2014, when the Rattlers became owned by New Balance chairman Jim Davis, who took the team out of the hands of the MLL. The Rattlers have spent the last three years playing their home games in three different venues.

A source told me Gross spoke to a prospective owner back in April, but nothing serious materialized.

Earlier this year, Bill Wagner of The Capital Gazette noted that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was interested in owning an expansion franchise, which was why the MLL championship game was being played in Texas. In recent years, the MLL has held their All-Star and championship games in markets without a team to gauge interest in possible expansion or relocation of teams.

However, Gross said in an interview with The Dallas Morning News that the Cowboys will not be an owner of a possible MLL team.

The ideal situation is to get an expansion team in Dallas to make the league an even 10 teams. The league wants to head in a western direction for expansion to grow their product.

Saturday’s championship game will be in competition with the Dallas Cowboys hosting the Indianapolis Colts at AT&T Stadium. It will also be the final game that Gross will be league commissioner. He’s stepping down after this season.