Cortland State is knocking at the door for a national title for Division III men. This may or may not be their year, but under the helm of Head Coach Leland Rogers it appears they will be in the hunt every year for a long time. We had a chat recently with the man to learn how he turned this very good team into a great contender. Cortland has already set records for wins in a season under Rogers, but losing to Middlebury in double overtime of the semi-finals last year was the truest indicator of just how close they are. Read on to get a look at how he operates his team and has come to be successful.

Leland Rogers spent nine years guiding the Ohio Wesleyan lacrosse team before coming to a crossroads in his life. Rogers was a very successful coach at the DIII level earning the kind of money most DIII head coaches make, but with a family and natural curiosity he tried his hand in a more lucrative field. He had an opportunity to work for one of the top 100 companies in the USA, Worthington Industries. After cruising through a year and a half training program in only a year he was two weeks away from being moved to Texas when he got the call from Cortland State. The Red Dragons have benefited enormously since he made that pivotal life decision to go back to coaching. Rogers is a member of a distinct minority of us who chooses a job for love over money. As he states,“Hey, you know what, I'm a coach, I'm always going to be a coach; there's nothing wrong with being a coach. I love my job. I'm passionate about coaching. I'm enthusiastic about it and I'm going to die being a coach...I can stay in my office 24 hours a day and it won't even faze me that it's work” Not sure how the wife and kids feel about that, but it's obviously been good for Cortland State.

Now that the Bob Costas style Olympic back story is over, wipe your eye's clean so we can delve into why Rogers is a winner. It doesn't take long to realize that he is a master communicator as he conveys his self actualization. He's a big picture guy who sincerely cares about his athletes' growth. Not surprisingly, legendary coach Roy Simmons jr(He built Syracuse into the benchmark of Division I lacrosse) was instrumental in getting Rogers both of his college coaching jobs. In fact, when the AD was deciding who to hire Leland called Roy to ask him for a recommendation. The next day when Rogers showed up at 9 am to his surprise Roy Simmons Jr. was physically there making his case. The rest is history.

In Division III, Cortland State's coaching job was coveted for years by coaches like Rogers who felt it should be a perennial powerhouse. It's the Salisbury State of the north. Cortland is a state school which offers in state players a low tuition cost as well as a decent education. In fact, in NY the state colleges have become so popular that the standards have risen significantly. New York State has arguably the deepest pool of talent in the country. Once the blue chips are plucked, there are a ton of great lacrosse players who have to choose what school best fits their needs. Institutions like Middlebury and Gettysburg are a stretch academically for many as well as financially. The idea of making a legitimate DI contender as a walk on is like banking on winning the lottery. Even if a player did make the roster he may never set foot on the field in a regular game. Cortland becomes a more realistic choice for some great athletes provided they can play at the highest level in DIII. Anyone who has seen the DIII championship games knows that the top dogs are legit. The only thing the school needed was a coach who could set up a winning program and they found that man in Leland Rogers. Now that Rogers has the Red Dragons playing championship caliber lacrosse it will only become easier to draw the top local talent as well as out of state players who want to win. This snow ball has already turned into an avalanche. To sweeten the pot Cortland also just finished a state of the art field to play on two years ago. Actually it's two “field turf” fields(the turf with the rubber pellets) separated by a four story press box. One stadium seats around 10,000 and the other 4,000.

Rogers has been able to turn the corner quickly on the strength of recruiting. He says,“I believe in consistent recruiting every year across the board.” Rogers tries to get as many kids into the school at every position as he can. He's historically carried DI size rosters with upwards of 40 players providing plenty of competition. As for playing time issues, the philosophy he sells to the prospective recruits is two fold. He will not recruit any player who doesn't have the ability to play on his team. Secondly, he tells them that if they're good enough to start at a college their first year than they probably sold themselves short.

“There's just so much competition in recruiting in lacrosse...The amount of time lacrosse coaches spend recruiting compared to other sports is just ridiculous,”states Rogers. He plays the game with the best of them though. Rogers and his staff leave no stone unturned. They send letters out every and call every head coach in New York State. Then he simply asks them,”Who do you have that can play at this level?” They also go to camps and tournaments. What's really is that Rogers actually posts signs all over campus to let the student body know there are open try outs. Cortland is known for its Phys. Ed. Department and Rogers knows there's no shortage of eligible athletes. He relishes the college athletic experience so much that he wants to allow as many kids as possible the opportunity to play. As for cutting players, he's found that for the most part kids weed themselves out. Some can't handle the training and others find classwork to demanding. One way or another he rarely has to cut a guy.

One fundamental aspect of recruiting is the emotional status of a recruit. Rogers realizes that most high school kids who have any sort of success believe that they can go big time DI. He's found that players and high school coaches alike have thought themselves and their players respectively too good for Cortland. Rogers doesn't get upset, but he doesn't take no for an answer either. He makes his case to every athlete he wants, wishes them luck, but most importantly he lets them know that there's always a spot for them at Cortland if it doesn't work out elsewhere. By not burning bridges and keeping the students best interest in mind he's found that many times a player will wind up coming back to him. His best advice was to never tell a recruit that he's not good enough to play at a higher level than DIII. It could only lead to a broken relationship on a player who may still have a future at Cortland.

Rogers also gives much of the credit for success to his assistant coaches. In fact, Mike Joyce has total control of the defense. He makes all the calls and has Rogers' total support. Brendan Burke, Todd Weil, Chris Jansen, and MJ Robinson round out the long list of assistants.. That's a lot more help than most DIII coaches get and Rogers has a theory on that as well. There's a ton of guys around because Cortland is located in a hot bed, the Cortland name can be a great stepping stone, and pure luck.

If you go to Cortland State you will work hard under Rogers, but he believes he's fair. He tells his players all the time,”If you're gonna be a great player you can't just go to practice for two hours.” He makes the kids work hard and has certain criteria you must meet in order to play. If you don't do it you won't play, so two miles under 14 minutes and several lifting sessions a week are mandatory. Study tables are also mandatory and he finds this is the requirement he loses most of his walk ons to. If you're not committed enough to attend study tables you're not cut out for Rogers. “The most important thing we do here is academics. If my kids miss a class or don't attend class they won't play for me.” These are the kind of criteria that DI schools at the highest level maintain and what it means is a lot more work on Rogers part. That's what separates the successful DIII schools from so many other floundering programs. Whether the coaches aren't full time, they don't get support from their institution, or they're just plain lazy, a large percentage of DIII schools are not run with such intensity and care for the athlete. Lacrosse at Cortland may sound like a full time job, but Rogers promises that they have fun too.

We asked Coach Rogers to describe his coaching style. “I will never claim to be an X's and O's guy...It's not X's and O's , it's Jimmys and Joes...I think I know enough to be successful, but I would never say I'm an X's and O's guy and I don't want to be the best X's and O's coach because the best X's and O's coaches aren't the ones that win. The best recruiters are the ones that win. You have to know some X's and O's, but my system is very freelance; we don't run many plays.” It's all about the fundamentals at Cortland. They work on the draw and dump, give and go, and pick and roll.

For all intents and purposes, Rogers wouldn't need to change a thing to be successful at the DI level, but he feels he'll be at Cortland for a long time. He didn't rule out taking a position, but he feels like he has the DIII mentality. He knows he's in the hunt for Championships and he loves the people, facilities, and alumni at Cortland.

In the end Rogers has turned Cortland into a championship caliber team because he really seems to care. About what, I have no idea. Seriously though, the only way you get recruits to come, players to stay on a forty man roster, and athletes to perform to their potential is to show them that you care.