LSU football coach Les Miles, men’s basketball coach Johnny Jones and gymnastics coach D-D Breaux are some of the well-known coaches on campus, but another is making huge strides – club lacrosse coach Jeff Echols.
Echols enters his third season as the team’s coach after already making sweeping changes throughout the program.
His first priority was to set a new standard of accountability, which would encourage players committed to the team.
“More serious players leads to better players,” Echols said. “We needed the players to understand that not only was [the team for] their fun and their enjoyment of playing here at LSU, but they needed to feel a commitment to the team and their fellow teammates.”
Echols has also bolstered his coaching staff to four, including himself, with assistants Bret Smith, LSU lacrosse alumni Ezra Winters and Jordan Ramirez.
The changes brought not only better, more serious players but on-field success.
In 2013, the final year before Echols’ arrival, the team finished No. 81 in the MCLA, the club level equivalent to the NCAA, Division I rankings, according to Laxpower.com. After Echols’ debut season in 2014, LSU jumped up to No. 51 and finished last season ranked No. 37.
Along with climbing up the rankings, LSU’s schedule features more matchups against top-tier programs and improving overall records. LSU went 7-8 in 2013 and in Echols debut season the Tigers improved to 8-5, the team’s first winning season since 2010.
After a difficult schedule in his second year, Echols’ team had arguably its best season with a 10-6 finish and have the personnel to improve on that total.
Senior attacker Thomas Brown, who led the team in assists and tied for total points, is returning. Brown will be crucial to the team’s success as final remaining member of last season’s dynamic duo.
Brown and then-senior attacker Hunter Stinson were the offensive force of the 2015 squad. Stinson led the team with goals and was tied with Brown for total points.
Echols said Brown has to own his new leadership role with the team as he was voted a captain, which Echols attributed to his leadership and tenure with the program.
Another one of Echols’ changes to the program is the venue for home games. Before the coaching change, the team played at the UREC’s fields, but it soon switched to Olympia Stadium in Baton Rouge.
The new facility allows the team to use of the stadium’s locker rooms, scoreboard and sound system, which Brown said makes a difference on a gameday.
“It’s completely different,” Brown said. “Playing [at the UREC fields] my freshman year it was lackadaisical getting ready for games … but now you get to a stadium, walk out beforehand with music playing, you have everyone cheering for you on the sidelines and in the stands and it adds a whole new perspective on the game.”
Echols’ squad saw its first action in 2016 Saturday in a
scrimmage against the New Orleans Club. The team quickly jumped up to a 8-0 lead at halftime but allowed the Jesters to claw back.
LSU saw its lead cut to 8-4 at the start of the fourth quarter, but the team held on for a 10-7 win.
The team has some work to do defensively, Echols said, and the second-half goals were due to the defense not getting back in time on counter attacks. There is time to resolve these issues before the season begins, but the team needs to do so quickly as the regular season begins Feb. 5 against Clemson at Olympia Stadium.
“We got a little complacent in the third quarter, and I needed to straighten that out,” Echols said. “That’s more about having that winning, killer instinct about putting teams away. If we’re ahead a lot we’ve got to keep it going and pour it on and if it’s tight we’ve got to know how to finish a game and win it.”