Lacrosse: Marr gets Fame honor

PHOTOGRAPHER: Bill Cain

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It’s the kind of news that usually comes after a long and successful career.

Head coach Scott Marr got the news after his 14th season at the helm of the University at Albany men’s lacrosse program. He will be inducted into the Adirondack Chapter of the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame on June 25 at a ceremony in the Franklin Terrace Ballroom in Troy.

“I was certainly surprised. At this point in my career, I don’t know if I’m Hall of Fame material,” Marr said. “Hopefully, I still have a long way to go in my career. But it was a surprise, and a nice honor to be recognized.”

Marr has coached UAlb-any for all but the first season since the program made the jump to Division I. His teams are a combined 120-102 overall and 48-19 in the America East Conference. The Great Danes have won six America East championships and made six NCAA tournament appearances. They reached the quarterfinals this year for the second time in program history before bowing to Notre Dame in overtime.

He also has coached two Tewaaraton Award winners, as Miles and Lyle Thompson shared the award after a historic scoring season for the Great Danes. Lyle was also a finalist for the award in 2013. He also coached Frank Resetarits, a Tewaaraton finalist in 2007, the year Marr was named USILA Division I National Coach of the Year.

He has been named America East Coach of the Year four times, including the last two seasons, during which his Great Danes went 10-0 in the conference.

“The last couple years have been special for this group, and this has been the highlight of my career here so far,” Marr said. “It was a tight-knit group of kids and coaching staff, and the immediate family around us with the parents and everyone. We didn’t end up winning a national championship, but we felt really good about our team and that we were capable of doing something like that. That’s just a great feeling when you have that going through your locker room.”

Marr played high school lacrosse for Yorktown, in Section I, and was a high school All-American who played in the state semifinals twice. He continued his playing career at Johns Hopkins University, winning a national championship in 1987 and finishing runner-up in ’89.

After graduating, he was an assistant coach and offensive coordinator for Delaware from 1992-94, when the Blue Hens claimed three straight conference championships.

He moved on to assist at Maryland, also as offensive coordinator, from 1995-2000. The Terrapins reached the championship game three of those seasons (1995, ’97, ’98) and finished as runners-up. His guidance helped the team net a school single-season record 236 goals in 1998.

“Along the way, from my playing days at Yorktown and Hopkins to coaching at Delaware and Maryland, I’ve taken something from every one of those experiences and tried to mold my own style,” Marr said. “Jim Turnbull, who was my high school coach, was very liberal, very free in how we played. We played a very fun, fast game, kind of like we do here. At Hopkins, coach [Don] Zimmerman was really disciplined and really taught me a lot about preparation, your work ethic on and off the field. Those things were huge.

“At the University of Delaware, coach [Bob] Shillinglaw, he really allowed me to blossom as an offensive coach early in my time there. He gave me a lot of responsibility in my first year, and in my three years there, really gave me the reins and let me experiment and do different things. Working with him, he was a very smart, offensive-minded guy. We ran a lot of different things at Delaware, so I got a good idea of what I liked and what I didn’t like. The opportunity to share different ideas with him was awesome.

“When I was at Maryland, I think coach [Dick] Edell really taught me how to be a head coach and how to teach people and how you go about your daily business in the office, around the campus, recruiting, how you sit in somebody’s living room and sell them on the school. The people side of things is what coach Edell really instilled in me.”

Outside the collegiate game, Marr also has been an assistant coach for the United States. He was on the staff when the Americans won the 1999 World Cup, and again when they were silver medalists in 2006 World Lacrosse Championship.

Looking to continue what already has been a successful career, Marr leads the program into its 16th Division I season next spring with a good deal of momentum.

“I definitely feel we’re in a really good place,” he said. “The key to it is the kids have all bought in. It’s a tight group of guys, they all get along, and moving forward, talent-wise, we bring back a very good team next year.”