I was able to catch up with Marc Graham, Head Coach at Vassar College. I know Marc from his time at Trinity College. Coach Graham was one of the most dedicated recruiters at the Division 3 level and I was anxious to learn more about his move to Vassar and the school’s attractions for a potential student athlete. About 10 years ago, I looked at Vassar before I took my talents to Wesleyan University. I think my mother is still upset about my decision!
CM: How did you end up as the Head Coach at Vassar College?
After spending 5 years at Trinity College as the Defensive Coordinator and Recruiting Coordinator I was looking for a Head Coaching position. I spent one year in Ohio helping to start the Defiance College program, but when I had the chance to return to the Northeast and to an exceptional school like Vassar College I could not pass up the opportunity.
CM: What drew you to Vassar and the position?
Vassar College has an exceptional academic reputation, a great location, and fantastic facilities. I saw no reason why I could not recruit outstanding student-athletes from around the country to help me to build the lacrosse program the same way I had helped to do so at Trinity College. Vassar competes in the highly competitive Liberty League and building this program into a contender in such a challenging conference can bring instant recognition and respect to Vassar College and to our program. That is a challenge that I readily accepted and will continue to work to achieve.
CM: What are the most attractive things about a school like Vassar for a recruit and their family? Specific academic programs? Getting jobs after graduation?
I continue to be impressed by Vassar College almost every day. The campus is beautiful, located here in the Hudson River Valley and in close proximity to New York City. Vassar takes pride in it’s liberal arts philosophy and is renown for their academic innovation. You can study to be anything you would want to be. Vassar also has a strong history of preparing students in pre-professional programs that make them quite attractive to some of the top Medical and Law schools in the country. We also offer a 3/2 Engineering program in cooperation with Dartmouth College. Through this dual degree program successful students can graduate in 5 years with a degree from Vassar College in Physics, Mathematics, or Chemistry and from Dartmouth’s Thayer School of Engineering with a General Engineering Degree. As a small sampling of the opportunities that Vassar can prepare you for I recently graduated seven players from my program. Of those seven players: one will be attending Georgetown Law; one will be attending Mercer University School of Medicine; one will be enrolled in an MBA program at Northeastern University; one will be teaching English in Madrid, Spain; one will be working for a hotel in Manhattan’s Times Square; and two will be taking some time before deciding between entering graduate school or entering the work force.
CM: What type of player is a perfect fit for your program and your school?
The type of player that is a perfect fit for Vassar College and our Men’s Lacrosse program would be a true student-athlete that has a desire to, and works hard to, achieve at everything he does. He will work to be successful in the classroom, on the lacrosse field, as a member of the campus community, and in his everyday family life. I want to build my program with self-motivated young men that will constantly strive to out perform all expectations, overcome every challenge, and navigate any obstacle. They will come here with the goals of becoming Liberty League Champions and progressing to, and well into, the NCAA Division III National Championship tournament.
CM: How instrumental is the relationship with the coaching staff when picking a school?
I think that it is imperative that I establish a relationship based on trust very early in the recruiting process. If I can establish that relationship early on, both with a recruit and his parents, then that will pave the way for a successful academic and athletic career. Once a young man and his parents trust that you believe in them and will always have their interests at heart then they will work tirelessly to prove themselves worthy of that trust and respect. Just as the administration here at Vassar College believed in me which makes me work to be successful to repay them for providing me with this opportunity. And I will always continue to work just as hard to support my young men and to help them to become better players and better people.
CM: Who do you guys recruit against? Is it other teams in your conference? Is it other high academic schools?
With our outstanding academic reputation we compete for recruits less against other Liberty League opponents than we will against many schools schools in the NESCAC and some of the schools in the Centennial Conference and Patriot League. If a student-athlete has the academic profile fit for the Ivy League, but is looking to make a bigger on-field impact and to do other things that Division I athletics may not allow, then they should be considering Vassar College.
CM: Where do most of the current Vassar players come from? Where are you targeting your recruiting efforts? Has the growth of the game increased the areas where you are finding players?
The growth of the game of lacrosse has made the recruiting world truly a national and even international landscape. Over my 6 years as a college lacrosse coach I have been to recruiting events in San Diego and Sonoma, CA; West Palm Beach, FL; Dallas, TX; Nashville, TN; Charlotte, NC; Ann Arbor and Detroit, MI; Columbus and Cleveland,OH; Boulder and Denver, CO; as well as the MANY events throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states from Maine to Baltimore. Although we do have multiple players from New York, our 2012 roster included players from Minnesota, Georgia, Oregon, North Carolina, New Jersey, Arizona, Colorado, California, Maine, Texas, and South Korea! And I only had 18 players on my 2012 roster! Our 2013 roster will include recruits from Michigan, Washington, and another from both Colorado and North Carolina. Anywhere there are talented lacrosse players that are also serious students I will be interested in hearing form them as potential recruiting candidates.
CM: What has changed in your recruiting habits in the past 5 years?
I am not sure I have changed my recruiting habits much in my last 5 years. I was taught most of the things I have learned about recruiting from my very good friend, former boss, and mentor Jim Finlay. Jim spent 11 years as a recruiter at the Division I level before hiring me as his assistant at Trinity. Very early on we recruited on a national level and based our relationships with recruits and their families on respect and trust. I have been able to mold much of what I was taught to include my own personality style and I feel that it has been quite successful. I will never be a negative recruiter against another coach or school, and I will always give my honest opinion on any situation. As I said, trust is of vital importance in the recruiting process and beyond. I am sure that I will continue to fine tune my recruiting approach, but I do not intend to change my philosophy.
CM: What is a unique tradition that you have established at Vassar?
I haven’t been here long enough to establish any traditions yet, but I am certainly looking forward to doing so! I could not be more pleased with my decision to come to Vassar College and I could not be more thankful for the opportunity.