Q&A: New Bergen Catholic lacrosse coach and Syracuse legend Ric Beardsley shares his vision

Bergen Catholic new lacrosse coach Ric Beardsley has worn many hats over the course of his career.

He was a national champion and four-time All-American at Syracuse University. A star at Lakeland High School in Westchester County, N.Y. A TV analyst for ESPN.

Beardsley also spent eight seasons as the head coach at Christian Brothers Academy in Syracuse and led the program to its first state title back in 2017. Now he's getting back in the game to work for Dr. Brian Mahoney, a one-time teammate from the Empire State Games.

Northern Highlands is also on his radar with his daughter, Stony Book commit Angela Beardsley, set to debut in Allendale.

Beardsley caught up with NorthJersey.com to lay out his vision for the Crusaders, who went 7-11 last year.

"Hopefully we can change the perception out there of what people think of Bergen Catholic lacrosse over the last couple of years and get it back to what Coach Haemmerle and the school is all about," Beardsley said. "I'm around greatness every day with Vito Campanile and Billy Armstrong and now Coach Dom (Santoli)."

You've talked about culture. What should people expect from a Ric Beardsley team?

We expect class. No. 1. That's the biggest thing. I would like to win with class and lose with class. I'm a very intense, loud guy but I never try to put it in your face. I think the culture that we're going for is a culture of three things: God, family and the brotherhood.

What I've learned is that teams take on the characteristics of a coach. I'm a very intense, push the ball (person). So hopefully, we can play fast and guys can keep up with that pace. I truly, truly try to play in chaos. That's just been what we've been successful with at CBA. I think it it will be successful. We beat a good Westfield team the other day by playing in chaos.

When you learn to play in chaos, controlling the ball is easy. You can always tone stuff down. So we're learning to turn it up. Pulling it back should be simple.

What are you first impressions of this Bergen Catholic team? What do you like most?

It's the eagerness to learn. I think they are very hungry to learn. That's the biggest thing. There were a lot of things that we implemented that were simple, that weren't there before. So it was pretty easy to to do that.

Other than that, it's the kids themselves. The kids keep you young. I think the one thing our team has is, these guys tend to get along really well. That's the biggest thing – the camaraderie – that I've enjoyed so far.

As someone who's seen lacrosse all over, what do you think about the talent level in North Jersey?

The difference between upstate and North Jersey is the size of the athletes. The kids down here have more of an aggressive style of play. It's the tri-state here and it's not exactly a place where the weak can come to live. It's a cut-throat area. It's a competitive area. The competition is great. The amount of talent across the board is awesome.

We played Westfield the other day and they have two Cornell guys, a Princeton guy and a few other (high-level) kids. We didn't have that in Syracuse much. It was more you get a couple of high-level guys and then you get mostly low-level or mid-level guys when it came to Division I. A ton of Division II. Here in New Jersey, there's a ton of Division I guys.

I'm looking forward to being part of the Gibbs Division and the competition there.

You played for a legendary college coach in Roy Simmons Jr. How much do you take from him and the Syracuse way into your coaching?

It's funny you say that. John Barr is a former All-American who's with me on my staff. He lives in Oradell. He's one of my college teammates. I actually run drills that we ran at Syracuse. What I've always done for the last 10 years of being a varsity coach is that the first 30 minutes of practice are always typically the same. The reason why is they are built on reps. I have all these full-field passing drills that we always go into. Full-field fast breaks. Then we do 5-on-4 Broken, which is a drill we did at Syracuse.

I often believe that the first 30 minutes of your practice are self-governing. The kids are very responsible so it builds leadership. Another thing I try to do is not have captains. I feel like every kid should be empowered, from the kid who is your worst player to the best. When they have the ball, they are the most important. And when they don't have the ball, they are important as well.

It's not coach speak with me. That's one thing you're going to learn with me. I speak what I feel. I'm a big proponent of empowering the kids. As crazy as I am and as much as I yell, I'm very much built on kids' confidence.

There's a phrase. There's winner and losers, and there's winners who have not yet learned to win. I think at Bergen Catholic, we have a lot of winners. And based on the last three years, we just haven't learned to win. I think we're trying to change that. I'll be honest. Has it changed already? No. Will it be changed next week? No. Will it be changed five weeks from now? I think so. I think we'll start to believe more and more every day as we start to do more and more at practice and we're around each other as a staff and a team.

Who's the best player you've played with and the best player you've played against?

The best player I've played with all-around is Casey Powell. I would have to say that the best player I've played against is Gary Gait. But my toughest matchup, believe it or not, is a guy that no one knows – Joe Matassa from Duke [1989-92].

Who's the guy on your team now that people don't know about but will by the end of the season?

That's a great question because I don't think anybody knows about anybody from a 7-11 team. Parker Day, our goalie. He's excellent.

What have you heard about the Bergen Catholic-Don Bosco rivalry?

I witnessed it in football. I didn't miss a single football game this year. I witnessed it in basketball and wrestling. I didn't witness it in hockey.

Here's the funny part: Don Bosco coach [Brendan] Gorman and I have known each other since college. He actually is a big customer of mine. I sell apparel and equipment and Don Bosco is a customer. So do I know the rivalry? Yes. Do I know the history? Yes. Will it hit me the first time we play them? I guarantee it will.

I'm going to be frank and tell you that I won't wear maroon in my wardrobe. Even my underwear, socks and sneakers. It's due to Ridgewood and Bosco. I didn't wear red when I was at CBA because of [Jamesville-Dewitt].

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Q&A: New Bergen Catholic lacrosse coach, Syracuse great Ric Beardsley