Transcript: Coach Perrino on Lacrosse, Leadership, and Relationships

Good morning and welcome back to Late Start Show. We are here today with Coach Michael Perino, the new head varsity lacrosse coach and assistant to the athletic department and a coach whose journey through the game has taken him through Northeast Ohio standout to college player, pro player, and now leader of one of the best programs in our school's community. How are you doing today, Coach? I'm fantastic.

I really appreciate you both having me. Yeah, of course. Thanks for doing this. Well, let's start at the beginning.

After doing some research, we found out that you're actually from around here, Solon, Ohio. So what was your family like growing up and what were you like as a kid? Yeah, loved growing up in this area. A huge reason why I wanted to come back.

I joke around that the air is just different here. So I absolutely love it. But my family, unbelievably supportive. My mom is from Pittsburgh.

My dad is from here. he went to Solon High School. So I had a big family around here growing up, very supportive. I have a twin brother actually. And so we were pretty close growing up, but we couldn't be more different.

He is a music producer. He's a physics major at Kent. So he got the brains, I got the athleticism, but it was a great household because my parents supported us through everything and it was really cool as well because my brother and I weren't competing against each other we were supporting each other so I was a competitive and annoying kid growing up so I'm sure my parents had their hands full but I couldn't thank them enough for being that supportive and I loved growing up in this area you know was there a moment you realized I know we'll talk a lot more about this later but okay I'm kind of good this lacrosse thing or do you remember some of those first moments that you were playing? I definitely do.

I remember my first practice very vividly. I was not good right away. I was this size in eighth, seventh grade. So physically I was better than everybody, but there were a lot of guys that had great skills and it really motivated me.

But no, I remember my first practice. I was playing catch with my friend, Alex Heffernan. He and I started the same day. We were going back and forth.

I went to go bring the stick back. The ball flew straight up. I'm looking around. It hits me in the head.

I'm like, man, this is very humbling. But ever since then, I've just loved the game. I played football, basketball, baseball, tennis, anything that I could be around that was competitive and lacrosse just stuck. So first practice didn't go well, but ever since then, I just had a passion for it.

So I loved playing. Yeah. And then moving into your high school years at Solon, what was it like playing with your boys at the high school level and being a standout there? Yeah, Solon, growing up, the athletic department was ultra competitive and everything.

So when lacrosse was a little bit newer, we felt the expectation and the pressure that we had to overachieve. So it was an awesome senior class when I was a freshman. We played in the state final four, actually here. My final game as a freshman was on this field.

We lost. U.S. actually ended up winning the 2008 state championship game. The following year, we played again and U.S. again won a state championship. So growing up in Solon, we were very competitive, but there were so many good programs around here.

U.S. being the best. While I was in high school, Hudson was another one. Chagrin, just great programs so I thought it was an awesome place to grow up a lot of people loved lacrosse but being such a competitive area in sports I thought there were a lot of athletes that picked up lacrosse which made the game a lot better so I thought it was a really fun experience playing against U.S. I played travel lacrosse with a lot of U.S. guys as well guys that are still in the area guys that I keep in touch with so it was a great experience.

Now I'm not really looking for the high school recruiting part but obviously you were so what did high school recruiting look for you and when did you first kind of look at high like college lacrosse as a real possibility? I knew I wanted to play after high school when my dad and I went to the national championship game. We went to Philadelphia. It was 2006.

So it was right around the first couple years that I was playing. And we watched one of the greatest teams of all time in college lacrosse. It was UVA. They were undefeated and they played a really gritty blue collar University of Massachusetts team.

I just couldn't take my eyes off the field. It was unbelievable to watch the skill, the athleticism, how hard the coaches were coaching, how hard the guys were playing. That was kind of the experience where I was like, whoa, this is a whole nother level, a little bit different than Solon High School. And so I was hooked ever since then, put up posters in my room, followed all my favorite players.

And I think that's when I knew I wanted to play at the next level. And so dove right into the deep end, started playing travel lacrosse. I played for two different travel clubs and just practiced whenever I had free time. So that's kind of what drove, that was kind of my defining moment, I would say.

And the recruiting world has obviously changed a lot, but you've been through it yourself as a player and then you've coached in the college ranks. So I guess what do students and players that are looking to play at the next level, maybe misunderstand about the recruiting world? And then I guess as a coach, what is something that you're looking for that kids might not know? Yeah, I think the recruiting process more so now than ever is an absolute hurricane. and I was a college coach for nine years and I was the main recruiter at all of those universities.

So a lot of stuff goes into the recruiting process. But as far as the athletes concerned, I think the most important thing is one, being realistic. Two, understanding the fit of you at the university, I think is really important. and getting in contact with the coaches, I think is important too. I think a lot of programs send a lot of materials out.

There are prospect days, there are showcase, all of these things out there and they're amazing. Great for exposure, great to participate in. But I think the misconception is that as an assistant for a long time, it's an amazing way to make a nice compliment to your paycheck as well So there are a lot of great recruiting events but there are also a lot of events to help assistants live So I tell all of our guys you just want to be intentional If it a random school that you have no interest in probably save your time probably save your money. But if it's a dream school, if it's on your list, if it has the major you're interested in, clubs that you want to be involved in, you know, you love the head coach, you talk with the assistant, it seems like a great fit, then I would say kind of go on a limb and check it out.

And And worst case, you are on campus. You're soaking it all in. It's great for the individual, great for the family. So I would say it's a hurricane.

There's a lot thrown at you, but go at your own pace. I would say especially everyone has their own process. Everyone's recruiting journey is different. So you can't compare.

I think a lot of young guys see the top 100 recruits. They see all these listings and they put pressure on themselves, but everyone's journey is different. So I always try to tell families and students that, hey, it's going to happen now, later, in between. So just go as you go.

You know, now shifting into kind of your college experience, what was the biggest shock when you arrived on campus and realized the speed of the college game? Yeah, my head was spinning. I think I was a good athlete that had decent skills. But when I got to college.

I mean, again, I was an 18 year old going up against some guys who were 22, 23. So they were lifting, they were playing wall ball, they were shooting footwork, all of those years of hard work. And you show up and they are slinging the rock around. They're going hard in practice, laying the lumber.

And so first practice freshman year, it's a eyes wide open kind of experience, but you kind of just dial in, you get used to it, you're thrown into the deep end and I think that is the best thing for you. So for me, I spent my freshman year at the College of Worcester and it was a great experience. I was close to home. It was a competitive lacrosse program, good academics, and it was a great experience.

Got to play some great programs and I was fortunate enough to play as a freshman. I took face-offs, played offense, defense, kind of played all over the place. So it was great for me developing in a bunch of different roles, helping the team out. But overall, it was definitely an eyes wide open experience stepping on campus day one.

You probably didn't notice it when you're in the moment, but now that you're a coach, what are some things that looking back on it, you've kind of picked up from your time in college and as a player that you use today? I think finding a routine is very important, not only as a coach, but especially for an athlete. I think going to class, doing all of your work, there's so much already on your plate that if you don't have a scheduled routine, it can certainly throw any individual off, but especially someone that's not organized. So I would say, especially in high school, this is a great opportunity to really find your routine, see what works for you.

And obviously the structure of high school and college is completely different, but it's still a great opportunity. Coach O'Brien, Kevin O'Brien says, what game do you want to be good at? And we joke around all the time because we see guys on their phones, on their laptops playing games, but it's a great opportunity to figure out, okay, well, I could be playing 15 minutes of this game on my phone, or I could stretch out, make sure I don't pull anything, or I could watch 15 minutes of film here in between my classes. So I think as the good and above average high school athletes transitioning to college, the one thing I would say is definitely find a routine that works for you because when you do get to college, oh my gosh, you may have three classes on your heaviest day.

And so there's a lot of free time. So you can't just go back to your dorm and sleep and play video games. It's about, hey, I can crush an hour of homework here. I can get some wall ball done here.

And it's about, again, just maximizing your efficiency and finding that routine. You know, you talked about a little how you transitioned in your freshman year from the College of Wilshire to other colleges. I know you transferred, I believe, one more twice. So looking back, what did each college step teach you, not only as a person, but as a player?

Because obviously there's new teams, new coaches, but also a lot more fun and ability to play. So what did each stop teach you? I think that I was prepared for those next steps, but I definitely don't think I was mature enough as I am now. I've definitely changed over the years.

I think every stop made me look in the mirror and realize what my deficiencies were as one, a player, as a person, as a student. So I think every stop was definitely necessary for me. I wouldn't change. If I had a time machine, I wouldn't change anything about my journey.

I learned a lot and I met some amazing people along the way. And I'm in coaching for the relationships. I mean, every stop, even, so I went to College of Worcester my freshman year, Roanoke College my sophomore year, Canisius College through super senior year because I had a fifth year. I tore my labrum, my sophomore year and senior year tore my adductor and sports hernia, played through that my senior year, had a bunch of injuries.

I won't go on. But so those periods of my life, I met some amazing people and I still try to keep in touch with those people today. At every university I've coached at, I still try to keep in touch with all those athletes that I've coached that I've built those relationships around. So I think every stop has taught me something new, has helped me mature, has helped me develop.

And yeah, I wouldn't do it any other way. When you finished college, how'd you decide, keep playing, start coaching, kind of do something other than lacrosse? How'd you make that decision? It was very tough.

So I put my name in the, at the time it was called major league lacrosse, the MLL draft and didn't get picked up. Had some buddies at Canisius where I graduated that were picked up. So very excited for them, but you know, I wanted more. I was like, wow, they have an opportunity to play.

I don't want to give this up. You know, I've been injured half my career, so I want to make sure that I keep playing. So actually had the tough realization that it might not happen for me. didn like that So I said Hey I believe I can still play Let keep training So I got surgery on my adductor and my sports hernia trained for eight months nine months and really looked up every open tryout training camp that I was allowed to go to I went to two open tryouts two training camps finally got onto a practice squad roster for the Ohio Machine and was able to be on that roster the entire year. That was my first year that was 2017 and I was one of the greatest professional teams of all time I don't know how I stepped into that how I got lucky but an unbelievable opportunity I mean some of those guys that I referenced that I had posters on my wall I got to play with so it was really cool for me as a player it was really cool for me as a lacrosse fan because I got to see kind of how the sausage was made, got to see their work ethics, just their personalities, how they took coaching, how they communicated with each other.

It was just one of the most unbelievable experiences that I was able to experience. And so after that, 2018, I got hurt in training camp. I tore my labrum and rotator cuff. I have a video of that if you guys want to see that later.

But that was a long injury to recover from. And so after that, I had three surgeries in four years or five years. And so again, love lacrosse, but I want to be able to play catch with my kids someday. So I really looked into coaching options.

And so I was working at Superior Beverage in sales and merchandising in 2017. And my coach at Canisius got the head coaching job at John Carroll. And he called me and said, Hey, are you interested in coaching lacrosse? I said, definitely.

And he offered me a job. I quit my job the next day. And so I started coaching 2017 at John Carroll. So an amazing experience, but again, wouldn't have had that unless my coach got that job.

So a few things fell into place and I stopped playing in 2018, but continued coaching. I play men's league here and there to drive the competitive edge, but it was a short professional career, but the lessons I learned were invaluable. And so now coaching, it's been unbelievable. Again, the relationships I've made, the people that I've met, the places I've been, it's been great.

So, yeah, John Carroll to Ohio Wesleyan to St. John Fisher to Baldwin Wallace to Robert Morris to the university school here. So it's been an unbelievable ride. You know, in all those jobs, you've worn hats like offensive coordinator, recruiting goalies, strength and conditioning.

What did you learn about building a winning culture at the college level that you can translate anywhere, even high school now? Absolutely. I think winning culture, people throw buzzwords all over the place. I think that's really common now.

And I think as the leaders, right, coaches and the leaders of the program right now, right, Zach Cimarone, Tyler, me. it's really important that we're all on the same page the coaching staff the leaders of the team the juniors the seniors they've done an amazing job of buying into what i've been putting out already and it's really just about outworking everybody else and you know you can think it's this you can think it's this but at the end of the day i think it's the tougher team the team that works the hardest when the lights aren't on that will be put in a better position than the other team. So I want our guys to work their tails off. I want them to have a great attitude. I tell them all the time, don't yell at each other.

I will do the yelling. I will make sure you know you've made a mistake, but I want you all to be as positive as you can be. You'll get the next ground ball. That was a good take.

Take the next shot. You'll get it. And I just want them to be close. And I think on all of the successful teams I've ever been around and seen, the closer teams are the ones that are standing at the end of it.

So hard work, absolutely a good attitude every single day. Yes. But the tightness and the closest of the team is really important. So I think those are what I'm trying to focus on.

I think the guys have done an unbelievable job of buy-in into it. And so I think we have some really special days ahead of us. And I'm guessing a lot of what you just said goes into this next question, but you talk about that standard and that only works if everyone buys in. So how do you get people to buy into that high standard, even if they're not a super serious lacrosse player, but how do you get them to buy into that championship standard?

Yeah, that's a great question. I think however involved they are in lacrosse, whatever their commitment level is, I want them to know, hey, there are going to be things that you agree to, that you sign up for, that you may not 100% love. Even in life, you're going to have to go to work. You're going to have to do things that you signed up for that job, but you may not love it.

But at the end of the day, it's your attitude and it's the people around you. So if you can have an infectious attitude for what you're doing, I think that's unbelievably important. And so for everything that you do, I think you have to sell out. And I tell the guys, right in the classroom, you got to sell out on the field.

You got to sell out in relationships. You got to sell out. So I think it's all about what you give to those scenarios. And Hey, you might not be very talented, but if you give 100% effort, even if you mess up, I won't be upset.

Your teammates won't be upset. You're trying your hardest. So I think it's all about the effort that you put out. And again, I think it's how you handle that as well.

You know, when you accepted the university school head coaching job, what was the first thing you thought about the program and how is it like moving from the college scene to now the high school scene? Yeah. When I first got the job, I reached out to all my mentors that I've been able to work with, former U.S. coaches, former high school coaches of mine, college coaches of mine, teammates of mine. And I wanted to really kind of gauge what they thought successful programs had as well.

So similar to your previous question, I said, hey, you were on this team in your career. What was the leadership messaging preseason? What did you guys do mid If things got stale was there anything that you used to it So I really reached out to a lot of my colleagues and mentors and just probed a little bit asked a lot of questions. And so that really allowed me to kind of hit the ground running.

And then everyone here was ultra supportive as well. So if I had any questions about day-to-day operations, about things in the past, about players, about coaches, everyone here was ultra receptive to me, my questions and my attitude. So I think the beginning days were, there was a lot going on, but I think everyone else that was here really helped support me and really helped me kind of hit the ground running. So I think the early days were a lot, but I'm absolutely thrilled with how things have gone.

I couldn't say a bad word about anyone in the athletics, the academics, the administration, everyone's been so great. So that's why I want to do my best and perform my hardest because I haven't even had a speed bump so far. So I want to perform for the people that have helped me, but then the athletes that have been pouring into it as well. When you think about legacy here, obviously success means wins, but there's more that goes into it than that.

So what does success mean to you here and start to build your legacy? I think 100%. I'm definitely one of the most competitive guys that I've ever been around. I hate to lose.

I think winning is why we practice. And so there's always going to be that aspect to it. But again, I want these seniors to leave here prepared for college, prepared for their journey. And I want them to understand that life will have roadblocks and adversities, and I want to help them be prepared for that.

So I want to make practices hard. I want to make sure there's some friction. I want to make sure that everything's not sunshine and rainbows for them here because that's not life. That being said, I also want to be the first person to pat them on the back when they do a good job, when they succeed.

I want to be that extension of, you know, we talk about brotherhood, we talk about family. I want them to view me as an extension of that. So again, I think I'm hard. I think I'm fair, but I think overall, I want to show them that I care so that they all care as well.

So I think that leaving a legacy, yeah, of course, I want to win so many games, but I also want the guys that come back, the seniors every year, be like, man, miss going out to the field, miss the coaching staff, miss the boys. And I want them to understand how important this phase is for their development as, again, a teammate, but more so what everything can help them in their next steps of life. and then as you look to you know building a program you could talk to a prospective student athlete that might be listening what's your best pitch for why they should want to be a part of this lacrosse program my best pitch is you will be surrounded by like-minded individuals that love lacrosse but also love growth and love learning we have guys that are in choir we have guys that are in theater. We have guys that are in jazz band. We have guys that are in all sorts of different clubs, sports.

It's really cool how well-rounded I think everyone is here. I think growing up in the area and knowing a lot of public school and people that went through public school and myself went through Solon, you were really put into a box. And that's not to take away from my experience. It was just, Hey, you know, these guys are on the football team.

They're football players. These guys are in choir. They're, they're musicians. I'm a lacrosse player.

I'm on the lacrosse team. And so I think naturally everyone was put in boxes. I think here we do an incredible job of saying you can be and do whatever you want. So I love that aspect here.

And so not only to be a part of a lacrosse program that I want more and more guys to play at the next level. So I will make sure that I'm developing you every single day. But even before you get to practice, you're going to be growing. You're going to be put in uncomfortable situations.

And whether you like it or not, it's going to develop you. And it will be a good thing at the end of the day. So I think you will be challenged in every aspect of your life. You will be prepared for next steps moving forward.

And college academics will probably be easy by the time you get there if you go through here. So I think it's going to set you up for the rest of your life. It's a 40-year decision, not a four-year decision. Well, Coach, as we wrap this up, we've talked about your childhood journey through multiple schools as a player, your time at the professional level, and the long coaching path that has brought you now to university school.

When you take a step back from the wins, the losses, the practices, the daily work that comes with leading such a big program, what is the deeper reason you keep doing this? What is your why and why do you hope the players that you coach carry with them long after the final whistle and long after their time playing is done? Great question. And again, I come back to it.

I'm in coaching. You know, I love lacrosse. I love growth and development. But the most important thing to me is building those relationships.

So I want, you know, down the road, the relationships that I have with my mentors, I played for one of the greatest player coaches of all time, Coach Randy Mearns. I went to his office three times a week. I'd go in there for two hours. I could call him right now and we'd be on the phone for two and a half hours.

And that's the relationship I want with anyone that I'm around. You guys, other coaches, players, anyone that I have a degree of connection with, I want to make sure that I can help them any way I can. So that is what I wish someday is that I get calls from all my former players. I'll make any amounts of time to be able to talk to them and help them through whatever struggles or happiness that they have.

But the connection piece and the relationship piece is why I coach. Well, coach, it's been great having you on the show today. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your stories, insights, and experiences with us. to our listeners thank you so much for tuning in and we'll hope you'll join us next wednesday for another episode late start show thanks coach thank you guys very much