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Yahoo Fantasy Baseball provided Pat March the perfect blueprint for his current recruiting tactics. While playing with his friends in high school, he learned how he had to take a first baseman early since many good ones weren’t on the board. Sometimes getting the top five midfielders in a class isn’t necessary. Balance is key.

“You don’t want to end up with really good lefty wing players but you only need one or two of them the whole time,” March said.

March’s recruiting prowess led to key additions at Vermont and Princeton in the 2010s, and he’s continued to bring in top talent at Syracuse. He’s also been instrumental in recruiting through the transfer portal, bringing in Jake Stevens and Sam English (who he originally recruited to the Tigers) to boost SU’s midfield. And as the Orange’s offensive coordinator, March produced the nation’s sixth-best attack during the shortened 2020 season and this year.

“I’m really happy with where I am with Syracuse,” March said. “I’ve worked hard putting together the team we have now and the team we have in the future.”

March’s coaching career began in 2011 at Division III Roanoke College, where he played from 2007-10 as a two-time All-American. Following a year patrolling the Maroons’ sidelines, he became an assistant at Dickinson College, another D-III program.

Recruiting at the D-III level required an extensive work ethic, said Matt Madalon, who coached at Stevens College and is currently the head coach at Princeton. It required hours of cold calling after high school showcases with the first 25 calls leading to nothing as players were committed to top Division I programs. The only reassurance was that you were looking at the right players, Madalon said.

Madalon, who played at Roanoke from 2003-06, started D-III coaching around the same time as March. Though they never crossed paths with the Maroons, Madalon tracked March’s playing career, seeing his toughness as he recorded the sixth-most points (243) in program history.

Madalon and March quickly became friends as they each climbed the coaching ranks. They had many conversations about working or running a program together. After Madalon was promoted to the Tigers’ head coach in 2017, that became a reality.

“Whoever became a head coach first we were going to hire each other,” Madalon said. “We trust each other and think the game very similarly.”

At Princeton, March brought a classification process for recruits which he created as an assistant at Vermont. The system numbers players based on their positions and abilities — March still uses a similar version today. Lefty wings would be No. 3 and righty X players No. 6. Then, players were assigned a second number if they were a two-way player (No. 1) or a one-way (No. 2).

The procedure helped with roster management too, ensuring there was the right number of players on the field, Madalon said. In March’s first year at Princeton, Zach Currier, Austin Sims, Michael Sowers and Gavin McBride were numbered No. 3 through No. 6, respectively.

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“It was an innovative way to look at a limited recruiting roster,” Madalon said. “We weren’t in a place to take 16, 17 guys … you have to be very pointed with your recruiting with your spots.”

Princeton’s 2017 squad led the country in shooting percentage and was second nationally in goals per game, utilizing a “400” set (four players in front of the cages and two behind), inverts and big-little play. The latter was something March also instituted with the Catamounts.

With less ability to grab the best American players, Vermont put a premium on recruiting players from Canada due to its close proximity to the border. March has always developed his offensive sets based on the players he has, and at Vermont that meant instilling a “pairs” system, which involved aspects of box lacrosse that players like Ian MacKay were familiar with.

The closest March got to playing box lacrosse was practicing in a basketball gym growing up just south of Baltimore, Maryland. He learned more about the two-man, box game playing alongside Jon Mason and Matt Quinton at Roanoke. And even more by asking questions to the Canadian players he coached.

“I’m not Canadian,” March joked. “I don’t play box lacrosse at the level a lot of these guys have.”

March said the two-man game exploded onto the college scene around the time he started employing it at Vermont. It’s something he’s utilized throughout all his time at Syracuse.

When March arrived at SU in 2020, he said the Orange had three midfielders who “drew a slide walking onto the field” — Jamie Trimboli, Tucker Dordevic and Brendan Curry. The following year, he had then-freshman Owen Hiltz at his disposal, who was familiar with the “400” since his high school assistant coach Riley Thompson played under March at Princeton.

Hiltz moved from midfield to attack after Syracuse’s season-opening loss to Army. March wanted to get the lefty two-man going between Stephen Rehfuss and Hiltz, where Rehfuss facilitated from X. The Orange defeated then-No. 3 Virginia 20-10 the following week with the duo connecting on three scores.

“You start to talk about these triangles or pairs of chemistry and guys start to develop that during the season,” March said.

Once March realizes that players are cultivating chemistry with one another, he tries to lean on that as much as possible. Against the Cavaliers this year, March said he ensured English and Finn Thomson enough space to utilize their chemistry versus short-stick matchups.

That freedom is something March has given his players everywhere he’s coached. It allows them to be flexible within the “400” and “500” (five players in front and one behind the cage) set, which has similarities to what March used at Vermont and Princeton.

“He wants them to make decisions and have ownership over it,” Madalon said. “He allows plenty of creativity while teaching them the game at the same time.”

But March isn’t only in charge of the attack at Syracuse. He’s also responsible for the ride and clearing, which he said he mastered under head coach John Desko from 2020-21.

Syracuse offensive coordinator Pat March (orange hat) draws up a play on a whiteboard during a timeout. goes here. Courtesy of SU Athletics

When March was absent for almost two games this season following an early ejection versus Cornell, the clearing unit struggled. SU lost to the Big Red before late turnovers and failed clears allowed North Carolina to get within one of the Orange’s lead.

March’s return to the sidelines came at the most opportune time with Syracuse facing UVA’s difficult 10-man ride. SU passed its test with flying colors, methodically defeating the ride to secure a win in the regular-season finale.

“Coach March was leading (the clear unit) all week,” Syracuse head coach Gary Gait said. “With him on the sidelines, players look over and see him and they feel a lot more composed and ready to go.”

Now, all of March’s contributions are coming to fruition with the first NCAA Tournament bid of his SU career. But being an assistant isn’t his final goal.

At every stop of his career, March has dipped his toe into everything around a program. For Vermont, he was in charge of equipment and briefly academics, also organizing travel since there wasn’t a director of operations. For Princeton, he put all his energy into recruiting offensive schemes.

He’s content at Syracuse, but it’s a goal at some point to make the next step.

“I’ve tried to put myself in a position where I’ve done a lot of the stuff that needs to be done in a program to one day hopefully prepare myself to be a head coach,” March said.

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Published on May 9, 2024 at 12:47 am

Contact Anish: asvasude@syr.edu | @anish_vasu