Back in the game
After taking a year off to work in private business, Michael Daly will be the new women’s lacrosse coach at the University of New Hampshire. (Michael Silverwood/Unh)
By Justin A. Rice Globe Correspondent / August 9, 2009
Working as the public address announcer at Bentley College basketball games in the mid ’90s, Michael Daly struck up a friendship with a legendary rival, former Stonehill College women’s coach Paula Sullivan. As the college’s athletic director, Sullivan eventually hired Daly to coach the women’s lacrosse program.
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A decade later, after guiding the Skyhawks to a pair of Division 2 national championships, and taking a year off to work in private business, Daly is back coaching.
Early last week, he was named the new women’s coach at the University of New Hampshire, his alma mater. And once again, he can give a tip of the cap to college basketball.
“I had a chance to go to the [NCAA tournament] men’s basketball regional at the Garden and saw the Villanova-Pittsburgh game,’’ said the 41-year-old, who this past year worked for a small marketing and Web design firm in Franklin.
“I was sitting next to some fans from Villanova and talking about college athletics. Just being there for that moment, that was really an epiphany for me this year. I was like, ‘Oh, my God.’ [The Villanova fans] were like, ‘What are you doing? Why wouldn’t you want to be part of this?’ I love college basketball. I love college sports. This kind of seemed right. This year gave me good perspective on how much I love college athletics.’’
Daly spent the 2008 season as an assistant under former University of New Hampshire coach Sandy Bridgeman, who relocated to Florida with her family.
“I took a number of calls from alumni, they all said, ‘You need to apply,’ ’’ Daly said. “Sandy told me she wanted me to take over the program. I was of course flattered and honored.’’
A Brighton native who resides in Natick, Daly plans to relocate to Portsmouth, N.H., and starts his new post in a week.
While he is heading north, he will always have his eye on the South Shore. While he was coaching at Stonehill, he recruited heavily from perennially strong programs such as Duxbury and Hingham. And he has no plans to stop.
“All over the South Shore, to be honest, [lacrosse] programs are very strong and up and coming,’’ he said. “So we’ll continue to do that, but we’ll spread out our wings a bit, look all over the place. But some of the top girls in high school lacrosse are from Massachusetts and they are on the teams winning national championships.’’
In his one year as a University of New Hampshire assistant, he recruited current Wildcat sophomore Erin Levesque out of Duxbury High.
“We’ll see if Erin can help us get Duxbury kids,’’ he said. “My cousins live in Duxbury and I definitely have a soft spot for the area. Sue Paul does a great job with the [Duxbury] program. We’ll definitely look for kids there and all over the South Shore.’’
Daly is taking over at a University of New Hampshire program steeped in history, unlike the situation when he arrived at Stonehill. One year after his arrival in North Easton, 1999, the program went varsity, and the Skyhawks won NCAA Division 2 titles in 2003 and 2005. One of his former players, Milton native Katie Lambert-Conover, is guiding the Stonehill program.
In her 13 years as New Hampshire head coach, Bridgeman compiled a 123-105 record and was a three-time America East Coach of the Year.
“I’m honored and thrilled, at the same time, to be taking over for her,’’ said Daly. “And I’m excited to write the next chapter in the program’s history. The only way to do that is to build on what Sandy established, the tradition of excellence on the field and off. My job is to carry on the legacy she built.’’
But he is reminded that it was love for college basketball that led him back to the lacrosse field.
“People still want me to announce games,’’ Daly said. “I’m like, ‘I don’t know.’ I do miss it. It’s fun. I love college hoops.’’
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