John Desko stood on the sideline at Gillette Stadium, having returned to championship weekend. After a disastrous, scandal-filled 5-8 season in 2007, Desko led the Orange back to the 2008 men’s lacrosse final four. Back to the top.

As Desko waited for the Syracuse-Virginia national semifinal game to begin, Virginia head coach Dom Starsia approached him on the sidelines.

‘What a difference a year makes,’ Starsia said to Desko. ‘All of a sudden you’re a genius again!’

In that moment, Starsia addressed the issue that has plagued Desko since he took over as head coach in 1999. When Syracuse wins a national championship, Desko possesses the knowledge of a lacrosse guru. But when the Orange is down, fans want Desko, the then-three-time national championship winner, out. They long for the glory days of Roy Simmons Jr., the man who built the Syracuse lacrosse program before naming Desko as his successor, the man who created a legacy that Desko chases.

Syracuse would defeat Virginia in double overtime and win again two days later over Johns Hopkins to win the 2008 championship title.

Desko reigned on top. Again – his fourth title in 10 seasons. And this one came with redemption attached.

Because a year earlier, the Orange, well, didn’t look like the Orange. Problems plagued Syracuse: trouble with the law coupled with mishaps on the field.

Critics saw Desko as the problem.

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Syracuse swelled into a lacrosse powerhouse when Simmons called the shots. For 28 seasons, Simmons coached the Orange, developing a winning tradition and a rabid fan base to go along with it. As years passed, national titles became the expectation for those run-and-gun teams. Simmons won six during his reign.

Now, Desko must produce a team that answers to the demands of those fans.

Simmons recruited Desko as a player and hired him as his assistant coach in 1980. They became protégé and mentor, Simmons prepping his former player as his successor. Simmons knew Desko could handle the pressure.

‘When a team wins, you praise the players,’ Simmons said in a telephone interview. ‘But when the team loses, you blame the coach.’

In Desko’s case, this rang true. Because sometimes, national titles aren’t enough.

Even after the 2008 season, naysayers continued to discuss on Internet forums who would do a better job than Desko and who should replace him. Maybe Gary Gait, the legendary former player and current coach of the women’s team, would be a better fit. Or maybe Roy Simmons III, Desko’s assistant, could follow in his father’s footsteps. John Desko couldn’t catch a break.

‘We built this monster here at Syracuse,’ Desko said. ‘We’re expected to win. But I understand all that. I’ve been here forever a part of the program. I get all that.’

*

Back-to-back national championships have evaded Desko from unquestionable greatness. None of Desko’s four titles have come consecutively (2000, 2002, 2004 and 2008).

Desko has never won back-to-back championships, but his predecessor, Simmons, won three in a row.

These days, lacrosse is different. Desko isn’t the only one without back-to-back titles. No team has won consecutive NCAA championships since Princeton earned three in a row from 1996-1998.

‘Teams have a big target on their backs after they win a national championship,’ senior midfielder Matt Abbott said. ‘Every one brings their best game when they are playing the defending national champions. It’s hard to repeat.’

When teams travel to the Carrier Dome, Syracuse plays with a target on its back regardless of the previous year’s outcome. Before this season, Starsia’s Virginia team voted to travel to the Carrier Dome, rather than playing at a neutral site in Baltimore. Starsia’s seniors had never played inside the Dome and wanted the chance to take the champs down at home.

In previous seasons when Syracuse reigned on top, on and off field mishaps prevented the squad from repeating. Desko said some of these circumstances were ‘out of his control.’

After Desko won his first title in 2000, Syracuse came painfully close to repeating in 2001, but fell short. The Orange faltered in the final minute of championship play, losing to Princeton in overtime.

After Syracuse’s 2002 title, Johns Hopkins embarrassed Syracuse in 2003, defeating the Orange by 11 goals in the NCAA tournament semifinals.

In 2005, SU lost to Massachusetts in the first round, eliminating it from a possible repeat. The loss ended Syracuse’s 22-year final four streak.

Desko now has his fourth chance to prove his program can repeat the greatness it achieved just a year earlier.

‘Coming back as national champion you get everyone’s best game so they can say they beat last year’s national champion,’ Desko said. ‘At Syracuse you do anyway, but it’s very difficult and you are very visible. You’ve been on TV more than other teams. You have to keep our edge. You come to Syracuse with high expectations once you achieve your goal you have to find incentives to push yourself the next year.’

*

They always say he’s being ‘out-coached.’ Critics say Starsia and Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala manage games better. Or that Desko still has Simmons’ voice and advice in his ear, using his predecessor’s style and decisions more than his own. Or that he doesn’t have enough of Simmons’ voice in his ear.

So:

Desko doesn’t let the players have creativity; he controls the field play too much.

Desko still has Simmon’s voice and opinion when he needs to make a big decision about the team.

And, no, he’s never won back-to-back national championships.

After the 2007 season imploded in eight losses and three arrests, Desko earned the fans’ ire.

‘It’s misguided, spoiled fans, to be honest,’ said John Jiloty, the editor-in-chief of Inside Lacrosse magazine and a Syracuse alumnus, said in an e-mail. ‘Syracuse is unique in the lacrosse world – so much media and local fan attention. They truly have local fans: No other team has that. Even Hopkins, it’s mostly alums and students. Syracuse has actual community members who cheer for them. That creates a different environment.’

Pietramala has heard the criticism of Desko, too. The Hopkins head coach heard the criticism about Desko’s coaching style, that Desko should ‘let the kids play more, like Roy (Simmons Jr.) did.’

‘I think John has found a balance between coaching the kids and controlling the play and allowing the kids to get creative,’ Pietramala said. ‘He struck a balance where he is not all controlling, yet he doesn’t let them just have a free-for-all. He finds a balance.

‘He has to coach like John, not like Roy.’

The criticism shows. Desko has yet to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Starsia, who owns three titles, was inducted in 2008, the year Desko beat the Cavaliers en route to a fourth championship.

If Desko wants to become a legend, he apparently has some more work to do.

*

John Desko’s demeanor doesn’t change much. Even after his eldest son, Tim, scored seven combined goals in the Orange’s first two scrimmages of the 2009 season, Desko stayed stoic.

Desko stood on the field, surrounded by the media, who bombarded him with questions about his son. Reporters begged him to ‘put the dad hat on.’

But the topic of his firstborn having the ability to become a star Syracuse attack did not faze him. His responses saw no change in tone or excitement. He answered as a coach.

‘I was happy with what Tim did today,’ John Desko said after the Orange’s first scrimmages on Jan. 29. ‘I think some of the other attackmen got stuffed a couple times and didn’t shoot as well, and it was nice to substitute him in. I thought he finished the ball very well.’

Even after a nine-point day, Tim didn’t expect many compliments.

‘He hasn’t said anything to me yet,’ Tim Desko said. ‘We’ll see, he’ll probably just tell me to keep working harder. He’ll never say anything positive.’

Desko won’t show favorites. An abundance of family ties have gone through the Syracuse lacrosse program (the Abbotts, the Nims, the Perritts, and the Hardys). No reason Tim should be treated differently.

It’s different for Tim Desko now. He remembers attending all the Syracuse lacrosse games as a child. From the stands, he watched his dad coach. He watched his father lead a team that defined success.

‘It’s weird to see him now that I’m on the sidelines,’ Tim Desko said. ‘I see him in a different light as a coach.’

Now Desko, a redshirt freshman, plays for his father’s team and has a lot to prove to gain his father’s praise.

Dinner table lacrosse talk scarcely arises in the Desko household. Tim Desko said he keeps to himself, and his father to his self. Desko talks to his mother, Cindy, about lacrosse, because ‘it’s hard to talk’ to his dad about it.

John Desko works late nights at the office during the preseason. He’ll arrive to the family’s home in Syracuse around 7:30 p.m., but has to spread his time with Tim’s younger brother Ryan and two younger sisters, Nicole and Casey.

Tim Desko remembers the late nights being even worse in 2007, during the Orange’s worst season under John Desko. His dad moped around the house. He didn’t talk as much. He brainstormed constantly about ways to get Syracuse out of its slump.

‘I never want to see him like that again,’ Tim Desko said. ‘He wasn’t himself. He was so down on himself always thinking of what he could do better.’

Pietramala, the Hopkins coach, said he knows Desko is the kind of man who would always question himself before placing the blame on his team. Pietramala said the critics do not have to bring the inquiry; any good coach would look at himself as the problem first.

‘Whenever there is a (Syracuse) loss, I think John Desko is looking right in the mirror and thinking what could I do better? Do we have a better game plan?’ Pietramala said.

He said he respects Desko for the philosophy he makes Syracuse stick to. Desko lets his team develop and grow during the regular season, making few changes. He preaches it all season long, no matter what the year.

The philosophy worked for Desko four times. There’s no need to change the system now.

*

The heat is on for Desko and his Syracuse squad this season. Desko has his fourth chance to repeat winning a national title. He’ll get another chance to squash the negative opinions for good, by possibly completing the thus far unobtainable.

Sure, last year’s stars Mike Leveille and Steven Brooks are gone, but Kenny Nims, John Galloway and preseason All-American Matt Abbott are back. And Desko – he’s back, too.

Desko is ready to take on a new season. As he stood at the podium and addressed the crowd at Syracuse’s annual media day Jan. 8, he expressed confidence in his 2009 squad. A year earlier, before his fourth championship, the mood at media day was somber. The 5-8 season created questions around Desko, and his team.

This time, Desko reigns as defending national champion. But again he refused to show smugness. He knows how easy it is for a season to start spiraling downward.

‘I don’t want to go into this season thinking we have to defend the 2008 trophy,’ Desko said. ‘It will always be ours no matter what happens. We have a normal atmosphere right now, but we always want to win.’

For now, the trophy sits in Desko’s office. It will eventually be moved to the showcase with the nine other national championship lacrosse trophies Syracuse has won, four of them under Desko.

Winning four NCAA championships is a great professional accomplishment, but maybe five would be a little nicer.

Because the one thing Desko doesn’t have is back-to-back national championship titles.

Yet.

mkgalant@syr.edu

Published on February 11, 2009 at 12:00 pm