Syracuse, N.Y. -- Gary Gait made quick acknowledgement Thursday of how unsparing time is even for the greatest of them all.
As he was introduced as the fifth head coach in the history of Syracuse men’s lacrosse program, the Orange legend pulled out a piece of paper with prepared remarks. Before speaking, he reached for an important accessary.
“Well, I am getting older, so I do need glasses,” said Gait, 54.
After that, and a brief reflection on the journey that brought to coaching, Gait answered questions like he played as an All-American and three time national champion for Syracuse -- full speed ahead.
Gait, resplendent in an orange jacket, orange paisley tie and blue shirt and blue pants, spoke quietly but firmly about cranking up the volume on Syracuse’s style of play while pushing harder for championships at the same time. “Air Gait,” the nickname he earned for his acrobatic and revolutionary offensive style, may be a remnant of the 1980s, but Gait promised to pass along as much of his style and success to the current generation as possible.
“That is definitely one of the things that I want to bring to this program is heighten the level of chemistry and really make the program, take it to the next level on the offensive end and really create that chemistry like I remember it being,” Gait said. “In practice, guys were experimenting, trying things so that they use them in the game. They were things that were unique, never-been-done-before type plays. I’m certainly thrilled to have that opportunity to try and bring that back to the program and create a real buzz around the way Syracuse plays again.”
Gait moves over from coaching the women’s team to replace John Desko, who coached the men’s team since 1999 and won five national titles. Desko, who announced his retirement last week, was not at Thursday’s event because Gait said he had a prior commitment. But Gait said Desko has already reached out to help with the transition and is welcome to continue providing support and feedback.
While Gait was a great player he said he never saw himself earning a career as coach, instead viewing it as a volunteer activity. But after his playing days at SU ended, Gait accepted an offer to work as an assistant for coach for the Maryland women’s team.
“I took an approach using what I learned as a 12-year-old,” Gait said. “I started coaching with the idea of teaching and explaining why you do things and creating new ways in the women’s game to improve. I used my ability to break down the game and the skills and teach it to the young ladies. And fortunately those young ladies had amazing success. So that really got me hooked into being a coach. And from there I knew I wanted to be a coach.”
Gait took over the SU women’s team in 2007 and turned it into a national power, earning spots in three title games. The Orange lost all three of those championship games, including one to Boston College this Memorial Day weekend. Gait said if he could get one do-over, it would be to get one more run with that group.
“Some people have asked, well, why do you think the men’s position is better than the women’s position?’” Gait said. “And to be honest, it’s not better. It’s just something that I wanted to do. And I’ve had opportunities in the past (to coach men’s teams) and I’ve stayed with the women’s game. I truly believe my value at the time was on the women’s side. It was a dream to come back and coach the women, but now to have that opportunity to be on the men’s side is unbelievable.”
Gait said he didn’t even consider that option a possibility as recently as several days ago, as he was finishing up the tournament run with the women. Right about that same time, around Memorial Day weekend, Desko was prepping for the 2022 season and visited recruit Joey Spallina on Long Island.
But in change of events that remains rather murky, at some point last week Desko and athletic director John Wildhack held a series of conversations about the coach’s future. Desko’s team capped a disappointing 7-6 season with a loss to Georgetown in the first round of the NCAA tournament, and a whiff of potential change was in the air. Desko said he decided to retire, Wildhack drew up a short list of replacement candidates and picked Gait.
“I loved coaching the young ladies. They’ve been incredible. So I really haven’t spent any time thinking about it (taking the men’s job),” Gait said. “It wasn’t until it actually happened that my head started spinning and was trying to figure out, is this the right move. And of course, it was an instant yes for me.”
Now, the pressure of landing the Orange another championship trophy lands in his lap. Gait shrugged that off, expressing confidence that he’ll put a product on the field that is both entertaining and successful.
“I’ve had a lot of experiences with every style of play. And I think that’s going to really help me,” he said. “And that’s going to be a big key, I think, into being creative and trying to evaluate players and come up with a style of play that will allow us to hopefully bring back 20,000 in the Dome to come watch us play. It will be between style and flair but always has to have substance and success.
“Any coaching job I’ve ever taken, the goal’s been the same, to win the championship. And I’ve been very fortunate that I’ve been successful a lot of times. But it’s really easy when that’s what you’re life’s about and that’s what I’m focused on, is building teams to be successful. I don’t really put much pressure on it. One thing that I always do is I truly start to believe it and then I start convincing the team that it’s certainly capable and I get them to believe that they can do it every single year.”
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