Completed Event: Men's Lacrosse versus Georgetown on May 10, 2025 , Loss , 12, to, 16
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Final
Men's Lacrosse
12
vs Georgetown
16
Danowski Press Conference Quotes
7/21/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
Duke Director of Athletics Joe Alleva
Opening Statement
“Today is all about moving forward, not looking backwards. I want to thank the excellent search committee that we had to do this search. Some of those people are here today. Our faculty representative Kathleen Smith, our women's lacrosse head coach Kerstin Kimel and senior associate athletic director Chris Kennedy are some that I see in this room today. Our search committee did a wonderful job in this process. I also want to thank President Broadhead for his commitment, support and impact on this search. He was terrific and I appreciate all of his support. I want to thank the Duke lacrosse players for their loyalty throughout this process over the last few months. Not one player decided to transfer from Duke University and I think that says it all about their commitment to this program. There is no doubt in my mind that we have found the right person for this job both in the short term and long term. John Danowski is unbelievably well respected in the lacrosse world. He is mature and wise. He has a total understanding of what this program has been through and has a vision on how to lead it into the future. It is my extreme pleasure to introduce to you coach John Danowski.”
On whether he talked with John Danowski about new code of conduct
“That is a conversation that we have had and we will address those things. I am fully confident and he is also that our lacrosse players will be on their utmost, best behavior. They will follow those team rules that we have put in place.”
Duke Head Coach John Danowski
Opening Statement
“A couple of words that certainly came to mind right away are I am honored and I am humbled to be here and represent Duke University. Nothing to do with anything but the first time I stepped on this campus in 1999, that there was a sense of excellence and a sense of pride that was everywhere you turned. You do your research and you do your homework and Duke is one of the top educational institutions in the world, by whatever standard or whatever measure that you like to use. There is a surreal quality to me being up here today, but the opportunity to be an educator in the community and atmosphere like this, I am honored and I am humbled and just happy to be here.
"In this type of transition, when you are at a place for 21 years, as a coach you learned a long time ago the power of teamwork. Nobody does anything by themselves. You do things and you are successful because of the people you are surrounded by. First I just wanted to thank every student that ever put on a Hofstra jersey, every student that ever came out to practice or cared about what they did, their teammates or their university. Especially last year's team, which was a special group of young men. Everybody understood what was happening around us. Not only were they able to focus on their task at hand and had a wonderful year for themselves, but understood what it was their parent was going through and were unbelievably supportive in my decision to pursue the Duke lacrosse position. I also want to thank a whole bunch of people at Hofstra University, people who care about kids, who care about doing the right thing and exhibited loyalty to the University and to myself. They were just fabulous to work with and I will miss them quite a bit. I say thank you to all of our assistant coaches, full-time, part-time, volunteers, everybody who made it go. Everybody had a say and everybody was always equal in terms of when we were in the coaches room. They were all a large part of our success there. Lastly, I want to say thank you to the Long Island lacrosse community. I have been blown away by the support that people have given me over this last month. Everybody understood the situation, the uniqueness of it for somebody like myself. They were extremely supportive and I thank them greatly.
"I specifically want to thank President Broadhead, Director of Athletics Joe Alleva, Chris Kennedy and also to Mike Pressler. Michael is a good friend and was extremely supportive through this whole process. It is certainly bittersweet to be here and I really thank him for everything he did behind the scenes to help me prepare and be there for me. Michael was wonderful in his approach. With that being said it is time to go to work. It is nothing new and it is going to be a lot of fun. This is an opportunity to reshape a culture a little bit. It is an opportunity to teach and be involved with some great people that I have met already in a couple of days. I can learn, I can grow, I can become a better coach and a better person. It is a great opportunity for me to work in a program where, the coaching part is the fun part, but the real challenge for this position is to have the opportunity to have an affect on a young man's life. That is the only reason I ever got into coaching. I never got into coaching to win games, lose games, and tie games, although I like winning more than losing. I always approached it from the first day as an opportunity to make a difference. I thank my dad for that. He was a coach and a teacher, my brother was a coach and a teacher and that to me is the greatest opportunity that I have here, to have an opportunity to make a difference in a young man's life."
On if he would have made this change if the circumstances were different
“When our children were younger, I never would have made this move. What was important to me was their stability and having a great high school experience, junior high and high school, and I was never going to look for a job, change or move. The timing was right. It just seemed like the planets and everything was aligned correctly to make this move. Matt is a senior here, my daughter Kate is working on her master's at Hofstra and will complete that in May, so the timing was terrific. My family has been nothing more than supportive and excited about the challenge.”
On whether he talked with John Danowski about new code of conduct
“I would say since the beginning of intercollegiate athletics, athletes have always been held to a higher standard. It is just the way it is. The privileges that they receive, getting free equipment, nice uniforms, playing on a Saturday afternoon, the chance to play in front of large crowds, those are things that they have to earn. There is no doubt that how you behave daily, you are always held to a higher standard. Regardless of how many students rebel and say want to be like the normal student body, you can't be. You never could be. You couldn't be when I was in high school and college and you can't today. That hasn't changed and has been pretty consistent over the years.”
On how he would personally implement the new code of conduct
“First of all I would say that Duke has done a wonderful job trying to attack some of the issues that face the general student population. For us it is easy. When a new coach steps into an environment he establishes his culture. Not that you want to say what the last coach was doing was wrong, but you have your own ways of doing things for a long time. Whether it is taking advantage of every teachable moment, being relentless in that respect as a teacher and as an educator, you can't pass up those moments to teach and redirect, sometimes to discipline, whatever those times are. I feel very confident that this particular group of young men will have very few, if any, issues because I just believe that they will have something to prove.”
On if the media's coverage changed his mind about Duke and its reputation
“Never for a second did my feelings about Duke University change because of their commitment to excellence and commitment to do everything right and well. Institutions are made up of human beings and they are all fallible. Things happen good and bad. Bad things happen sometimes and you get stronger by learning and improving. Or you can go the other way. Certainly here it appears to me that everybody is working really hard to learn from past experiences and learn and move forward. That never wavered for me at all because there is just too much quality here.”
On role of gaining trust in the community
“That is part of the challenge. It is how you live your life each day, by living your life well and doing the right things. Being active, being visible and caring about doing the right things all the time. Sometimes you don't want to do that. It is easy to be lazy sometimes. When you are put in situations of leadership you accept that and those opportunities. We are going to have to work real hard, and the young men understand that, to gain everybody's trust back. They are such high quality that it is not going to be a problem.”
On if part of his job will be to boost the players after all the events that have happened
“Absolutely, there is no doubt in my mind that, I can't tell you what it was like, but they went through an unbelievable life experience. That is what it is, a life experience. There is no value attached to that, good or bad, it is what you want to make of it. I think if we can just keep them focused on it being a life experience, draw what you can from it and learn.”
On concerns of implementing code of conduct with his son as a player
“Not to sound too deep or heavy, but my philosophy has always been to treat all of my players like my son or my daughter. I am going to try to apply the same principles and same values to my players as I would my children. I would always reference that at various times throughout the course of the year. Now I get to treat my son like my son and that is going to be unique and interesting. A lot of us as parents know that we question ourselves, did we do the right thing, did we not do the right thing, and did we come on too strong, should we have been easier. One of the things I have learned from this whole process is to trust your instincts.”
On opportunity to coach his son
“I think it is going to be wonderful. I have never had the opportunity to coach a returning first team All-American on attack. I look forward to that challenge. I think Matt represents what Duke is about. They are really good solid young men who want to be successful. I think that he will take to this. There will be some extra responsibility for him, no doubt about it, and maybe at the end we will say good thing it was only for a year or we are sorry that it wasn't four years.”
On if opportunity to coach his son played any part in his decision
“I think some, probably more than I would let on, but the fact that Duke was just an extraordinary place was the first lure. After that the opportunity was just extra, even though it is only a year. I think that I will be saddened by that. When it is all said and done I think that I will wish it had been for more than a year but at least I am thankful for the opportunity to have a year and this is something that a father and son can have for the rest of their lives.”
On dealing with transition from previous coach
“I think that with Mike, it is always tough to replace somebody who was really cared about. Everybody understands that you have to move on. Certainly Coach Pressler left his mark and a lot of what this team will be about will be Coach Pressler and the people he brought here. I am not going to take credit for that at all. The other part is Matt and the rest of the guys are excited for the right reasons. Not because they know me but they know what I stand for and what I represent. The bottom line for these kids is what I can help them with.”
On his father being named head coach of the men's lacrosse team:
"I found out last night like everyone else that he had gotten the job. I am happy for him; I traveled down here just for this announcement to be with him. There were always rumors about my dad coming here but it eventually came true in the end. I never thought that any of this would happen last year but it did and we have to take it as it is and keep on going. "
On his father's reaction to the happenings this spring:
"He was unbelievably supportive, just like I'm sure every other guy's father was for them. He was there for me with everything I needed and I appreciated that."
On the pressure to win this season:
"I don't know if pressure is the right word for it. I think we want to win and be where we were two years ago in the national championship. I don't know if that's pressure we inflict on ourselves but I think that's where we want to be and I think that's where we're supposed to be."
On today's hiring as a first step towards normalcy:
"I think it's a step to putting the past behind us. Those guys are in our hearts and our minds and we think about them every day but eventually we have to get back to playing lacrosse. That's what we're here for and that's what we want to do. Hopefully when we get back in the fall and start playing lacrosse it will feel like things are back to normal. It's not the same without those three guys but hopefully the rest of us can take a step forward."
On his father holding the team to high standards:
"The class thing is probably the first step. Coach [Mike] Pressler held us to a very high academic standard and I think my dad will do the same. Then there will be the off-the-field stuff. We'll be under the microscope and we all know that and are prepared for that. We're ready to do what we have to do and restore Duke Lacrosse's good name."
On the lesson he takes away from everything that's happened:
"It's a clich? saying but you don't know what you have until it's gone. Lacrosse was taken from us last year and I think we all have a new love for it and appreciate it more than we did."
On choosing to attend Duke over Hofstra:
"It was either Duke or Hofstra when I was making my choice. Duke's education put Duke over the top. My dad's first priority is education and it's always been that way since I was in second grade. I looked into Hofstra because I wanted to play for my dad for four years but lacrosse and academics at Duke was the better fit for me."
On the team's reaction to his father being named head coach:
"They've just been asking if it's a done deal yet. They just want a coach and I think they'll be happy with my dad being the coach. I think they know what he's done for Hofstra in the past and hopefully he can carry that on to Duke."
On playing for his father:
"I won't act any differently because he's my dad. I'm not going to skip practice or anything; if anything I'll be the first one out there and the last to leave. I'll work extra hard because he's not going to give me any more leniency than anyone else and I wouldn't want it any other way."
On why his father is the right coach:
"I think he's the right guy because he holds himself to a pretty high standard and he's an educator and a teacher first."
On new head coach John Danowski
“We won't be able to get over losing Coach (Mike) Pressler because he's such a great coach and a great man but the greatest replacement for him is Coach Danowski. He has so much to offer us. I've known him for quite a few years now and he's just a great man and a great coach as well.”
On his relationship with Coach Danowski
“I was recruited by Coach Danowski before I came to Duke and I was friends with Matt. He's just a great guy. I've been in support of him as coach since he's had the opportunity.”
On head coach selection process
“I think the whole time he (Coach Danowski) was the frontrunner. Being Matt's dad and coming to our games, everyone knew him more than they knew the other coaches. Because of that, we've had a friendly relationship with him and it's definitely helped him from our perception of him being a good coach.”
On preparing for next season
“I think it would be lying if you said you didn't feel added pressure. We just have to go about our business and do what we know is right and everything else will work itself out. I don't feel pressure to perform. We believe that we're a talented team and that should take care of itself.”
Players Mentioned
D
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