When camp opened for the Rush at the Leduc Recreation Centre last Thursday, the changes made behind the bench in the off season were front and centre as new coaches Jeff McComb and Jimmy Quinlan led twenty seven runners and three goalies through transition drills and system work over the course of the weekend.
It goes without saying that Quinlan is very familiar to the players. His transition from team captain to Defensive Coach has been a smooth one and, as he indicated, the opportunity to move behind the bench so soon was pleasant surprise. “I didn’t know it would happen this quickly, but I like it. I think in the last couple of years there my minutes weren’t as high as they were at the beginning of my career and I was finding myself doing a little more of that (coaching). I’ve always appreciated the fine details of the game and the intricacies and the game that goes on within the game so I was delighted when Derek (Keenan) asked me to be behind the bench and I’m excited to be here and to learn and grow with the guys.”
The team’s new offensive coach, Jeff McComb, has a relationship with Head Coach and General Manager Derek Keenan that goes back a few decades. As McComb recalls, “We’re both from the same area, Oshawa/Whitby, and actually the first time I would have kind of met Derek was when I was looking at colleges, about going to school myself to play lacrosse. Somebody mentioned that maybe I should talk to Derek because he had been through Ithaca (College) and kind of knew the ins and outs of the recruiting procedure.” They became a coaching tandem in 2005 when Keenan asked McComb to join him on the bench with the Anaheim Storm and even though the Storm folded after that season, their coaching relationship continued for three seasons after that with the expansion Portland LumberJax. They crossed paths again back in Whitby when the Junior A Warriors made changes to their staff for the 2010 season. McComb had been a coach with the Warriors going back to 1995 and with Keenan’s son Ryan about to make the jump from Midget, the two decided to take on the challenge of taking the team back to the Minto Cup. They won the Canadian Junior A Championship in 2011 with a roster than included Mark Matthews, John Lafontaine, Curtis Knight and Adrian Sorichetti who the Rush selected in the second round, thirteenth overall in this year’s NLL Entry Draft. McComb is also very familiar with one of the team’s new assistant captains, Zack Greer, who he coached for seven years when Greer was in Midget and Junior with the Warriors.
The familiarity that Quinlan and McComb have with their roster should serve them well as they get to know more about their players and get closer to naming the 20 man roster they will start the season with. The team’s last 4 day camp that is set for Six Nations, Ontario from December 12th to 15th and will include a scrimmage against the Buffalo Bandits at 2pm EST on Saturday, January 14th.
