Gary Gait's First Task: Contact Recruits

On Sunday, news broke that Gary Gait would be stepping down as Syracuse women's lacrosse head coach to become the head coach of the Orange men's lacrosse program. His first task as the head coach of the men's program should be to reach out to recruits. Recruits that he helped get to commit to the women's program in the 2022 class and those who verbally committed to John Desko and the men's program.

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The Syracuse women's program has nine players committed. The Orange has been one of the best recruiting schools in women's lacrosse under head coach Gary Gait. The program still has cache' and is a brand name in the sport. Who Syracuse hires will be important, but Gait recruited these players. Accepted their verbal commitments. Reaching out to each of them will accomplish two things.

First, it is common courtesy to let them know you are leaving. Just out of respect for the players. Second, Gait can ease their minds about the transition and assure them that Syracuse will bring someone in who is capable of continuing the program's success. Those conversations are important, and can help preserve another elite recruiting class for the Syracuse women.

On the flip side, the Syracuse men also have an elite class in 2022. It is highlighted by the number one player in the class in Joey Spallina. Spallina is a big fan of John Desko, so this news will certainly catch him off guard. A call from Gait to reiterate Spallina's importance will ease some of that shock. Gait has to keep Spallina committed. He is exactly the type of talent Syracuse needs to help bring the program back to national prominence.

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Yes there is talent on the team now, but you have to keep stacking talent to get back to being consistent contenders. Those same conversations need to happen with the rest of the Orange's 2022 class. While Spallina is the headliner, he is not the only elite prospect committed.

Five star prospects such as defender Billy Dwan and midfielder Carter Kempney also need to hear from Gait. In total, Syracuse has 13 players committed. They all committed to Desko to play for a legend at a prestigious program. The program is still there. It is still led by a legend, but the legend has changed.

This news will create a lot of questions from each recruit. To help keep the class in tact, one of Gait's first tasks should be to contact each individually. Perhaps a joint call with Gait and Desko would be even more impactful. To show that Syracuse is unified in all of this change, and that both believe the program is primed to succeed going forward.

Gait recruited at a high level as head coach of the women's program. There is no reason to believe he will not do the same for the men. It starts with speaking with the current 2022 verbals and their families.