The Philadelphia Waterdogs’ signing of former New York Atlas defender Gavin Adler did not begin with a sweeping master plan. Instead, it started with a phone call and a conversation rooted in patience, timing and trust.
At the time, Philadelphia was not actively shopping for a formidable defenseman. But as the PLL’s new December player movement window unfolded and negotiations elsewhere stalled, Adler circled back.
“We put together an offer, went back and forth a little bit, and then [the Atlas] started putting pressure on him, and he didn’t like that,” Waterdogs general manager Dave Cottle said.
From that point forward, the Waterdogs’ approach shifted from recruitment to maintaining consistent communication throughout the process. Cottle emphasized that how Philadelphia handled the process ultimately mattered more than any single pitch.
“I’m going to say he appreciated the way we handled the process. He’s told us that,” Cottle said.
According to a report from Inside Lacrosse’s Kevin Brown, the Atlas made a late push to re-sign Adler, matching the Waterdogs’ offer. But the 26-year-old opted for a fresh start with Philly.
“Initially, I wanted to return to the Atlas,” said Adler, who won a championship and the Dave Pietramala Defensive Player of the Year Award with New York last season. “The salary cap increase and the way internal negotiations unfolded led me unexpectedly into free agency. I heard people out, and the Waterdogs’ handling of the process really impressed me. That’s what led me to join them.”
As conversations progressed, Cottle made a point to involve head coach Bill Tierney, believing it was essential for Adler to hear directly from the coach responsible for Philadelphia’s defense.
“When this first started, I talked to Gavin all the time,” Cottle said. “At one point, he said, ‘I’m really thinking about doing this,’ and I said, ‘Well, let’s get you to Coach T so you can talk to the guy who’s actually coaching the defense.’”
Tierney said Adler’s openness to Philadelphia’s vision stood out from the beginning.
“Thankfully, Gavin really bought into our message,” Tierney said. “There were no surprises; it just took a little while. It took a week or two, but between Coach Cottle and myself, and certainly some of our other guys who reached out, it came together.”
Once Adler officially signed, the outlook for Philadelphia’s defensive matchups shifted.
“From our standpoint, it’s good for us because he’s a matchup problem,” Cottle said. “Now he’s not covering our best guys. Our best guys are covering their best guy, so it’s a good swing for us.”
Cottle described Adler’s playing style as both demanding and rare.
“He plays hard. He plays tough,” Cottle said. “One of the things he does really well is he decides he’s going to shut guys off, and he relishes that. A lot of defenders don’t like playing that way. He loves it. He’ll do whatever it takes to shut his guy down.”
“First and foremost, what he brings is that now he’s not covering Michael Sowers,” Tierney said. “He’s a version of the best cover guy in the league. … He’s quick, he’s strong, he’s tough. He’s got every accolade you could give him. You can count on him to either take a guy completely out of the game, or as he did at Cornell and has done for the last three years with the Atlas, be a really important cog in the defense.”
For a Waterdogs defense that leaned heavily on young contributors last season, Adler’s arrival adds both stability and leadership.
“Gavin is one of those guys who knows who he is,” Tierney said. “He’s never needed validation – he was a first-team All-American, Defensive Player of the Year, the first overall draft pick. … A lot of those conversations were about where he is now, four years in, and understanding that even though he’s still young, he’s going to be a leader of a young group.”
Adler said his conversations with Tierney left a lasting impression.
“It was awesome talking to him,” Adler said. “He’s lacrosse royalty, possibly the best coach in the game. It was a special conversation, and I look forward to learning a lot from him and working with him.”
For Cottle, the signing represented a rare opportunity – one that’s reshaped the rest of Philadelphia’s offseason approach.
“It changes our teeth a little bit, for the better, in my opinion,” Cottle said. “There are things in the college draft you can get, but you couldn’t get Gavin Adler in the draft. That’s why this was so important.”
