Jared Bernhardt, The Denver Outlaws Perfect Fit

When Denver Outlaws head coach and general manager Tim Soudan walked into training camp, he was happy with the roster he’d built and set to roll with this group into the season. But when he and the coaching staff heard that Jared Bernhardt was coming back to lacrosse, they jumped to make him an Outlaw as soon as they could.

Soudan first heard about Bernhardt’s potential interest in joining the PLL in the hours before Denver’s season opener. While the staff had heard rumors of his potential return to lacrosse, the proper push to sign the 2021 Tewaaraton winner started in earnest that Friday.

He heard from all eight teams, but Denver quickly emerged as a serious contender for his services.

Among the biggest things Bernhardt was looking for in his PLL home were a strong team ready to contend and a strong team culture. When Soudan heard that, he knew this would be a strong mutual fit.

“He exemplifies exactly what we look for in a player,” Soudan said. “He’s somebody that’s going to go out and work hard, put himself in a spot to win games and he’s not looking for extra attention.”

On Monday night, news broke that Bernhardt had signed with the Outlaws on a two-year deal. On Thursday he was suited up for his first PLL practice. While he hasn’t played elite level lacrosse since 2021, there was little doubt that Bernhardt would be ready to start right away at the pro level. In his first practice, he looked sharp and ready to compete against the best in the world.“He’s dialed in right now,” Soudan said. “He met every expectation. Being out of practice today, maybe exceeded them.”

Bernhardt is the type of talent teams build offenses around. But Denver has a few players that fit that bill. Every coach in the league would happily sign up for the ‘problem’ of fitting Bernhardt alongside Logan Wisnauskas, Pat Kavanagh and Brennan O’Neill.

To Soudan, it’s not about positions but about ways to exploit matchups.

“When you get past the first couple defenders on every team, people become more dodgeable,” Soudan said. “It becomes a matchup issue the more guys that you have that are super dangerous.”

Bernhardt will start Friday night at midfield where he can easily exploit his lacrosse superpower: speed.

At Maryland, he wouldn’t just win with speed. He would explode past people, creating chasms of separation to get his hands free.

Bernhardt’s explosiveness is second to none in lacrosse, and that will be a matchup problem dodging from any spot on the field.

“He’s just freaky athletic, and it was nice to be able to see just that burst of speed,” Soudan said. “You don’t see that very often at this level.”

Denver will mix up how it uses Bernhardt to use that speed all over the field. The Outlaws plan on potentially rotating Bernhardt in at attack as well, with Wisnauskas or O’Neill running out of the box depending on matchups the Outlaws can hunt down.

In last week’s season opener, Denver got 10 points from its attack line but only three from the offensive midfield. Short-stick defensive midfielders Zach Geddes and Ryan Terefenko finished with more points than the entire offensive midfield.

By bringing in Bernhardt, the Outlaws immediately supercharge that midfield. He will demand a pole every time he steps on the field, freeing up short-stick matchups for Justin Anderson and drawing attention away from Graham Bundy Jr. and others.

“He’s going to make more people effective around him,” Soudan said.

With the abundance of riches Denver possesses, the push to turn their limitless potential into wins and championships starts now. The Bernhardt era starts Friday night at 6 p.m. against western conference foes the Carolina Chaos.