Philadelphia Waterdogs head coach Bill Tierney has hired his staff, and it’s a bit of a departure from tradition for the legendary coach. His two longtime offensive assistants, Matt Brown and David Metzbower, have teamed up at DU, so Tierney brought some young guns to the professional ranks.

“I needed two young guys that will dive into the film and the grunt work, because I’m past that prime,” Tierney said. “I don’t even mow my own lawn anymore.”

Dylan Sheridan will serve as offensive coordinator, while Louie DeDonatis will take over the other assistant position.

Sheridan is actually Tierney’s son-in-law, married to his daughter Brianne Tierney, and coached with Tierney at Denver for four years starting in 2010. After that, he served as an assistant at Princeton, then the head coach at Cleveland State, and finally another assistant gig at Ohio State before returning to Western Reserve Academy, where he’s been for the past three years. 

Sheridan coached both Zach Currier and Michael Sowers at Princeton, and as two of the most important players on the Waterdogs’ offense, that was important for Tierney. Sheridan has coached both sides of the ball and has his father-in-law’s trust as a leader. After his playing days, Sheridan got a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Claremont McKenna College in 2006.

Meanwhile, DeDonatis is even younger, having graduated from Grand Canyon University in 2015. The three-time All-American LSM has taken on a number of jobs, including head men’s lacrosse coach at Boston College for two years. Since then, he’s held scouting roles for both the Atlas and Waterdogs. 

During the Championship Series, DeDonatis was Andy Copelan’s assistant coach, taking command of substitutions and earning the nickname “Sweet Lou” from the players. Copelan recommended DeDonatis to Tierney, as he explained the heightened importance of optimized substitution in the PLL format. Tierney said he got such rave reviews about DeDonatis from Copelan and the players that the decision was an easy one.

With two young assistants covering the X’s and O’s, Tierney will be able to focus on motivating his squad.

“I think we have an exciting staff that (can do what) Coach Brown and Metzbower did for all those years,” Tierney said with a laugh. “You work hard, you get us great players, you work your a**es off, and then I’ll take all the credit. It really works well.”