Deep down, Jessica Drummond is just a coach at heart.
See, she’s faced with about as unenviable a position at her “dream job” as she could have. About a month into her head coaching career, the Oregon alum received news that the team would be entering the toughest lacrosse conference in the world.
To the untrained eye, the players that have driven 14-time national champion Maryland, eight-time national champion Northwestern and two-time national champion Penn State, might just be plain better.
The dizzying skill that led Rutgers’ Cassidy Spilis to 74 goals in 18 games might be too daunting. Michigan goalie Erin O’Grady’s .568 save percentage — good for second in the nation — might just be too much to overcome.
But as Drummond insists, the comparatively tame Ducks really aren’t that far away.
“It’s all things that we can control!” she said with a laugh.
If only it was always that easy. The work, for Drummond, is quite literally just beginning.
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At the time of this interview within the windowed confines of Oregon’s Hatfield Dowlin Complex, the Ducks’ NCAA-mandated “dead week” off of practice was nearly over. Drummond had just completed her end-of-year meetings and was about to begin ramping up to resume practices due to Oregon’s unique schedule that gives the Ducks about five weeks after the season to continue practicing before summer.
“This time [is] so valuable,” Drummond said. “Especially with other schools already being done.”
After nearly a month of shorter, more conditioning-based practices, her team will all return home. Drummond knows some of her players from the hotbeds of East Coast will play organized lacrosse, and the others will likely remain practicing and in shape in other ways.
Drummond’s sentiment on the topic is about the same as any coach ever: “Whatever you are doing, if you go to the park with friends and bring a stick that’s great, too, just play… but it is nice for them to have a summer since we are essentially going from fall to spring every year!”
But for Drummond and her B1G problem, the work — and the issue — is about as unique as any coach in the country.
Drummond can preach conditioning, competition and effort all she wants. The “Team Winning Values” that she instills of pride, discipline and alpha can be ingrained into her players from the moment they step into Papé.
But, inevitably, she knows the stats don’t lie; the best teams have players with the best skill.
Northwestern lacrosse — a team likely coming to Papé next year — had three players tally 80 or more points. The Ducks’ highest-scorer, Morgan McCarthy, had 49. Rutgers — the worst team in the Big Ten yet a squad that beat Oregon 15-7 — had a team save percentage of .459. The Ducks? A combined .405.
The discrepancy is too much to ignore.
And until Drummond’s recruiting is really all her own — this incoming freshman class was all recruited by her predecessor — she is determined to win the margins she can.
The process to the top will be long, to say the least. Michigan — a team whose success Drummond says she’s looked up to — wallowed in mediocrity before a 16-4 outburst this season.
“We know there is a ton of work to be done,” Drummond said. “But I’m so excited. Can’t you tell?”
But for now, as she sits inside that windowed room, Drummond remarks on her team’s season, which suffered a bevy of painful losses, mainly an upset to Arizona State in the Pac-12 Tournament and a last-second loss to Cal at home.
“I want us to remember how those losses feel,” Drummond said. “Go back and watch the Tournament game. Please go back and watch the Cal game. I know we will, but I don’t ever want to feel that way again.”
The work falls on Drummond, too; she knows what work has to be done.
But for now, to fill that void of skill, talent and hard work from the best of the best, Drummond will control what she can: her team’s effort.
“I can’t wait to take us to the top.”
