S2 E5. The Brothers Byrne; Harvard Head Coach Gerry Byrne & UVA HOFer Steve Byrne.

We’re excited to release our second installment of our three part interview series with coaches and brothers, Gerry and Steve Byrne. Gerry Byrne is the head coach at Harvard and his brother Steve was selected as one the top players in ACC history as a 3X All American defenseman for UVA and gold medalist for Team USA back in 1986. 

In this episode, Steve describes what it was like for him as a freshman at UVA in 1979 coming in from a public high school on Long Island. A bit of culture shock is quite the understatement. However, Steve would go on to have an amazing season often covering top teams’ #1 attackman, as he did against John Hopkins in that year’s national championship game which UVA lost in sudden death OT in front of 16,000 fans. 

Gerry states he was quite exceptional himself at UMass Amherst, as he was on the team that would record Coach Garber’s only losing season during his over thirty year career. Things did improve however, as he went on to play,  also as a defensemen, on more successful campaigns  where he was a 2X All New England selection and led the Minutemen to the NCAA quarterfinals in 1986. 

Steve also describes what it was like to play for the legendary Virginia head coach, Jim ‘Ace’ Adams. As you’ll hear, it was not easy but it was rewarding as this penultimate Southern Gentlemen taught the rough and tumble Long Islander valuable life lessons and awarded Steve a full scholarship after his breakout freshman season.  

Coach Gerry Byrne also tells a classic story of how the Abott brothers, with Chris a player at archrival Brown and Robert, a top attackmen at UMass, placed a hefty wager on what would be their final game against each other and of their college lacrosse careers. As Brown had beaten UMass for three consecutive years, Chris was feeling over confident and bet it all that Brown would win the fourth contest. As you can imagine, they did not. Hear the resulting celebration as Gerry tells the tale in riveting fashion. This is another enlightening, fun, and dramatic interview you won’t want to miss! 

If you enjoy this episode and want to hear more, you can support the show by joining our Patreon page, checking out our online store (links listed below) , subscribing, telling a friend, and writing a review… we’d really appreciate it!

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