Podcast: Matt Biggs of Nashoba (Mass.) on setting expectations

Coach Matt Biggs of Nashoba Regional (Mass.) High School, far right, joins the "Chasing The Goal" podcast this week.

On this week’s episode of New England Lacrosse Journal’s “Chasing The Goal” podcast, hosts Kyle Devitte and Jack Piatelli talk with Nashoba Regional (Mass.) High School head coach Matt Biggs.

Biggs is a 2011 graduate of Oakmont Regional in Ashburnham, Mass., where the played both lacrosse and ice hockey before heading to AIC to play collegiate lacrosse.

Biggs graduated from AIC with a degree in physical therapy and took over the Nashoba program in 2017.

In 2021, he was selected by USA Lacrosse as the Central Massachusetts Coach of the Year.

Last season the Wolves competed in MIAA Division 2 and went 13-7, bowing out to Solver Lake in overtime in the playoffs. So far this season, Nashoba has won two games and lost two games in its first season competing in MIAA Division 3.

Watch the full podcast below on YouTube. It’s also available on all major podcast platforms. If you enjoy it, please leave a rating and a review. Watch more episodes on the Chasing The Goal podcast channel.

Here are some excerpts from the pod.

Kyle Devitte: Coach, are you more of an offensive guy or a defensive guy? 

Matt Biggs: So, I’ll give (club coach) Jeff Coulson credit for this, me showing up to the club circuit and saying to Jeff, “Hey, Jeff, thanks for having me, but I’m an attackman, right? And then he goes, “Well, you say you’re an attackman, but if you want to play in college, you’re not an attackman, right? You’re learning to play both sides of midfield.” So, my title would be head coach and offensive coordinator. But I grew up pretty quickly in college by playing short-stick defensive midfield, and graduating to one or two offensive reps and then trying to cut my teeth that way.

So, an offensive coordinator would be the short answer to your question. 

Jack Piatelli: You talk about culture. The culture wasn’t there when you arrived. What steps did you take to build your culture? Was it setting certain expectations for your players?

Matt Biggs: I think it started with changing the culture at practice. You guys know, too, there can be so many different ways to run a practice. And I’m not saying there’s one right way and there’s one wrong way, but there are certainly more wrong ways.

What is your expectation at practice? What’s the first thing you do when you step on the field? Are you doing a lap? Are you jumping into small stick-skill lines? What are you doing? Pushing my guys to spend time on the wall, I think, was a lot different than what had been done in the past. Much to my (athletic director’s) nightmare of us playing wall ball in a parking lot.

But, yeah, I think the culture of practice is huge. Had a lot of different conversations, right? What do you want this lacrosse program to be like? I know what I want it to be. But if your guys don’t buy into the same ideas or norms, then then it won’t work.

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