Morgan balancing winning attitude with long-term perspective

Paul Morgan is balancing his position as Fallbrook High School’s boys lacrosse coach with his club coaching duty, his college lacrosse activity and college studies, preparation for national team lacrosse competition, his college internship, and a part-time job. He is also balancing his quest to instill a winning attitude in Fallbrook’s lacrosse program with the need to build a long-term program from lower levels.

“I’m happy with the progress that they’re making,” Morgan said.

The Warriors’ 10th game of 2013 was also Fallbrook’s first win of the season. Fallbrook’s 10th game of 2014 was a 5-4 loss April 8 at Chaparral which gave the Warriors a 3-7 record. “We had a one-goal game with them,” Morgan said of Fallbrook’s loss to the Pumas. “Chaparral blew us out both times last year.”

The 2013 game at Fallbrook was a 10-8 loss, but last year’s game at Chaparral was a 12-2 defeat for the Warriors. Fallbrook’s 2014 losses also include a 7-6 game March 27at home against Del Norte.

“Score-wise we’re playing better,” Morgan said.

“We have some good players,” Morgan said. “We’re getting there.”

Morgan was 6-8 in his only previous season as Fallbrook’s head coach. He was an assistant coach in 2007 and 2008 and the junior varsity head coach in 2009 before becoming the varsity head coach in 2010. After spending two years on the Palomar College lacrosse team, Morgan enrolled at Cal State Fullerton and played club lacrosse there.

“I had planned on just finishing up school and taking over the program,” Morgan said.

Morgan concluded his Cal State Fullerton studies with the 2014 spring semester, graduating May 18 with a degree in public administration. In addition to his lacrosse participation, his college activities included an internship with the City of Temecula in an economic development capacity working with start-up technology companies.

Since 2011 Morgan has coached the 395 Starz lacrosse club which has summer and winter leagues. Morgan, a United States citizen whose father was born in Los Angeles and whose mother was born in Mexico, is also one of four Americans on the Mexican national team and has been practicing with that squad in preparation for a summer international tournament. Morgan has also worked at the Denny’s in Fallbrook for the past nine years.

“It’s been kind of a grind,” Morgan said.

Neil Rodden coached the Warriors in 2011 and 2012 before moving to Florida. Chaz Mudie coached the 2013 high school squad; Mudie retired from coaching although he still attends games.

Morgan, who played football at Fallbrook High School and began his lacrosse career as a junior, understands the need to have lacrosse players learn basic skills prior to playing at the high school level. “We’ve really kind of taken a big focus on developing our youth program,” he said. “It’s Fallbrook lacrosse as a whole.”

That includes a Division 1 program of seventh-grade and eighth-grade players and a Division 3 squad of fifth-grade and sixth-grade students.

“We’re setting ourselves up,” Morgan said.

“You can’t have a good high school program without a good feeder program,” Morgan said. “What we’ve been doing is trying to connect the youth program with the high school program.”

In addition to better-skilled players, a feeder program provides more depth for the high school team. Morgan’s varsity squad includes 14 players, and in lacrosse 12 players are on the field at a time.

“We’re doing a little bit more with a little bit less,” Morgan said.

Two of Fallbrook’s players were lost due to academic ineligibility. “That’s something I’m going to make sure doesn’t happen again,” Morgan said.

A smaller bench is the price Morgan is willing to pay for long-term development objectives. “I really didn’t want to pull up anyone from JV,” he said.

The junior varsity roster has 18 players. The Warriors have four seniors on the varsity. “We’re very young,” Morgan said.

The junior varsity players and the current eighth-graders are expected to give Morgan a larger roster in 2015. “Next year I’m going to have a solid group of kids, about 15 kids, who want to play college lacrosse,” he said.

“I’m not writing off this year,” Morgan said.

“We’ve been playing really well,” Morgan said. “The kids have been fighting.”

Morgan added that he also focuses on academics. “I think they’re really starting to understand what I expect of them,” Morgan said. “The kids are buying into the system.”

Morgan noted that in past years losing has been more acceptable for the Fallbrook players. “I brought a little different mentality to the program,” Morgan said.

The fact that Morgan still plays allows his high school team to benefit from his personal experience. “I know what it’s like to win and I know what it’s like to lose,” he said.

One of Fallbrook’s 2014 wins was a 21-0 triumph March 31 at Del Lago Academy. Fallbrook junior Chris Painter, whose 41 goals and 15 assists led the team in scoring after the first 10 games, scored 10 goals against the Firebirds to break the school single-game record of nine held by Erik Jenkin and Austin Jenkin. Seven days later, the Warriors outscored Foothills Christian by a 19-0 margin on Fallbrook’s field in the game which preceded the loss to Chaparral.

“It’s been a learning process,” Morgan said.