Over the summer of 2024, during Marist men’s lacrosse senior attack Drew Anderson’s sophomore season, former Marist head coach Keegan Wilkinson texted the team group chat asking if the team could meet over Zoom at 10 a.m. He gave no context; the group chat had not been used in weeks. Anderson immediately texted his teammates to try to figure out what the meeting was about. Only Wilkinson’s family and one other person knew about the impending announcement.
Two days before the Zoom call, in which Wilkinson announced his departure from Marist, current head coach Dave Scarcello found out he would be the new head coach of the Marist Red Foxes.
Wilkinson reached out two days before the Zoom to meet with Scarcello for some coffee. Scarcello sensed something was up the second he read the text. The two are always in contact with each other, and the former coach wanted to make sure Scarcello was interested in the job because he wanted to advocate for him.
Wilkinson announced his departure from Marist to director of athletics Tim Murray. Murray asked him what they should do next—Wilkinson said he believed it was obvious they should hire Scarcello so he could continue building the culture of Marist lacrosse that Wilkinson started.
It was the toughest decision of Wilkinson’s life to leave Marist, but it was best for him and his family to move to Maryland and coach the Severn School varsity men’s lacrosse team.
“I had spent almost half my life at Marist College, and we worked hard to build a strong program and culture. I miss them every day,” said Wilkinson.
Upperclassmen reached out right after the meeting, congratulating Scarcello and conveying their excitement for him and for what lay ahead. At the time, Scarcello had worked under Wilkinson for six straight years. Before coaching, he served as Wilkinson’s goalie during his four-year career at Marist. He was the first athlete to wear the No. 34 for a whole season in memory of Eddie Coombs.
“He represented everything that was good in our lacrosse program,” Scarcello said of Coombs.
The No. 34 jersey is awarded to a player who embodies the hard work and hustle that Coombs showed on the field. The team wears a patch on its jersey with the letters ‘EC’ to honor Coombs, who passed away in a 2011 car accident. The patch is a symbol not only to honor Coombs, but to emphasize the culture behind Marist lacrosse.
After graduating in 2015, Scarcello began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Concordia University in Wisconsin. Only a couple of weeks into the role, he realized he wanted to pursue coaching full-time. He moved his way up the ranks into the defensive and recruiting coordinator job in just two years. The next year, he joined the Virginia Military Institute, where he worked with the squad’s goalies.
After one year in Virginia, Scarcello joined his alma mater and Wilkinson at Marist. He did not expect to be back at Marist; it was all out of the blue. Wilkinson put a lot of trust in Scarcello and took him under his wing when he received the job.
“From the early days of me and Coach Wilks’ relationship, that bond was really strong,” said Scarcello.
When Scarcello sat down with Wilkinson and heard the news, he was excited about the opportunity to be a head coach, but also nervous—he had never served as a head coach before. During the summer, Wilkinson continued to reassure him about his preparation. Scarcello saw how Wilkinson ran his team and the success that came with it. During Wilkinson’s career at Marist, he won two MAAC championships and three coach of the year awards.
When the team stepped back on the field for fall practices, everything felt close to the same. One thing was missing: the Marist lacrosse standard. The team felt like they weren’t being pushed hard enough, and Scarcello was still making the transition from assistant to head coach.
“The first few practices, he was kind of trying to figure out his own style,” said Anderson.
As an assistant coach, Scarcello acted as a support guy for the team. Players came into his office to talk about everything: personal life, lacrosse and classes. In the head coaching position, players almost only talked about lacrosse and the team’s play in the coach’s office. He had to find a balance between gaining the team’s trust and pushing his players to be their best.
Marist finished the season with an 8-8 record, earning the fourth seed in the MAAC tournament. They won their first matchup against Manhattan, but fell in a one-score game in the semifinals against Siena. After the loss, Scarcello had some things on his mind that he felt needed to be changed, and so did his players.
At the team’s end-of-season meetings, upperclassmen continued to repeat a similar answer when asked what should change next season. The players wanted to be pushed harder; they wanted Scarcello to incorporate some of Wilkinson’s fire they had grown accustomed to.
Wilkinson was known as a hard-nosed coach who made sure every player put their best foot forward. He’s never afraid to call out a player; in fact, during Scarcello’s college days, Wilkinson screamed at him in practice more than once. Scarcello learned from those moments that it’s not about the delivery, it’s about the message. Wilkinson’s players need to be thick-skinned and understand his desire to push his players to reach their greatest potential.
“He’s the most competitive person I’ve ever been around,” said Scarcello.
During Anderson’s freshman year, one of his freshman teammates missed a class project meeting. That afternoon, all the freshmen received a text from Wilkinson: “Freshmen on the hill 6 a.m.” The hill is to the right of the Marist boathouse and sits right below the gazebo in Longview Park. It may be small, but it’s very steep and nearly goes straight into the water.
All the freshmen arrived at the top of the hill at 6:02, standing in the pitch dark with some rain slowly dripping down around them. Wilkinson was nowhere to be found. Two minutes later, he popped out of the dark with his hood up—the players couldn’t even see his face. He said, “You guys aren’t running down it.” The players immediately started sprinting down the hill and ran right back up it repeatedly. Although it was punishment, Anderson and his teammates look back on it as a funny memory.
Some players couldn’t handle Wilkinson’s mentality; they were scared of him. To both him and Scarcello, that showed that those players weren’t prepared for the Division I level. Scarcello needed to restore the intensity level Wilkinson established going into his second year.
Scarcello incorporated more of Wilkinson’s style during year two while making sure he remained himself. He reminds the team of the Marist standard every day at practice, the standard that Coombs set during his one year at Marist. The practices increased in intensity from last year.
During Wilkinson’s practices, he ran a lot of drills to reinforce the fundamentals. Scarcello includes some drills, but at the end of practices, he likes to run scrimmaging. It’s another way he demonstrates how Marist lacrosse should be played, and it allows everyone to be more prepared when they enter the game.
Scarcello also incorporates more team film watching. The team watches film every day. They reflect both on the negatives and positives of every aspect of their games. Before each match-up, Scarcello hands out a scouting report breaking down how Marist should attack on both offense and defense.
“He’s incredible and second to none in breaking down film,” said Anderson.
Upperclassmen have also helped Scarcello set the standard. Rather than reinforcing the standard with the hill at 6 a.m, the players hold themselves accountable. The team leans on their upperclassmen to show how to act on and off the field. Scarcello will step in when needed, but those occasions are rare.
The two coaches both command respect, and although they have taken notes and drills from each other’s playbooks, they do things their own way. Scarcello is detail-oriented and a little more understanding than Wilkinson.
“This year, he’s set the standard for becoming his own coach. There is no gray area for how the team should play and what Marist lacrosse should be,” said Anderson.
Scarcello had two days to begin figuring out the head coaching job. It took him just two years to win his first MAAC championship and first NCAA Tournament game as a head coach.
Edited by Max Rosen
Photo from Marist Athletics
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