VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia - Virginia Wesleyan Athletics wants our fans to get to know the coaching staff of each sport offered here at VWU. This week's edition of the Inside Splash segment is with head men's lacrosse coach J.P. Stewart interviewed by VWU Sports Information intern Taylor Major. Coach Stewart is another 20+ year coach here at VWU and was amidst one of the best seasons to date at the helm of the Marlins program before the season abruptly ended due to COVID-19. 

The Inside Splash - Coach Stewart

1. What does being a Marlin mean to you? 

   1. Family. I've been here, just finished my 18th year as the head coach. I was here for two years as an assistant coach and the people here have always had my back. Whether it's my players, the staff I've worked with, the admins. (administration), whoever it is. To me, Virginia Wesleyan is about family. 

2. When you're not coaching, what do you enjoy? 

   1. Family. Sorry, I don't mean to be redundant. My favorite thing to do in the world is hanging out with my daughters. I've got three of them luckily. Jane, Jill, and Julia. Every time I get the chance to be around them I feel very very lucky. I spend as much time with them as I can. And then there's the beach, we are a beach family. I grew up at the beach, I'm on the beach almost every day. Surf as much as I possibly can I just love being at the ocean, being in the ocean, being at the beach. 

3. Who are some coaches you look up to?

   1. That's a good one, I grew up with a coach. My dad, was one of my coaches, one of my teachers. Dave Thomas, my stepdad actually. I refer to him and feel as if he is my dad. He got me interested in coaching early, he was the assistant coach over at Norfolk Academy for Tom Duquette, who just retired this past year, after 42 years over there. One of the most winningest coaches in the history of the game. Former 4x All-American and a Hall-of-Famer. Duquette had a huge impact on me. My college coach Ray Rawstine up at Hampden-Sydney, just recently retired, he had a big impact on me. I was lucky to be around some great coaches. When I was an assistant coach, I worked for some really good ones. In particular, John Halls at the University of North Carolina. Dave Clarke at the University of North Carolina. Those guys had major, major impacts on me as well. 

4. Most memorable college moment?

   1. Our senior year, which was 1995, only 8 teams made the NCAA tournament, there were no AQ's. You had to be really, really good at that point to even make the tournament. The last game of our regular season, really, really good senior class and we went over to Roanoke and it was kind of a 'winner take all' thing. One of us was going to go to the tournament and the other was going to go home. We hadn't beaten Roanoke in my first 3 years and that year, 95', we beat them over at their place and it was their homecoming weekend. That was a neat day. I had some teammates who played really really well that day and it was really cool to see our team advance to the NCAA tournament as one of the best in the country that year.

5. Most memorable coaching experience?

   1. Coaching, I have a lot of cool ones and some of those experiences come from right here in the office, to be honest with you. A young man named Will Wheeler gave me that flag (American Flag) a few years back. Will was a 4 year player for us (Wesleyan) and a great player. Graduated back in 2008, was on a very good team and he went out and became an Army Ranger. Then he took that flag with him on what he called 27 missions seeking out HVI's, Highly Valued Individuals. He packed that flag in his pack and he brought it to me. That was really cool. Just for someone to be doing something at that level to protect our country, literally life or death situations that he would take a second to think about me and Virginia Wesleyan lacrosse and throw that flag in his pack and to bring it back to us, that will always stick with me.

   2. On the field, there's a moment that really stands out and we've had a lot of them. We've had some really good players and we've had some really good teams and some really cool moments. Going back to 2008 and the first time we ever beat Washington & Lee. W&L has a very storied program, very successful in men's lacrosse. Wesleyan had never beaten them and a lot of times, it hasn't even been close. In the ODAC Semi-finals, the first time Wesleyan had even made the ODAC tournament was in 2008. We got matched up with W&L down at their place and we beat them 13-12 and as soon as the game was over, it was kind of a last-second type deal, our guys were celebrating and dog piling each other, going nuts. Celebrating, as they should've, they were handling themselves well and they were excited and it was a big deal for us, it was a big moment. So, as a coach, I got really concerned, cause we had a championship game left to play in a couple of days. I was concerned that my guys might get flagged for an excessive celebration or something like that. 'If there's a flag post-game, would that impact the championship?' So I'm trying to pull guys off the field, trying to get guys to settle down and in a team huddle, so we cheer W&L, line up and shake hands, things like that. The very last player we had to go and get was on the far side of the field, Mackin Dunc, he was a senior. Mackin was over celebrating with some fans who had made the trip and families and stuff. I ran over and kind of yanked him by the back of his jersey, like 'Mackin, Mackin come on man, we got to get over to the huddle' and he looked at me and the look in his eyes, I mean he was so excited. He's like 'Coach, Coach, Coach, we just beat W&L!' I was like 'yeah Mackin, I know'. Those kids worked so hard to get Virginia Wesleyan to that level and it was so gratifying to just see him and the look in his eyes. I will never be able to describe it. Just so happy and so excited, that moment has always stood out to me. Two of my favorite moments go back to those 2008 guys. 

6. Aside from the sport, what is something you want your players knowing before they graduate?

   1. How we look at it is, 'our little corner of campus' being the Men's Lacrosse program. We want to leave that corner of campus better than we found it. I truly believe that if we can make our little corner of campus the best little corner we possibly could make it, then that might permeate to other areas of campus. I just want to rub off on the people around us a little bit, just make a positive impact. I want them to be good citizens in our community, I obviously want them to do the best job they can in the classroom, which looks different for everyone. It's not about a number, it's about doing the best job they can. I want them eyeballs forward, looking into the 'real world' whether it's Grad school, a job, whatever it might be after college or after Virginia Wesleyan. I want them to attack it. Make their little corner of the world the best they possibly can. I think that if we are doing that as young men, it starts in all of our families, then I think that's the most important thing in the world. I certainly hope that that is what our guys know when they walk out the door here. 

7. Have you ever been thrown out of a game as a player or a coach? If so, please explain.

8. 1. No, good sportsmanship! 

9. Have you had a player of yours get thrown out of a game? How did you respond?

   1. I don't think I have. 

10. What drives you?

    1. I have a two-layered answer. My daughters, to me that's the most important thing in the world. I do my best to try to be the best person I can be and I hope in some way, shape, or form they recognize that, and maybe it rubs off on them. I really do think that everything I do, as a coach, as a person, everything I do for whatever it might be; I try to relate it back to Jane, Jill, and Julia. Also, the second time I've mentioned him in this interview, Will Wheeler, one of my 2008 players. He gave me a poem, I have it right here on my bulletin board. Called 'Man in the Glass' it's pretty famous, pretty popular; a lot of people have seen it and know it. Will gave me that poem back when he was a player for me and I've kept it ever since. It talks about how at the end of the day it doesn't really matter what everyone else thinks, it doesn't matter what everyone else says. The only thing that matters is the guy eyeballing himself in the mirror thinks about himself. I do my best every day to 'eyeball' myself at some point, to make sure I'm happy with myself and that I'm doing what in my mind is right at that point and time. That drives me too. I never want to wake up in the morning or go to bed at night without feeling confident in what I've done that day. 

11. Favorite superhero or fictional character?

    1. Silver Surfer, I'm not a huge superhero fan, but if I could be one, I'd be the Silver Surfer. 

12. If you had a superpower what would it be?

    1. I think I'd like to be able to swim underwater for an extended period of time. 

13.  What's your favorite food?

    1. Seafood! I like all types of seafood. Unfortunately, I've become allergic to a couple certain types. But if I had my choice, I'd probably eat some shrimp, or a good piece of tuna, something involving the ocean. 

14. What is one question that I didn't ask but should?

    1. Here's a good question you should throw at the next coach, 'Who's your favorite Virginia Wesleyan athlete?' 

15. Who's your favorite Virginia Wesleyan athlete?

    1. I kinda like the multi-faceted athletes, like Tip Major. Multi-skill, two-sports baby! From the basketball court to the lacrosse field, not the easiest thing to do. That's my answer for today, number 46 on the lacrosse field, number 20 on the court, my favorite Virginia Wesleyan athlete.