Men's Soccer

Building relationships with players is Sean Lawlor’s biggest strength as coach

Courtesy of SU Athletics

Before returning to Syracuse, Sean Lawlor coached as an assistant at Drexel for four years.

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Sean Lawlor’s transition into coaching made sense. As a player, he was described as a “typical English center back.” He was a loud, annoying, aggressive player that talked nonstop, whether it was factual or nonsense, he said. He liked to play hard, especially in the air, trying to win headers and tackles.

Soccer was Lawlor’s entire life in England. It was the only topic of conversation with his dad or brother. No one thought Lawlor was interested in anything else, so no one really mentioned other topics like school. As long as he got good enough grades to appease his parents, they’d do what they could to advance his soccer career. Lawlor said he was “flying high” as a kid attending numerous trials, including one with Manchester United, and morphed into one of the top players in Blackpool, England.

Lawlor came to the United States at 19 from Blackpool and played at Le Moyne College for four years, leading the team to a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. His relationship with Le Moyne head coach Tom Bonus led to his first coaching job as a graduate assistant. Then he and Ian McIntyre met at a soccer camp, and McIntyre asked Lawlor to be his volunteer coach at Syracuse. That prompted what Lawlor describes as the “best education ever.”

In 2015, Lawlor left the Orange to be an assistant coach at Drexel, before receiving a call from McIntyre to come back to SU. With his wife’s family and the chance to coach under McIntyre again, it was inevitable that Lawlor would return to central New York, former Drexel head coach Doug Hess said.



But Lawlor originally came to CNY to be a stock broker. His mother introduced him to a friend who retired at 34, owning a Ferrari. Looking back, Lawlor said he didn’t put enough effort into fulfilling his goal as a professional soccer player, so he wanted to replicate the career trajectory of his friend.

Then the stock market crashed during the spring of Lawlor’s senior year at Le Moyne. Everyone had to change their plans, Lawlor said, so he looked to Bonus for advice. That’s when Lawlor started thinking about staying in the U.S. and pursuing a career as a soccer coach. But Bonus had his reservations about bringing his former player on as a graduate assistant. He was worried Lawlor was too close to the players and wouldn’t be able to separate his relationship with them while coaching.

But Lawlor insisted he knew how to set boundaries, even telling Vince Scaravillo, his former teammate, that they’d have to put off their close relationship for the fall. They could text about soccer, but Lawlor “didn’t want to break coach Bonus’ trust.” Lawlor also wanted to prove that coaching wasn’t just something to do while he earned his master’s in education at Le Moyne.

A timeline of Sean Lawlor's coaching and playing career

Lucy Qu | Design Editor

Lawlor quickly became Bonus’ “right hand man,” helping out around campus and assisting with training. But Lawlor shined most on the recruiting trail, heavily analyzing videos of potential players. Lawlor defines one of his strengths as his relationship with players. He says he probably talks too much during warmups, but he just wants to get to know the players, know what makes them tick.

After Le Moyne, Lawlor’s first job was as a volunteer coach for Syracuse. Taking on a “huge unknown,” despite not really making money, is what Lawlor said was the best decision he’s ever made.

“That moment there showed that I’m willing to do anything to get to where I want to be, which never happened before,” Lawlor said.

Lawlor wanted to take an assistant job at Drexel in 2014, but Hess, the head coach, wouldn’t hire him. Hess told Lawlor that there’s three stressors in a man’s life: one is moving, two is a job change and three is entering into marriage. Hess didn’t want to inflict all three on Lawlor, who was engaged, at once, so he told him to stay in Syracuse.

Lawlor still wanted the job and in January 2015, the coaching position’s salary climbed nearly $10,000 at Drexel, and he was hired that spring by the Dragons. Hess said that Lawlor making the move was indicative of his commitment to coaching soccer. Lawlor added that he wants to push himself as hard as he can — without getting divorced — to see where he can take his coaching career.

He's someone that has taken advantage of this opportunity that he's had to come over here to the states. After that, he blossomed into a good coach.
Tom Bonus, Lawlor’s coach at Le Moyne

But having soccer as his entire life came to overshadow Lawlor. Between the ages of 16 and 18, he said he lost his love for the game. Lawlor lost his confidence and was playing just to play, doing it because that’s all he knew, and all anyone expected from him. He was playing in recreational Saturday and Sunday soccer matches, far from the professional course he thought he’d be on. Then Lawlor’s grandfather died. His eventual release by Blackpool — his hometown team he played with for four years — prompted Lawlor to go for a clean slate. He decided that attending college was the best option.

“I felt like, I don’t know, I just hit a wall,” Lawlor said.

Lawlor was attending college in England when one of his former coaches told him to try playing collegiately in the United States. Eventually, Lawlor came in contact with Richard Shaw, a coach from Blackpool with connections to Lawlor’s hometown and central New York.

Shaw told Bonus about Lawlor, helping the former Blackpool player sign with the Dolphins. Lawlor thought New York meant Manhattan and was excited when his plane landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport. But he wasn’t as excited after a four hour bus ride to Le Moyne College.

Still, Lawlor fell in love with the area, the school and his eventual wife. In a new environment, adjusting to a new style of play, Lawlor was confident in himself again.

The next hurdle for Lawlor is if he has confidence as a head coach to get to where his idols like Bonus and McIntyre are. He thinks eventually he could, but not right now. Bonus and Hess both believe Lawlor could lead his own collegiate program one day, using his passion for knowing the ins and outs of all the players he coaches.

“He’s someone that has taken advantage of this opportunity that he’s had to come over here to the states,” Bonus said. “After that, he blossomed into a good coach.”

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