It may not seem worthy of a post to itself when a high school coach resigns, but when that coach is the head of the flagship program in the state, it is. From the Detroit News:
The state’s most successful lacrosse coach, and one of the most successful coaches in any sport, announced his resignation on Tuesday.
Rob Ambrose, 53, who coached lacrosse at Birmingham Brother Rice High the past 21 seasons, said “there’s a time and place for everything” as he made his decision public Tuesday.
“I’m going to step down,” he said. “It’s a tough decision. It’s my only coaching job. I can pretend that it’s not emotional but it is.”
Ambrose owns a commercial printing company and is moving to suburban New York City.
Brother Rice has won every Division 1 title since 2005, the first season the Michigan High School Athletic Association sponsored the sport (boys and girls) during the spring season. Brother Rice has not lost to a Michigan school since 2002.
The final paragraph says it all. Brother Rice is undefeated in-state in more than a decade thanks in large part to Ambrose’s coaching. The Warriors have carried the torch against out-of-state teams, and have been the barometer for the level of high school play in the state.
With Ambrose no longer in the picture, Brother Rice’s ability to maintain that position of prominence may be in jeopardy.
Wow, what shock in the lacrosse world here. Oh god, does this mean Brother Rice will have to stop “bending” the offseason rules???
People can rag on Rice all they want. They’ve done nothing but help lacrosse in the state of Michigan. If teams were half as dedicated to beating them as they are to winning, it would be even better.
A great coach who really cared about ALL his players. He was demanding, and hated to lose and that is what set him apart… Demanding perfection helped a lot of these young men grow at a very important time of their lives… (off the field as well as on the field) Obviously, he will be hard to replace… One person that would be a logical fit would be Steve McNulty, the youth lax guru who has been so instrumental in providing the training ground or pipeline of great players to Rice… But McNulty has built quite an empire with his Warrior Lax Brand, and has 2 tourney’s that he runs in Traverse City with the Cherry Bomb and the newest one at Cedar Point, OH…. The pay cut to be Rice’s coach may be too steep for him and his family to take… So an interesting decision coming at Rice…. But to Rob… Thanks for all you have done for LAX in Michigan… you set the bar high, and some may not know it, but it has made a huge impact for the sport in Michigan… Godspeed to you and your family.
I wonder if Ambrose’s son reaching high school age (if I’m not mistaken) had anything to do with the decision? A father coaching against his son’s team (DCD) would have been awkward for a number of reasons.
Best of luck to coach Ambrose in all his future endeavors.
The select few Grosse Pointe players who were fortunate enough to go over and play for Brother Rice and to be coached by him became great players and more importantly great people under his watch. They never would have gotten to the level of skill and achievement if they had not come in contact with coach Ambrose.
I have grown tired of people outside of the warrior camp constantly making accusations and ranting nonsense about the team violating rules. The program has extremely committed people, with a great knowledge of the game. They build it from the youth programs upwards. The end result is excellence. The same system creates great players every day in upstate, out east, on the island and in Baltimore.
These guys aren’t cheaters, they have given a great portion of their life to the program. Nutty, Walker, Ajay, all the Rice guys are hard core lacrosse teachers and have earned success.
Every B Rice alumni I have met are great guys who give their heart and soul to the game. It came from the top, from Rob Ambrose. All of us should be in awe of his accomplishments.