May 14, 2014
Susan Ellis arrived on Vanderbilt’s campus in August of 1999 to help her best friend boost a fledgling lacrosse program.
Her assistant coach contract was for nine months. But little did the New Jersey native know, she would find a home in Nashville.
Over the next 15 years, Ellis inspired and mentored hundreds of student-athletes, helped former college teammate Cathy Swezey accumulate 125 wins, reach six NCAA Tournaments, including the 2004 Final Four, and win two American Lacrosse Conference championships. She also coached five All-Americans and helped put Vanderbilt lacrosse squarely on the map.
After 15 years, Ellis is retiring from college coaching. Her husband, James, accepted a director position with Pacific Gas and Electric Company in San Francisco. Ellis and the couple’s three children, Lily (8), Radford (7) and Abby (5), will relocate to California later this summer and join James, who moved in February. Her last day is May 30.
“I want to thank Vanderbilt and Cathy for this opportunity to come to Vanderbilt and spend 15 wonderful years here,” Ellis said. “I appreciate everyone I worked with and worked alongside in this department. It has been a great experience and something I’ll look back in my lifetime and be like, `Wow, this was a wonderful thing.'”
Ellis, who was promoted to associate head coach last summer, has been monumental in the growth of lacrosse at Vanderbilt. Swezey, who just finished her 17th season at Vanderbilt, has begun searching for Ellis’ successor and plans to hire an assistant this summer.
“There is no replacing her. It is not a doable thing,” Swezey said. “We built this thing together. I know I had two years at Vanderbilt prior to her being here but it’s our program. Sue loves coaching and she enjoys making a difference in these girls’ lives. That’s all that has ever really mattered to her. Any success we’ve had has been as much hers as mine.”
Named the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Division I Assistant Coach of the Year in 2009, Ellis took upon a myriad of responsibilities for the Commodores.
In addition to coaching the defenders, she helps with recruiting, ordering equipment, securing game film and building Vanderbilt’s CHAMPS/Life Skills program.
A huge chunk off her off-the-field duties consist of coordinating all travel arrangements – from working with travel coordinator Jeannie Stotts to set up flights and book hotels to organizing bus shuttles and to making restaurant reservations. In April, when the team played at Florida, Ellis joined the team later in the day as she was still coping with a stomach virus. When the bus was delayed in arriving to the Jacksonville airport, the team started playfully chanting, `Sue, Sue, Sue!’ And when she joined the team in Gainesville later that night, she was welcomed by warm applause.
“We joke about it because I never know where we’re going to be and what time we need to be at a given place,” Swezey said. “I don’t need to. Sue worries about that and she lets me focus on the game. It has been an amazing experience. There is going to be a hole in this program and my heart for years to come. Sue has left her mark. I hope and believe that mark will be strong enough to propel us forward.”
Swezey and Ellis first met at a field hockey camp when Swezey was 16. The duo reunited later in college at Trenton State, where together they won five national championships in lacrosse and field hockey.
Ellis brings a laid-back approach to her daily life but Swezey remembers her as an intense competitor on the field. Ellis wouldn’t hesitate to call out Swezy if she took a bad shot.
“We weren’t afraid to push each other,” Swezey said.
Two years after Swezey took over as Vanderbilt’s coach in 1998, she was cleared to hire on another assistant. Ellis had spent the previous four years coaching high school lacrosse and field hockey in New Jersey. Swezey didn’t have to look far.
“Not many people have the opportunity to work every day with their best friend nor could many people do that,” Swezey said. “We really are yin and yang. We can complete each others’ thoughts and sentences. We understand each other to a T. She is the best listener I’ve ever known in my life. When you need a true friend that’s what you need. You need somebody who listens, understands you and truly cares about you. That’s what our relationship has been.”
On the field, Ellis made her mark as a defensive specialist.
In college, she was a two-time All-American and IWLCA Defensive Player of the Year at Trenton State in New Jersey, where she played alongside Swezey.
At Vanderbilt, she coached and molded five All-Americans – Sasha Cielak, Megan Lewis, Bridget Morris, Alex Mundy and Megan Shuey – and gave the Commodores a reputation of having a stingy defense.
When the Commodores reached the Final Four in 2004 for the first time, the defense held No. 5 Loyola and No. 4 James Madison to just four goals apiece in the first two games of the NCAA Tournament.
“When you come to Vanderbilt you are not just a player on a team, you are a member of a family,” said Mundy, who played defense for Ellis from 2007-10 and is now an assistant coach at University of Maryland, Baltimore County. “You are a part of the Vanderbilt lacrosse family and a member of Cathy and Sue’s family as well. To me, it’s what makes Vanderbilt lacrosse special. It’s a sense of unwavering loyalty. I knew that no matter what mistakes I made on or off the field, Sue would be there to push me to be better or pick me up when I needed it. That’s what a great coach does. I am so incredibly grateful to Sue for all the time and love she’s invested in me and most importantly, in the past and future of Vanderbilt lacrosse.”
While coaches are often measured by wins and losses, the memories and relationships have stuck longer with Ellis.
She remembers vividly in Philadelphia when a public bus – not the team’s charter bus – pulled away from the station and all of a sudden six players were missing. Ellis almost went into a panic before her mischievous crew jumped up from behind a stack of cinder blocks laughing.
She bonded with her team and saw the world with three foreign trips – England, Ireland and Wales in 2003, Germany, Austria and Czech Republic in 2009 and Italy in 2013. And she beams with pride in helping develop student-athletes grow into mature young adults.
“Going to the Final Four with that group of girls was a wonderful experience – but each year has its own wonderful things,” Ellis said. “Every group of seniors, every team was different. It is something you cherish. You can’t always go to a Final Four. You can’t always make the playoffs. But it doesn’t mean your season wasn’t a success. We had a lot of fun, funny, crazy moments along the way with so many different teams along the way.
“I’m very fortunate this was the track I ended up taking into the coaching world and working at such a wonderful university. It will never be replaced.”
MORE THOUGHTS ON SUE
Natalie Wills, Goalkeeper, 2009-12
“My first thoughts when I think of Sue, is her everlasting smile. In many ways she was a constant sunshine on our best and even our worst days. She expected the best of us, but loved us no matter what. She was the oil that kept our team and program running day in and day out, making sure all our travel was booked, we had food to eat, and a place to rest well, wherever the season took us. I think of Sue often when I coach now, and her unrelenting patience. Within our defensive unit, we had lots of personalities, and often times, there were lots of questions and thoughts passed around about each drill, play, or whatever defensive look we were in. Question upon question was asked until we got it right. And time after time, Sue was always so patient, explaining things so that everyone, no matter how different we were as individuals, could understand perfectly. She made us a unit.”
Brooke Shinaberry, Goalkeeper, 2004-08
“Although Sue can come across as intimidating at first she really is down to earth and a great coach. I learned a lot from her and now that I am a college coach I find myself doing drills and teaching my girls the same things that she taught me and my defensive unit when I was Vanderbilt. She had many great words of wisdom for me and I have carried them with me six years later. My favorite memories of her are when she shared an office with Riley and I would just go in and sit on the black couch and chit-chat with them. They always cheered me up and made me laugh! She certainly will be missed!”
Kelly Connors, Defense, 2009-12
“Sue was a phenomenal mentor and great balance for the coaching staff. She got fired up when necessary, and other times provided the ultimate comic relief without evening knowing it. Sad that future `Dores don’t get to experience her.”
Joanna Mooney, Defense, 2001-04
“I still remember the day she taught me about first, second, and third slides. I remember she explained it clearly and had us walk through it two or three times. It was one of those `ah-ha’ moments you have as a player where things just click. I remember where we were on the practice field when she explained it and where I stood as we walked through it. As a person I always remember her being calm, cool, and collected. I always raced to be in Sue’s van because being around her was calming for a wound-up spaz like me. She inspired me with her competitive spirit and the measured manner she approached each challenge.”
