A reluctant spotlight shines on Bill Tierney during Denver's title run

— --

PHILADELPHIA -- In an epic moment for his sport, for his program and for his own career, Denver lacrosse coach Bill Tierney did not make like Jim Valvano, seeking out someone to hug. He didn't, in fact, really move.

Instead as the final seconds counted down on the Pioneers' 10-5 win over Maryland and first lacrosse national championship, Tierney simply unfurled himself from his customary sideline crouch as his assistant coaches swept him up in a euphoric hug.

And then, as his Denver players spent the next 40 minutes dancing around the Lincoln Financial Field, giddily celebrating the Pioneers' pioneering title, Tierney deflected more shots than his stand-on-his-head goalkeeper, Ryan LaPlante.

When photographers asked him to pose with the national championship trophy, he called over a player to pose alongside him.

When someone handed him a pair of scissors to clip the net out of the cage, he quickly passed them off to his co-captains, instructing them to get the job started.

When the team gathered on the dais to pose for a picture, he reluctantly joined in only after his players called him over, sneaking in on the side as if he were an assistant towel boy.

And when one of his players embraced him in a bear hug, whispering, 'Love you, Coach. You did it,' Tierney quickly corrected him.

"No, we did it."

He was so insistent that none of Denver's title be about him that when asked about the whirlwind Final Four weekend, his first response was to explain how his eldest daughter, Courtney, got engaged in the parking lot following the semifinal win over Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon.