Nearly three decades ago, when he was the head men’s lacrosse coach at Yale University and part of the NCAA men’s lacrosse committee, Mike Waldvogel thought the idea of making fundamental changes to his favorite game was a no-brainer.

Waldvogel, now part of the women’s lacrosse staff at Fairfield, had seen enough of what was going wrong in the men’s game in the late 1980s — mainly, too many teams electing to slow the game to a crawl by sitting on the ball — to realize a remedy had to be tried.

Somehow, the pace of play had to be increased. Offenses had to be compelled to move the ball downfield, with the genuine intention of scoring. That would allow opposing defenses a better chance to regain possession, thereby creating more back-and-forth flow.

“The game was moving east and west, instead of north and south,” Waldvogel said.

After nearly three decades marked by continuing debates, delays and partial measures that included the dawn of the controversial “timer-on” mechanism five years ago to combat the nagging problem of stalling, the NCAA has finally gone all-in on a simplified on-possession shot clock.

In 1989, Waldvogel was part of a committee that included then-Hobart coach Dave Urick, basketball icon Dave Gavitt and then-ACC commissioner Gene Corrigan as chairman. That group took a serious stab at mitigating the problem and creating more offense. They passed rules changes that reduced the number of long sticks allowed from five to four and limited regular substitution opportunities.

That committee also imposed time limits on teams to get the ball out of their defensive ends and into their attack areas. Teams were given 20 seconds to get across the midfield line and 30 seconds to move the ball to the offensive box, or lose possession. Officials kept track of the elapsed clearing time on the field.

As far back as those advancements, which later included the “keep it in” rule that forced an offense to keep the ball in its box in the final two minutes of a game, the stewards of college lacrosse — with an eye on recent, needed alterations in basketball rules — grappled with adopting a shot clock.

“There was definitely an issue with the cost of doing [a shot clock] back then,” Waldvogel said. “But when we mapped out those problems we had with the game, like too much substitution and not enough transition, we were thinking about a shot clock.”

“That committee was probably 25 years ahead of its time,” said Dave Cottle, who was one of college lacrosse’s more successful coaches over nearly three decades combined at Loyola and Maryland, and has coached for much of the past eight years with MLL’s Chesapeake Bayhawks.

In August, the NCAA men’s lacrosse rules committee, chaired by Rob Randall, the head coach of Division III Nazareth, recommended that a 60-second shot clock be added for the 2019 season. The clock would not start until an offense crossed midfield within 20 seconds of the original change of possession. Any reset of the clock, following a save, a shot hitting the goal or a defensive foul, would go back to 60 seconds.

After a month of listening to more feedback from the coaching and officiating communities, the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved the rules committee’s updated version of the change: Instead of putting the clearing count in the hands of officials, a visible, 80-second shot clock will reset at every change of possession. If a team has failed to advance the ball across midfield and into its offensive half of the field by the time the clock reaches 60 seconds, it is a violation. The over-and-back provision remains in effect.

The bottom line is officials no longer will be asked to judge whether a team has cleared in time, or is guilty of stalling. No longer will an official signal for a visible 30-second clock to be activated to force an offense to put a shot on goal, or give up the ball.

“There was a really strong feeling coming out of our last [coaches’] convention that we had to do something with the shot clock,” Randall said. “Having an on-possession clock is the simplest way to deal with stalling.”

“Having a visible shot clock makes it simpler for coaches and officials, and makes it easier for spectators to understand. Maybe most importantly, it’s easier for clock operators,” Randall added. “The whole shot clock [controversy] certainly has been an evolving process, and it will continue to evolve. We’re trying to improve the sport, without doing damage to what is already a great game.”

Now that what has seemed inevitable for years is finally a part of the college men’s lacrosse world — following the MLL, NLL, NBA, college basketball and women’s college lacrosse — how will the shot clock alter the game?

It figures to create more possessions on a consistent basis, but will it create more scoring? Or will it bring out creative defenses built to withstand a minute of sets and resets and picks, dodges and outside shots?

“You’re going to see a lot more zone [defenses] now, especially late in the possession. Substitutions — do you keep offensive personnel on late in the [shot] clock, or give up the ball and hustle your defensive middies on the field with five or 10 seconds left — will be very important,” said Cottle, who predicted that within the next few years, the NCAA will copy the pro ranks by adding a 2-point shot.

Cottle also sees the value of two-way midfielders increasing significantly in the age of the shot clock. He adds that coaching in MLL, which he called “the difference between coaching basketball and lacrosse, in terms of the way the game flows,” has gotten him accustomed to full-field scrambles and relinquishing control of the game. 

“The defense is going to win overall,” said Furman coach Richie Meade, who was not in favor of the shot clock. “People say it’s really going to speed up the game. I say it’s going to be harder to score. Six-on-six defenses are already so tough to score on. But a lot of guys don’t want officials in charge of the stalling rule anymore. So the coaches got the shot clock they wanted.”

What will the shot clock do to the faceoff specialist? Over the past decade, FOGOs have wielded increasing influence by helping their teams dominate possession time. Will the next Trevor Baptiste or Brendan Fowler hold less sway, since opposing defenses need to hold out for shorter chunks of time to turn the possession advantage?

“A dominant faceoff man will be just as valuable for all of the right reasons,” said Paul Rabil, the former Johns Hopkins superstar and two-time MLL MVP. “Gaining possession first will still be huge. But where the faceoff weapon has been a detriment is the way it’s been used to help one team sit on the ball and strangle the other team.”

As evidenced by Meade, coaches are not in unanimous support of the shot clock, although the backing for the new rule is strong  — even if the mechanism is questioned.

Some coaches hope over the next two years that every NCAA lacrosse school is equipped with a clock that can be reset to 60 seconds instead of 80 to shorten possession times in certain situations — such as after faceoffs are decided, or following a change of possession when an offense loses and then regains possession while operating at its end of the field.

“We’ve cleaned up an important thing. The clearing count is not on a referee’s buzzer,” said Denver coach Bill Tierney, the IMLCA representative advisor to the NCAA committee who has evolved from being against the shot clock to favoring it. “I’m fine with the 80-second clock. I would have been fine with 90 seconds. But having it set at 80 seconds or nothing is tricky.”

Tierney put forth a few scenarios that he said could make an automatic 80-second reset detrimental to the game in the next year or two.

If, for example, a team defends successfully for 70 seconds, then creates a loose ball and commits a pushing foul, the ball goes back to the offense — which has a fresh 80 seconds to maneuver. The offense will enjoy the same benefit if, with the shot clock winding close to zero, a shot caroms off of the goalie or a pipe, and the offense recovers the rebound.

“And at the end of a game, which was the only time the timer-on was worth its weight in dog [crap],” he said, “if you’ve got the ball and you’re up by a goal or two with a minute-and-a-half left, the game is [effectively] over, with no threat of stalling.”

Dave Pietramala, who is in his 19th season as the coach at Johns Hopkins, said he favors the shot clock because it lightens the demands on officials trying to determine the fouls and possession calls that fill up a 60-minute game.

Removing the subjective nature to the stalling call is something Pietramala supports enthusiastically.

“Was the timer going on at the same time at the beginning of the game as it was near the end? Was it the same from game to game? The answer is no. Officials don’t have to be timekeepers anymore,” said Pietramala, who added that 60 seconds is more than enough time to run offense after clearing. “That allows a team to play fast and get out in transition, or to be more deliberate by subbing in and out and attacking the goal. Either way, you’re still challenged to be smart with the ball.

“All of the steps that we’ve taken in our game over the years — getting rid of substitution horns, lengthening the [substitution box], quicker re-starts, adding the timer-on stalling call — have all been tangible steps that have led us to this.”

Tierney, whose Princeton teams won six NCAA titles from 1992 to 2001, coached Tigers squads that could rack up goals at a high rate. He also admits that early on, Princeton lacked depth and needed to milk possessions and the clock to be successful. He remembers that formula working in the NCAA final in 1992, when the Tigers edged Syracuse in overtime 10-9 to win their first crown. He vividly recalls then-Orange coach Roy Simmons, Jr., saying after the contest, “Our game desperately needs a shot clock.”

That time is here.

“I’m really neither for it or against [the shot clock],” said Loyola senior Pat Spencer, arguably the game’s top attackman who leads an offense that has played an up-tempo game for years under coach Charley Toomey.

“I realize that it might benefit us, because some teams have game-planned against us by holding the ball and making us play defense for long periods of time,” Spencer added. “It should speed up play a bit, but I don’t think a lot of fans realize how long 80 seconds really is. It’s certainly plenty of time to play offense.”

Rabil is hugely in favor of the change.

“I know from playing the last 10 years [professionally] that the shot clock makes the game more exciting and fun, for players and fans,” he said. “It takes lethargic game-planning out of the picture. It means we’re going to see some new, creative rides, half-court traps and stuff like that. We’ll see more last-second play calls at the end of the clock. There will be more high-risk, high-reward opportunities. There’s no question that the college game will be better for it.”