Big Red Wunderkind: Buczek and Cornell Have Always Been the Perfect Fit

CONNOR BUCZEK STOOD UP FROM THE KITCHEN TABLE and just paced. It was one of the few ways the former Cornell men’s lacrosse star and then-assistant coach could breathe and process the rapid developments of the spring of 2020.

Just a couple weeks removed from the cancelation of the season — one in which the Big Red started 5-0 and looked the part of a national title contender — Buczek was thrust into a position in which he never imagined he’d be so soon.

Then-head coach Peter Milliman had just accepted the job at Johns Hopkins. At age 26, Buczek assumed responsibility for one of the most storied and fervently followed teams in college lacrosse. He had to navigate the pandemic, his future as a coach at Cornell and communication with a group of student-athletes who were as anxious for information as he was.

Buczek needed advice. He called his mother back home in Cincinnati.

“We’re talking to Connor constantly,” Mary Buczek said. “’Did [Cornell] say anything? What’s the process?’ We were riding a roller coaster of emotion with him.”

Buczek knew he was in the running to be named the next head coach at Cornell, his dream school. Was he ready?

“I was overwhelmed in that first 24 or 48 hours,” Buczek said. “There was just a lot of stress and uncertainty. There was maybe even a little moment of, ‘Can I do this?’”

Two days later, Buczek got the call that changed his life. He was named Cornell's interim head coach — a tag he’d later shed — on April 27, 2020.

As soon as he got the chance, he again called his mother.

“He had all these emotions running through him, holding his breath and then it was like, ‘Oh my God!” Mary Buczek said. “It was a call with tears in both of our eyes, on opposite ends of the phone.”

Nearly three years later, Buczek still calls his mother and father, Gary, every week. But the conversations have changed. Buczek, 29, led Cornell to the NCAA championship game last spring in his first full season as head coach — showing the lacrosse world just what we were missing when the Ivy League kept sports on the shelf in 2021.

Buczek spent two years building the foundation for that run. It included an awkward call home when it became apparent Cornell would not play the previous season and that Buczek’s younger brother, Griffin, a short-stick defensive midfielder for the Big Red, had returned to Ithaca for a fifth year for no reason.

Mary Buczek took issue with that decision, and she let the head coach know it.

“I gotta play both sides of this, Ma,” he told her, recalling the chat during an interview with Paul Carcaterra for USA Lacrosse Magazine’s “Overtime” podcast. “I can’t call home if you’re going to be just another call like everybody else.”

The youngest head coach in Division I, Buczek guided Cornell to a 14-5 record and — with wins over Ohio State, Delaware and Rutgers — its first NCAA championship game appearance since 2009. (Buczek was 15 at the time.)

Buczek’s remarkable consistency has fueled a quick success story in Ithaca. He’s brought a commitment to the Cornell way, a genuine concern for his players and their families and a drive to win just like he had when he first stepped foot on campus in 2011.

“I don’t think I saw any of this coming, specifically the way it did,” Buczek told Carcaterra. “Every step has been a matter of good fortune and circumstance. I’ve been thrust into a position that some people may think I wasn’t ready for, but it’s the people here that make it so easy to operate.”

SOME MIGHT QUESTION CORNELL for giving a 26-year-old keys to the school’s 130-year-old lacrosse legacy. But Buczek’s upbringing helped prepare him for the moment. His father played football at Rutgers and worked for the Buffalo Bills. Buczek spent parts of his childhood in upstate New York and Ohio watching high-level athletes work at their craft. He worked for the Bills as a visiting clubhouse assistant during college.

Buczek had a natural affinity for sports as soon as he could walk. He idolized his neighbors, who were older than him. When they left for practice, he wanted to join them.

“One time he came downstairs with a duffel bag and said, ‘Come on, we have to go to practice,’” Mary Buczek said. “I thought, ‘I'm not sure what to do with this. I don't know if this is imaginary play.’ I said back, ‘You know what? The coach called. They said they couldn't practice. The fields aren’t great today.’”

Buczek learned as much as he could about baseball, football, soccer and later lacrosse. He absorbed feedback from legendary coaches like Gene Tundo and Larry Catalano, who helped mold Buczek’s game at the Orchard Park (N.Y.) summer camp. St. Xavier (Ohio) football coach Steve Specht mentored Buczek in a sport that did not come as easily to him.

Buczek got his first taste of coaching while he was in college, leading his brother, Griffin, and his St. Xavier summer league teams. Even though he was more focused on what he could do as a player — a decorated career that included three-time All-American honors, medal-winning performances with the 2012 U.S. U19 and 2019 U.S. box teams and seven years in the pros — Buczek was a natural with a whistle around his neck.

“That's when I started to realize he had a chance of becoming a special coach,” Griffin Buczek said. “I was just trying to be a sponge around him all the time.”

After Buczek completed his master’s degree in 2017, he turned down a job with JP Morgan in New York City to remain at Cornell as an assistant coach.

“We don’t just preach the characteristics of this program. We’ve lived it,” said Jordan Stevens, Buczek’s former teammate and roommate and now his assistant coach. “We’ve been a part of it. We’ve found success, we’ve failed, and we’ve done everything in between. We’ve both grown a ton and we’ve become better versions of ourselves because of our relationship. Connor has an impressive blend of intelligence, passion and the ability to understand the game and understand people, but also the raw passion to get his points across.”

Stevens was by his friend’s side when they decided to stay at Cornell and when Buczek got the nod to carry the program forward in 2020. For two years, they kept the team together over Zoom calls and procured guest speakers to reinforce the culture.

After 713 days, Buczek addressed the team in the Schoellkopf Field locker room ahead of Cornell’s first game of 2022, a 16-8 win over Albany. Stevens said he’s the louder of the two coaches during the practice week, but Buczek can flip the switch on game days.

“It was super emotional,” Kirst said. “He pours his heart out into every speech, but when he started getting emotional and started getting everyone jacked up, you knew it was a going to be a good game.”

CORNELL STARTED THE SEASON 6-0, including wins over Ohio State and Yale. With an emerging star in C.J. Kirst and a veteran core ready to compete on the national stage, Buczek had reason to be optimistic.

“These calls went much better,” Mary Buczek said. “We were seeing him every week at the games. He was just able to release and he was having such a good time. To see the lightness and the laughter and the fun, the calls in between were just ‘Can’t wait to see you at the game.’ It was so light.”

Cornell qualified for the NCAA tournament despite losing three of its last four games, a slide that started with a 17-10 loss to Army. Legendary Big Red coach Richie Moran attended the game in which his grandson, Ryan Sposito, scored three goals for the visiting team.

Moran died eight days later. He was 85. The season took on new meaning for Cornell.

“I didn’t have to explain who Richie was or why he was so special,” Buczek said. “These guys had their own individual relationships with Richie. He had gone out of his way to create those relationships with generation after generation of Cornell players literally through his last days. We knew we had big shoes to fill, but the guys got us over that hump in the season.”

Five Ivy League teams qualified for the NCAA tournament. Cornell earned the seventh seed and a rematch with Ohio State in the first round. Kirst scored seven goals to lead the Big Red to a 15-8 victory. They traveled to Columbus, Ohio, for the NCAA quarterfinals the next week, scoring three fourth-quarter goals to defeat Delaware 10-8 and secure a spot in championship weekend.

As the clock on the Ohio Stadium scoreboard hit 0:00, Buczek and Stevens turned and looked at each other — processing the road that both had taken to get to that moment.

“He was the first person I saw, and he had to be the first person I just embraced,” Stevens said. “It was pretty special. I don’t even remember if words were said. They didn’t need to be.”

“The guys kept fighting and getting better,” Buczek said. “I don’t think we took a lot of time to think about everything, but going to the final four, you have to pinch yourself.”

The entire Buczek family made the trip to Hartford for Cornell’s run at history, including Griffin Buczek, now an assistant coach at John Carroll. The moment was bittersweet for the former Big Red player whose career ended so abruptly, but he made sure he was there to support his brother.

Buczek found his family in the parking lot after the 17-10 win over Rutgers to rejoice. They shared different emotions two days later, as Cornell’s comeback fell just short in a 9-7 loss to undefeated national champion Maryland. With their arms wrapped around each other, Buczek and Stevens walked off the field disappointed, but grateful for their friendship and the opportunity they’d been given.

“After every one of those games, wins or losses for that matter, there are people that I can go to and share the emotion with,” Buczek said. “I know they've done a lot to get me there over the last few years.”

At age 29, Buczek has reached a summit some coaches spend decades chasing. Most don’t get the chance to play on Memorial Day. With All-Americans in Kirst and defenseman Gavin Adler leading the way, the Big Red possess the star power to return to the final four this year in Philadelphia.

Buczek is still the youngest head coach in Division I, but his players have a way of reminding him he’s not in college anymore. Each week, he brings to team meetings clips from movies that came out in the 1990s or early 2000s, holding his breath that they appreciate what he grew up watching.

“One time, I made a reference to ‘Billy Madison’ or ‘Happy Gilmore’ or one of those Adam Sandler movies and the guys didn't even recognize it,” he said. “I've got a running list of movies that I've already done and that I can't refer back to until the four years are up. It's certainly a challenge down the stretch.”

Some days, being a 29-year-old head coach still feels like a dream. Others, Buczek’s players remind him that he’s not that young.