The Lasting Influence Of "Be The Best"

One morning about seven years ago, Bill McGlone woke up paralyzed. The former Maryland men's lacrosse star has neurosarcoidosis, a rare long-term disease in his central nervous system.

Enduring five brain surgeries over the years, he went from playing professional lacrosse to re-learning how to walk. He struggled to tell right from left. But, as overwhelmed as he was at times — fear wasn't defining him.

"Obviously, there's fear. But I didn't let fear control me. I just had the attitude of, 'Be the Best.' I'm just gonna put my best foot forward," McGlone said.

That's a mantra he learned during his collegiate playing days in College Park. Clayton "Bud" Beardmore, Maryland's head coach from 1970-80, coined the expression, and it's had a tremendous impact on Maryland lacrosse over the years, as it encourages athletes to perform their best in anything they do — in the classroom, in practice, around campus.

Once McGlone reached the rehab facility after spending time in several hospitals and the ICU, he was given exercises to complete, his first dose of physical activity since his paralysis and surgery. He had one expression on his mind.

"I wanted to be the best," McGlone said. "So I took that mindset and applied it to my rehab. When I had to do 10 reps of air squats, I did 40. They would watch me for the first 10, walk away and watch someone else while I banged out 30 more. Because I was trying to be the best I could be."

McGlone played in College Park from 2003-06. However, Maryland lacrosse players strived to be their best long before that.

Ira Hochstadt played at Maryland during Beardmore's first two seasons at the helm in 1970 and 1971. Both his sons, Craig and Scott, played for the team in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

"I think it brings out the passion on the field that we're all known for," Hochstadt said. "If you don't get the loose balls and want to be the best, the game goes nowhere."

Hochstadt has been married for about 50 years. He's been a Terp fan for the last 54 years. "Not many things in life go that long," he said.

And a reason why is the alumni network this program has developed over the years. Whenever he enters a Maryland lacrosse tailgate, whether he sees someone who played during his era, his sons' era, or under John Tillman, it feels like one big family.

"It has to do with the coaches. The coaches bring in people and families that all get along," Hochstadt said. "That's what you find if you come to the tailgate. It's like a big family — no matter what year you graduated and who you played for, it's a Terp family that everyone's proud of."

Throughout his life, Hochstadt hasn't signed letters with words like "cordially" or "thank you." Instead, every time he signs a letter, he writes two words: "My best."

And he's not the only one.

Forty-seven years have passed since Wilson Phipps was a freshman on the 1975 squad that won the National Championship. But today, when Phipps and his teammates exchange emails, they always cap off their messages with three letters: "BTB."

"It's a mantra that — to this day — still carries heart to every one of my teammates," Phipps said. "[Beardmore] strived for us to be the best. I remember just everything we did — the way we were dressed, we were on our trips, we practiced — as long as you did your best and you aimed to be the best, he was satisfied with that. It's been reverent for me for the last 50 years."

Dino Mattessich played for Maryland from 1971-74 and was the Terps' head coach from 1981-83. During his sophomore year in 1972, he remembers Beardmore making "Be the Best" a theme for that season.

"'Be The Best' was a theme for the 1972 season and was really symbolic of the type of lacrosse we wanted to play," Mattessich said. "With the talent on those teams, we just wanted to be the best, and that was our mantra every day, every practice, and certainly every game.

"It was a continuous and a great reminder of our purpose. And it just has stayed with Maryland lacrosse all these years."

The Terps won the National Championship in 1973, completing a perfect 10-0 season. They were dominant. But when a team is that dominant, it needs to have every player performing at their best — and have the best players on the field.

"Not in a bragging way or in an arrogant way or overconfident way, but we felt you needed to be at your best in order to be on those teams. Whether you were a starter or a regular player you needed to be at your best every day or someone was going to take your place," Mattessich said. "'Be The Best' was bigger than any one player, and that 1973 team was bigger than the team itself. It was just natural that it would continue."

Like Hochstadt and Phipps, Mattessich and his teammates regularly still repeat those three words.

"Even now, when we're together, whether we're playing golf or doing whatever we're doing together, we usually end a conversation with 'Be The Best,'" Mattessich said.

Joe Walters played with McGlone from 2003-06. He remembers hearing then-coach Dave Cottle ending every huddle in every game and practice by saying, "Be the Best."

Now, he sees it all over social media. He sees people with whom he played hash-tagging Beardmore's mantra in captions and posts. And it's something that keeps him close to the program.

"Even myself, as an '06 graduate, that's what ties me to the program now," Walters said. "I know that that's something that they're saying, they're believing in — and what makes Maryland lacrosse what it is."

This expression's central point of emphasis is that it encompasses far more than displaying talent on the lacrosse field. For former captain Connor Kelly, it was about making a difference in someone else's life.

The Terps adopted Fionn Crimmins, a young boy with cancer, as a team member through Team IMPACT. He hung with them a lot — taking the field for practices and on the sidelines for games. And in 2017, with Fionn by their side, the Terrapins won the National Championship.

"He was hysterical, a super funny kid," Kelly said about Fionn. "You take a lot from working with kids. It speaks volumes to what the program is and what the culture is. We're here to support anybody."

In 2016, Fionn went through chemotherapy and had to shave his head. So the Maryland men's lacrosse team did what they always do, support its teammates. And it did so once more, with each Terp shaving their head in solidarity with Fionn.

When Kelly, an Easton, Connecticut, native, was being recruited by Tillman, he remembers his future head coach emphasizing the importance of the program's culture — much of which stems from this "Be the Best" mindset.

"He said it's not about the buildings, it's about the people in the buildings," Kelly said. "That struck me and was a big reason why I went there. It's about the people you surround yourself with. I thank Coach Tillman enough for that message, since I was around some of the best players and some of the best people."

The same rings true for the current Hardshells. For long-stick midfielder John Geppert, it goes beyond trying hard on the lacrosse field.

"Be the best, to me, means being the best at everything you do," John Geppert said. "Whether that's on the field, in the classroom, preparing yourself for the real world. It's taking the right steps to put yourself in the best position in the long run. The legacy of excellence here has set the standard for us."

While Roman Puglise does associate the expression with his abilities on the field, that's one of three main things that come to mind when he thinks about being the best.

"Three simple words that carry a lot of weight in my life," Roman Puglise said. "Number one: be a good person, in everything you do. No matter who it is or what the issue is. Number two is to be great in school. Work as hard as you can, there's always ways you can work a little harder ... And third is to be a great lacrosse player. Work as hard as you can be great on the field."

Echoing those two, Alex Smith believes it has to do with upholding the legacy of the Terrapins who came before him.

"Be the best, to me, is a mindset as well as a lifestyle," Alex Smith said. "We talk a lot about the guys who came before us to set the standard and the culture before us. So coming in here we have the opportunity to uphold that standard and add our own spin on it to make it even more amazing."

When Tillman thinks about what he wants recruits to know about Maryland, Beardmore's mantra is among the first things that come to mind.

"Be the best version of yourself. Be the best person, student, player you can be —  in that order," Tillman said. "We're not just trying to get guys to win games. We're trying to get them ready for a very challenging world out there. We don't want them just to get a job, we want them to be super successful with whatever they decide to do. We also want to make sure they get the support they need to succeed academically in case they want to pursue a second degree."

While McGlone didn't play for Tillman, he's incredibly impressed with what he has done with the program over the last 11 years. As a result, he sometimes will text back and forth with him — and Tillman recently reached out on his own to wish him a happy birthday.

"The team's success has largely contributed to his leadership, the way he coaches this program and who he is as a person," McGlone said. "He's just a down-to-earth, high quality man. He is the best. As an alum, it makes you super proud."