Maryland men’s lacrosse senior Daniel Kelly recently chatted with PressBox about being coached by his dad in high school, learning from the veterans on Maryland’s championship squad and more. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound attackman scored 30 goals and picked up 36 ground balls in 2023. Kelly is a native of Towson and graduate of Calvert Hall.
PressBox: How did you become interested in lacrosse?
Daniel Kelly: Lacrosse has always been in my life [from] a young age. I come from a big family. Everybody’s around the Towson area. Lacrosse started with my dad and his three brothers, kind of passed it down to my older cousins and me. It’s been super impactful in my life. It’s always been a part of it, and I’ll be forever grateful for the game of lacrosse.
PB: Who were the biggest influences on your game growing up?
DK: My father, [Bryan], was a huge influence on my game. He coached me from a young age and instilled so many great habits in my life about how to be a good person but also a good lacrosse player. My older brother Jacob, who just graduated from the University of Georgetown, was a huge influence on my lacrosse career. Coach Dave Huntley, who passed away couple years ago, coached me all the way through high school and was a huge influence on my game and still is today.
PB: What was it like to win three MIAA A Conference championships at Calvert Hall with your dad as the coach?
DK: It was incredible. It was awesome — memories I’ll never forget. Being coached by my dad, it poses challenges for sure, but I’ll be forever grateful for the lessons he taught me and instilled in me from a very young age. To win those championships is something you dream of doing. I was lucky enough to play for a great coach but also play with great teammates that ultimately made my job pretty easy. Those memories will stick with me forever, so I’m very grateful for the time I had at Calvert Hall, for sure.
PB: Do you have an example of how being coached by your dad could be a challenge?
DK: He did a great job of making sure lacrosse stayed at Calvert Hall. It didn’t come home, but sometimes it did creep into the house. For example, one time he kicked the whole team out of practice. Me and my brother Jacob were on the team at the time. We were kind of left there like, “Uh, what now? Everybody gets to go home, but we get to go home to the guy who kicked us out of practice. We don’t really know what to do.” But he did a great job of leaving it at the locker room. It definitely was challenging for him. At times, that was the hardest part. … Luckily, he did a great job balancing it, but definitely at times it was tough.
PB: How did Calvert Hall shape you on and off the field?
DK: On the field, it taught me how to work hard. It taught me how to grind. Calvert Hall’s not easy. It’s a real-world place. … It shows you how to go through your day-to-day life and put the work in — in the classroom and on the field. We had unbelievable strength coaches at Calvert Hall. They taught me how to work hard. They taught me to grind all the time. Nothing’s ever given to you no matter where you are. That’s one impact that it had. I felt incredibly prepared coming into the University of Maryland. Obviously it’s going to pose some issues on the field — the game’s faster — but as far as physically and mentally, Calvert Hall prepared me, for sure.
PB: Why did you choose to go to Maryland?
DK: I chose to go to Maryland to stay close to home. It’s been really awesome for me to be able to go back home when I want to. I have three younger brothers, two that are still growing up, so it’s been great to be able to be in their life still and go to their games. But I also chose to come to Maryland to win. The culture of “be the best” is something that we do not take lightly here at all. It’s ingrained in our head. Growing up, I remember watching Maryland be at the top of lacrosse for so many years. When you’re going through the recruiting process, you want to be a part of that. You want to be a part of the winning culture that [head coach John Tillman] and the other coaches have instilled in Maryland lacrosse. Ultimately, I came here to win national championships. That’s pretty much why. Also, the great education and the resources that we have here, it was hard to pass up. I’m forever grateful for the University of Maryland, for sure.
PB: What’s your favorite memory at Maryland so far?
DK: It has to be winning the national championship [in 2022]. That was something that you dream of as a little kid, and being part of that team, it’s in my opinion the best lacrosse team ever. I was lucky enough to be a part of that. When you hear that final whistle blow on Memorial Day knowing that you’re the last team standing, it sticks with you forever. Now being in a leadership role and being a captain on this team, you try to store that memory in guys that weren’t there and let them know that it is the best feeling ever. It doesn’t get any better than that, making sure that guys know that reaching that pinnacle is well worth the grind every day.
PB: There were a lot of veterans on that national championship team. What was it like to be able to learn from those players?
DK: It was awesome. I was a young kid at the time. Every practice I would shadow Logan Wisnauskas. I never really went on the scout end. I was always just by his side, trying to pick up on little things that he did throughout practice — the way he shot, the way he carried himself, what he did before or after practice. Jonathan Donville, Anthony DeMaio, Keegan Khan, Roman Puglise, Jake Higgins, Matt Rahill, I could go down the list — they were the epitome of be the best. It doesn’t get any better than them. It was awesome to just witness what they did day in and day out — the grind that they put in. That team was sent out on a mission, coming up one goal short in the national championship the year before. We had all the motivation in the world and nothing was going to get in our way. They did a great job leading that team and showing the younger guys like myself how to a lead a group and how to carry yourself. That was the biggest impact that they had on my career — what to do every day, how to carry yourself, how to eat right, how to sleep right, stuff like that.
PB: What’s your favorite thing about College Park?
DK: The people. It sounds cliché, but it’s true. College Park is a great place, but the people are what make the place. The guys that I go to work with each day, the coaches that are around me, the staff that’s around me, they make this place incredible. You hear that all the time. It sounds like cliché answer, but it is true. The people make the place, and I’m very blessed to have met so many incredible people along this journey.
PB: Who’s your best friend on the team and what’s a story that underscores your friendship?
DK: It’s hard to pinpoint one person. That’s tough. Jack Koras, No. 22, is also a captain with me on the team. We’ve been through a lot together. We played lacrosse growing up throughout our whole entire lives playing for FCA, different club teams like that and then playing here. We’ve played together for a while, so him and I have a very unique friendship that will never broken. We have an unbelievable trust on the field but also off the field. As far as a story, I’ll always have Jack’s back. We both have a little bit of a temper and we ended up getting kicked out one club tournament growing up. People were ragging on us, but we always have each other’s backs no matter what. That’s something that stands out to me. You mess with Jack, you mess with both of us. It’s been fun to play alongside him for so long — especially at this level, knowing I can go to battle with him day in and day out, on the weekends as well. On Saturdays, it’s been fun.
PB: Who was a player you looked up to when you first got to Maryland?
DK: When I first got to Maryland, it was definitely Jared Bernhardt and Logan Wisnauskas. Those guys were the best of the best. You couldn’t get better than them. I’m so fortunate to now have Jared on the staff. Just being able to see how they go through the day-to-day grind and take care of their bodies and maintain the be-the-best [mentality] no matter where they are, whether it’s in the classroom, on the field — just doing little things to better themselves every day. Those two guys stand out for sure. One other person is Roman Puglise. He was on the other side of the ball, but he forever had an impact on my life and my career here at Maryland. He was a grinder. He worked so hard every day, and it showed. He instilled a great work ethic in my senior class now. Those three guys definitely had a huge impact on me.
PB: What advice do you have for younger players going through the recruiting process?
DK: Take your time. My process was a little bit unique. I was committed to [North Carolina] in eighth grade all the way through high school. My senior year, I decided that’s not where I wanted to go and I wanted to branch off from what my whole family did prior. I wanted to stay close to home and go to Maryland. Just taking your time, going through the checklist of what do you want, what do you not want, what does this school have to offer academically, socially and in athletics as well, the resources that they have. When they’re young, they want to rush the process. Understand the people and the place as well. Understand how they go about the day to day, how the players carry themselves, how the coaching staff carries themselves. My one bit of advice would just be to take your time.
PB: What are your goals for after lacrosse?
DK: I would love to play lacrosse as long as I can. I would love to go back home and hopefully take over for my dad at Calvert Hall. That would be one of my biggest goals, to coach at Calvert Hall. That place had a huge impact on my life on the field and off the field. I would love to help my dad out and eventually hopefully take over the program that he built. That’s the one thing I’m super excited for after lacrosse is to stay in lacrosse but in a different way.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Maryland Athletics
Issue 285: February/March 2024
Originally published Feb. 21, 2024