Opportunity Knocks: McCormack Instills Belief in Johns Hopkins

EVANSTON, Ill. — When Kelly Amonte Hiller gave Tim McCormack his first shot at coaching Division I lacrosse in 2014, the now-Johns Hopkins head coach was fresh off of a college career at UMass and a one-season stint leading the University of Kentucky’s men’s club team.

He didn’t even know the rules of women’s lacrosse.

“’We can teach you all that,’” Amonte Hiller and her husband, Scott, told him.

Teach him they did, and he soaked it all in. McCormack worked with the goalies — a fitting job given his bona fides as one of the top netminders in UMass history, ranking ninth in the program’s record book with 475 saves.

He took the opportunity and ran with it, helping the Wildcats reach the final four in 2014 and 2019. Following that run in 2019, McCormack was hired to be the head coach of Arizona State, where he turned the program from a bottom-dweller in the Pac-12 to a true competitor in the conference. In 2022, he was named the Pac-12 coach of the year and led the Sun Devils to the Pac-12 tournament for the first time.

Then opportunity knocked again.

Following the retirement of Johns Hopkins legend Janine Tucker, McCormack took over in Baltimore. The program was in need of some new life and perhaps a refreshed identity. McCormack injected just what was needed, and it helped to have an incoming class that committed under Tucker, stayed for four years under McCormack and eventually delivered Hopkins history.

The Jays’ historic run came to an end in Friday’s NCAA semifinal against Northwestern and the coach that gave McCormack the opportunity that changed his life.

“Kelly and Scott gave me an opportunity of a lifetime that changed the course of my entire life back in 2014,” McCormack said Thursday. “… I'm forever grateful. Kelly was there for the birth of my first son. She was at our wedding. Her daughter was our flower girl, both of her daughters. Family. You know, it's everything. I'll never forget any of that.”

This wasn’t McCormack’s first trip back to Evanston since he departed Northwestern. As Big Ten rivals, Northwestern and Johns Hopkins are plenty familiar. But there was a different feeling in the air when McCormack touched down in the Chicago area earlier this week.

He felt different.

“I never felt stronger landing in O'Hare Airport than I did this time around, that's for sure,” McCormack said.

McCormack beams with pride any time he’s offered the chance to heap praise on his players, specifically the seniors who could have committed elsewhere after Tucker retired.

Under his watch, Ava Angello will graduate as the program’s all-time goals leader. Reagan O’Brien as the NCAA Division I caused turnover queen. And both will go out knowing they led Johns Hopkins to its first final four as a Division I team.

Part of what made it all click is how McCormack has developed as a leader. At 37 years old, McCormack is still on the younger side for a Division I head coach. In many ways, he still considers himself a developing leader of athletes.

This group of seniors, though, instilled in him the importance of communication, the value of listening. He learned that it was OK to take risks schematically. He also learned that believing goes a long way.

“Ultimately, how important belief is, probably, is the No. 1 thing,” he said. “We had a group that just simply believed and did it over and over again.”

Facing dire circumstances with about 20 minutes remaining in the NCAA quarterfinals against Stony Brook, Johns Hopkins dug deep. Trailing 11-7, the Blue Jays scored six of the final seven goals and initiated a miracle full-field transition play with the clock nearing zero.

The ball found itself in the stick of Taylor Hoss on the crease, and she buried the winner as time expired. They don’t call them the Cardiac Jays for nothing, as Angello so aptly put it following that game.

Hoss, who will return after a standout junior season in which she produced 47 goals and 52 assists, has learned a considerable amount from players like Angello, who assisted the game-winning goal that went viral and even appeared on programs like “The Pat McAfee Show” on ESPN.

“To have that buzzer beater drop like it did, to advance us to this point, I do think it was a good embodiment of who we are and who this 2026 team is,” McCormack said. “Never quit. Never stopped playing. Supported each other. Believed in each other for 60, 60-plus minutes.”

After seeing Hopkins’ Cinderella season come to an end Friday, Hoss was ready to carry on the legacy her teammates will soon leave behind.

While McCormack was rightfully reflective and Angello both embraced and fought the emotions that come with her college career ending, Hoss’ face said it all. She was hurt. But she was already looking ahead.

“I literally would play tomorrow. Like if we could get practice started for tomorrow, I'm ready to prep for next year,” Hoss said. “… We can only go up from here.”

Johns Hopkins went 9-9 in McCormack’s first season. Then 12-8. Then 13-7. This year, his fourth year at the helm, he fittingly led Hopkins to the final four and a 17-5 mark.

The Jays developed a clear identity, crafted over these four years on the backs of this senior class of Angello, O’Brien, Morgan Giardina, Hannah Johnson and Jillian McNaughton.

They were ready and willing to scrap in the middle of the field. In most instances, chaos was welcomed. Hopkins wanted to force the issue and push in transition. They were gritty, going 8-3 in one-goal games over the past two seasons.

McCormack wanted his team’s brand of lacrosse to be, simply put, fun — both to play and to watch.

“Tim is truly an amazing coach, and I think the way that his kids have fought throughout the season and just battled in every game, they could have completely rolled over and given up after the first half, and I knew they wouldn't,” Amonte Hiller said. “They have never done that all season long. They have fought until the end and truly been a great second-half team.”

A transformative class will graduate, and perhaps the real test will begin for McCormack and his staff. Replacing the players that elevated the brand and changed the culture won’t be easy.

There are players like Hoss and Lacey Downey who are ready for the challenge. Laurel Gonzalez will be a junior next year, and she already holds the school’s draws record. Ashley Langdon struggled down the stretch but started meaningful games in the cage as a sophomore. McKenzey Craig, Sienna Chirieleison and Paige Willard were legitimate difference-making players as freshmen.

The era of Johns Hopkins being just another team in the Big Ten could be coming to an end, if it hasn’t already. McCormack helped steer the ship in that direction. All it took were the Hillers taking a chance on him just over a decade ago.

“I can't begin to describe how incredibly proud I am of this team,” McCormack said. “Stamped a legacy that will be cemented forever for our program and set new standards — and did so with so much grace.”