Here Comes Mindy McCord and Her Bulls
Jonah Alewine — February 24, 2025
A new lacrosse program is in the Tampa Bay area for the 2025 season – the University of South Florida Bulls.
This new program is led by Head Coach Mindy McCord, who has an extensive and impressive coaching resume. McCord previously started the women’s lacrosse program at Jacksonville University and has now done the same 13 years later at USF.
When asked why she wanted to start another program, McCord was very honest.
“It was an interesting situation because I was recruited by Michael Kelly, the athletic director. He had known that I started the program at Jacksonville and so it would make sense to have another person that started a program in Florida. And I wasn’t really looking for a change. I really thought that [Jacksonville] was my forever home.”
The Board of Trustees’ vision for the program was key in McCord’s decision. She appreciates the way the school treats student-athletes, believing that big public universities don’t usually value the student-athlete experience the way USF does.
She also wanted to start from the beginning with a new program because she loves providing opportunities for women and growing the sport.
“It really came back to growing the sport and this Title IX opportunity,” McCord stated.
The initial couple of months with the new USF program were completely different for McCord compared to the same time frame at Jacksonville.
“It’s different now … 15 years later,” she explained. “Because post-COVID, the transfer rules were different. We didn’t have that back when I started at Jacksonville. We had to actually kind of start a club program and build it from there.”
McCord and the rest of the USF coaching staff had to recruit an entire class between the months of June and August 2023 – a time that is late in the recruiting process – to build a roster for exhibition play in 2024. A big question asked by the staff was, “Who is still available?”
McCord and her coaches utilized a benefit granted by the NCAA to recruit their inaugural squad: all players on the initial roster would receive a fifth year of eligibility. This allowed USF to attract more players but also helped the coaching staff recruit the 2024, 2025 and 2026 classes earlier and quicker – despite not having played a single game.
“Having fall-ball this past semester was great,” according to McCord. “It was nice to have a full team, to be able to teach more of the full game and play other teams.”
The fall provided the first opportunity for USF’s returning players to share the field with the newcomers – 14 freshmen and two transfers. And during this time, the returning players shared the team’s culture and expectations.
McCord was very happy with how this process went.
“They did an amazing job with it. They blended right in, and the leadership of that returning group really just loved them up… but also held them to a standard of expectation,” she said. “We did a lot of bonding. We did a lot of things [so] they got to know each other more. We did a lot of culture building, and then we got to train them and teach systems and, you know, start to build up their tactical acumen.”
McCord explained that some of her goals for the upcoming season are improving the transition, giving the players the best experience possible and growing in non-conference games in order to prepare for American Athletic Conference games.
“We want to get shots. We want to be able to, you know, dominate the possession game. We want to really focus on our togetherness and our team spirit and camaraderie. So I think we have some very good expectations that are realistic but also challenge us,” McCord said when referring to other goals for the 2025 season.
Many Bulls come to the mind of Coach McCord when describing players to look out for this season, including Juliana George. She played at Virginia Commonwealth University in 2023 and led the team with 47 goals while adding 15 assists.
“Julianna George is an attacker who breaks ankles. She has an IQ and understanding of game management, unlike many players I’ve worked with,” McCord said.
Another player that comes to mind right away for McCord is goalkeeper Paige Pagano, who transferred from Jacksonville. Pagano is a former ASUN Defensive Player of the Year and highly accomplished player.
Additionally, Sophia Chepenik transferred in from Clemson University after the 2023 season, where she put up 33 goals and added 20 assists in a very balanced season. McCord says Chepenik really brings a lot to the draw and the offensive end.
All three have contributed to USF’s strong start in their inaugural season. The Bulls won their first three games, which included a pair of definitive wins – taking down Kennesaw State and Lehigh by double digits.
The team has also generated a lot of excitement, drawing in 2,386 fans for their home opener, which led the NCAA during the first week of the season.