The question of how to measure a man's accomplishments is oftenasked, but seldom ever truly answered in an adequate manner. Thus,Ross Sachs was a three-sport athlete at Gettysburg High School,where he earned all-state honors in basketball and football. Hematriculated to Gettysburg College, where his career wasinterrupted by the Second World War. Sachs excelled at football,basketball and baseball as a Bullet and has been inducted intoGettysburg College Hall of Fame. Upon graduation, he worked atJohns Hopkins as an assistant football and basketball coach.
While at Hopkins, he took an interest in lacrosse and learnedthe game by watching Hopkins' team practicing in the spring. Hesoon moved to Towson University where he served as head coach ofboth basketball and lacrosse. In 1967, Sachs moved to Franklin& Marshall College to be an assistant football coach and headmen's lacrosse coach, replacing a young coach named Tom Gilburg.During his 21-year tenure at F&M, he won 160 games and 11, inaddition to earning seven Middle Atlantic Conference titles andbeing undefeated in conference play seven seasons.
Overall, twelve players (James O'Brien '70, Tim Moeller '72,John Martino '74, Marshall Long '74, Rich Gray '75, John Conti '78,Steve Growney '82, Joe Schaller '82, Thomas Swift '82, PeterBidstrup '86, Matt Carberry '87 and Dan Garrett '87) earnedAll-American honors under his guidance. The coach of the Northsquad in the North/South All Star Classic in 1987, Sachs receivedthe Sportsmanship Trophy, awarded by the PennDel Lacrosse Officialsand was nominated for National Coach of the Year in 1987. Inaddition to his lacrosse duties, Sachs devoted ample time toimproving Franklin & Marshall's students' badminton games byoverseeing the Badminton club for many years.
But to truly summarize any coach, only his/her athletes candescribe what their guidance has meant to them. Joe Schaller '82, aformer player for Sachs, summarized him best, "He was a verycompetitive coach, but his main concern was for the personal growthof his players. When I think of my lacrosse experience at F&M,I have nothing but love for the sport, my teammates and,especially, my coach." The 1987 team wrote in a note to Sachs,"Thank you for your patience, love and dedication, which helped usgrow as people."
