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In 2004, Paul Carcaterra’s life was flipped on its head with one phone call.

Carcaterra was a fourth grade teacher and varsity lacrosse coach at Fox Lane High School in Yorktown, New York. Besides coaching and running camps, he never saw himself having a bigger impact on lacrosse after his playing career with Syracuse ended in 1997.

That’s before Adam Zucker — an acquaintance from Carcaterra’s time at Syracuse — called. Zucker was working at College Sports Television and invited Carcaterra to do color commentary for the Army-Navy game that weekend. Despite lacking prior broadcast experience, Carcaterra accepted the offer.

He entered the game “blind.” Nobody taught him how to prepare for a broadcast, so when he arrived at Army’s Michie Stadium, he was clueless. While the details of the game remain fuzzy, Carcaterra remembers the adrenaline rush he experienced, closely mirroring the emotions he felt as a player.

“I remember leaving saying, ‘Wow, that was amazing. What a bummer that’s it. Where do I go from here?’” Carcaterra said.

Carcaterra left the broadcast booth thinking he’d never return. He couldn’t have been more wrong. Over two decades later, Carcaterra has been one of the lead lacrosse analysts for ESPN since 2010. He always thought he would spend his life teaching kids. Instead, he’s known for his high-energy analysis, passion for storytelling in the booth and his work as a sideline reporter for ESPN’s college football coverage.

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What sets Carcaterra apart is his unbridled enthusiasm during calls. Carcaterra oftentimes can’t contain his emotions, so he resorts to physical contact with his partner in the booth, which includes play-by-play guys Anish Shroff, Chris Cotter or fellow analyst Quint Kessenich.

Shroff doesn’t think Carcaterra can speak without his hands. Cotter always braces himself for a shoulder barge after a highlight-reel goal, while Kessenich usually receives a quick punch in the arm.

“He’s genuinely thrilled with what he sees sometimes and lets the viewer know that,” Kessenich said. “Any time you can spend with him is a good time because his energy is contagious.”

It’s an unorthodox style. One that might’ve never come to fruition if Carcaterra studied broadcasting at the Newhouse School of Public Communications, where he may have developed a more robotic cadence. Despite the pedigree of the program, broadcasting never crossed Carcaterra’s mind while at SU, where he won a national championship in 1995.

“The characteristics that I have are natural to who I am as a person,” Carcaterra said. “I’m the same person that is calling games that’s talking to you.”

Carcaterra’s biggest challenge is making the game digestible for everyone. So, he breaks his audience into three tiers — the person who never watches lacrosse, the average viewer and avid fan. Throughout a broadcast, he aims to speak to all three.

To accompany his analysis, Shroff said Carcaterra always incorporates untold anecdotes about players or coaches. It stems from his ability to connect with people on a personal level.

“Those are the things that add flavor,” Shroff said. “That’s mixing the cocktail together, adding a little spice, a little splash, and he does that as well as anybody.”

Through his 20 years of experience, Carcaterra developed his connections in the industry. CSTV asked him to audition for an analyst job for the 2005 lacrosse season, following his standalone call the year prior. He earned the role and called games alongside Joe Beninati.

Paul Carcaterra interviews Cornell attack C.J. Kirst (right) and Cornell head coach (left) postgame for ESPN. Carcaterra has been a top ESPN lacrosse analyst since 2010. Courtesy of Paul Carcaterra

A few years later, John Vassallo, then a Senior Coordinating Producer with ESPN, received a call from Patrick Donaher, who worked in ESPN’s talent office. Donaher told him Carcaterra had expressed interest in making the jump to ESPN. Carcaterra wanted to be part of the growing network as it was broadcasting more games, Vassallo said.

When Vassallo watched his tape, he was impressed with Carcaterra’s energy and ability. There was one problem: Carcaterra sounded like a top analyst. ESPN already had one in Kessenich, who’d been at the company since 1993. During an eventual phone call with Carcaterra, Vassallo made that clear to him.

“I mentioned to him, ‘Hey Paul, we would love to have you, but just understand right now that Quint is the number one guy,’” Vassallo said. “That didn’t mean a thing to him. He was like, ‘John, I just want to help out.’”

During that initial call, Vassallo said he tried convincing Carcaterra not to join. He also knew it was easy for anybody to sell themselves over the phone. But in person, Carcaterra greeted him with the same vigor he expressed over the phone, and Vassallo hired him soon after.

Despite planning to keep Carcaterra and Kessenich separate, Vassallo decided to pair them together. During the 2010 postseason, he pitched using Carcaterra as a “field analyst,” where he could chime in during the broadcast as well as interview players and coaches at halftime and postgame.

The idea stuck. Fifteen years later, Shroff and Kessenich are in the booth with Carcaterra on the sideline for every Final Four.

Carcaterra has made the role his own, aided by a decision soon after starting at ESPN. In 2011, Carcaterra was still teaching while broadcasting part-time from February to May. That’s when he decided to go all in and take a leave from teaching.

It was a risky choice. Carcaterra was married, had two young kids and didn’t have a full-time job guaranteed. His father, Lawrence — a former teacher — thought Carcaterra was nuts for giving up a potential pension. But Carcaterra wanted to pursue his passion.

In 2012, ESPN had an opening for a college football sideline reporting job. Carcaterra applied and got an offer for the full-time role.

“He’s a great businessman,” Shroff said of Carcaterra’s decision. “(Carcaterra’s) a guy who is so good with people. He was going to be successful in whatever he put his mind to.”

Once Carcaterra became a full time analyst, he wanted to improve his lacrosse coverage. While he was on a ski lift in Utah during the offseason, he realized he could tell more stories, a passion which derived from former Syracuse head coach Roy Simmons Jr., who he said was always curious about people. Carcaterra bought a GoPro and brought players and coaches on rides in his car, where they’d have discussions for halftime pieces.

That evolved into segments where Carcaterra cut players’ hair, something he’d been doing since fifth grade. It let him have heart-to-hearts with players, expanding his coverage.

Carcaterra’s creativity has led to projects like “Through X,” a YouTube series on The Lacrosse Network, which started in 2018. During 10-15 minute episodes, Carcaterra breaks down on-the-field tactics with players.

Currently, Carcaterra works with former Boston College women’s lacrosse star and current Boston Guard attacker Charlotte North on “The Crosse.” They tell a mix of stories between the men’s and women’s game, which is shown at halftime of certain games.

Carcaterra’s storytelling success stems from his authenticity, Shroff said. Shroff said Carcaterra is among the best analysts, like Jay Bilas and Kirk Herbstreit, who can marry X’s and O’s along with storytelling, which Carcaterra does effectively.

“(Carcaterra) is the soul of the sport,” Shroff said. “His ability to really capture the heart of what the sport is and what the players bring to the table (is what) I saw as his unique ability.”

Carcaterra’s personality attracts plenty of attention. Carcaterra forms relationships with nearly everybody, Cotter said.

Whenever Cotter and Carcaterra are calling a game in South Bend, Indiana, they fly from Chicago. It’s crucial they get on the road quickly, so Cotter always warns his partner to not stop to talk with anyone. But when walking around the stadium postgame, every few steps, there’s a “Hey Paul,” from someone in the crowd. Carcaterra always stops for a quick chat, leaving Cotter smacking his forehead in frustration.

“You have to drag him away,” Cotter said.

Memories and connections like those have accumulated over two decades. Carcaterra is thankful he picked up that call from Zucker out of the blue. If not, his life would be drastically different.

Other professions often subdue big personalities. But in broadcasting, Carcaterra can build a career around being unapologetically himself.

“Honestly I couldn’t see a different profession for me right now,” Carcaterra said. “I love how it allows me to continue to push myself and be creative and be around athletics, where people are so goal oriented, no one’s lazy. I love it.”

Published on May 1, 2025 at 2:38 am
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