Mohegan — In October, the New England Black Wolves' two heads of state, general manager Rich Lisk and head coach Glenn Clark, vacationed together in Key West.

Lisk, along with Clark's wife Cassie, ran the Key West Half Marathon. Meanwhile, as Lisk tells the story, Clark and Lisk's wife Terry waited in the bar.

"We clicked, he and I," Lisk said. "He's one of my best friends. I talk to him five or six times a day. ... Every decision I made, I always consulted with Glenn. We always lead with our hearts and our heads follow."

Lisk's last game with the Black Wolves of the National Lacrosse League came last Saturday, with him taking a position as executive vice president of GF Sports, a live events and sports media entertainment company based in New York. Lisk, who arrived along with the Wolves prior to their first season in 2015 and hired Clark in 2016, is moving to Long Island.

Clark takes over as GM, with assistant coach Clem D'Orazio taking over as assistant GM.

Tears streamed down Lisk's face as he said goodbye for the final time following New England's 8-7 overtime win over the Philadelphia Wings last week. Clark, as he prepares to lead the 4-0 Black Wolves against the Georgia Swarm at 1 p.m. Sunday at Mohegan Sun Arena, is now the guy in charge.

"I've been crying a lot," said Lisk, standing outside the coaches' office in the back hallway at Mohegan Sun, moments after receiving a signed helmet from Wolves captain Brett Manney following the overtime victory. "It's huge bittersweet.

"(The 4-0 start is) everything we talked about. It's starting to come to fruition. This move came at a time I had to take it. It feels great leaving the team in the position they're in. There's a lot of men with character in that room. We want guys who are Black Wolves, not players. That's the most special thing to me. They're a tight group of guys."

Clark jokes that it's taking three and a half people to replace Lisk. Or maybe he's not joking.

"Rich was the glue," Black Wolves forward Callum Crawford said. "Text messages and calls every weekend. We're a bunch of prima donnas. (Rich and I) have a special bond. We connect and talk lots. He's a great human being."

"When you're a GM, sometimes you're the babysitter," Manney said this week in a telephone interview. "Sometimes you're the chauffeur. Things that technically aren't in your contract — and you're not dealing with 13-14-year-olds — sometimes you'll get, 'It says I'm in room 320 and I have the key to 320 and it doesn't work. What do I do?' You have to tip your hat. A lot of credit goes to them."

For Lisk, there were the matters of planting an NLL franchise in southeastern Connecticut, an area unfamiliar with the box lacrosse game, and with getting just the right personnel. Lisk as he terms it, wants men of character on his team, not necessarily characters.

He achieved all that.

"How do you market that? How do you sell that?" said Manney, who came with Lisk from Philadelphia's NLL franchise which moved to New England. "How do you grow this so it's sustainable? He's been fulfilling his promises since he's been here, since day one. (The fans) have been faithful. People are wearing player T-shirts and going to the postgame party. They know what guys look like without their helmets on. You have to win to do that."

"Right now, this is Rich's vision of what he wanted," Crawford said. "Character guys. I got really close with (owner and general manager) John Arlotta when I played with the Swarm. He always said if you can't win with great people, there's no point in winning. That's the type of group Rich has wanted to bring in."

For his part, Clark, 50, who resides in Stouffville, Ontario, said the transition has been seamless.

He retired this year from teaching physical education at Bayview Secondary School in Richmond Hill, Ontario, giving him more time for his family. Earlier this week he was putting together a snow blower before keeping up with his men's hockey ice time in the afternoon.

A former three-time NLL all-star for the Toronto Rock and the Philadelphia Wings — he was a defensive specialist and penalty killer — Clark was also the head coach of the Canadian National Team which won its fifth straight gold medal at the World Indoor Lacrosse Championship in September.

Then, in October, Clark was named head coach of the Burnaby Lakers of the Western Lacrosse Association in British Columbia, meaning he and his family will spend their summers on Canada's West Coast.

Now, he's GM of one of only two unbeaten teams in the NLL.

"It's OK. I need to be busy," Clark said. "I think there's maybe a couple more phone calls and behind-the-scenes type of stuff. Rich's role has been sort of segmented into a few different people, so a lot of the things he was doing in terms of travel and all the behind-the-scenes arranging, that's not sort of on my portfolio. I'm dealing strictly with player personnel and issues to do with trades and signings and roster movements and all that sort of stuff.

"Rich and I were always communicative on all those issues as it was. That is done during the week. (That and coaching) can run parallel to each other."

Clark and Lisk and their families celebrated New Year's Eve together in the Boston area. Clark said the men "have similar personality types for sure" and that his friendship with Lisk grew as they got to know one another. Clark has always spoken highly of the atmosphere surrounding the team at Mohegan Sun.

"It's a comfortable place," Clark said.

Lisk has every confidence that Clark, nicknamed during his career as "The Professor," will fill his role well.

"He's so ready to do it. He's going to be a great GM," Lisk said. "I like the fact that he's a teacher. He comes across so well when he's talking to the guys. He's going to do a great job."

v.fulkerson@theday.com