During the season, this wasn't a conversation New England Black Wolves assistant coach Darryl Gibson wanted to have.

His son, Tyson, was in his rookie season in the National Lacrosse League, chosen No. 1 overall in the league's Entry Draft by the New York Riptide, opposing the Black Wolves. Already, there was the day that Tyson scored a goal against the Black Wolves and Darryl almost pumped his fist.

"I wanted my attention to be on the Black Wolves and to be respectful to the rookie we got," Darryl Gibson said, referring to Andrew Kew, the No. 3 selection overall who played his rookie season with the Black Wolves.

"I love Kew. I wanted him to know, 'This is my guy.' Yeah, (Tyson) is my kid, but Kew is my guy."

As it turns out, Tyson Gibson made a name for a name for himself all on his own. There was no need for him to be Tyson Gibson, son of former NLL defender and now assistant coach Darryl Gibson, the former two-time Champions Cup contributor.

He was too busy establishing himself as Tyson Gibson, NLL Rookie of the Year.

From his senior season at Robert Morris University outside of Pittsburgh, where he was named an honorable mention All-American while leading the Colonials to their second straight NCAA tournament bid, to being the top draft pick, then having the opportunity to represent Team Canada's men's field lacrosse team in the 2019 Team USA Fall Classic in October, Tyson had a "really cool" year, Darryl said.

"It was one of the most fun things to watch his ride, in lacrosse, in life," Darryl said in a recent telephone interview. "He had 13 months that were next to perfect. ... As a father, it was amazing to watch. It's kind of extra special that he's doing it without me around. This is all on him."

Tyson, a right-handed forward, finished the NLL season, shortened to 13 games due to COVID-19, with 16 goals and 27 assists to lead the expansion team with 43 points. He scored the first goal in franchise history on Dec. 7, 2019, at Halifax and he finished with two goals and two assists as the Riptide topped Georgia for their first victory on Jan. 18 at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island.

He was named the NLL's Rookie of the Year on June 30.

He will play for the Philadelphia Barrage during an abbreviated Major League Lacrosse season being held beginning July 18 in Annapolis, Md. Annapolis will host all six MLL teams for one week, with a final four playoff structure at the end of the week. A champion will be crowned the weekend of July 25-26.

Tyson, 23, called it "an unbelievable experience playing against him," referring to the dad that he grew up watching play in the NLL.

"Absolutely," said Tyson, who is from Maple, Ontario. "Lacrosse has been in my life since I was three and he was the one to introduce me, to grow my love of the game. Looking up to the game has always been a part of my life. I'll forever be thankful."

His father originally thought Tyson was going to play lacrosse just for fun. Then one day Darryl was coaching Tyson, his only child, in a Bantam Division game. Tyson was 14 or 15.

"One of my best friends was helping me coach and (Tyson) made a (big-time) play for the first time," Darryl said. "(My friend) just looked at me. I said, 'He's better than me.' He said, 'Yup.'

"The one thing I'll say about my kid. He committed to the roadwork. He's very disciplined. It's hard to say a kid's going to make it 100%, but when someone asks you, 'What do I gotta do?' it's roadwork. About anything in life. Do the roadwork. I really believe in that. If you do that, you can accomplish a whole lot in life."

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Darryl Gibson, 43, played 13 seasons in the NLL, being named an all-star in 2006 with the then-Minnesota Swarm and earning two Champions Cup victories with the Toronto Rock. He finished his career with 28 goals and 73 assists for 101 points and totaled 582 loose balls. He also won five Mann Cups in Major Series Lacrosse.

"His brains for the game, just the way he sees things; he's a very smart player," said Tyson, asked what he admired about his dad as a player.

Darryl had coached in the NLL previously and earlier in 2018 he spent the season coaching for the Cobourg Kodiaks of Major Series Lacrosse.

But he was caught off guard in November, 2018, when he received a call from then-New England general manager Rich Lisk offering him the job as the Black Wolves offensive coordinator, replacing NLL Hall of Famer Jim Veltman, who decided not to return to the team.

"I talked to my boss first," said Darryl, who works for Northbridge Insurance in Toronto. "I had to make sure my work was OK with it. Tyson was second to make sure he was comfortable with it. I wanted to let him know that 'we're in the league together, it changes things for us.'"

One of the "pros" on the list of pros and cons was that Gibson would be an assistant under head coach Glenn Clark, a former teammate of his.

"He's an amazing guy. I'd go through a wall for Clarky," Gibson said. "It's professional lacrosse; everyone has to be held accountable. But my son's the same age as his. We're in tune to how you want to handle these guys, to be motivational while still creating a fun work space. He's one of the best leaders I've ever played with. There's no better leader than Glenn Clark."

The Black Wolves finished 8-3 this year, good for first place in the NLL's East Division. Unfortunately, the season was left unfinished, as the regular season and then the playoffs were canceled due to the coronavirus, with the Wolves looking to bring their fifth straight playoff bid to Mohegan Sun Arena.

As for how the defensive guy got to be the offensive coordinator?

"I honestly believe the 'D' guys, we know what works," Gibson said. "'O' guys sometimes think stuff works because it's shiny. They think 'D' guys are stupid. But we watch tape, too. I have a very good understanding what power play works. And (forwards) Reilly (O'Connor), Steph (Leblanc), Callum (Crawford) and Joe (Resetarits) have been together for almost a year and a half.

"It's about buy-in, too. The buy-in we get from this group is phenomenal. If we work hard, we're very hard to stop."

***

Off the field, Darryl Gibson and his son met for lunch weekly in Toronto before both started working from home due to COVID-19. Tyson is a research associate for an asset management company, also in the city.

"I'm his father," Darryl said. "Sometimes we'll talk about lacrosse but I don't talk about my stuff and he doesn't talk about his stuff. He's a true pro. He's grown up with me (playing lacrosse). It's a very simple division. There's family and there's job."

Things worked out for both of them this season.

Tyson, who fell in love with the pace of the game so long ago watching his dad play, had only been to New York City once before he settled in for his rookie year with the Riptide.

"It was a great year," Tyson said, asked if it was, as his dad termed it, near-perfect. "I appreciated the year I had. It's had its ups. There's been downs, but great ups. I wish we could have done better as a team (the Riptide were 1-12), but we can worry about that next year. It's definitely a growing process. We just focused on getting better day by day.

"There's always underlying pressure with the (No. 1) pick. I just try to go in and absorb as much as I can from the coaches and the older guys. All I can do is learn and grow."

v.fulkerson@theday.com