Lindenwood University Men’s Soccer – Coach Kris Bertsch
On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Kris from the Lindenwood Men’s Program in Missouri. We talk about recruiting the right players who will play. He describes the supportive people everywhere on and around campus. Lastly, we discuss his staff that buy into the mission and vision of what they’re trying to create. Learn more about Lindenwood University.
Matt: [00:00:00] Hi everybody. Welcome to discover college soccer today. I’m lucky enough to be joined by coach Chris from Lindenwood. Welcome coach.
Coach: All right. Thanks for having me.
Matt: Yeah. Thanks for being here. We, we, we have one thing in common. We got to do our four years of college ball playing in DC, which was a, which was fun, um, although unfortunately I’m, I’m a little older than you are, but, uh, but you know, you, you, you, you get to look better for longer, I guess.
Yeah, anyway, um, well, the cool thing about talking to you and about Lindenwood is the fact that you guys just made the jump from, from division two to division one, this, this season is your first in division one. You guys are in the OVC. Um, so, and, and you got hired in just January, right? Correct. All right.
So you had basically, we’ll call it six months, you know, so we might say eight before the first game, but, but, but not a long time to, to kind of craft, uh, uh, a team to, to be division one ready. That was, was division two. So how, how did you approach that? What, what kind of things did you feel like you needed to do to get the team ready for, for match one?
Yeah.
Coach: Yeah, actually, to correct you, it’s actually our second season division one, but, but the, the announcement was made just over a year ago, about a year and a half ago that it was made. So there wasn’t a lot of lead up time going into the 1st division 1 season. It’s my 1st year with the program, but. Um, yeah, I think when I took over, you know, the first [00:01:30] thing to do is, you know, SWAT analysis where we’re at, you know, and so gave everybody a fair chance to see a show me the best version of you and where we at and, you know, my vision and mission for the program.
Did it match and align that? And so, um, yeah, there was a lot of guys that, you know, they didn’t necessarily sign up for division one experience, um, which is okay. And some guys didn’t want that, right? And so it’s okay. But many guys, uh, Gave their best versions themselves. And you know, whether it works out or didn’t work out, there was just obviously needed, needed more, right.
And we needed to take a step up. And, uh, when you go to division one, um, Obviously it’s a big jump, right? And so I think the mentality, the fitness, the diets, the athleticism, that the level of coaching, the details go a little bit higher. So, um, yeah, scouting all those players and bringing in 21 new guys in basically four or five months.
Uh, You know, 21 out of the 25, 26 guys we had were new. So it was a lot of work in the short term, but, uh, really happy and proud of the group.
Matt: Well, and, and obviously you didn’t bring in 21 freshmen. Uh, so it kind of talked to me about how you made the decisions in terms of your mix between, uh, transfers, internationals.
Did you look at the junior college route versus, versus bringing in, you know, freshmen? What, what, what is that thought process?
Coach: Yeah, I think it’s important to get it right. The foundational level for me was the most important and obviously balancing out the classes. I think we have about 10 [00:03:00] freshmen and 11 transfers, right?
And those transfers have all different various amounts of years, one years, two years, three years. Um, some had four years. Some are redshirt freshmen, uh, came from all different levels. Can’t guide was three guys I coached at ST louis university that came over with me. Um, there were other players that one played at Linleywood in the fall.
Yeah. Actually transferred to another school and transferred back, uh, after I got hired. So, um, and we have guys from any, I, we have guys from junior college, the local junior colleges, um, freshman, like I said, 10 from all over the country from Alabama, Florida. I mean, you got it everywhere. We’ve got guys from Michigan, uh, locally here, um, St.
Louis market, obviously it’s one that we value, but we have a balance of all classes and that was the key disability is, um, you know, balancing out. So you don’t have an exodus. After year 1 or year 2 or year 3 with like 10 or 15 guys.
Matt: Sure. Absolutely. Well, in terms of you, you’re recruiting, obviously St.
Louis soccer hotbed, um, but you know, everybody is always asking, Oh, do I have to play MLS next or ECNL in order to play, you know, division one soccer at a high level? Where do you spend your majority of your time looking? What, what is kind of, you know, what tournaments do you hit? What leagues do you look at?
What is, what does that mix for you?
Coach: Yeah, I think it’s an interesting concept because there’s this misnomer that you have to play in a certain league or two or you gotta be doing this to be able to [00:04:30] translate. I don’t necessarily agree with that. Do I think there are leagues that are better? Yes. I think MLS is probably the top in America and, um, great platform and great learning, great coaching and almost all the clubs do a tremendous job coaching.
So, yeah, Clearly, if you’re going to play for one of the top teams in the MLS leagues, you’ve been well coached, right? And so, uh, now you got to take that individual and say, does that individual fit in what we’re trying to do? Cause college, college soccer in a nutshell is not necessarily played similar to the MLS teams.
Um, it’s a little bit more gritty and, uh, a lot more substituting and a little bit more direct as college. And so, um, you know, some of the other leagues may fit that international fits that in a lot of different countries around the world. Um, Getting guys from maybe ECNL or US YSA where it seems a little bit more about the competition and fight and grid that does translate, but it’s also sometimes considered a lower level.
But for me, if they really go down to the nitty gritty, it’s all about the individual. Right? And so I don’t look for players to see where they’re at now. I look to see where they’re going to go later. I’m a big fan of. Coachability and I love to coach. It’s a huge passion of mine and I love guys that are that, you know, are sponges and want to, you know, want to absorb knowledge.
And so I don’t really care what platform you necessarily come from. So I, my answer, long winded answer is more, I kind of evaluate all platforms and just find the right players from within them.
Matt: Yeah, no, fair enough. Well, in terms of The international side of things, you know, you guys got a handful on your roster.
There’s a [00:06:00] couple, uh, we’ll say high ranking division ones out there that seem a lot more loaded with internationals. And there seems to be this almost a trend, especially on the guy side, a little bit still on the women’s book, but more on the guys. International recruiting is, is getting a little more heavier.
Uh, and, and some of the U S guys are like, now I’m at, how do I compete? So How do you look at international recruiting? How important is it? Are you seeing a lot of these guys in person? Or is it only tape? Or how does that work?
Coach: Yeah, it’s a balance. I think, you know, certain programs have bigger affordable budgets that allow them to maybe overseas, uh, in person more or at all.
Right. And so, um, I wouldn’t say we’re made them. Money that I can just fly over to Europe or South America, wherever the players are and just go watch them all the time. So there’s a lot more video heavy early. Um, you know, I, you know, to each programs choices of internationals or Americans. That’s up to them.
Right? I don’t think there’s a right way in a wrong way. No one who am I to tell anybody else how to run their program. Right? So, um, I think it’s a balance. I think if you can get an international guy, I think a lot of times you get from them is maybe a little bit older, a little bit more mature. Um, they’ve, they’ve, they’ve grown up with the sport is a real passion.
Um, yeah. It’s, it’s something that they’re striving to do since the day they were born, right? And so, um, in America, we’re afforded such an amazing amount of luxuries where, uh, you know, obviously the coaching has gotten way, way better since when I grew up, but, um, it’s, it’s not, it’s not like if you don’t make it in soccer, I’ll just go to college.
It’s no big deal. It’s a fallback, right? But overseas, a lot of places, it’s [00:07:30] not a fallback. It’s all or nothing. And so, It, it, there is a just a different passion, right? And so, um, but you know, I, I think it’s a balance for me. It’s, I just want the best people if they’re international grade, if they’re not, doesn’t matter to me.
It’s just, uh, I think sometimes you just get a little bit older, you get a little bit more seasoned, some higher level games. Um, you know, so I I, it’s pretty impressive to see some rosters that are mainly foreign and some that are mainly American. And when I was at St. Louis University, we were essentially almost all American.
We were known for being the only. Program that almost all Americans and that DNA changes year to year based on, you know, what the needs are for sure.
Matt: Well, you, you mentioned you have a roster size of 25. Is that kind of your target, uh, size or, or what are you looking to do as you move forward, uh, in the, in the program?
Coach: Sure. I think. The idea is always to get the right people. I, I’m not a believer of bringing anybody into the program that I don’t think will play here. Um, I don’t have guys at the end of the roster just for your bench guys. I don’t, I don’t believe in that. I believe everyone has value and as upside and we’ll, we’ll play if not in the short term.
Right? And so, um, roster size. I don’t like big, big rosters where guys are sitting and there’s 40 guys. Yeah. You know, I don’t, I’m not a big fan of that. I love giving an individual attention to guys. Um. Thank you. So my ideal roster size would always be somewhere between 25 and 32, but probably under 30.
Matt: Well, in terms of again, recruiting moving forward, I mean, do you plan on [00:09:00] having ID camps or do your staff work other camps? How do camps fit into your recruiting process?
Coach: Yeah, I’m a big fan of I. D. Camps and not only ours, our own, but going and attending others. We, uh, some of the best players I think I’ve ever coached.
I’ve recruited from not only our camps or other camps, and they’ve been some of the best guys because, you know, it’s it’s a selfless process, right? Can you stand out amongst 50 kids, 75 kids, 100. It’s a, it’s a, it’s a tryout, you know, and I think the kids who see it that way, play with a little bit more passion and fight and they care to be there.
And so, um, you know, I get to speak with them. I got to talk with them. I got to maybe put them into the drills that we do. Um, so we run a ton of ID camps and we recruit pretty intently from them. Um, and so, yeah, we just had an ID camp, uh, Last month in September. And then we’re having another upcoming camp in November on the 19th.
Um, and yeah, we self assess and we, we recruit players that we have seen. And I think it allows us to get that, you know, everyone’s always in their environment, which is wonderful. It’s they’re in their comfort zones. The coach knows how they play. I like to see players out of their comfort zones where maybe they don’t know any of the people at camp and They got to adjust in a new situation.
And then, and then obviously the exercises that we, we run and it’s good to see how, how they fit. Do they understand what we’re doing? Can they, can they progress within the session? They get better to, they get better when they’re tired and they get worse. Right. So, uh, yeah, we, we very much camp recruit not only our own camps, but other camps as well.
Matt: Okay, awesome. Well, let’s shift gears. Let’s talk about the school a bit [00:10:30] because I’m sure there’s some folks out there who aren’t familiar with Lindenwood. Um, so, you know, you haven’t been there long, but what are some of the things that you found that are awesome either during, uh, uh, Your interview process or so far, so good.
What, you know, what have you found that’s awesome that maybe some people wouldn’t even know just by going through the website.
Coach: Yeah. The number 1 thing is the people, the people here are pretty impressive. They’re just really good, helpful people who are supportive and caring. You know, I think that’s the number one thing and I and that’s how I value the locker room.
It’s all about people first. But, um, I think the one thing and like Linda Wood is always, uh, you know, I’ve lived here in St. Louis for up to six years now. And, uh, the number one thing I’d always heard from afar was Linda Wood, hidden gem, Linda Wood, hidden gem, hidden gem, hidden gem, and I was like, I gotta check out this place.
And then, uh, the job came open, I kind of went on campus and kind of viewed and I was like, wow, this place is a hidden gem. And so I think when the. The school move from to division 2 to division 1. Um, it’s 1 of the few schools that can do it pretty seamlessly, right? Because the facilities are incredible.
The campus is beautiful. It’s affordability is incredible. St. Charles, which just outside St. Louis, um. It’s a very historic town. It’s incredible, right? So there’s, there’s student life, there’s community life, there’s facilities, there’s campus, there’s affordability, private school education. So anybody who gets on campus now is like, wow, this really is a gem.
And so I think that’s 1 of the neat things about [00:12:00] our camps is, you know, no one’s really hurt. We don’t have a huge brand name, but every time. Student athletes get on campus, they’re kind of blown away and they’re like, wow, I never knew X, Y, and Z about Lindenwood. So it’s, it’s the people and, and, and the place really is, is, is really, really impressive.
And that’s why, that’s why I’m here.
Matt: Awesome. Well, it’s, it’s, uh, it’s tough becoming a student athlete, right? Because you got to balance the student part and the athlete part. Um, so specifically at Lindenwood, you know, how, how do your student athletes really balance the commitments between sport and academics?
And kind of what support systems does the school offer to help in that
Coach: for sure. And I’m, I’m a big believer in academics, drive your soccer, right? I’m not one that say soccer only in LA and academics, they’ll see what happens there. Right. I truly believe it translates on the field. You’re more consistent, you’re more dependable.
So I am demanding in terms of on the field soccer wise, but I’m also demanding in the classroom. So, uh, the demand for the guys is, you know, we expect 3. 3 GPA team overall. And I think that’s gonna arise over time. Uh, but we expect that guys go to study hall. Um, they’re, they’re ahead of the curve. We, uh, we’re very big on communication between the coaching staff and how you’re doing weekly, uh, class checks.
We do all sorts of things to make sure our checks and balances academically line up with our academic advisors and then our professors and getting. Extra help where we need to. So, uh, yeah, I mean, I think that’s a big one to your earlier question about the difference between D2 and D1 [00:13:30] is there’s just, uh, there’s plenty of really, really good division 2 schools out there.
I think sometimes it demands between division 2 and division 3 and NIA and junior college and all that. It’s just different. Right? So our guys get back from a road trip late in the evening. We get back on the horn, we train in the morning, we do regen, we hit the weight room, we hit study hall, and there’s no air.
Expectations that you’re missing this or let’s just take today off. Let’s take this. No, it’s back on the horn. Get after it. I know you’re tired, but we’re all tired. And, uh, if you if we’re not doing it, someone else is. So, yeah, the demands are high. And, uh, but, you know, I think we got the right guys in the locker room that can handle it.
Matt: Well, speaking of that kind of schedule, I mean, you’re, you’re, you and I are talking here, middle of the season, um, you know, it’s a Monday. Walk me through what this week would, would look like, uh, a typical week during the season, conference week, you know, when, when do you know guys normally train? When are meals, when are classes?
What, what’s kind of the game cadence? What does, what does this all that look like? If I was a player on the roster right now.
Coach: Right, since we just started OVC schedule, it’s now consistent the rest of the year. So this is the first time all year we’ve had a consistent schedule week to week. So we play on Thursdays, Sundays, and we’ll take off today, Monday.
So today’s our day off the week. We’ll train Tuesday, Wednesday, game Thursday, and then recover and also train on Friday and Saturday and then play again on Saturday. Sorry, Sunday. We’ll squeeze in, you know, up to two times a week, either regen or lift team lifts. And then, um, obviously we got to squeeze video in there [00:15:00] and private individual meetings.
I mean, it’s a lot to be fair. It’s a lot of student athlete. And sometimes it’s coaches. We we only see it in tunnel vision of soccer, soccer, soccer. And we have to put ourselves back in those shoes that we’re, you know, I was a division one athlete. I know it’s demanding. And it’s like, I think those who regiment their time tend to tend to handle the demand better.
Um, and then those who don’t have really good time demands. Tend to catch up and it actually, actually ends up hurting them later in the season when they’re playing catch up. So we like to get ahead of the curve and everything we do. And we say going over and beyond and everything between relationships, academics, meetings, coaching, fitness, diet, go, go and do over and beyond.
Matt: Okay, well, let’s talk a little bit more on the, on the soccer side of things. Um, you know, you, you mentioned about, you know, your roster size and what that looks like. Let’s talk about your staff. What size of staff do you have? What role does everybody play? Are there other kind of support staff within the athletic department that that interact with the team?
What’s that look like?
Coach: Yeah, we have a really good staff. I mean, Ian Henry, Nick Powers and Tyler Dahl. They’re fantastic. I’m very lucky that I, uh. I was able to recruit those guys to buy into the vision, the mission, um, you know, all of them have a lot of division 1 division to an experience before and recruiting.
And then 1 was a former head coach and other ones posted 2 or 3 or 4 different division. 1 schools, um, you know, and so I’m very fortunate that I don’t have to. [00:16:30] Reteach simple things. They kind of hit the treadmill sprint. So that that’s I’m very fortunate with that. Um, we also have a lot of resources in and around Linwood.
We have tons of, um, access to strength coaches, dieticians, psychologists, um, health and awareness. Uh, you know, we have so many people willing to help. Um, and I think everybody’s excited because, you know, not a lot of coaches is. Tend to use all those resources. You know, our time is 24 hours in a day, and I can’t be with the team.
22 of them. That’s not fair. Right? But balancing out people. If you ask people to do more, they tend to want to do more. They everybody wants to be involved in success. And so we hopefully want to be a very successful program. And we have a lot of people, including a lot of managers who are on campus who help us in a lot of different ways with social media, training and equipment and meal orders and all kinds of stuff.
Matt: Okay. Well, let’s talk about you though, as the head coach top man here. So how would you describe your style of coaching the team style of play and what kind of culture you’re trying to have there with the team?
Coach: Yeah, I think like anything you try and always based around what you. Your team is right. And so, you know, eventually my voice has to decrease over a season and not increase.
If it’s increasing, we’re not, we’re not, we’re not very good or we’re not going to get what I expect our goals to meet. Right. So eventually, you know, I have to, I have to be demanding upfront and relentless to be honest in the details. We’re very principle based program. Um, [00:18:00] I’m a big belief that principles drive success.
Um, tactics change players change, but you know, there’s habits that we need to establish. Um, Yeah. Being that we don’t have a continuous group from year 2 to 3 to 4 right now, it’s a little bit more from me and the staff. And so once that gets firmly established, I mean, I, like I said earlier, it’s such a foundational level that we’re working on.
We’re not. Trying to hit the top of the pyramid just yet, but we, we have to establish that. That’s why I’m not a race to the finish. I didn’t bring in 25 transfers to try and win in year one. It’s not my, my intentions. I, we are work in progress. And so as a coach, I, yeah, I’m very demanding of details and I, and I want, uh, you know, I kind of use the phrase efforts, non negotiable like coachability, non negotiable, like you have to give the best version of you every single day.
Right. And so when you show me the bar is here, I don’t want to see this. This is the bar. You’ve said it. And if that it’s that or higher every day. I know your soccer may not be there today. We’re all humans. We don’t, you know, we just today just not working soccer wise, but you can always have a good attitude.
Good team spirit. You can always be supportive. You can always work hard. All the intangibles. Right? So, um, we’re very much intangible driven, uh, in terms of soccer. Yeah, I love being on the ball. I think that’s important part of the game. I think you can Mhm. Manipulate any game without the ball. But over time, I don’t think that breeds successful, consistent results.
Um, so we, we want to be on the ball as much as we can and take it, take the aggressive going forward. And, uh, and then [00:19:30] defensively when we don’t have it, can we be tough to play against? Can we be organized and not give opponents a lot of good chances? And, uh, I think, I think we reflect most of that of what I’ve just talked about in a short period of time.
Is it, is, are we there yet? No, not even close, but, uh, I’m very proud of where we are and where we’ve gone in such a short period of time. Thank you. Yeah, for sure.
Matt: I mean, you guys are looking good here so far. Early O. V. C. Action. Um, well, in terms of when the season’s over, you know, we get through Christmas and New Year’s and you’re looking at the off season.
Uh, what’s that? What do you see that looking like for the players in terms of what they’re going to do in the in the non traditional season?
Coach: Shall we say? I think it always starts with self reflection. So we’re big on reflecting individually and collectively. I think if you The hard part about college soccer is it’s it’s pretty relentless.
It’s like you play a game the next day you’re really preparing for the next one and next one and next one. It’s like it’s like it’s like on the sprint to the weeks that you actually get a full week to prepare. You can reflect better as a team. But again, we can’t make excuses. The schedule is what the schedule is.
But when the season’s over, it’s a lot more reflection where we are, where we want to go. Do we reach our goals? If we didn’t, why didn’t we? Um, was it injuries? Was it lack of coaching? Was it fitness? Was it diet? Was it, um, you know, decisions made on and off the field? Um, you know, how are we doing in the classroom?
Because I, I will not tolerate guys in our program not getting good grades thinking that that. Soccer alone is going to solve the issue. No, I’m here to develop men who are [00:21:00] successful in and out of the classroom and in life. And so we’ve got to make sure that those guys are academically sound so they can get a good, good degree and be successful later on.
So a lot of reflection, um, you know, work on self analysis between what, what worked, what didn’t work. What are our deficiencies? How do we. Where do we solve those problems? Obviously, there’ll be seniors who will, you know, eventually move on from the program. We got to fill those shoes. And, uh, yeah, and then we got to assess the needs for the recruiting.
All right. Well,
Matt: I appreciate all the time. I like to end these all with the same question. And that’s if you had, you know, one piece of advice, one nugget. That you, you want to make sure that every parent, player, family, anybody going through the college soccer recruiting process should know. What would that be?
Coach: Oh, see, you got a million dollar question here. Uh, you know, I, I just believe in anything in life do with passion and, uh, To the best of your ability, right? And so I kind of have this quote by Prefontaine, the famous runner. But like to get anything less than your best is the sacrifice, the gift. We all have different gifts in life and they come in all shapes and sizes, but if you can’t give the best version of you, you’re going to be disappointed.
That, you know, as you get older, you kind of funnel your life into like. smaller and smaller buckets and you hopefully can give more in those buckets. And so, uh, I just think, you know, play with passion, live your life with passion, form great relationships. And, uh, you know, like I said in the beginning, it’s all about people and treating people right.
And, and, [00:22:30] uh, and so I think just, you know, fulfilling yourself by giving those gifts is kind of what I would say.
Matt: Love it. Well, coach, wish you the best of luck the rest of the season. Hopefully, uh, you can maybe run the table on, on your OVC foes here and, uh, and, and keep, keep that program moving in the right direction.
And if you ever get down to Bradenton for any of the tournaments we host down here at IMG or anywhere else, give me a shout and we’ll get together. All right.
Coach: Well, my parents live in Sarasota, so let’s make that happen.
Matt: Uh, yeah, seriously. Anytime you’re in and, uh, I’ll get you taking a look at some of our, uh, our, our clubs, boys.
So awesome.
Coach: Take care, coach. Thanks for having me. Take care. Thank you.
