Howard Payne University Men’s Soccer – Coach Brandon McGibeny

On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Brandon from the Howard Payne Men’s Program in Texas. We talk about how he recruits strong players with good character. He describes how the campus feels like home and has a strong sense of community. Lastly, we discuss his coaching style and how he likes his players to play. Learn more about Howard Payne University Men’s Soccer.

Matt: [00:00:00] Hi everybody. Welcome to discover college soccer today. I’m lucky enough to be joined by coach Brandon from Howard Payne University there in Texas. Welcome coach. Thanks for having me. Yeah. Thanks for being here. I was looking, uh, And, and you guys are pretty much dead center of Texas is what it looks like to me on a map, huh?

Coach: Yeah. All right. Two miles north of the geographical center of, uh, Brady, Texas. 

Matt: All right. All right. Well, I, um, I’m looking forward to hearing more about the school, but let’s start with, you know, you and I are talking here mid November. You’re, you’re probably doing all those individual player meetings, wrapping up the season, but as a Division III school, You know, a lot of people are asking me, you know, are coaches doing any actual recruiting in the fall?

Cause it’s in season, uh, you know, how much recruiting were you doing during the season? And, and in terms of your timeline, I’m assuming you’re, you’re pretty much now full board looking at 24 is that right? 

Coach: Yeah, absolutely. Um, and the recruiting sense, you know, we tried to, um, so this is my first season at Howard Payne as the head coach.

And so, um. Uh, before this, I was on the women’s side, so it was a little bit of during the summer during during the spring as well, trying to obviously get our 23 class completed, but also trying to get it advanced on the 24th, get caught up in that, um, try to have. An idea of, of what we need kind of going into the year with graduation and all that stuff.

Um, you know, where we needed to fill [00:01:30] in some, some positions. But, um, yeah, no, the, the, the recruiting side of things during season is obviously pretty tough, just with the, the constraints of, of time. Um, but. We had some guys identified already from spring and throughout the summer that we had on campus. And so that was kind of more of our recruiting during that time.

And then obviously you’ve got video and different things that we’re trying to evaluate some guys via email and phone calls and different things like that. But getting out in person is a bit tough. But now, like you said, mid November. It’s about to get ramped up again. So for 

Matt: you guys, in terms of ramping up between now and when you close your class, what are some of those top events and places you’re looking the most to be out in person?

Coach: Yeah, we’ll be out at, um, I actually got it written over here. So there’ll be some different things obviously during, um, the biggest ones start really, uh, right after Thanksgiving. And so, um, we’ll be at the Lone Star Showcase in Austin. Um, let’s see sports source over in Dallas, looking at, uh, ECNL Las Vegas or South Carolina.

So a couple of those events possibly, um, trying to get out and see obviously teams from Texas, but also, you know, how can we expand our network outside of the state. Um, and then [00:03:00] kind of in the spring, we’ll reevaluate see where we are as far as, um, where our class looks to where we need to get out. And does that do we feel comfortable with 24 or are we good starting to move towards the 2025.

Matt: Now, I know you, like you said, you’re, you’re early in your career there, uh, as the head men’s coach, but how about camps? Do you plan on doing any ID camps yourself or do you and your staff work? External camps? Are they important to your recruiting at all?

Coach: Yeah, absolutely. Um, it’s something that it’s been done.

So I actually played here as well. Um, at Howard Payne, uh, a number of years ago, not, not too long ago, but, uh, but yeah, it’s something that has been done in the past, um, and recently it hasn’t, and so it’s something that we’re trying to get started back up. Um, you know, coming in, we wanted to focus on getting the this year completed and then kind of evaluate what we wanted to do there.

And so we’re looking to start those back up. Um, at the start of the year, January, February time. Um, in the meantime, uh, myself or 1 of our assistants will be out at. Um, some C. C. S. C. So, uh, college coaches, skills, camps, some exact camps, um, some different combines for some of the different clubs in general.

But, um, yeah, actually, absolutely. The external stuff, um, is really, really important because it kind of showcases those that are [00:04:30] going to obviously above and beyond financially as well as to get themselves in front of multiple coaches. Yeah, for sure. 

Matt: Well, whether it’s at a camp or any of those events, when you’re looking at players, kind of what makes up the hierarchy of things you’re looking for, whether that’s on the field stuff or off the field stuff.

Coach: Yeah. I think both of those play a huge part into it is, you know, we’ve got to find guys that obviously know how to play the game and, and can, um, can fit what we want to do, but also we want to. You know, have good character, uh, guys as well. So bringing in people that, um, are kind to their families and, uh, good to the people around them because ultimately those are the ones that are going to be supporting you, um, especially with our school.

It’s not the, uh, the cheapest school in the state or the country by any means. So, um, you know, we’ve got to have people that have support or Uh, whether that’s financially or emotionally, um, to where it’s, you know, it’s, it can be a lot, um, going through a college career, um, so making sure that you have good people and that you treat them well on the soccer side of things, we really look, um, in general, at four different things, the athletic side of things, the technical side, the tactical side and the mental side of things.

And so, um, yeah. You know, what does each of our players [00:06:00] bring in that aspect? Obviously, how can we improve in each position? Um, we play in a league that is big, fast, strong, physical. And, uh, you know, we love to have players that are like that. But also, can we have guys that are more, um, agile and technical to where, you know, yes, the big brute of a guy is great that can also play, but If, if we don’t have the technical side to back that up, it’s, it’s a.

It’s got to be worked on. So we look at a lot of guys that not necessarily are ready made to come in and play right away. Um, we like to bring in guys that are like that, but also guys that we can, uh, help develop along the way as well. 

Matt: Now, I mean, you mentioned it a little bit, but you know, for us parents who have kids looking at colleges, that, that price tag is always a kind of question one, but, uh, but we all know what, what, what’s on the sticker ain’t exactly what you’re paying.

And so can you just give me an overall. Kind of bird’s eye view of what an average student athlete walking onto your team might be looking at with regards to what’s the cost to go versus the various types of aid, et cetera. And I know you’re, you know, you haven’t been there that long, so I’m not going to hold you to hard numbers here, but just give me a rough sense of of what that might look like.

Coach: Yeah, I think, uh, so not think we, when, um, you get on campus on a visit, um, we’ll meet, you’ll typically meet with our, uh, uh, admission staff [00:07:30] 1st. Um, and we’ll kind of talk about an overall. Um, just of what the school looks like. And so, um, they have a great pamphlet that they give you and it has a lot of information and some of that is the, uh, the overall cost.

And so overall, uh, sticker price is going to be around 45, 000, um, 44, 45. And that’s it before any type of aid. Uh, academic scholarship being anything like that. And so the obviously the better for us, uh, that you are academically, um, the more money you’re going to receive from our academic scholarships.

And so we have a fantastic honors academy that, um, does have full tuition scholarships. Uh, so if you’re smart enough and, um, uh, want to endure the rigors of that honors academy, which it honestly it’s, it’s really, um, not that, uh, strenuous, but it is, you’re basically getting 2 degrees at once. So it’s, um.

It’s the Douglas MacArthur Academy of Freedom, and it has a lot to do with like civil service. Um, and so you’re, so we have a couple of guys in our program that are in that and, um, one in particular, he wants to coach, uh, at the high school level. And so he’s doing his, uh, degree in mathematics. But also doing the honors academy at the same time.

So, um, you know, he’s a, he’s as a sophomore, one of our [00:09:00] captains. And so he’s, um, a fantastic player, but also a fantastic person and very well organized. All that goes to say that the higher your GPA, the higher your scores, um, the higher percentage in your, your class rank, the more money you’ll receive from our academic standpoint.

Um, And then obviously financial aid. You’ve got your different grants as well as loan options. Um, and then what they’ve implemented here with us being, um, a Baptist institution is if you receive a scholarship from your church, our school will match that. So say you get a 5, 000 scholarship from. You know, First Baptist wherever, uh, or whatever church you’re a part of, then Howard Payne will match that scholarship as well.

So, um, it incentivizes the religious affiliation as well, uh, which is a huge part of our school. Um, and then on top of that, we have some different areas that receive. Uh, additional scholarships. So basically, um, anywhere within about a two hour radius of us will receive an additional scholarship. So a lot of times, depending on scholarship in levels, you can look at around, um, you know, after eight and all of that around 5 to 10, 000 a year, um, depending on what level you’re at.

Matt: Yeah, no, it sounds sounds like a [00:10:30] lot of good options there. Well, let’s talk more. Yeah, yeah, I bet. But let’s talk about more about the school. I’m sure there’s some folks out there not familiar with Howard Payne and you have some great insight as being both the student and now staff. So, you know, what are some of the things that you particularly enjoy about the school?

Maybe some, some cool things we wouldn’t even know just by going through the website. 

Coach: Yeah. So Brownwood is actually really growing a lot, even since I played here. So I went to school here 2013 to, uh, 2019 essentially with doing my grad school. Um, so I had the pleasure of being here playing on the men’s side for four years and then got to stay on as the women’s assistant coach, um, for two years as well.

Uh, and, and since And then I left for four or five years and so, um, being able to come back and be a part of this community again has been fantastic. And what you’ll seem to realize is when you walk on campus and you introduce yourself to people, um, they’re like, Oh, yeah, I went here this year to this year.

Oh, yeah, I went here this year this year. Oh, I’m originally from here. I left and I came back. So there’s something about Brownwood. Um, that just draws people back in and this is the kind of the saying of the town is Brownwood feels like home. Um, and there’s just a fantastic sense of community here. Um, in Brownwood that, you know, [00:12:00] it’s a town of just over 20, 000 people.

Um, and it’s. It’s growing evermore with, you know, outward expansion of different, you know, big cities. Um, we’ve got the DFW area 2 to 3 hours away. Austin is 2 hours away. San Antonio’s… Two and a half to three hours away. And so, uh, Houston, about four hours away. So, we’re in a really good, like you said, the geographical center of Texas.

So we’re in a really good spot to be around a lot of major areas. Um, but just the people here on campus and the people in town. It just, you just get a sense of, like, family. And people that truly care about you. And that was when I came through on my recruiting trip, like that was my major draw was like, I just feel like they want me to be here.

Like, I feel wanted and I feel like I can actually be a part of something, um, instead of just, you know, going to, um, a bigger school and just being, you know, part of the campus, um, you can actually be something here. And so, um, some really, really cool stuff. And then, you know, our downtown area. Has been growing tremendously over the last couple of years.

Um, and then. More recently, they’re, um, building a boardwalk, uh, um, in town to where it’s going to [00:13:30] expand some retail and food options, which I love food. I’m not a small guy. So being able to go to different places and eat like we’ve got some, um. You know, you walk, you go down the regular strip and you’ve got, you know, your standard McDonald’s, Whataburger, you know, Chili’s all, all those restaurants.

Right. Um, but there’s actually some really, really awesome places here in town to eat. Um, I just, last night I had some really good Thai food, uh, in the middle of Texas. So, you know, you just never know what you’re going to get until you, you know, expand that a little bit. But, um, I don’t know, it’s just one of those towns where there’s so much history and it’s rich.

And, uh, Um, it’s a really awesome experience. Awesome. 

Matt: Awesome. Well, um, in terms of what a player could expect, let’s take it back a few weeks. You’re in the heart of the season. Can you walk me through what a typical week might look like in terms of when, when does practice, games, meals, class, you know, what, what, what, what normally a player see on a normal week?

Coach: Yeah. So, um, in our conference, we play Thursdays and Saturdays. And so our week typically will look like, especially with us being religiously affiliated. Um, we want to give us, uh, our guys the opportunity to expand that and grow in their faith. Um, and so Sundays are More often than not, our off days, um, to where we give them that time, uh, there are certain weeks, especially in non conference where things are jumbled [00:15:00] up to where we try to give them the time in the morning or the afternoon to where they can have that time to themselves.

But Sunday is typically our off day and then Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, we, we have our full trainings. Um, and this year we actually just got lights at our complex. Um, And so that was a huge deal for us because in Texas, it oftentimes, especially August and September, it’s upwards of 100 degrees. And so being able to not train it two and three o’clock is a huge factor.

And so this year, um, we, you know, with, uh, In collaboration with our women’s program, um, we would train 5 to 7, they would train 7 to 9. Um, and a lot of that has to do with our academic rigors. So, uh, we have a lot of guys who are like biomedical. Um, I mentioned the Honors Academy earlier. Uh, engineering, um, to where like their, their lab times are in the afternoon.

So, they’ll go to classes from 8 to 1 or 2. And then typically one o’clock to five o’clock is the normal window for your, your lab sciences or your, your, um, bigger classes to, to have, um, additional time. And so that timeframe, like, we had one guy that was in engineering and so Mondays and Wednesdays, he wouldn’t get out of class till five o’clock.

And so he, you know, hop in his car and rush over to get over to training and get [00:16:30] started. So, um. You know, it’s a huge emphasis here with the academic side, um, to make sure that we’re taking care of them and setting them up for the future there. Um. On the on the soccer side of things, we also, you know, want to make sure that we’re performing at our best.

And so, um, you know, Wednesday, uh, or sorry, we said, you know, five o’clock to seven o’clock, um, we get them going, um, get some training in and then Thursdays, uh, we’ll play Friday again. So five o’clock, we try to keep a good routine, um, good rhythm of the day going for him. And then, uh, yeah. Saturday we’ll play as well with against Sunday being off.

Matt: Well, let’s shift gears, talk a little bit more about the on the field stuff. Uh, I mean, we talked recruiting earlier, but is there a, is there a roster size that you find is ideal that you’re trying to hit each year? 

Coach: Um, not necessarily. This year we had 27. And, uh, it just kind of depends on, you know, where the depth is on on those positions.

And so, you know, at any given point with, you know, a roster of 27, you know, you’ve got to have the quality in there, obviously, because it’s in college, that’s a smaller size. more or less. Uh, for me, I think the 30 32 mark is kind of more the ideal number. I think when we got towards the later part of the season, um, we [00:18:00] had some injuries that just they just accumulate.

And so, um, we shuffled something or things around and then, you know, just at the proper time, you have injuries in a certain position. Someone gets, you know, an accumulation, uh, Of yellows, or maybe we had one guy that got a red card. Unfortunately, um, at a position we are already a little thin at. And so, um, you know, the depth really is important at this level, um, being able to have people that can step in and play right away.

Um, and they may not have played a whole lot throughout the year, but they’ve got to be able to be ready for their number to be called and. And I think that goes into the culture of training. Um, but obviously you’ve got to have the numbers on your, on your campus as well. 

Matt: Well, speaking of depth on the roster, how about the, the, the coach’s bench?

Uh, what, what does your assistant coach roster look like or any other support staff that the athletic department has for you to kind of help out with a team? What, what does that look like? Yeah. 

Coach: Um, so. This year we had, uh, Coach Jordan Villanueva. He’s actually a Christian Studies professor on campus as well.

Um, another alumni of the program. Um, he volunteered with us, uh, and worked with, um, our back line in midfield at different times. And then, um, Coach Eduardo Flores. He, uh, just graduate is still, uh, completing his degree, but he completed his time on the field, um, as a [00:19:30] goalkeeper. So he helped out with our goalkeepers this year.

Um, and then we are currently open with our, uh, First assistant position. And so, um, looking to fill that this, hopefully in the next few weeks or so, so where we can have that going into the spring. Um, but some really awesome guys to have with us volunteering. Um, and then also on the, um, The support side, we have our strength conditioning staff, which coach Aaron Gill is the head of that program.

And then Romeo Gallegos is, uh, is the, the man that’s in charge of our sport directly, so he’s the one we work with the most. And so, um, throughout the spring, our guys will get well acquainted with our strength conditioning staff, um, as, as we’re a little limited as to what we can do on the soccer side of things.

Matt: Well, how about you as head coach? How would you describe kind of your style of coaching and the style of play you’re looking to implement there? 

Coach: Uh, man, it can go into so many words, but I think the, with the way that we want to, I want these guys to know how to play, um, I want them to, to, to learn the game and understand why they’re making decisions or why they’re making certain plays.

Or why we’re asking certain things out of him. Um, we want to play with the ball on the ground. Um, we want to be able to build out well. Um, Let our playmakers do their special things, but at the same time within the constraints of [00:21:00] a team that’s unified on the field. And so, um, there was some great moments this year that we were able to do that.

And there’s, you know, being the first year, uh, there was some moments that we have to continue to grow in and, um, And not only in, in the team chemistry aspect, but in, in the, um, the intangible things of, of what we look for in recruiting as well as going to be really important to bring in guys that have an understanding of.

You know, uh, sound technical ability to where they can bring a ball down, play it, you know, whether that’s on the ground in the air. Just what is the game being given to you? What’s the opponent giving you? And then how can we exploit that? Um, and so I love to keep the ball. But at the same time, if a team is, um, is doing something that We can exploit in different ways, then I want to be able to do that.

And so in order to make that happen, we have to be able to be students of the game, be students of ourselves and, uh, be able to take criticism and grow. I love it. 

Matt: Well, coach, you’ve been generous with your time. I don’t want to keep you too long. And one last question for you. Uh, if you had one piece of advice, one nugget of information that you wish every parent, player, family going through this college recruiting process new, what would that be?

Coach: I think is is honestly don’t turn your nose to anybody that’s that’s [00:22:30] given you their time of day. And so this goes with saying, you know, one thing that we’ve preached since I got here is trust, uh, not necessarily trust the process, but it’s process over results. And I think we were the epitome of that this year is.

a change of style, change of staff, um, change over on the roster. And we started off just still trying to feel things out. And, um, we ended up, uh, not with a great start to the season. Um, as if you were to look on paper, you know, I think we started a one in seven, um, and then kind of. Made some things happen towards the latter part of the season, um, as we continued to grow.

But, um, you know, if we continued to just look at each result and be like, man, we lost, we lost, we lost, we lost. Then I think our team could have imploded on themselves and they could have just given up. But, um, we were able to scrap some things together, get some really, really good results against some some really solid teams.

Um, One of which was in the conference final this year, uh, beat them to make it to our first conference tournament in nine years. Um, and so it’s something that. As a recruit, don’t just go online, look at a record and be like, Oh, they were bad. You know, it’s, it’s something you’ve got to [00:24:00] under like you to me, have a conversation with those coaches, let them give their pitch to you and, uh, um, hear what they have to say as far as how can they help you or how can you help make that program better?

It’s not always going to be the perennial powerhouses. Um, You know, there’s going to be programs that are building and how can you be a part of that? Awesome. 

Matt: Great advice. Well, coach, congrats on your first season. Wish you the best of luck as you build your team for next year. And hopefully you can make that repeat trip to the conference hermit and get even farther.

Coach: That’s the standard now, right? 

Matt: That’s right. You set the bar. Now you just got to go higher, right? 

Coach: That’s right. All right. Thank you very much. Thank you.