Jackson State University Women’s Soccer – Coach Ted Flogaites
On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Ted from the Jackson State Women’s Program in Mississippi. We talk about how he is always recruiting, even during the season. He describes the surprising metro area of Jackson and all it has to offer. Lastly, we discuss his demanding coaching style that looks for competitors. Learn more about Jackson State University Women’s Soccer.
Matt: [00:00:00] Hi, everybody. Welcome to Discover College Soccer. Today, I’m lucky enough to be joined by coach Ted from Jackson state. Welcome coach.
Coach: Thank you very much.
Matt: Yeah. Thanks for having me. Or thanks for being here. I, you know, I’m not having me, I don’t know why I said that. Um, you know, we’re here in November, um, seasons wrapped up.
Um, how quickly from that last game, uh, until you were on the phones hitting recruiting hard and, and what, what, where are you at? What’s that look like right now for you?
Coach: I mean, before the last game, probably is the answer to that question. And you know, that’s a, that’s an ongoing thing. Like you, you’re never really off even when you’re supposed to be off because, you know, you want to do a good job and never let a potential really good player fall through your hands from being lazy as a coach or not responding to emails or texts or calls or whatever that case might be.
So, yeah, all the time. Um, And we try to be really conscientious of it, right? Like I think it’s hard when you’re a smaller staff, like we’re a staff of two. So it’s hard because it’s really hard to see all the quality talent in the States and international as well.
Matt: So during the season, if you had to put a percentage on it, what percent of the time during the main season would you say you’re spending on recruiting?
Whether that’s seeing players, answering emails, making phone calls, whatever it is,
Coach: I’d say like three hours a day.
Matt: Wow. Okay.
Coach: Yeah. Because like, I mean, some of it’s more responding to stuff via computer. Some of it’s more texting, but every now and then it’s like, uh, you know, I’m on [00:01:30] a call at nine o’clock my time, which is really a call seven o’clock California time to recruit.
Right. So you’ve got to adjust for the time zones and not like my wife loves that, but you know, that’s, that’s sort of part of it. So I would say like you’re. You’re at least doing conscientious work kind of in that regard daily if you want to be on top of things
Matt: Yeah, no, it makes perfect sense. Well now that you are Now, you know the showcase season is upon us, right?
So where are the places you like to go see players where the kind of the must hit? Locations for you
Coach: Well, I know I mean we’ll probably be at surf cup next week um My assistant kevin was at the bethesda showcase the week prior. I was at fc delco You Um, I think he’s going to be ECL St. Louis, you know, so I think we’re like, the problem is, is like the minute your season ends, like there’s a tournament every weekend, you know, really leading all the way up to the dead period.
So I think we try to get to a diversified number of places, so we’re not seeing, you know what I mean? Sort of like the same teams are getting players from the same area all the time. So those are the ones that are always on our radar and then there’s potentially, you know, A couple of international things as well.
Matt: And that was gonna be the next question in terms of international, uh, you know, how, how much does that factor into what you’re doing? Are, are you able to go, do you guys have the budget to go internationally? Is it mostly through video and agencies or what does that look like? And also portal, is that something you guys are looking at or as a, as part of your recruiting as well?
Coach: Always, right? I mean, you gotta be diligent at everything, [00:03:00] right? And I think it’s hard because the portal is, Flooded and massive and I think what people don’t realize from the coaching side is it’s not structured in a way that like helps coaches meaning like if I want to find goalkeepers like and if I don’t know that they’re a goalkeeper i’ve got to do like Hand work and check the website and be like is this a goalkeeper?
Is it not and it’s sort of odd because it’s structured to help the players But if it was more efficient in terms of like being listed by position, that’s more helpful to coaches and players, right? So I think it creates a lot of busy work in that regard. Um, we’ve been very successful at having a lot of high quality Canadian players, like from the greater Toronto area.
And when I first got here from Edmonton, so, you know, we go into Canada a lot and I don’t think they would say no, If I wanted to go someplace, but obviously it’s got to make sense Budget wise it’s not like ted’s walking around the streets of barcelona to be like what’s going on
Matt: Absolutely, well What about id camps they seem to to be you know, a big part of people’s repertoire these days So do you guys do your own do you your staff work other camps?
How do the camps fit in?
Coach: We do work other camps because we want to see, you know, a bunch of different kids. We only do one ID camp annually and potentially it’s going to become two. And really we don’t try to do, I know people’s pushback on it is, you know, I don’t want to be spending a bunch of money at camps where I’m not potentially being recruited to, right?
Which I totally understand that we try to bring in a camper Like we’re looking at kids in a serious way like in our own environment so we can kind of make even more informed decisions So for us the ID camp that we actually host is very very important But like if [00:04:30] you’re super interested right and like you get to we get to see you in person You know because I can watch film of a great player but I Up close from five yards away.
Like you get the intensity piece, you know, you get some things that just don’t come off via footage.
Matt: No, I mean, it makes sense. Well, whether it’s at a camp or tournament or wherever, what kind of makes up that hierarchy of things you’re looking for in a player, both on the field and off.
Coach: Yeah, Matt, that’s a loaded question there.
I don’t know if we got time for that today. Um, I mean, obviously like, let’s just look at the prerequisites, right? Like you gotta be able to play. Right. I mean, that sounds like the simple, simplified answer, but the truth is, it’s much more complicated, right? Like we’ve got to find the right kind of human being, right.
Who’s interested in being a quality human being, or they can ruin your environment very quickly. So I think that the human piece becomes very important. Like I’ve seen people like they’ll come in on visits and they’ll say something to their parents in a rude way. And I’m like, I don’t want to be working with that kind of person.
Right. Or I think the intangible pieces become much more important. Now, when things are level, like if you have two good players, it’s like, Well, do you have any interest in being a good person or are you just kind of like you’re just playing because I don’t want to like, I like to say like I’m anti jerk, like I don’t want to recruit jerks.
I don’t want to be around people I’ve got to babysit 24 7. Right, like I want to be around people that they love the game for the right reasons. And it’s okay to play for scholarship money. It’s okay because like Aunt Julia wants to watch you play, like that’s all cool. But intrinsically, like you’ve got to love it.
I think that’s, I want to be around those type of [00:06:00] players. I think there’s a real, Demarcation between are you a competitor or are you not? I think everybody thinks that they’re competitive and then i’ll be watching i’m like that’s not that competitive and The reason I harp on that a lot is because I can’t give it to somebody You know what?
I mean? Like you either are competitive or you’re not you either care or you don’t care you’re either committed or you’re not committed And all those things are not things that like, you know, we can do like a field trip and be like, let’s go down aisle three of Walmart and buy three bags of competitiveness.
So I think the intangible pieces are huge. Um, and it doesn’t mean I haven’t gotten it wrong in my career. I certainly have, you know, as coaches, like you’re going to get it wrong from a recruiting standpoint from time to time. And, uh, I’m just trying to make good decisions all the time and certainly learn from the mistakes I make as well.
Matt: No, it makes sense. Well, let’s talk a little bit more about the school. Um, what, what do you find kind of are the standout qualities, some great things about the school, maybe some things folks wouldn’t even know by going through the website.
Coach: I don’t think, uh, the school being in Jackson, Mississippi is what people’s perception of it is.
Like, I think they have a vision, if they’re uninformed, that we’re like in the middle of nowhere. And that’s not the case at all. Like, the greater Jackson area is huge. It would take you hours to go around to all the neighboring cities. And you’ve got the triple A baseball team for the Braves. You know what I mean?
You’ve got the outlets. You’ve got the reservoir. Like, it’s kind of a big area. And obviously, uh, You know, being in the south and also our proximity to like Louisiana, like there’s a lot of fantastic restaurants as well. [00:07:30] So I think people sleep on that factor and then they get here and they go, Oh, like, this is a lot nicer and bigger than I thought it would be, you know, or campuses takes a lot longer to get across.
So I think a lot of that stuff, um, once people set foot on campus, like, I think a lot of their preconceived notions go away. So I like that aspect. One thing that’s really kind of unique to what we do is. People love Jackson State. Like, if you’re in the surrounding area, like, you’re a rabid Jackson State fan.
It doesn’t matter the sport, like, they support every sport to the same kind of level, which I think is awesome.
Matt: You know. How, how was the, uh, the Dion effect for you guys?
Coach: In terms of
Matt: in general, just anything you want to talk about. I just, you know, I had actually one of my friends, uh, who used to work at IMG with me, she, she went and was, uh, his head trainer, I think, and she’s now with him in Colorado, but, um, but yeah, I’m just curious as to what, what the changes are, maybe, or was there positive impact from the time he was there that have, that has stayed, uh, just in general, whether it’s through the athletic department, any, anything,
Coach: I think it was entertaining.
That’s for sure. You know, and I think it was obviously a lot of fanfare and he’s a giant name and I think it brought a lot of eyes to not just a football program at the university in general from a lot of people that otherwise without him would not have looked at it, you know, in the same kind of light or the same kind of way when someone’s like, Oh, well, Dion’s coaching there, you know, like they kind of stand up and notice regardless of whether or not they’re a [00:09:00] football fan or just like, you know, Why would he go if it’s not interesting or a good proposition?
So yeah, I thought it, I thought it was amazing. The attention that came, it was like having almost like our own version of Elvis Presley on campus, you know, because no matter what people did, like they were interested in what was going on in the football program as a result of, you know, his presence. So yeah, it was awesome in a lot of different ways.
Matt: Well, you know, for student athletes going into college, it can be difficult to really balance the demands of being a Division One college athlete, as well as the academic side. Uh, kind of how do your students really, um, you know, balance the two things? So what support systems does the school offer to make sure they’re successful both in the classroom and on the field?
Coach: Well, we have what’s called the Tiger Center. It’s located in the library. It’s devoted strictly to the success of student athletes. You can get tutoring. A study hall occurs in there. You do your scheduling there. So it’s sort of like a one stop shop for everything student athlete related in terms of academic success.
So I love that. Um, the other part is that, look for me, uh, I like winning titles, right? Like I don’t think there’s a coach alive who doesn’t want to win a title, doesn’t want to win games, doesn’t want to be successful. But I feel different when I sit in the audience and watch our players get degrees. Like that’s a nice feeling right like to know that somebody’s earned it and not just got it I think there’s a distinctive difference right like achieving at a high level versus not achieving So I think it’s a big piece of what we do and we talk about that all the time.
Um how [00:10:30] That’s your number one thing that you’re here for, you know, you may be you may have initially became interested as a result of soccer Right, but the educational piece like you can’t overlook that and I said to my team the other day I’m like you got people that work three jobs to try to take one community college class like You know to get themselves a degree and start getting going like let’s not take this thing for granted You know, so I try to really emphasize that point all the time that, you know, it’s an, it’s a super opportunity to become educated.
And I think sometimes it gets taken for granted because it’s such a sort of weaved into the internal fabric here in the States.
Matt: Yeah, yeah, no, I agree Um, let’s rewind it back. Maybe a month. You’re kind of in the heart of that swag schedule Walk me through what’s a typical week look like for the players in terms of winter practices classes meals games the whole kind of nine Yards
Coach: sure classes are all pretty much throughout the day.
So it’s sort of sort of between like I would say 8 a. m. and 2 p. m. And then if you have grad students that they may turn up late to class because there’s no negotiation with what time grad classes are at, right? And obviously we would never tell somebody they’re not going to class and you have to come to training.
Like that’s, you know, that’s dishonorable. So basically in the SWAC, right, it’s a Friday Sunday scheduling. So you plan a Friday, plan a Sunday. You kind of have an in between recovery day, maybe like finishing on a Saturday. Okay. Monday is our normal off day. Tuesday a. m. would be like a 6 or 7 a. m. lift. We would train in the afternoon at about 3.
30 on a Tuesday. Wednesday would be training about the same time, and then we would have a [00:12:00] break and then come back for film on a Wednesday night, right? So I like to have film a couple days prior, not just the day before, so you have kind of time to process it. And then Thursday is sort of like a little, sometimes a little bit of a walkthrough.
Sometimes you’re just playing 5v5, sometimes it’s finishing oriented, and then you’re playing again. You know, and it’s funny you ask that question because, I was trying to tell somebody the other day, I think in the perception of college soccer, like people sometimes think you’re training constantly, like you’re training like two and a half times a week.
Right? So like when you look at it that way, if you’re having a bad week, it’s very tough to justify getting into a lineup. You know what I mean? Like I mean you’re not training five days like you would in high school to have a big buildup and play on a Saturday and be like, I’ve got five chances to impress my coach.
Like I think that’s where the consistency piece is really important. Right. And it goes back to your earlier question of. How does somebody balance everything? Right? Like that’s sort of individually based. We’ve had people that have never had any problems balancing stuff, right? Because they’re very mature and they’re, they’re sort of schedule oriented.
We’ve had people that have really struggled to balance things because they’re away from home for the first time and their parents aren’t there to be like, it’s time to do work. Right? Or they’re like, freedom for the first time. Right? And they’re, and then they’re starting their, their schoolwork at 11 PM or they’re like, you know what?
I’ll start at the end of. Season five of Game of Thrones or whatever it happens, right? So like there’s people that are really good at it and really bad and when they’re when it’s not going well then we’ve kind of got to Help them sort of reset a schedule in order to kind of get back on [00:13:30] track
Matt: Yeah, that makes sense.
Well, let’s talk a little bit more about, about the team. In terms, in terms of the team, is there a roster size that you find is ideal that you’re trying to hit each year? And, and I’m assuming that that’s going to change to be, uh, 28 for next season anyway, right?
Coach: Yes
Matt: and
Coach: no, right.
Matt: I mean,
Coach: we don’t really know what’s going on, but, um, I think 30 is kind of a good number.
You know, I think people, they’re, they’re over hyper fixated on the number sometimes. Like it’s sort of my, like, this sounds like an oversimplification, but if you’re good enough, you should play. If you’re competitive enough, you should play. If you’re doing the right things, you should play, right? But if you have a roster that’s 20 or below, you got an instance where you can’t go full field and play 11 v 11.
So you lose that dynamic, right? So if three of, if three of your 20 are goalkeepers, you only have 17 field players, right? So like, if you’ve got 25 and. Five players are injured at one time is sort of my experience like calf strain or hamstring pull or you have a season getting injury, then you don’t have enough to be competitive sometimes.
And then if the number is too small, sometimes the players that start get complacent even if they’re not really players that tend to be complacent, right? So I find like that number offsets injuries, allows you to play 11 v 11, it allows you to kind of, you know, deal with whatever problems kind of come up during the season.
Not to mention, like, if you’ve got an academic issue or somebody’s ineligible or whatever, it has to happen. Like, you’ve got to plan for sort of all the stuff.
Matt: Yeah, absolutely. Well, [00:15:00] besides the players on the roster, their staff, right? So talk to me about your staff, the support staff, maybe that are in the athletic department that help out with the team.
What are everybody roles? What’s who’s there?
Coach: There’s me, right? So I’m the head coach and this is, I just finished my sixth season here and 26 overall. Right. Uh, and then Kevin Larry’s my assistant. Kevin’s been in the game for a long, long time. He’s got experiences. Head coach at Alcorn. I believe he was a volunteer assistant under Anson Dorrance at North Carolina Chapel Hill.
In addition to coaching on the boys club side for a long time in Carolina as well. And then we’ve got, um, you know, Michaela is our trainer and we’ve got, uh, you know, all of our academic support staff. And we have a lot of people, I think sometimes that gets lost in the shuffle. How many people help teams do things.
That, you know, like transportation or housing or hotels or the meals, whatever goes on. And I think a lot of people are unsung heroes in athletic departments that don’t get the credit that they deserve.
Matt: Yeah, absolutely.
Coach: But we’re not a huge staff like some other programs.
Matt: Yeah. Well, how about you? How would you describe kind of your coaching style, the style of play that you look to play there?
Coach: I think I’m a demanding guy. Like I know what I want. I don’t like sloppy stuff out there. And I don’t like stuff that feels like. There’s a disrespect for the game or for the opportunity out there. So I feel like, you know, I’m a competitive person. I want to win. But the thing for me is that I like to see people improve and I like to see people not take shortcuts and I like to see people win and succeed.
But in order to [00:16:30] do it, we’ve got to climb the mountain, right? And I think it’s The harder things is what develops people. You know what I mean? So we, we try to create challenges in training and, and we try to make sure people aren’t just quitting mentally on challenges and you want to see people like improve, right?
So like every day I go out there, we produce something new. I try not to, I try to produce something fresh all the time because really you’re dealing with defending, attacking, counterattacking, right? Those three elements of the game. And I try to produce a lot of activities that have all three elements, you know?
So we’re, it’s, it’s much more match related in that, in that aspect. Um, Man, that’s kind of a big question, right? I’ll say this for playing style, I want to win, right? And I would, I think every coach says, I’m possession oriented. Then I’ll watch some teams and I’ll be like, but are you? Like you lost the ball in two passes, right?
So for me, it’s not so much possession or system. I start kind of generically and go, no matter what you do on the field, I want there to be a thought behind it. I just don’t want anything mindless, right? I don’t want like a 60 yard drilling of the football that doesn’t make sense to the game. Like, if you have a reason for it, it makes sense.
Like I understand, but there’s those two elements. Like, does it make sense to the game, right? And is there a thought behind it? You know, so I think for, for stylistically, like we’ve been traditionally kind of a shorter passing team. You know, like one pass to initiate another pass or whatever it might be, but we’re not like a long ball style team and we never train that way.
So whenever we resort to launching a long ball in a match or something, I’m [00:18:00] like, I don’t remember doing that in the last five years. And sometimes, you know, the game poses problems and, you know, players have different solutions for it. But I think that’s the thing is I want someone that is trying to play the game the right way.
You know what I mean? Um, to the best of their ability, right? Because like to the best of their ability, their freshman year versus their senior year might be vastly different. So for example, like Karima Antonio Lopez was a first team all conference player this year, right? And she’s a technician and she makes great decisions on the field, and she switches the point of the attack and Nobody minds playing into her in traffic because she’s so technically sharp, but she didn’t play that much her freshman year because she wasn’t ready from a confidence standpoint, right?
And that’s a perfect example of a player that, like, trusts the process, allows herself time to develop, and now is a focal point of almost everything that we do, right? And then she fits the style of what we’re trying to do. Like, there’s a thought behind everything she does, and even when it doesn’t come off, you could see what she was trying to do.
So I like those types of players right that really and then I like people that just flat out want to compete Like just never they just hate to lose. They hate to get beat. Like I enjoy being around those kinds of players So, you know, we’re trying to have a complete lineup in that sense, right? Like you don’t want everybody doing the same thing You want a team that’s trying to figure out how to do it as a collective 11.
Matt: Yeah. Oh, I like it Well, you’ve been generous with your time I’m gonna just leave you with one last question here And that is if you had a piece of advice For a student athlete going through the recruiting process right now, what would that be? [00:19:30]
Coach: Wow. It’s a hard process. And nobody gives you like a handout sheet to be like, this is what you have to do.
And it’s very complicated, but I would say don’t go anywhere that’s easy for you. Go somewhere that challenges you as a human being. Go somewhere that challenges you as a player. My advice is don’t go to a school five minutes from your house unless that’s a necessity. But go somewhere where you gotta like spread your wings a little bit, right?
Like I’m a New Jersey guy. At no time, when I was in New Jersey, did I think I’d be coaching in Mississippi. You know what I mean? And I think that’s one of the best things for my development, is like, out of my comfort zone, and go do something different. And I think that when you’re far away from your comfort zone as a player, it forces you to really become better as a human being.
And I think that’s part of the educational process, right? Like, if you come in at 18, and you leave at 22 as the same person, like, the university’s failed you, you’ve failed yourself, and it’s our role as a university to coach you as a program and not player. To leave different at 22. So I think that would be my advice is find something challenging, but that, you know, is also a good place for you.
Like go by your, you know, go from instinct.
Matt: Yeah. Love it. Well, coach, I really appreciate it. Uh, wish you the best of luck as you’re continuing your recruiting and getting ready for next year. And, uh, hopefully you’ll be hanging that swag banner.
Coach: No, I appreciate it, Matt. And if I could say this to you, I appreciate the service that you provide and being able to reach out to people.
Show a lot of different programs, not just my own, and I’m grateful for your time. Thank you very much. Thank [00:21:00] you
