Clemson University Women’s Soccer – Coach Eddie Radwanski

In today’s episode, I speak with Coach Radwanski from the Clemson Women’s Program in South Carolina. We talk about how he looks at camps as a way to have fun, learn and teach. Coach also shares about the school’s vast academic support for the players. Plus, we discuss their normal schedule doing the week. Learn more about Clemson University Women’s Soccer.

Matt: [00:00:00] Hi everybody. Welcome to Discover College Soccer. Today I am super lucky to be joined by Coach Eddie at Clemson University. Welcome coach. Good to be with you, Matt. Yeah, great to have you. As they’re just saying, it was Jeff Cup weekend. Dr. Drove back, back and forth through, uh, South Carolina, but unfortunately not quite the same part of the state as, as Clemson.

Uh, but, but having been there once, uh, many moons ago, it’s a gorgeous spot. So, uh, happy to have you with us. Um. Like I said, it was, it was Jeff Cup weekend. It’s middle of March. Lot of your, you’re in the middle of your spring season. I know you guys got a game coming up this weekend. Um, in terms of your, your recruiting and I mean, obviously roster limits potentially in play, et cetera, et cetera.

Where are you guys at right now with your. 25 class. Your 26 class, what maybe, I mean, you got names penciled in for 27. What, where, what are you guys doing right [00:01:00] now in terms of just your recruiting in a spring normally? 

Coach: Uh, well, this time of the year, like with Jeff Cup, it’s really more along, along the lines of like following up with people that you’ve seen that are participating in this event, uh, with the opportunity of potentially trying to.

Catch on to some people that maybe haven’t seen. And uh, you know, one of the cha I think challenges for everybody is just trying to deal with, you know, a lot of the noise that’s out there and the changing because of the house settlement and the roster limits, and know the majority of everybody, especially at the Power four, you know, they’re all opting in.

That’s not gonna be an issue. Um. So, and I think each, each and every program is, is different in regards to where are they, like you asked about 20, 20 fives, like we have seven of them that are here already came in as midyear in January. So [00:02:00] these kids have, you know, they, they have accelerated their. Uh, their process and it’s, and it’s good because it helps them, you know, I always like to say, you know, ’cause I’m Catholic, it’s a, was a, they get baptized early and, and it’s not just on the soccer side.

Sometimes it’s just the adjustment of. You know, living away from home or my mom’s not doing my laundry all the time, and you know, who’s cooking, who’s dirty, who’s clean. Um, it’s kind of fun. So for them to, uh, to come in, so we had a group of, uh, seven of ’em come in. I. Uh, and it’s been great to have them and to give them, look, they get to play into spring games.

They get, they’re training with us all the time. You know, we actually are coming back from spring break. This is our first day back from spring break. We we’re typically a little bit later than most. Um, so we have a couple of spring games that are left. So that is, that is something we’re preparing for. We actually have an ID camp coming up as well this weekend.[00:03:00] 

So from the recruiting side of it, Jefferson Cup was more along the lines of like, I know you know Siri Nik, so we, you know, she was up there at that event. It was kinda looking at players that have been on our list and trying to, uh, identify, uh, who are some players that maybe we haven’t seen, and then who are some people that we didn’t know about.

So, to be honest with you, we haven’t even had, uh, she’s not even back yet, so I haven’t even had a chance to sit down to, to follow up. But, you know, you’re doing all that and you’re, you’re getting yourself ready for the future events that are coming up, ECNL and so forth that are out there as you get, as you move closer to June 15th.

Matt: Yeah. 

Coach: No, 

Matt: absolutely. Uh, well you mentioned, you mentioned camps, and I know ID camps now are just a, such a big part of the overall college recruiting process. H how important are they for you guys in making your decisions, but also I. You know, you see on social media all the time, people are like, oh man, I, [00:04:00] every time I send a an email to a college coach, all I get back is a, is a camp invite?

Is this real? Or, or, or really, should I spend my time, effort, money going to this camp? Is it really gonna be an opportunity for me? So, so how, how do camps fit in all of that for you guys? 

Coach: I could tell you this. ’cause when I first came to Clemson, so this is, I just finished my 14th season, so I started in basically 2011.

Um, I always loved camps because I was, I grew up in New Jersey. We weren’t exactly wealthy at all. So when I finally got the opportunity to go to a camp, it was like an incredible experience. I learned so much. I loved it. And, and then obviously when I went to college, I worked camps and was just. Like this.

I thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread that, oh, I can teach soccer. I can learn soccer, and they’re gonna pay me to do it. Wow, this is awesome. But the one thing that I knew as a player, and I transmitted this into the coaching world, was, [00:05:00] if you’re gonna do a camp, two things. One of two things have to happen.

If not both, it’s like, first off, the players, especially the younger ones, they need to enjoy it. It needs to be fun like, like yes, we we’re supposed to teach and learn, but teaching and learning can be fun. You know, you’re also teaching them to learn and to love the game. And even at an older level, you still want And look, yes, we’re at Clemson.

Look, last year we were in the College Cup. Yeah, we’re a very good program, dude. We’re fit, we work hard. We work harder than most people. But you know, I would tell you, we have fun. We tie that in. We want to have enjoyment on this journey. So, but the camp has been in a critical role. I mean, God, I would say out of all of my 14 years at Clemson, that probably.

85% of the players that are here all at one way or another showed up to camp. Like McKenna Morris came to camp. I was [00:06:00] one of the best players in the country. Meg, Meg Amp came to camp, right? Maybe some of our internationals like Kalen, Sheridan, you know, who was from Canada and, and Sandy from, you know, England.

No, they’re not coming over to camp. But it wasn’t really necessarily to see. You know, evaluate them Again, it was a little bit of like, Hey, come meet us. Come see what we’re all about. Put your foot on on campus and you know, meet the players. ’cause the players work the camp, you know, work and interact with the coaches because, you know, find out what do we do because we, because what we do at camp is exactly how we train our team.

You know, our summer camps are. Or I love because, uh, it’s different than doing a one day ID camp. So like we come in and it’s basically, you know, we, we go Thursday night, all day Friday, all day Saturday, and we’re done Sunday by 11 and there’s a lot of boxes that gets checked. Now tho to me, [00:07:00] those are great camps because not only are they.

Yes, there, they’re technically a Clemson camp, but we bring in coaches from all over the country, from every level, D one, D two, D three NAIA. Like we have 300 kids here. It’s like they’re all not coming to Clemson, but it’s still, and yes, we’re, we’re still trying to keep that same mission statement of let, we want them to enjoy the game.

We want, we wanna make sure, we wanna enhance their love of the game. We want them to, to learn something. So it’s like, have a great time, have a wonderful experience, and walk away learning something, whether it’s technical or tactical, that’s gonna help you become a better player. And we’ve had great success with it because of the, the recruiting that has taken place.

From the other schools and coaches that have been here and they know, ’cause you know they’re going well. There’s, there’s good players that come to this, to these camps and one of [00:08:00] my messages to them is always, look, do you guys know how many college soccer programs there are in the country? They don’t.

They don’t. It’s like close to 1200 when you add everybody up and, and the message is this, there is a place for everybody. Yeah, there’s a place now you might have to do some of your homework. Um, now if you’re gonna do, when you start talking Matt, along the lines of like, I, you know, the one day ID camps.

Yeah, those are the ones that, you know, my advice would be, Hey, talk to your coaches and if you feel like that’s a place you wanted to, to get on their radar, one of the best things that you can do is get in front of people. And show them what you can do, because I know what one of the things that I pay attention to at either one of the camps is how does somebody train, how do they interact with everybody and how do they handle themselves when they’re on the field?

Matt: Yeah. No, I, I, I’m with you. I think it’s great. Um, [00:09:00] and coming off that, I mean. Clemson being such a, a successful program, a great school academically, all these, I mean, you’ve gotta have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of girls who you know, would die to, to go there and play soccer, and I’m sure you’re getting emails upon emails, uh, all the time.

So how, how do you guys sift through. All of the interest and, and really figure out, you know, okay, this is somebody we want to talk to or, or we want to continue on with this. ’cause, you know, for, for a lot of these kids, it’s tough. They’ll send, you know, they might send 50 emails and get one response. 

Coach: Yeah, yeah, that’s right.

I mean, I’ve always encouraged kids like, look, if you want, if you’re emailing people. You know, try to keep it short. Try to keep it sweet. Um, if you have a video, keep it short and sweet as well. And there’s nothing wrong with just go, Hey Coach, uh, I’m gonna be at Jeff Cup this weekend. [00:10:00] By chance, you’re there.

Here’s my schedule, here’s where we’re playing. Look forward to seeing you. That’s a great way to do it. Just to let somebody know. ’cause one, you’re letting a a, a, the coaches. Know that you have an interest and a lot of the times look like we have, you know, we’re like most other Power four programs where you have a staff of three to four other coaches.

’cause you’re right Matt, like it’s hard to, you know, you get 10,000 emails a year or in every few months, you can just get bombarded. So, you know, you need a, a, a, a person on your staff that can monitor that, that can. Manage that and then put a plan together to, you know, okay, where are these, are the people that are gonna be at this event and who, you know, how do you see them?

So it’s, but I can’t, you know, uh, say it enough about how important it is for I. The student, the per prospective student athlete, to take a little bit of responsibility [00:11:00] in that in your recruiting, like you have to invest in yourself. I to use that phrase like invest in yourself and that means you may have to take that step forward.

Well, whether it’s set, the easiest thing is to do an email. ’cause you don’t have to pick up the phone and call anybody. ’cause I know if I was 15, 16 years old, I would’ve been petrified to do that actually. I know I would’ve been, but like. Emailing and, and letting people know this is where, this is where we are.

And then also whatever club team that you’re with, talk to your coach or talk to your club director about, here are some of the schools that I’m looking, here’s my top 10 list. And it’s okay to dream, but you also wanna get feedback that’s like, Hey, are you sure? Is that a place that you wanna, you know, can you make it there?

Is that the right level? Um. You know, look, I, I’m, I think I’m a perfect example. I, you know, I went to UNC Greensboro and back in the day that was division three. [00:12:00] Now we were damn kick ass good team won two national championships, beat the number one team in division one. You know, we got it done. That was the best place for me to have my experience.

Um, you know, I always say home is where you hang your hat and wherever it is that you are, you can make the most of that opportunity. Right. It’s your experience. You know, I get it. People get so caught up with like, oh, we got family tradition because our, you know, my great-grandfather went here and this person went here, and that went, yeah, but it’s, it’s still your experience.

You, you get to have it, and then you gotta also, from a soccer perspective, decide, well, if I’m, if I’m going there. What’s my chance of playing? You know, is it, do I have a high probability? Do I have a low probability? You know, a lot. A lot of people forget that, you know, whatever it is, you go to school, you’ll end up on a team, and guess what?

Most of you are, probably some of your better players on your [00:13:00] team, but now you’re on a team that everybody’s the same. Now, where do you fall on that list? And then what are you prepared to do to get better to help the team? And, and that’s where some of the great life lessons that are normally supposed to happen in this process take place.

Uh, a hundred percent. 

Matt: Well, I, and I’m just curious ’cause I’ve said this to, to folks before, so how many phone calls do you get in a week from a recruit, a teenage girl pick it up the phone that has the, the courage to do that? 

Coach: It’s actually slowed down. Um, yeah. You know, it’s more of a one-off. 

Matt: Yeah. 

Coach: It used to happen earlier, probably like 5, 5, 6 years ago, that somebody would pick up the phone and, and I always kind of loved it ’cause I, you know, I know they’re scared and I just try to make ’em comfortable.

Uh, thank them for their call. Yeah. Um, you know, I I, one of the things I like that we do at our camp, you know, we always spend time with the [00:14:00] campers during lunch, we put a little seminar on. Yeah. And we have them inter interact with our players and it’s just really to create dialogue. And honestly, they want to hear more from the players than me.

’cause the players are the ones that are actually living what it is that they’re trying to do. Yeah. You know, so ask them questions. What is it like to be recruited? What happens? Did you. Did you have to be proactive? You know, how do you reach out to a coach? You know, uh, what did you look for? What, what is a d What’s what happens in a normal day on a college campus?

Yeah. You know, what do you, what is your responsibility on being on a team or being a teammate? What is the work, what’s the difference between playing club soccer and college soccer? Can you imagine that? You know, especially when you’re talking about playing in the a CC. Sure. You know, the best conference in the country, I mean.

We’ve had youth national teams commit kids come in and, and go, you know what you told us about the speed of play and speed of thought. He goes, yeah, you just don’t [00:15:00] get it till you, you’re in it. 

Matt: Yeah. 

Coach: Yeah. For, for, for sure. 

Matt: Well, well, let’s talk a little bit more a about the school. I mean, I’m sure most folks are familiar with, with Clemson to some degree, but you mentioned earlier, uh.

Really those kids coming in early, getting a chance to figure out balancing the demands of being an a, CC division one athlete and the academics. Um, so, so how do your players really balance the pushes and pulls of that and what kind of support systems are there, what campus to help them with that? 

Coach: Well, we have, you know, probably incredible support here academically for our players.

You know, they have. Uh, tutors that are available to them. They have academics advisors that are assigned to each team. They’re, uh, you know, when they come in they have to do EE hours, which is a certain amount of study hall hours. So we really stay on top of things. You know, one of the things I’m really proud of is, particularly with our team, is we were once again, yeah, I can show [00:16:00] it to you.

You know, we’ve won this thing like about seven or eight times already. Can you see it? Yep. There it is. Academic, the number one academic team. Nice. On campus, you know, for the, you know, and out of my 14 years at Clemson, we have either been number one, and if we’ve not been number one, we’ve either been two or three.

And that’s really impressive. ’cause you think about it, on a soccer team, you have an average roster of at least 23 to 24 players. Compared to like maybe a golf team or a tennis team where the rosters are. So that is something I’ve been really proud of, of our group of young women that have come through here is, and a lot of them have gone on, like two of them gone on to win Olympic gold medals and are playing professionally and playing with national teams.

But all those players have their degree and you know, that’s always, to me, that’s the safety net. So whenever that. Soccer career comes to an end, you know, that they have that degree to fall back on [00:17:00] that, that’s the key to the next phase of life. So that the academic support that that goes on here is really next level.

And, you know, this is always a big question that a lot of young people would ask. It’s like, well, can I, you know, I’m a straight A student. I’m a really great student. Can I do all that and still be a great soccer player? And, and the answer is yes. And, you know, the girls even say it during the camp.

Probably the, the biggest challenge, and it’s not, you know, it’s everyone can get over it. It’s just dealing with time management. I. And those are, those are some of the skills that you learned. We helped to develop that. Um, but man, I tell you what, I’m jealous. ’cause the support they get here at a place like Clemson is way beyond anything that I got back in my day.

Matt: Yeah, I hear that. Um, well, and, and you kind of mentioned the, the, the demands there, but like I’m sure a lot of people are wondering if rewind to October, in the heart of that conference season, I. What does a typical [00:18:00] week look like for a player in terms of what time are they getting up? What are meals, classes, uh, team, activities, games, all that kind of stuff.

What’s that look like in a normal week in the middle of the season? 

Coach: Yeah. It’s obviously, it’s different for everybody, but we are, we have always been more of a group, but we have trained typically in the afternoons. So we’re somewhere near that 3, 3 30 timeframe. And honestly, we’re flexible because we’re always trying to work around kids’ schedules.

You know, if somebody has a class that gets out late, then we’ll just push, push it ahead to accommodate. Um, but typically in a week, you know, in the a CC, if you’re playing a double game, that means you’re playing Thursday, Sunday. So let’s just say we were at home, you know, Monday is typically the off day.

So we have Monday off and we train on, you know, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, you know, uh, Tuesdays and Wednesdays will be, there’ll be film and meetings, positional meetings that’ll be tied into [00:19:00] that. Um, so classes, they’ll, you know, they’ll take care of those in the morning, so they’ll go to school there. Um, typically are a done by.

12 or one o’clock, and then they have time to either, you know, get their study hall hours in, or you know, have lunch, do whatever, uh, and then make their way over. If some, some may have to come early for treatment or anything like that. Um, but that’s typically training during that week is, you know, Tuesday, Wednesday, play on Thursday, recovery is on Friday.

If somebody doesn’t play a lot, we train more. We have a training session for them, you know, and then team training again on Saturday, and then you’re playing again on Sunday. Now the o the other weeks are when you have single game weeks, which is a little bit more better, more little, little bit more user friendly.

You know, let’s just say we’re gonna play on the. On Friday or Saturday. So, you know, obviously we’re off on on Monday, so we’re training, you know, they’re up in the morning, going to school [00:20:00] Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday morning, you know, and we’re training in the afternoons, Tuesdays, Wednesday, Thursday, and then get, you know, whether the game day’s Friday or Saturday, we’re getting ready for that.

So we do, we, we work within their schedule to make it work. And it’s the same thing in the spring. There. We do a couple mornings because it helps people with their schedule. Um, but during the season we have, you know, like our men, they train in the morning. That’s what they do during the season and it works for their schedule.

And, uh, and ours, we just, we, ours is, our template is, is in the afternoon. 

Matt: Okay. Well, let’s talk just a little bit about. The, the coaching side, your side, how would you kind of describe, you know, your style of coaching, the culture of the team and, and, and what you look to, to get outta the players each and every day?

Coach: Well, the culture, you know, the, the, the, we like to say Clemson family here ’cause that’s important. And me growing up in [00:21:00] New Jersey, that was kind of like how all your teams were, you were part of one a family one way or the other. So. Understanding what is the expectations of the family when you come to be a part of it?

You know? Uh, so if you play for an Eddie’s team, you know, it’ll be based on my own professional career. It’s like you’re probably gonna play on a team that’s gonna work hard. You’re gonna have to be fit, you’re gonna have to compete. You know, I always say if you’re an athlete in any sport, that the minimum expectation is you’re asked to work.

Not to just trot through it, it’s to put forth an effort, challenge yourself, and then obviously you commit and submit yourself to the team. So team culture is extremely important, especially in the women’s game. And you know, part of this also is like, now you, I said it earlier about, you know, we’re working hard, we’re competitive, we’re in the A, c, C, we’re also trying to make sure [00:22:00] that these kids have a great experience.

Even though it seems like college sports is turning into professional sports, we’re still, you know, still trying to develop young people to get them ready for the next phase of life. So what, you know, and, and I like to think we’ve done a very good job of that, whether that’s moving people onto the pro teams or national teams, or even like during Covid, there was an eight day period where five of my former players all became doctors.

And you know, it was a great reminder to me about, you know, kind of the why of why you coach. And you know, it’s kind of how special it is to impact young people’s lives to, that’ll set them up for future success, you know? And that’s kind of an honor. And you think about it, parents drop their kids off to you.

There’s a lot of honor and respect that comes with that. They’re trusting me. They’re trusting our staff with their kid. I know what that’s like. I have a daughter, I. You know, daughters are special. They’re like diamonds. So, you know, I’ve [00:23:00] always tried to set up our program and our teams along the lines of like, what are some of the good things that we want to be our foundation of who we are?

Because in my, my experience has showed me that if we create all those good habits, if we follow them, if we check all the little, the boxes of the little things that need to be done. Winning and success are a byproduct of all that. You, you can’t skip any steps, you know, take Hey, create a good environment.

Surround yourself with good people, treat them well. Be honest, work hard. Typically some, some good. A lot of good will come outta that. It’s not really that difficult. 

Matt: Uh, I, I love it. I couldn’t agree more. Well, coach, I, I really appreciate your time. I’m gonna leave you one last question, and that is, if you had one, one piece of advice for a a, a girl going through this college recruiting world today, uh, what would that be?[00:24:00] 

Coach: I would be, it would be this, everybody’s journey is different. Try not to get absorbed in. Oh, somebody on my team is already committed. Uh, yeah, but what process did they go through? May they may have gone through the right process and some of them don’t. Um, your process, your journey is that it’s your journey.

Try not to panic, try to stay focused is on, on what is it that you’re looking for? What are the things that are important to your experience? You know, simple things such as. Geographically, where would I wanna go to school? You know, I’m from New Jersey. I knew this. I wasn’t staying in New Jersey or going anywhere north ’cause I was sick of the winter and I wanted to be able to train and play outdoors 12 months out of the year if I could.

That’s why, how I ended up into Carolinas. Right. Uh, [00:25:00] areas of study. Oh, I really love this school. I want to go there. Oh, they don’t have the major that you’re interested in. Uh, isn’t that important, right? Think about it, the size of the school, like I, I grew up in a small private Catholic school and then I went, then I ended up going to Neptune in a public school.

Um, but I knew, I knew this about me, Matt. If I would’ve went to a big, uh, a big school, what I mean, population wise, I would’ve got lost in the shuffle. But I also knew I didn’t wanna go to a small school that had. 900, a thousand, 2000 people. ’cause I felt like, well if I go there, I’m gonna know everybody in two weeks.

You know? And, and I went to a medium sized university, which was, I knew people, but I was always meeting new people. And I liked the layout of the campus. I, I, I put my foot on campus. I think this is a great question for everybody to ask themselves. It’s like when, wherever it is that you’re looking, say to yourself, this, if I got hurt.[00:26:00] 

And I couldn’t play anymore. Would I be happy here? Hopefully the answer is yes. And even though Eddie who thought he was invincible and never going to get hurt, I actually asked myself that question. And when I was on UNCG’s campus, I was like, if I got hurt and I couldn’t play, which I know is never gonna happen, but if it did, would I be happy here?

And my instincts was like, yes. And honestly, it was the best decision that I ever made, turned my life around. Great experience, great memories, great friendships, great experiences. I mean, that’s what it is. You think about these four years of college, you’re for the funnest of your life. So you really do the homework to find out what is important to you.

And you may not know right now, what are all the things that I should be looking, what are the things that are important? Just put a little list together. It might be three things. But you can grow it. It can go [00:27:00] four and five, but you sometimes people skip the easy ones. Like, look, location is easy. Do you wanna go up to the north?

Do you wanna go south? What is the size of the school? What is the kind of the cultural base? Is it a Christian based school? Is it, what’s the vibe on campus? What are the personalities like? These are all things that you could just kind of. Find on the internet, and then you just just decide like, okay, which ones check the box for me and which ones don’t?

Those would be the ones, I would stay true to that, and I would also ask my coach or the person that I trust the most from a soccer perspective is like. Like for me, one of the best teams in college soccer when I was coming, when I grew up was like, say University of San Francisco. Yukon was killing it.

Like I wasn’t getting recruited by Yukon, which probably turned out to hurt them. But back then recruiting was different, but it wasn’t like I wouldn’t have been a [00:28:00] good fit there. Even though my ego would’ve loved it, oh, UConn, I’m there. You know, I think it’s worth the time to invest in yourself because if you find the place, if you find the right place with the right people, you’re gonna have a great experience.

And isn’t that what you’re supposed to be supposed to be? Have a great experience. Get your degree and if God, if you can end up winning some championships or going to postseason is a bonus, but you’re gonna leave with friendships and relationships that hopefully are gonna last a lifetime. 

Matt: Absolutely.

Well Coach, I really appreciate the time. Really appreciate the insights. Wish you the best of luck here, uh, with your spring game this weekend, an ID camp coming up and hopefully we’ll see you guys back in that, uh, college cup here in the fall. 

Coach: Sounds good, Mac. Thanks for having me.