Southwestern Oregon Community College Men’s Soccer – Coach Andrew Janderson
In today’s episode, I speak with Coach Janderson from the Southwestern Oregon Men’s Program in Coos Bay. We talk about how he focuses on recruiting after the fall season. Coach also shares about their great facilities that allow for year-round training. Plus, we discuss how he likes to let his players feel out a game and put their own stamp on it. Learn more about Southwestern Oregon Community College Men’s Soccer.
Matt: [00:00:00] Hi everybody. Welcome to Discover College Soccer. Today I’m lucky enough to be joined by Coach Drew at Southwestern Oregon. Welcome coach. Hey, thanks for having to me, Matt. Appreciate it. Yeah, thanks for being here. Um, I was, we were just saying, I, I, I got to interview the women’s side of, of the school, uh, last year, so it’s nice to talk to the men’s side of the house.
Um, you know, we’re, we’re here talking end of October. You guys only got a couple games left in the regular season. Um, how, how are you balancing recruiting during the season? Like how much would you say is your time split between the two of, of regular season versus recruiting? Right now
Coach: I’m probably 95% on regular season, um, Juco in our area, you know, not most people’s first target, so, and.
At least in Oregon high school season’s going right now. Um, and then club will pick up again in December, so that late November, early December is a better start to kind of get on the trail anyways. Um, but yeah, uh, emails come in. I respond [00:01:00] to what I can try and set up some visits to get some kids down here, do a few Zoom meetings.
But yeah, mostly it’s the focus is on the season until about November 16th when our championships are, and then hitting it hard right after that.
Matt: Okay. Well, in terms of, you know, where you like to recruit, you’re, you know, you’re talking to these kids, you know, what, what events do you like to go to? Are you, are you going to any the high school games that you can, or like what, what is your typical kind of.
Event portfolio look like?
Coach: Yeah, there’s a couple, uh, ID camps, the recruitment events, I’ll go to the E East Side Timber or the Timbers Alliance in, uh, Portland area. They do a December showcase. So that’s kind of, we will start off my hitting the trail. If there’s a local high school team come and play one of our local teams.
I might go out and try and get it depending on what our game schedule’s like, but mostly on a lot of field level, a lot of NCSA. We’ve got a questionnaire we’re sending out. Um, there’s another ID camp in the Salem, Oregon [00:02:00] area and usually it’s in March, April, uh, it’s kind of fluctuated last couple years.
Um, but the golden. Soccer ID camp, something along those lines. Um, I try and get to that one, but yeah, mostly it’s a lot of Zoom meetings with guys trying to get people onto campus to see what we can offer. Um, I prefer that way as opposed to going to an IED camp where there’s 80 to a hundred kids and you’re trying to, you know, get your face time as much as you can.
Bring ’em on, show ’em, we can, then we can see ’em and how they fit within our structure.
Matt: Okay. So when it, whether it’s an ID camp or high school game, or local showcase, whatever the case may be, ah, they get the latest recruit there. Huh? Um, it’s kind of what, 2040. What, um, what makes up kind of the hierarchy of things you’re looking for in a player both on and off the field?
Coach: Um, you know, academics being in college, I need people that want to graduate. Being a community college, [00:03:00] we do try and kinda have a spread. I know coming outta high school, I was not the best academic. Uh, going to JUCO route really helped me out. So we kind of want that balance. Guys that maybe struggled a bit but really love the game and other guys who can maybe be leaders and mentors in that way.
So academics is kind of one of the first things I look at. And then second’s, just a willingness to learn. Um, yeah. As I said earlier, the JUCO route isn’t typically people’s first choice. I think there are some changes in the game that have made us more appealing, but for the most part, um, yeah, good grades.
And then it depends on also the year. Am I looking for more mids? How’s my back line looking? Going into year two, what’s my retention like? Um. I’m not necessarily looking for the guy that was the star of their high school and club team for their entire year, uh, entire career, but guys that want to come and put in work and be a part of a group.
Matt: Oh yeah, absolutely. Well, in terms of, um, [00:04:00] the. Players wanting to, to move on after, um mm-hmm. You know, is that, does that factor into your re when you recruit them that they’re looking to play maybe after the two years or, or not? And then what has kind of been your success in terms of, of getting players moved on, who want to go?
Yep.
Coach: It’s definitely something I want in Oregon or NAI Seems pretty good. The Cascade Collegiate Conference has a pretty good reputation in the NAI. Um, so a lot of opportunity for people to go. We scrimmage a lot of those teams in our spring and preseason, but being a community college, we got guys that are coming here just for a two year degree.
You know, we offer welding a lot of other CTE tracks, culinary arts. So typically those guys aren’t looking to move on beyond, um, some want to go to work, you know, get that to your certificate. So it is a little bit balanced there, but there is. Something nice about the guy that wants to go to the next level, right?
Looking to go to a four year institution afterwards. So that is something I, a conversation I always have with recruits. Uh, [00:05:00] and so far my two years, I’m on year three here, we’ve been pretty successful at placing sophomores, or at least our sophomores graduating, have offers and opportunity to go elsewhere, whether it’s the right fit and they make that call.
Um, that’s, that’s up to them. But we’ve definitely been a building program for the first two years. This year we’re seeing some success and we’ll be in the postseason. So. That’s already showing to help out a little bit in the recruiting game.
Matt: Yeah. Yeah. Well, one thing about junior college that, I mean, at least when I’m talking to players is the ability to, to, to save some money, right?
So, oh yeah. Talk to me a little bit about what, what is, what does the financial aspect look like for a player coming in on average into your guys’ program?
Coach: Yeah, so, you know, tuition and fees are pretty, are a lot lower at the, at our level. Um, I think it’s. About tuition for, uh, three quarters, just over $4,000 for the time.
Uh, we, uh, have a full set of [00:06:00] dorms, which a, uh, not at least in our conference, is fairly unique for junior college teams. So that comes out to about a little over $9,000 a year, but that includes your room, your board, all utilities. You don’t have to worry about any of that other stuff. So our sticker price does look a little bit higher, but that is because you’re.
Completely taken care of. It gives you that four year experience at a two year school. Um, so that for some people that does price this out a little bit. For others that at least especially parents, it, you’re a little more secure. Um, you’re fed, you’ve got a room at department style housing, not the typical one floor, one bathroom old store set up.
So we take care of the guys pretty well. Um, and so. That is one of the things that come into play when we’re recruiting. We are able to do it a little bit cheaper, but also give all the amenities of most four year colleges, especially maybe smaller four year schools.
Matt: Okay. That’s
Coach: awesome.
Matt: Well, let’s talk a little bit more about the school.
I know you mentioned some of the programs and the affordability, but what, [00:07:00] you’ve been there a couple years. What are some of the things that drew you to the school? What are some awesome things about the school maybe that folks wouldn’t know about going through the website?
Coach: Yeah. I mean, our facilities for junior college are solid.
We’ve got a great. Athletic center. Um, it was built in like 2004 and very well maintained, uh, turf field. So in Oregon that’s pretty big ’cause uh, you know, it rains so we’re able to still be on the pitch outside, year round. Um, and then if it is raining the hard, we have indoor space we can use to play football, um, and things like that.
So we’re able to go year round. Um, academically we have, uh, health sciences are really big in our area. Um, and so we. Five years ago opened a new health science building. So brand new labs, nursing is set up really well. Um, their simulations are incredible. Um, we just added diesel tech as a program. So I mean, these are all things you can do and still play soccer.
Welding’s big for us. I’ve had a couple guys come in here [00:08:00] to be welders, not opting. Can you go to that technical route and still play sports? And Dan absolutely loves it. So.
Matt: Well, that’s the important thing for sure. Right? Well sometimes, um, you know, making the transition from from high school to college can be, be difficult even even at the two year and, and vocational program level.
So kinda what support systems are in place to help the students both academically, uh, and athletically if, if need be.
Coach: So we have a really nice tutoring lab. Uh, and one thing I like there is when they go in, they sign in with their student id. So I can kind of track how much time are you spending on your academics.
We get a weekly report. We have. Everybody on the team starts out with a certain amount of tutoring hours they have to do. If you keep your GPA up, we’ll reduce the hours. ’cause obviously you’re able to handle it. If you’re doing your hours and your grades aren’t where they need to be, we can get you extra support, more tutoring, um, you know, I’ll help you sit down.
’cause [00:09:00] sometimes it’s just a communication piece. High schoolers coming into the college game. You’re not seeing your teachers as much as you were in high school and you need to reach out. So that’s a usually a big barrier for some people. How do I con communicate with this authority figure? So I definitely try and help mediate those things.
And we have, you know, other counselors and advisors on campus. We set students when they enroll, they get an entrance counselor that sets up the first term. After that, they get, um, an advisor who is in their career field. So if your business. Someone that’s run and been in the business field is gonna be the one guiding you after that.
So we try and help with those transitions. As I mentioned, welding and culinary. The head chef, he is gonna be the one to help you out. Welding Chelsea, she’s gonna have your back and help set you up. So those are good support. The tutoring labs great. Regular grade checks to make sure on top of it, because that eligibility for the second year, at least on my end, very important.
Um, and so we wanna make sure that everyone that’s putting in all that work for a year is able to come back for year too. Yeah,
Matt: [00:10:00] absolutely. Well, you’re in the heart of the season right now. Kind of walk me through what, what does a typical week look like for you guys right now in terms of winter classes, practices, games, all that kind of stuff?
Coach: Yeah. With the way our schedule’s shaped out this year, we’re mostly just playing Saturdays, so it’s kind of what was stretched out. So we’ve been able to get. Pretty solid training in. So Monday is usually team meetings, a bit of a recovery day from the Saturday session. Uh, maybe guys that didn’t play as much, we’ll have a little more of temp workout, um, and guys that need a little break and lets them see our trainer and, um, you know, get fully fit and healthy.
Then Tuesday through Friday, we’re implementing our plan for the next opponent. Um. Traditional training sessions, usually 90 minutes to two hours, uh, in the afternoon after classes are over. Trying to sync it up as close to when our match times are, um, to, you know, keep the body into a good rhythm. And then, uh, yeah, playing on Saturday, sometimes’ have a Wednesday match in there.
Uh, my other two [00:11:00] seasons that I’ve been here, it was kind of a Wednesday, Saturday, so training was a little more. Quickly recover, quickly, try and implement something and get out there. Um, the upside, we played more matches then upside. This way we’re getting better training and I think the guys are looking really good.
So, um, that’s kind of in season, how a normal week would look. Wake up normal classes, afternoon training, do it all again till Saturday, um, off season. We do a lot of foots all during our winter quarter. Uh, that is the rainiest time and, you know, spend a lot of time on our strength and conditioning and speed agility.
So we hit that for those 10 weeks, and then we get some spring scrimmages in the final 10 weeks of the year and kind of go more to that traditional training session. We’ll usually go three days a week outside. They’ll still have strength and conditioning, but they’re kind of on their own there. I gave ’em 10 weeks where I micromanaged ’em a little bit and now they can go off and hopefully C continue to carry that out.
And then we hit summer. Come back for preseason August 1st.
Matt: Okay. Well, let’s talk a little bit more about the [00:12:00] team. Uh, you know, is there a roster size that you’re trying to hit each year that you find is ideal?
Coach: Yeah, I’m looking for a 30 plus. If I can get 30 to 35, that’s kind of where we want to be. Uh, we just had a change in our eligibility process that went into effect this year.
So, um, in the NAC you can play in seven matches and you’re still considered a red shirt. The eighth match, that’s when the year of eligibility goes against you or if you play in the postseason. So able to do a little more spot rotation with the rosters that size. Um, ’cause that is the biggest issue. And we, even if we were able to bring enough guys to have a reserve team, a JV team, there’s not enough close matches where we could, we could successfully have a reserve team.
So, um, I don’t wanna bring in guys that definitely aren’t gonna play unless we’ve had that registered conversation like, Hey, you’re coming in. You’ve gotta learn a lot. So let’s, let’s give you a year to kind of pick that up. That’s the only reason we usually do a red shirt, but I wanna make sure I’m bringing the guys to play.
Put that depth in a college season, you’re not gonna be [00:13:00] finishing with the same starting lineup you started with. You’re gonna have injuries, you’re gonna have life happen. So we wanna make sure ready. So this year we were at about 34 with four goalkeepers on roster. So 31 field player, 30 field players.
Um, and that’s been a pretty good number for us, uh, to, to stay competitive.
Matt: Okay. What about the rest of the roster? Is there other staff, other support staff? What roles does everybody play there?
Coach: Yeah, we typically have, uh, two, we usually have a goalkeeper coach that we share with the women’s team, and then I’ll have an assistant coach as well.
Um, our athletic trainer, Ellen Huff is phenomenal. She is, uh, a school employee. We don’t contract out like a lot of other, especially smaller schools will do. So she’s on campus, on site. You can see her around your class schedule if you have injuries. Um, and if you have one of those more major injuries, she’s been instrumental in getting us, you know, ’cause we have a lot of guys that come from outta state that, that are in our program.
So healthcare can be tough, but she has been a great link to make sure they’re taken care of if they do have like an ACL or some shoulder injury where they need to go see a little more stepped up [00:14:00] health. Um, and then yeah, our athletics support staff is awesome. Um, and, and really makes everything smooth for me on my end.
Matt: Oh, that’s awesome. Well, what about you? Talk to us about your coaching style and, and the style of play you look to play there.
Coach: So, I’m a former goalkeeper, so I do really build, believe in building from the back. Uh, so our first probably week, week and a half is setting up our defensive, uh, tactics and strategy.
I do like to play with, uh, back four, um, back free sometimes intrigues me, but just there’s that comfort level. I always have four in front of me. I know what to say. It, it, it’s there. Um. If I had my best choice, we’re planning a 4, 3, 3 with a single pivot. Six. Um, but I think being adaptable is huge. This year we had a ton of center mids.
We’ve kind of settled into a more 4, 2, 3, 1 formation. ’cause that’s what best suits the guys that we have. Um, but you know, there’s a change. Your formation, change of shape. You’re, you’re adjusting a little bit of something. I think we’re better on the counter now. We’re not able to press as well as we were at the beginning [00:15:00] of the season.
We’re playing. But I like to keep it adaptive, make sure I’m taking into account the talent that I have in front of me and that we’re adjusting to that. Uh, you know, I want the players to be able to get out there and, and do their thing. I’m not trying to micromanage, I’m not trying to joystick from the sideline.
I want to do that in training. Make sure that we have our team shape, and then let the guys fill out a game and really. Figure out how they can put their talents into it. You know, everyone’s gonna play the 10 a little bit different. Everyone’s gonna be different as a nine. So when you come on, how are you gonna do things differently and, uh, make an impact for the better for the team?
Matt: Okay. I like it. Well, coach, I really appreciate it. Gonna leave you with one last question, and that is, if you had one piece of advice for anybody going through this recruiting process right now, what would that be?
Coach: The biggest piece of advice is to be your own advocate. Make sure that you are reaching out.
I know when I’m meeting with recruits, I want to get to know you. It’s nice to talk to parents. It’s nice if you’re working through an [00:16:00] agency ’cause you do get some more resources and support. But I’m not recruiting the agent and I’m not recruiting your parents. I’m recruiting you, and so I want to know.
Who you are and what you’re looking for to make sure that I’m bringing you in and it’s a good fit. ’cause if you don’t ask certain questions, I can’t give you those answers. I do try and be as thorough as possible. And then the biggest thing, if you’re doing a form email, please don’t put that first paragraph where you say, Hey, you’re having a great season.
I really, I really appreci think that, especially when you’re O 13 and three like we were in our first year, that that wasn’t a great season. We did make some big steps, but there’s no way you would know that if you weren’t in the locker room. So. Either be sincere on that and have something to say, read my bio, go there.
Or just, just tell me about you because that’s really what I care about.
Matt: I, the number of times I’ve had to make that point to, to kids mm-hmm. Is staggering. But yes, thank you, coach. You, you see it all the time. It doesn’t go away. No, no. Always. Yeah. Oh man. Well, coach, really appreciate it. Wish you the nothing but the best of luck here as you wrap up the season and hit the postseason.
So congrats on that. Thank you. And, [00:17:00] uh, hopefully, we’ll, we’ll see you guys hanging a banner soon. That’s hope. All right. Thank you. Thank you.
