Mercer University Men’s Soccer – Coach Brad Ruzzo

On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Brad Ruzzo from the Mercer University Men’s Soccer Program in Macon, Georgia. We talk about the changing landscape of men’s college soccer recruiting, including the transfer portal, roster limits, and why Coach Ruzzo continues to put a premium on mentality, work rate, grit, and finding players who fit the culture of the program. He describes Mercer’s beautiful, walkable campus, strong academic opportunities, and the support systems in place to help student-athletes adjust to the demands of Division I soccer and college life. Lastly, we discuss his experienced perspective after nearly two decades at Mercer, his young staff of former players, and a style of play built around defending and attacking as a team, pressing high up the field, and winning important transitional moments.

Matt: [00:00:00] Hi, everybody. Welcome to Discover College Soccer. Today, I’m lucky enough to be joined by Coach Brad up at Mercer. Welcome, Coach.

Coach: Well, thanks. Thanks for having me on. Appreciate it.

Matt: Yeah, thank you. And, uh, excited ’cause, A, I’ve talked to Coach Tony on the women’s side. Uh, but B, I mean, there’s, there’s a, there’s a large chance that you and I played high school soccer against each other, which is kind of crazy considering that was, uh, 30 now, uh, some odd years ago.

Uh, but, but, uh, but happy to have you here and, and talk about the program. I mean, it’s August 6th. Uh, you guys got a, y- your first, like, exhibition game coming up this weekend, right?

Coach: Yeah, we play Saturday at Winthrop at 4:00, and we’ve been going for about two and a half days now. So we’re, uh, we’re starting to feel that mental and physical grind at the moment, but we’re doing a pretty good job.

Matt: Yeah. Well, uh, you know, um, it’s, it’s crazy right now ’cause, you know, it’s the beginning of the season. Uh, y- but you’re a couple months past the June 15th magical day, right? When, when you can start talking to [00:01:00] class of ’28, I guess it is right now. But on the men’s side specific, like, does… Are you even really digging into ’28s at this point?

Or because you got the five and five, you got the transfer portal now s- being s- like, and men’s soccer generally is later than women’s anyway. So w- where does that fit in for you guys, like, today in terms of class ’28?

Coach: Yeah, I’ll be honest, I haven’t looked at any t- 2028s. And, like, if you go to a field and watch, like, ’27s or something like that, and you see a ’28 and you like him, like, you may take a little note of it, but it’s not one of those things that I think on the men’s side that you’re jumping on it immediately in that regard, unless there’s some s- special circumstance to it.

Um, we do have one commitment for a ’27 right now, but the, uh, it’s rare. Um, and like you said, the men’s game is very late and constantly late. I think I was recruiting all the way up until maybe about a week before [00:02:00] preseason started this year, to be candid with you. So, um, for me, I just feel like there’s players everywhere in the men’s game, and- There’s players playing everywhere.

So, and it’s hard to see, obviously, everything, but things pop up, you know, things change. And I think in this new age with the NCAA and what’s gone on, transfer portal, five for five, um, you know, kids leaving, coming, all that, all those things that you’re dealing with, you almost feel as a head coach now you’re a general manager, to be candid with you.

And you constantly have to have, like, a plan, a backup plan just in case. And I have several just in case things that are going, and sometimes you can pull through and, and make it happen, and sometimes it, you can’t. You’re just, you’re down a number unfortunately. So, um, it, it is a little bit of a, a navigation.

Matt: Yeah. A- and so let’s say over the next three months, you [00:03:00] know, about during your season, ballpark give me a percentage, what do you think your time spent on recruiting will be versus working on the team and the season and what’s right in front of you?

Coach: Well, I think n- uh, 90% of it will be- Yeah … on the team, to be candid with you.

Now, obviously assistant coaches may go out here and there to watch some games, follow up on some kids that are in Georgia. I think we’re fortunate we have Atlanta. There’s several great clubs. If, if you’ve looked at our rosters over the years, it’s typically Georgia kids, um, and sprinkled in there with a bunch of Dallas kids.

Um, and mainly American kids. I’m a big believer in it personally. And so, um, and I think those kids are good enough. So, but to answer your question specifically for myself in particular, you know, very much 90% of the focus is on the team, um, and then working from there.

Matt: Well, like you say, you, I mean, you obviously Atlanta’s a hotbed, [00:04:00] Dallas hotbeds.

And, and so besides the typical MLS NEXT and ECNL type showcases, where else are you looking for players? Are you looking at those, what I call non-traditional recruiting routes, so junior college, international, or the portal?

Coach: Yeah, we’ll, we’ll, we’ll, we’ll, we’ll dabble in the j- uh, junior college world, um, a little bit.

You know, um, I think last year it was in, the nationals was in Florida, so it’s easy for us to get to. It also depends on where things are, correct? And, uh, you know, ’cause o- obviously we don’t have unlimited budgets and we have to kind of pick and choose a little bit. But yes, JUCO, transfer portal. Although, I’m gonna say something and this, I don’t know how people will take this, but for me transfers, I’m very careful on it.

You know, I think it has to be the right mentality of a kid, the right personality for our program in particular, and I’m sure a lot of coaches say that and think that. But I do think there are a lot of programs and coaches that are [00:05:00] rushing sometimes, and you see they transfer mid-semester, and then at the end of the spring, then they’re gone again because it didn’t work out.

So for me, it’s not only about being a good player, but I think there’s an academic component. I think there’s for, for sure mentality. Like, is it, or is this player gonna fit within us? Um, I think we do some unique and some different things in our program, um, you know, that we ask kids to do that maybe others don’t, and some can handle that and some can’t.

So, um, you know, I don’t, I don’t, um, depend on the transfer portal, so to speak, but if we can strengthen for a reason. And typically transfer portal for me, it’s a kid that we’ve recruited in the past or that we’ve known, we’ve had a relationship with, or it’s an Atlanta kid that went away and now is coming back.

So you, you have a little bit of familiarity with them, um, from there, but I don’t think it’s a blind one.

Matt: Yeah. No, that makes sense. I, I think we hear, hear that [00:06:00] more often than not is the transfers, it’s, it’s guys you, you maybe had originally, they picked somewhere else and now realized that, you know, maybe it was, uh, you know, they’d rather go back, so.

Yeah. But, but, but beside… So looking at all that, kind of what makes up the hierarchy of things you’re looking for in a player both on and off the field?

Coach: Yeah, and before I answer that question too, I do wanna add a little point here. Um, you know, this is, I’m about to start my 19th year here at Mercer, and I’ve felt like I’ve done a- And I say I, but I feel like I, we, have done a good job staying within the principles that were built on the program from the get-go.

And even though things are changing in our world, NCAA, transfer portal, all this other stuff, I still think as a, as a more older, experienced, more mature coach now, I’m still not gonna sway away from those principles and culture of what’s built the program. ‘Cause you can always fall back on that when things maybe don’t go so well.

So, but to, moving forward to answer your question, um, [00:07:00] about the, would you say the hierarchy?

Matt: Yeah, it like, uh, on and off the field, kind of w- what makes up, you know, what’s-

Coach: Yeah …

Matt: you know, the s- the stages or, or things you’re looking for there.

Coach: Listen, I think the number one thing for me is the, uh, intangibles.

I, I don’t think that coaches coach it enough on a daily level. Um, whether it’s youth level, high school, uh, moving on forward. That, you know, they, they, um… And, and again, I, I’m not trying, I’m not taking any shots or anything like that. But in order to win any game or be very good or get better, you still need to work hard.

You need to run more. You need to sprint harder. You need to, uh, have that never give in, that fight, that grind, that grit attitude. And you hear it all the time, like, we just had the World Cup, and you hear managers talking about it all the time. “We ran more. We had more fight,” whatever. “Won those duels.” And I think a lot of these youth kids sometimes forget that you still have to have that every single [00:08:00] game.

And then if you add talent to it- Wow, what a player that you can get. And I think what happens is we’re skipping those steps, and we’re looking for the talent of the player versus looking at that step. Now, listen, you can find that and then maybe culture that kid and, and form that kid to buy into that stuff, but for me, that’s…

You gotta have those f- four, five, six things, those intangibles first and foremost. And then at the reality of it is at the Division 1 level, there is an athletic component to it. You know, pace, strength, um, fitness level. Uh, I think that’s one of the biggest things, uh, that people have a struggle with coming in as young guys.

They don’t realize, they think they’re fit, but when they get here, they’re like, “Wow.” Because the game just moves faster. Um, the speed of play is different, and, uh, and they gotta cover more ground, and they [00:09:00] have to do it quicker, um, and things like that. So, um, for me, that’s, that’s number one, and I think you can tell that pretty quickly in games.

Um, and then you start evaluating technical ability, you know, decision-making, you know, all those soccer things and, and kind of see. And then ultimately you have to make a decision in your mind, do we feel like this player’s gonna fit within us mentality-wise? Um, and that’s a big piece of the puzzle, and that’s not easy to find out, you know, by just watching players sometimes.

Matt: Yeah, for sure. Well, like you said, you’ve been, uh, you’ve been at Mercer quite a few years now, so give us the inside scoop. What are some awesome things about Mercer? Maybe some things we wouldn’t even know by going through the website.

Coach: Uh, I think Mercer University, like, uh, I think 19 years ago when I came down here and interviewed, I had no idea.

First of all, I’m not a southerner. I’ve never been in the South in my life. I’m a Midwest guy pretty much. And so my interview was in June, so I was [00:10:00] sweating and it was, it was sweltering. Um, but when I got here, I was just blown away by the campus. Like, when you get here, you feel like you are on a campus, and every facility is here.

Athletic facility, um, the dining facilities are here. You do not need a car. You can walk from one end to the next within nine to 10 minutes. Um, you know, 90% of the general student body lives on campus. You have on-campus apartments and things like that. So you definitely get a campus feel, and it’s so well-kept.

Landscaping, no trash. Like, it- it’s a really beautiful campus. And, you know, you’re in your room and you’re studying and, you know, there’s a basketball game going on at 7:00, well, you can just walk right, right over and be there in five minutes and, you know, enjoy a basketball game, baseball game, soccer game, whatever that may be.

So, um, and obviously, you know, it’s… we’re a private institution, uh, very well known academically for business, engineering, [00:11:00] what I call pre-professional studies, ’cause we have a med school, law school, um, um, nursing school, pharmacy school. Um, so we have several different degrees that people can a- attain and, uh, and I think it’s a- an unbelievable experience in, in the classroom for sure

Matt: Yeah, that’s great.

Well, I think one of the challenges, uh, you know, kids have coming into college, like you, you mentioned speed of play and things on the field, but then they got the challenges of just being a student athlete. The student part of it, the athlete part of it, making sure they’re, you know, doing what they need to do on both ends of that spectrum.

So what kind of support systems does Mercer have to help those guys be successful both on and off the field?

Coach: Yeah, and we’re fortunate. We have an academic, obviously, athletic office or whatever, academic advisors within that, and, you know, we’ve got two or three different ones, but one primary one that works with our guys.

Obviously, we have athletic training. Um, you have a [00:12:00] SID, you have a assistant strength coach. So these guys are well … Obviously, we have three assistant coaches. Um, so there is a lot of help for them, and, you know, we’re not obviously gonna do anything for them, but we’re gonna help them down that path. And you’re right, you know, young guys or even transfers at a different level, they’re coming in here and they’re, and they’re training two weeks, 16 days or whatever before you open up, and a lot of pressure with games and, you know, performing, but yet then school starts on, you know, August 16th.

So then the classroom comes and the academics. So you really do have to be very mature about it. You can’t procrastinate. You have to time … you know, manage your time well, and I think we do a good job with the, the systems that we have in place to be able to do that with study hall and tutor appointments and, and when they do them, how they do them, meetings.

Um, so it is busy, busy time. Um, and some will struggle, [00:13:00] there’s no question about it, but it’s how they mature and how they grow out of it, ’cause a lot of … More often than not, I see them in the spring semester just flourish after learning some moments where they could have been better, you know, as a, as an academic kid or even on the soccer field.

‘Cause I’ve always said it, freshmen all hit one- They absolutely hit walls during the season, whether that’s athletically, academically, or just being homesick too sometimes, right? And they really have to punch through that wall, and the quicker they can punch through that wall, then the quicker they kind of move on and then they’re, they’re good to go.

But again, it comes back to that mentality piece and you’ll probably hear me say that quite a bit during this interview ’cause I’m a big mentality guy and it’s a big word for us.

Matt: Yeah. No, makes sense. Well, speaking of mentality, fast-forward to October, you’re in the heart of that, that conference season. A lot of, lot of mental, uh, acuity that needs to [00:14:00] be had, but walk me through kinda what a, what’s a typical week look like in that conference season in terms of when are you practicing, meals, classes, game cadence, all that kind of thing?

Coach: Yeah, and typically our conference, we play every Saturday. Um, and sometimes, like the program, some programs will play like a Tuesday midweek game. So I’ll take you through a quick week without a midweek game. So Sunday usually, we actually bring the guys back in on Sundays, um, to do either like a recovery lift with a group and then another group will train because they didn’t play minutes or didn’t play a lot of minutes.

Um, and then usually Monday’s off. I like to give Monday a- an academic day off, um, just so that they can focus on that. Um, and I think you also can recover guys better the day after, rather than waiting a day off, then recovering, and then going again. So that’s typically what we do. And then Tuesday, Wednesday are typically harder days as far as training is concerned.

Um, and we’ll [00:15:00] probably lift either both of those days or just one of those days. Um, Thursday start preparing. Thursday and Friday preparation for the Saturday game again. So that would be a week with one game a week. Um, if we play at midweek, we play Saturday, Sunday bring them back in, recover, kind of the same thing.

Other guys train. Monday pre- you know, a- maybe a little bit of prep on Sunday for the next game. Um, and then on Monday is obviously very light, all preparation for the Tuesday game. Play Tuesday, Wednesday off, and then Thursday, Friday right back into it of, as far as prepping for Saturday. So, um, there’s not a lot of…

Honestly, there’s not a lot of real training. I always say, once you get in your season, you might have one day. M- if you’re lucky, you, maybe you get two hard days of, of real training of just about yourself. And, um, so- Kind of when it goes, it, it’s hard for guys to, like, [00:16:00] break in unless there’s injuries or someone’s out of form, and that can be tough on guys as well and how they deal with that.

Matt: Yeah, absolutely. Well, uh, let’s talk a, a little bit more about the team there. Y- are you guys opted in? Are you looking at a 28-man roster?

Coach: Yeah, we’ve opted in. Yeah.

Matt: Okay. And then tell me about the rest of the roster. Assistant coaches, what is every- what role does everybody play there?

Coach: Yeah, so we have, um, uh, we have three assistant coaches and I actually…

all three new ones actually, and all got in within the last two weeks. Um, three former players. Uh, one of them is Dylan Gaither, who arguably could go down as one of the best player- one of the better players in our program. Uh, Atlanta United kid, um, all-region type player. Uh, Carlos Santa Maria is also a former player who actually transferred to us and finished his undergrad here, and then he got the fortunate luck of [00:17:00] getting a Pavio waiver and went to, uh, played at NC State last year, who was in the finals.

Yeah. Um, and played 22 games for them and started all those games. So he, he’s back, and then obvious- and then Fernando Ortega, who just completed his undergraduate degree at Mercer. So young staff, 26, 24, 23-year-old guys, but extremely energetic, and I typically like to do, um, at least some form of former players on my staff because they know how we deal with things and, and how we do things and they’re Mercer Bears all the way.

And, and sometimes we do some things differently. Um, but I’ve been fortunate enough, and I do wanna mention this, we’ve had several of our assistants go on and be Division I head coaches. I think we have three active guys in Division I that are head coaches that were assistant coaches here. Uh, we had another guy go off and be an, a head coach in the pros, and that was an assistant coach at USO Championship in Charleston Battery.

Um, and then we [00:18:00] had, uh, another head coach go off and be a top assistant at a Big Ten school. So I, I’m more proud about that than anything because I think that says something about our program and what we’ve been able to accomplish in these, these times with those guys. But it’s also, I give them responsibilities, but yet I’m coaching those guys to make sure that they know that they can go and handle their own programs at some point.

So, uh, but 28-man roster, four, four coaches including myself, uh, tr- uh, athletic trainer, sports information person, academic advisor, and then a strength coach. So the… I look at them as support staff and kind of part of our coaching staff at the same time.

Matt: Yeah, that’s great. Well, what about you? Talk to us about your, your coaching style and, uh, the style of play you look to play there.

Coach: Um, well again, the, it’s bi- I’m big on intan- those intangibles that we talked about earlier and the mentality piece and, you know, I think if you always have that, sometimes you might not be [00:19:00] the most talented team out there, but I think that fight and that will can get you through. Um, because I, I think soccer obviously there’s…

It’s a 90-minute game. You’re not gonna dominate 90 minutes. It’s just not gonna happen, um, especially on the men’s side here. And, you know, you’re gonna have some ebbs and flows in games, and you gotta le- really dig your heels in. But I would describe us as, you know, listen, we’re willing to do anything it takes within the laws of the game to win a game, period.

Um, I should end it there, but I don’t. But, um, but no, like all 11 guys are, have a role in defending, and all 11 guys have a role in attacking. And I, I, I make this point all the time to our team. If, if big-time players like Erling Haaland can defend up top, you certainly can defend as a forward here at Mercer University.

So our attacking players know there’s a defensive responsibility, but, you know, we wanna try to play high up the field. We wanna try to press you high, uh, turn you over in bad areas, and really take advantage of that [00:20:00] in that transitional moments. We, you know, we talk a lot and train a lot def- transitional moments, whether it’s defending to attack or even attacking to defending, um, and situational moments in, in games.

And, you know, we wanna try to be really good in those moments

Matt: Awesome. Well, what about the off-season? We get through the season, it’s the spring, what, what do you guys tend to do there and, and what does that look like for players?

Coach: Well, I don’t wanna think about that right now- … because I feel like we’re going into the best part of our jobs- Yeah, yeah

the competitive part, and we all like that. But no, the, it’s a, you know, once your season’s over, obviously you get that Christmas break, and then the guys come back in, whatever, the spring semester, January, and, and you go into a small eight-hour segment where you only get two days off in the NCAA, and you have four, up to four hours of strength and conditioning, and then four hours with training your team.

Um, and you’re in that for a couple weeks, and then you get right back into your 20-hour segment, which is [00:21:00] your spring season. And, and basically it’s the same thing as far as training is concerned, and you’re allowed up to five game dates that you can play, um, other outside competition. So we try to tra- take advantage of that.

We’re typically done, like, that first week of April, just because our weather’s good here and we can get outside. And, you know, we’re fortunate enough that we have a practice field right next to our game field, and so both grass fields, which is, they’re beautiful, which is great, and, uh, w- you know, we’re, we’re outside all the time.

So, and then they go into that, you know, they’re usually they’re done at the end of April with exams and things like that, or first week of May, and then they go into that summer, those summer soccer leagues, which there’s a, a billion teams out there that they can play on, which is great.

Matt: Yeah. Awesome. Well, Coach, I really appreciate the time and all the info.

Gonna leave you with one last question, and that is if you had one piece of advice for, you know, any guy going through this college recruiting process right now, what would that be?

Coach: There are so many [00:22:00] schools out there. Um, don’t take the advice if you, if you think you’re good enough, they’ll find you.

These kids have to market themselves. We do not– we could go watch a game or a practice every day. Um, and don’t get so set on Division I. There are roster limits. There’s only, like, 210 men’s programs in Division I, so it’s very limited. Um, that doesn’t mean that you can’t go play at a Division II or Division III school or a junior college or even a Christian school.

Whatever that may be, uh, go light it up, and then maybe look to transfer. But, um, I think playing, y- they really have to sit down and decide what’s important to them, and then start ticking those boxes. But don’t just get Division I on your brain, because I think, you know, even though you think you may be good enough, that opportunity may n- may not come, and you might have to find something else in the meantime.

And with this five-for-five stuff coming, you’ve got plenty of time to maybe, you know, take advantage of that.

Matt: [00:23:00] Yeah. For sure. Well, Coach, really appreciate it. Wish you the best of luck this season, and, uh, hopefully you guys are raising that SoCon banner.

Coach: Yeah. Thank you. Appreciate, appreciate your time. Thanks for doing this.

Matt: Yeah, thanks for being here. Take care.

Coach: Take care. Bye.