Special Episode – Anthony Latronica, Coach and Author
On today’s episode, I speak with Coach and author Anthony Latronica, a longtime soccer coach and executive who is currently coaching at Bentley University. Anthony and I go way back to our time together at IMG, and we reconnect to talk about his new book, Leading From the Back: Lessons in Leadership, Legacy, and Life From Between the Posts. We discuss how his experiences as a goalkeeper influenced his approach to leadership, including communication, problem-solving, handling pressure, and seeing the game from a different perspective. Lastly, we talk about his return to college coaching, the rapidly changing recruiting landscape, and why he believes academics and finding the right degree should be a prospective student-athlete’s North Star.
Matt: [00:00:00] Hi, everybody. Welcome to Discover College Soccer. Today, I’m lucky enough to be joined by Coach Anthony Letranica. Welcome, coach.
Coach: Yeah, thanks, buddy. Good to be here.
Matt: Good to see you. So, uh, Coach Letranica and I go way back. I- can you believe it’s been over 10… It’s been 12 years since I left, uh, initially. So y- and you got, you got to IMG, like, a month after I did.
Coach: Oh, it was that… I didn’t know it was that close. I
Matt: think, or s- it was close to that, yeah.
Coach: So I got there in, uh, February of 2012.
Matt: Yeah. I, well, s- it was January, so-
Coach: There you go … yeah. So you’re right, one month.
Matt: You’re right on. Yeah, we were right on the- How’s
Coach: our math?
Matt: Yeah, that’s it. There you go. Uh, so yeah. So, so, uh, Anthony and I have known each other for a while, and, and it makes sense ’cause now you are a college soccer coach, so w- we’ll, we’ll, we’ll have you or, or, or someone else on your staff on later to talk about Bentley, ’cause now you’ve, you’ve left us down here in Florida, and you’re, you’re up north.
[00:01:00] Um, and- And the reason I, I, I got you on today is y- you’ve, you’ve written a book.
Coach: Yeah.
Matt: And it’s out, and, and congratulations. It’s awesome. And, you know, my day job’s in the book industry, so if I got a, a friend who’s written a book with soccer, then, you know, I gotta, I gotta have the, gotta have you on the pod.
So glad, glad to have you here to talk about the book.
Coach: Yeah. Thank you. It’s a two for one, huh?
Matt: Yeah, right. Exactly. Exactly. So all right, so how, how long, how long has this book been in the works? What, what kind of prompted you to, to do this?
Coach: Yeah, great question. So, uh, again, thanks for having me. So my family and I moved, relocated from Tampa back to Boston, um, last summer, so we’ve been in Boston a little over a year.
And I actually accepted a job at Boston College at, as the associate head coach, and so we relocated up here to Boston. And right away I started my master’s program at BC, so a Masters of Science in, in [00:02:00] Sports Administration. And it was one of those deals that I knew if I was gonna do it, I was gonna start it right away because if I put it off, you know how that…
I, I’ve done that before. Mm-hmm. I’ve put it off in the past, and, you know, now I’m the 50-year-old guy in the classroom getting their master’s. So anyways, a wonderful, wonderful program. So I started that in May of, of last year, and as I started taking these classes, I realized that a lot of the material we were learning and the leadership principles I either had a story for or could share that experience or an example of that experience with my classmates.
So I started thinking about putting together the outline of a book. And so I was doing a lot of work in the program, a lot of writing, a lot of papers, and I just kind of kept going. So in January of this year, I put together an outline of all the principles we were [00:03:00] learning in class, and I started matching them with my real-life stories all over the years, and that was the genesis of writing this book.
Eight months later, August 13, I launched on Amazon, and it is now, I am now fully exposed, fully committed for better or for worse. Here we go, baby.
Matt: Yeah, that’s for sure. Well, uh, Leading From the Back: Lessons in Leadership, Legacy, and Life From Between the Posts. So if people just hear that title, you’re gonna automatically know what position on the field Mr.
Letranica played. So, uh, goalkeeping, uh, is, you know, I think… What do they say? It’s, uh, your, your, your errors are magnified because of the, uh- Yeah. Yeah … the pressure put on the situation and what happens if you screw up. So, uh, so I guess [00:04:00] I’m, I’m assuming you’re, you’re taking some of those, some of those life lessons about pressures as, as playing goalie and coaching keeper stuff, uh, in there.
Coach: Yeah, like, I mean, we like, I like to say pressure is a privilege because I have no choice but to have it. So, um, yeah, so I think the unique piece on, on, on this perspective, and it’s really for any leader in any industry, is the actual perspective of being behind everyone and always scanning the future, uh, problem-solving before problems arise, uh, clear communication, visionary-type stuff.
And as I’ve kind of, you know, moved throughout my career, you know, I started as a college coach, moved into the international game when you and I spent together, time together at IMG, and then I spent quite a bit of time on the executive side of soccer, and what I realized [00:05:00] was my perspective and outlook as a player on the field was directly transferring to off the field and how I built teams, led teams, and ran organizations.
And so with the book, what I try and do is kind of give insight to my perspective on all those things so that leaders, both in soccer and in other industries, might be able to glean something from those stories.
Matt: So, s- I mean, I think maybe kind of just hit the nail there, but, you know, so i- in your estimation, who is, who is the target audience?
Who is this book gonna be best suited for, uh, out there?
Coach: Yeah, it’s, it’s a good question. So I think logically you’re thinking it’s a coach or an athlete, or even maybe a goalkeeper athlete, or a former goalkeeper that’s now a coach. [00:06:00] But what I’m reali- realizing now that the book has launched and, and I’ve reconnected with so many people, is the, the interest is coming from all different industries.
And so I think obviously the people that might have a passion for soccer, or maybe even in particular, you know, are intrigued by the title, it’s really any parent, athlete, or leader is the ideal reader for this, for this book. And in the back, in the back I do an epilogue, and it’s a letter to the parents, and it’s just kind of a summation of everything, uh, good, bad and ugly I’ve seen over the last 29 years.
I wanted people to have like a takeaway, whether, whether, you know, they were younger, older, uh, knew about soccer or not.
Matt: Okay. No, that’s great. Well, in terms of [00:07:00] the- A, uh, I mean, like I said, my day job’s in the book industry, so, uh, uh, you know, a lot of times people are, uh, writing a book to, to help them get on the speaker circuit or, uh- Oh, yeah
or sometimes speaking is a result of writing a book. Y- y- you know, uh, ha- has that come into play? Anybody asking you to, to, to give talks about this at all?
Coach: Um, just, like, a couple podcasts. Yeah. Um, and, and to be honest with you, I think the biggest reason I wrote this book was to kind of get, get it all out of my head and, and, and move forward in my career.
And so it was really a, a really therapeutical reflection on, you know, the last 30 years of being in the soccer industry and the last 50 years o- here on Earth. So, um, I did it for myself, I did it for my family. Um, not knowing or not wanting really anything out of it, [00:08:00] um, except for the opportunity to share and express myself
Matt: That’s good.
And, and I think that’s the… When it’s that natural, it, it just probably makes it, makes the, makes the material that much better, uh, I’m sure. So I’m, I’m, I’m looking forward to, uh, my, my… to, to get my copy here. Uh, I haven’t had a chance to, to order it yet, but it’s, that’s on my, uh, to-do list for sure. Now, how has it been getting back into the college coaching game?
‘Cause, you know, you, you and I have had a lot of, uh, similar career things, uh, coaching college soccer, running a club, uh, ma- g- masters in sports administration. Uh, we, we, we’ve done a lot of different things that are, that are very similar, just different, uh, different roadmaps to getting there. So in terms of back in the coach- uh, college coaching game, uh, how’s that been get- getting back on the sidelines?
Coach: [00:09:00] I think it’s great. Um, I think, you know, that competitive piece never really leaves you, no matter where you are, what, what role you’re in. Uh, but getting back into the college game where I’m working with student athletes every day, you know, on the field, impacting their lives, uh, at that particular age, I think is, is really my wheelhouse and, and I’m very passionate about it.
And, you know, being at BC for one year and now being at Bentley, again, it’s just another new environment where I can learn and establish relationships, um, at a wonderful institution with very ambitious kids, both on and off the field. So for me, it brings me energy. Uh, I love building those relationships, um, accountability.
And so, you know, having, having coached now at Harvard, [00:10:00] Oregon State, Air Force, and now Boston College and Bentley, it’s a pretty diverse group of schools
Matt: N- not only is it a diverse group of schools, the game, and, and I don’t mean obviously on the field, but I’m talking the off the field stuff in college soccer has changed so much since, you know, w- since we both started till now.
So I guess I’ll, I’ll ask you one Bentley specific question. H- how are you guys navigating the changes, right? Because now with D1 roster limits, transfer portal, the new five and five, the… I mean, we just, uh, international students, you know, being all, all the rage, especially in, uh, in, um, on the men’s game, um, and growing in the women’s too.
But how are you guys navigating all that?
Coach: Yeah. Uh, obviously the, the [00:11:00] modern day landscape of college athletics is, is the most volatile it w- it’s ever been. So pretty interesting, you know, being, being at BC where it’s a, it’s, it’s a Big Four conference, and really dealing with the high echelon of decisions, um, mostly football related, and then now being at Bentley, a Division II school, it’s really interesting because our inbox is absolutely flooded.
Because now with the five and five rule, kids that are graduating in 2027, high school in 2027, no longer have a place to go because coaches are reneging on their offers, and they’re re- they’re retaining the, the players they have for a grad year. And so there’s only so many spots to go around. And so some families are starting all over again from scratch.
So I would [00:12:00] say, honestly, we get 25 to 30 emails a day interested in the program Which that volume is a lot.
Matt: Yeah.
Coach: That’s, that’s more than, you know, in the ACC, when I was in the ACC.
Matt: Yeah. Wow. Well, I, I do appreciate, uh, the chance to talk to you about the book and, and college soccer, and we’ll, we’ll do a deeper dive into Bentley a- another time.
Uh, but, uh, I guess I’ll, I’ll leave you with one last question, which is, I’ll ask you again if, if I get you back on for, for Bentley, but we’ll do it here too. It- s- if you had one piece of advice for, say, that, that senior, uh, high school kid, class of ’27, right now trying to play college soccer, what, what would you tell them?
Coach: Make sure you’re choosing schools that the academic side and the, and the s- and the degree is the most important. [00:13:00] And there, there’s too much, uh, too much changing both on the, on the school side and then the recruiting side. So I think your, your, your North Star is the degree.
Matt: Yeah, absolutely. Well, Anthony, appreciate it, man.
Yeah, thanks, man. Wish you, uh, continued success with the book, and, uh, and let’s, let’s make sure we, we don’t have as long a gap- Yeah … between conversations, all right?
Coach: Thank you, brother.
Matt: Thank you, man. Take care.
