Connors State College Men’s Soccer – Coach Adam Skolnick
On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Adam from the Connors State Men’s Program in Oklahoma. We talk about starting a new program from scratch. He describes the tremendous support from the school, all the way to the President. Lastly, we discuss their roster and staff size. Learn more about Connors State College Men’s Soccer.
Matt: [00:00:00] Welcome to discover college soccer today. I’m lucky enough to be joined by coach Adam from Connors state in Oklahoma. Welcome coach.
Coach: Thank you for having me, Matt.
Matt: Yeah. Thanks for being here. We have, uh, Unique position. I’ve, I’ve interviewed a couple of folks who have both men’s and women’s head coaching responsibilities, but I think you might be the first one I’ve interviewed that is both head men’s and women’s and starting a brand new program.
So, uh, this should be, this should be interesting to kind of hear the, the, the path to, uh, to how we got to where we are today.
Coach: Yeah, it was a unique opportunity that brought me here. Uh, it’s hard to pass up being able to build something on your own.
Matt: Yeah. So you and I were just chatting. So, um, this fall will be the first season for both the men’s and the women’s teams.
Um, and you’ve been there for about six months now. Is that about right? Correct. Okay. So, you know, I know you’re coming from another college program. So you have college soccer background. So some of these questions you may have to lean on previous experience since you haven’t been through a whole season yet.
But, uh, but so what was it like from a recruiting perspective, building a brand new. Program, especially a two year program where you kind of have to recruit twice as much anyway.
Coach: Yeah. So it was, it was a bit of a challenge. Um, I kind of knew that was going to be the biggest challenge coming in, especially coming in so late.
Um, because I did get [00:01:30] here at the beginning of February and really by February, most of your athletes that are in their senior year, I’ve really made a decision on where they want to go. So the availability wasn’t, you know, there wasn’t a lot of numbers available. This spring, I went to about 55 games, um, in order to get my players.
Um, I didn’t take a day off from February to the end of May. Um, I was recruiting every Saturday, Sunday recruiting every night. Um, yeah, it was, that was the biggest grind of getting everything set up. Um, cause like I said, most people have already made their decisions by February. And I didn’t have an assistant at the time.
So it was fill the rosters by myself, go to all these games, all these events by myself. So that was very challenging and very, very time consuming.
Matt: So speaking of going to, to games and events and stuff. So what, what was your focus there? Were you going to high school games, to club league matches, to tournaments, showcases, all of the above?
What, what, where was your focus?
Coach: I went to everything within a two hour drive. And I really do mean everything that there wasn’t an event that is within a two hour drive of here during that time that I didn’t go to, like I said, I was at over 50 games, games and events, because I’m counting like a tournament weekend one event, right?
Matt: So [00:03:00] it was a lot. So how do you see that moving forward? I’m assuming, you know, you have full rosters for the fall. Is it? All first years. Do you have a few second years? So you have some, some rolling off. So how’s that going to affect your recruiting focus moving forward?
Coach: So everyone that’s coming in is a first year freshman, a true freshman.
Um, when it comes to bringing in transfers, I tend to do that more when I’m at a four year school. Um, for me doing that at a two year school, yes, it obviously transfers healthy, but for me to bring in someone just for one year. And then have to find them another place right after it doesn’t really seem worth it for either party.
Um, because obviously someone’s gonna have to move colleges go through that whole transfer process. And then, you know, four months later, they’re going through again, really, because once the season’s over, that’s when you start looking for, where can I get my graduating players to transfer to? Um, so typically I do like to bring in true freshmen at a junior college setup.
Um, because one of the biggest parts of a coach’s job at a junior college is, can I get my players to a four year school under soccer scholarship, you know, get them the opportunity that they should have probably had. Before they came to my [00:04:30] school because junior college is definitely a different path that not not everyone takes advantage of.
There’s obviously there’s pros and cons of going to a four year school to go into a junior college. You know, there’s goods and bads of both. So. Um, really, it was just, can I get a, can I get players here that I think will stay for two years, are willing to do what I say, and willing to fit into my system?
Because growing up, I was coached by a former technical director of Ajax out in Amsterdam. Um, so that’s the type of system that I like to play. It’s very high pace, you know, you’re moving the ball around a lot, you’re high pressing, everyone’s moving 24 7. So, bringing in players that I thought could fit that mold was really important for me and I didn’t quite want someone that was just going to come in for a year, hope they could fit in, and then have to transfer again and then have to fit in at another spot.
Matt: Now that makes sense, and you’ve alluded to it a little bit. Just now, but I guess what what kind of makes up the things you’re looking for in a player? Whether that’s on the field stuff or off the field stuff to to make you want to bring them into to counter state
Coach: Um, so actually I’ll start off the field because that’s that’s really how I prefer to start all the time um, first and foremost, they have to be a good [00:06:00] person as A college soccer team we spend a lot of time together Um, whether that’s for team activities or not, um, especially here at Connors, we’re the only fall sport.
So, when we report for preseason, we’re going to be the only people on campus for two weeks by ourselves. So, making sure that you don’t have any bad eggs that are going to ruin people’s fun and, you know, are just not a good hang, that’s pretty key for me. So, be a good person. Um, obviously second be a good student, you know, at the end of the day, being a college athlete is great, but you’re here really to get your education, get your degree and move on to the next step in your life.
Um, so I do look for players that I don’t necessarily think I’ll have to babysit with their grades, you know, I don’t have to go in every single week and check their grades and say, all right, well, you’re slipping here, we need to add a couple extra hour study all silly nonsense like that. So. Being a good person, being a good student, and then when we get to soccer, it’s alright, can, can you fit into my system and can you be coached the way I coach because the way you’re getting me right now is basically the way I coach, I don’t yell, you know, I mean obviously like when we’re at a game, and I’m trying to get a message to [00:07:30] someone all the way across the field, I have to raise my voice.
But I’m not a yeller. I grew up in a very positive soccer environment where my coach never told me negative things about my game. He would tell me how I can make things better, but he would never say, you know, that pass was bad, you know, you’re not good enough to play here. It’s always, you know, you can do this better.
You can do this better move this way instead of this way, because it’ll help you in the long run. So being. In a very positive environment and making sure that you don’t have those players that when they mess up, you know, start screaming and cursing and getting mad at their teammates for making a bad pass.
That wasn’t really a bad pass. They just took a bad touch. So it’s, it’s finding players that are willing to be coached the way I coach, and then can fit into our system. Like I said, it’s, it’s a very high paced system. It’s very high pressing, you know, it’s You work for 90 minutes and it’s, it’s not easy.
Matt: Alright, well, let’s talk a little bit more about the school. I’m sure we’ve got some folks not familiar with, with Connor state, uh, there in Oklahoma. So what were some of the things besides the. Obviously the draw to be able to create something new from scratch, but from a school perspective, what are some of the things that drew you to the [00:09:00] program and being there for six months now, what are some of the things that you found that are that are really great about the school?
Coach: So I’m originally from a very small town outside of Tampa called Plant City. Um, so coming here to a very small town again, it felt like home, you know, I got here for my interview when I came here. They picked me up at the airport, you know, they drove me around town, you know, they showed me everything and they really treated me like family right away.
And that’s really important to me is having a good support staff around you at a university because as coaches, like we can only do so much for our You know, the professors have to pull their weight. The administration have to pull their weight. The counselors have to pull their weight. So in the few days that I was here, I really felt the support from every single direction.
And then since I’ve been here, you know, the support has been unreal. Um, I mean, like I said, from February to May, I didn’t take a day off. And there were people that were coming in on their days off because I asked them something like, you know, I can’t really do that at home, but I’ll come in for a few hours and help you out.
So it was just an unreal support. Um, and honestly, one of the biggest things was the support that I had from the school’s president from the start. [00:10:30] Normally college coaches, we don’t interact with our school presidents very much unless. Um, usually the only time you see him is if he’s like, Hey, uh, we might need to revisit your contract, but here, you know, he, he hangs up his phone and meets every single recruit that I bring on campus.
He comes and just sits in my office and talks. And just wants, wants to figure out who I am and then wants to learn soccer. Um, because obviously that’s very new for everyone here and they don’t really know anything about it. So just the support and how much interest I’ve seen from everyone else at the school.
Has it really made me feel comfortable here?
Matt: Oh, that’s fantastic. Well, you had mentioned it before, you know, really it’s not just soccer kids are going to school for the academic piece. So what have you seen, uh, about the academic side of things at the school in terms of how your brand new student athletes coming in will really be able to succeed, not just on the soccer field, but, but also in the classroom.
Coach: So, the cool thing about coming to a school like Connors is, one, you have a very personable experience when it comes to your education. Um, most of our classrooms for your basic prerequisite courses like your Comp 1, your Algebra, stuff like that, are around 20 to 25 students. When you get into classes that you’ve picked because you might want to go into a certain direction, so your elective courses that are more centralized under one [00:12:00] subject, you might have a class with 5 to 10 people.
And to me, that’s amazing. I went to a small college and, you know, the day after a game, my professors would be like, Hey, you know, how the game go, or they talk about the game. And that’s something that I felt here is that the professors, because it’s such a small environment, they know exactly who you are.
They know everything about who you are as a student athlete here at Connors. So they’re here to support you. And it’s big because obviously the end at the end of the day, we’re here to get them to the next level. Um, so being such a personable education and then having the opportunity to transfer anywhere in the country because we’re an accredited junior college.
Yeah. Our associates degree transfers anywhere in the country. So it’s, it’s a good opportunity and it’s It’s definitely a path that I would encourage players to kind of let go of their biases about because a lot of people do have a bias about going to a junior college, which I understand. But at the end of the day, when you’re interviewing somewhere for a job, you’re not going to say, Oh yeah, I went to this college, this college, this college, this college, really at the end of the day, you’re gonna say I got my bachelor’s, my master’s, whatever your final degree is.
You’re going to say, I got that from here. And then if they ask about other experiences, you can [00:13:30] go into that. But for the most part, your early classes, your first two years of college, they’re going to be the same courses anywhere you go in the country. So it’s important to find somewhere that You feel a lot of support.
You know, the professors are good at working with athletes because that’s that’s a big problem with a lot of schools is that when you’re missing class, you know, two, three times a week for games because you’re in season, you know, the professors just like, um, you know, I’m not going to be bothered with the student.
Our professors make sure that they have every resource they need to make sure they’re successful. I mean, we even have free air cards here at the school so that When we’re traveling to games, we can grab a few air cards and pass them around the bus, so everyone can still do their homework and turn in assignments on time, which is not something that every old, every school gets.
I mean, I’ve been at NAIA schools, I’ve been at Division III schools, I’ve volunteered with the Division II schools, so some of the resources that we have here. Are better than I’ve seen at other universities that I’ve been at.
Matt: Yeah, for sure. Well, let’s, let’s fast forward here a couple months and put you say in the heart of the season in October.
Can you walk me through what you see a typical week looking like for the players in terms of when his classes practices kind of what is the game schedule look like that kind [00:15:00] of thing.
Coach: Okay, so most weeks we play twice a week. Usually it’s Wednesdays and Sundays. We do have one week in October that from Sunday to Sunday, we have four games, and that’s not very typical.
That’s, that’s going to be a brutal week, but a typical week for us is a game on Wednesday and Sunday. Um, practice every other day. Typically what we do is you go to class between like 8am to like 1pm is usually the latest. I like my students to be in class. That’s another cool thing here is. The counselors sit down with the coaches and say, all right, when do you want your students out of class so that they can make it to practice?
So I’m able to help set their schedules that way. So most of them will go to class for about two to three hours each day, um, between the times of 8 a. m. to 1 p. m. Um, and then the men’s team practices at 2 p. m. That way, you know, kind of have a little bit of time after class to kind of switch that mentality.
And then the women’s practice will start at 4 p. m. Like I said, practice every day that we don’t have a game, you know, obviously throw in recovery sessions in there as well, the day after games a lot of times. Um, but that’s the typical setup is you go to class two to three hours a day, go to practice, [00:16:30] and if you have study hall that night, you go to study hall.
Otherwise the rest, the rest of the time is yours.
Matt: Okay. Well, let’s talk a little bit more about, about the team. And I know you mentioned, you know, obviously you have full rosters, but is there. A roster size you feel is ideal, you know, moving forward that you’re going to try to hit each year.
Coach: So for junior college, it’s a bit different than four year schools because most four year schools won’t schedule two games in every single week.
Um, sometimes they’ll have a bye week. Sometimes they’ll have a game a week with just one game. We’re never like that. We’re always going to have a week where we have at least two games. So for me, a roster size, needs to be between 25 to 30. I like to have depth in every single position. My, my rule is I bring in minimum one of each position every year.
Um, so typically my recruiting classes are between 10 and 15, but the importance of depth is huge for us because I mean, it’s hot here and it’s hot all around the country during August and September. So most of our early games, you know, we’re playing in a hundred degree weather where it’s, it’s miserable for 90 minutes, you know, it’s, it’s tough.
So having that depth and having that next man up so that, you know, I can get our really, really important players, you [00:18:00] know, an extra five minutes at the end of The first half say, all right, let’s pull them off for this last five minutes, get them a 20 minute break rather than just the 15 minute halftime break, you know, so so depth is really important to me.
So I do like to keep around 25 to 30.
Matt: Well, in terms of staff, I mean, uh, it’s hard enough being a head coach of two programs. So what, what does the support staff look like for you for, for each of the programs?
Coach: So I did just hire an assistant. Um, he is my only assistant. He’s the full time goalkeeper coach, but he’s been coaching about seven years.
Um, I worked with him a little bit at Millsaps. He was on the women’s side at Millsaps. I was on the men’s side, so I got to know him pretty well. Um, but he takes care of all the goalkeeping, you know, obviously he helps with recruiting. He helps with, you know, everything else that comes with running a program.
Um, but really as far as coaches, it’s just me and him. And then obviously we have our athletic trainer, you know, we have our administrators, we have an athletic director, our Dean of Student Life is very heavily involved with. the athletic teams as much as possible, you know, taking the little tasks off our hands, you know, making sure move in days go well, making sure that’s all set up so that we don’t have to do stuff like that.[00:19:30]
And then the counselors in the registrar here, if honest, in my opinion of just on above and beyond, um, because they’re so willing to help. And they’re so willing to just drop what they’re doing and be like, all right, you know, you got to have everything done by August. So we’re going to drop what we’re doing right now, get what you need done, and then we’ll come back to this.
So coaching wise, it’s just me and my assistant Richard Bench. And then just the entire school kind of pulls their own weight and helps everyone else when they can. All right.
Matt: Awesome. Well, Hey, we’ve, we’ve covered a lot of ground, talked about a lot of different areas, but the way I like to end these is as a college coach, if you could give one piece of advice, one nugget of information, any parent, player, family going through the college soccer recruiting process, what would that be?
Coach: I’ll give one for parents and one for players. Parents do not lead any conversation or any interaction. Right away, that’s a huge turn off to any coach. We’re gonna look at it as, first, does this kid really want to go here or does this parent want him to come here? Second, we’re gonna say, alright, does this person really want to be a college athlete or does their parent want them to be a college athlete?
And then just show some interest, like, If your parent’s the only one showing interest and you’re just sitting there with a [00:21:00] blank look on your face, nodding every couple words, to me it just looks like you’re not interested, you know, you don’t want to be bothered coming here, so I would turn to a different direction at that point.
For a student standpoint, I would say watch college soccer. Too many players do not do that and don’t understand the differences between the levels. Everyone has this dream of going Division One, which, yes, for the people that make it to the top Division One schools, it’s fantastic. But as a coach, we always go back to the, to the mean stat.
7 percent of people that play high school level, whether that’s high school soccer or club soccer in the U. S., 7 percent make it to college on an athletic scholarship. So. 7 percent of you are going to make it here to a college, fulfill your dream of being a college athlete, and the rest, you know, it’s just not in the books for you.
But if you’re part of that 7 percent and you’re just, yep, I’m going D1 or nothing, then you’re really limiting yourself because you don’t know the experiences you’re going to get at these other schools. There’s Division 2 schools that are absolutely better than some of the Division 1 schools. There’s Division 3 schools that have amazing facilities.
There’s NAIA schools where you’ll [00:22:30] go and you might be one of like five Americans and you’ll meet so many people from around the world, or you can come to a small school like Connors and you’ll know everyone here. I mean, it’s, it’s hard not to walk past someone and be like, Oh yes, they are on the basketball team or they’re on the softball team.
You know, everyone knows everyone at a small school like this so I encourage people to go to college soccer games, every single division, see what level, you realistically think you fit at, and then visit as many schools as you want there. I mean you unofficial visits. You can take as many as you want, as many schools, so take them.
If you’re, if you’re going on a vacation and you guys are driving, I highly suggest Hey, let’s find one or two colleges on the way there or on the way back home that we can just stop by visit. We don’t even have to interact with the soccer team. We can just say, Hey, I want to call campus tour. See if it’s a good fit.
It may not be. It may be, but limiting yourself with these opportunities saying, you know, I’m going D one or nothing or if you have your mindset on one school since you’re like an eighth grade and that school never contacts you for a college scholarship. You know, [00:24:00] you’re, you’re really just hurting yourself at that point as, as a college athlete.
Matt: Yeah, couldn’t agree more. In fact, uh, we’re leaving Wednesday for our family vacay and stopping out of college on the drive doing exactly what you recommended. So, you know the drill. Exactly. Well, coach, really appreciate the time. Wish you the best of luck in this first season. Uh, looking forward to maybe checking in with you next year.
See how things are going and really hope you have a successful first year coach.
Coach: Yeah, of course. I really appreciate The opportunity to speak on your podcast and it’s great meeting you. Great conversation. And you’re welcome to call anytime. I’ll always take the time out of my day. Awesome. Thanks. Take care.
Yep. You as well.
