Lyon College Women’s Soccer – Coach Marc Neddo

On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Marc from the Lyon Women’s Program. We talk about their transition from NAIA to Division 3. He describes their quality education with many students moving on to grad school. Lastly, we discuss their style of play adapting to the talents of the roster. Learn more about Lyon College Women’s Soccer.

Matt: [00:00:00] Hi everybody. Welcome to Discover College Soccer. Today I’m lucky enough to be joined by Coach Marc Neddo from Lyon College in Arkansas. Welcome coach. Good morning. Morning. Thanks for being here. Uh, gonna Women’s NAIA program there in Arkansas at Lyon and, uh, you know, we’re hot and heavy in the college showcase season and tournaments and whatnot, so, uh, I’m sure your recruiting is, uh, full, full go.

So, uh, where are you at right now? Kind of what’s your calendar, uh, when it comes to recruiting? Are, are you, are you still closing out 20 threes? Are you only looking at 20 fours? What’s that look like right now for you? 

Coach: Yeah, it’s. That point in the year where I’m trying to close out, uh, 2023 and trying to, uh, shift, uh, more of the focus on 2024.

Uh, so it’s kind of doing both. Um. and also we’re, we’re in transition, so we’re, we’re transitioning from NAIA to NCAA division three. So that’s also getting the, getting the word out and uh, um, recruiting on that front as well. So it’s, uh, it’s a busy time of year, uh, but it’s a positive time. I already have seven commits and I’ve got, uh, I’d say four to five more in the pipeline who are pretty close.

Matt: So. Wow. So when do you guys start competing officially as division?

Coach: So next fall will be official, our first official division three season. So this have been a kinda transition year. Okay. [00:01:30] All right. 

Matt: Well, good luck with that. Um, so in your recruiting, um, are there kind of tournaments or places that are kind of must hit on your list each year for, for making the, those recruiting visits?

Coach: Yeah, I’d say probably the number one, uh, area is gonna be the whole Dallas Metroplex. , uh, area just because of the volume of players and the caliber of players. Um, another one I like, um, is, uh, Memphis, Tennessee, just because I, I see that kind of as a future growth, uh, market. Uh, and it’s proximity only about two and a half hours away.

Um, and then, uh, by the third one, um, is probably the San St. Louis. So, okay. 

Matt: Now in terms of recruiting, do you guys do any camps or do you or your staff work any camps or is that part of your recruiting philosophy at all?

Coach: Uh, we, we do mostly ID camps. Um, we do about three a year. Uh, and then sometimes there’s certain showcases that have little camp components, uh, attached.

uh, and sometimes we’ll, we’ll, uh, put our name in the, to, to run a part of the clinic or the camp part. Okay. 

Matt: Well, when you’re recruiting, do you spend much time talking to high school coaches, club coaches? Does that factor in to, to your recruiting at all? 

Coach: Absolutely. Um, so I just did a, a local Arkansas, [00:03:00] um, high school tournament, uh, and I was able to connect directly with a couple of the coaches, uh, and then also used that.

And those I were, wasn’t able to meet with directly. I got, I got their contact information and was able to set up a relationship with them. Um, So that’s, that’s ongoing right now. Uh, but yeah, we make connections with, uh, with coaches and, uh, kind of, a lot of them want to know your, your coaching philosophy and your, your, your school’s, uh, attributes.

And so we get that out there and they, they can also help out, match up good prospects with, with the schools Attributes.

Matt: Yeah, no, that makes, that makes a lot of sense. Well, whether it’s at a, at an event or a tournament or anything you’re looking at, what is your kind of hierarchy of things you’re looking for in a player, whether that’s on the field attributes or off the field stuff?

Coach: Uh, yeah, good question. One of, one of the first things I, I look for, uh, is how productive their first touch. So when the bird ball first comes to them, what are, what, what are they doing with it? Um, and the more productive their first touch is, uh, obviously the more, uh, uh, I’m interested and sometimes it doesn’t require, um, fancy display.

It’s just very, I’ll take purposeful over, over fancy. Um, and then I like players that, uh, are trying. Have, uh, an impact right away on, on the play around them. So, for example, uh, they’ll pass the ball, but immediately move off the ball to be [00:04:30] part of the, maybe second pass, uh, or supporting if, if they get in trouble so their, their, their mind is engaged.

Um, it’s amazing to me how many players will just pass the ball and then just go flatfooted and watch. Uh, and I want the player that even if they’re not the most skilled player, They’re trying to be part of the solution. So those are some of the things I look for. Uh, and then as far as character, um, I think players need to remember that we’re always looking at attitude on the field.

So for example, if I see a player, um, just get very negative and critical over, uh, um, trivial, debatable call by the referee. Um, Early in the game is that, that just that negativity shines through. And, and as coaches we think about, do I want to live with that for four years? 

Matt: Uh, so yeah, I, uh, you’re not the first person to to mention something like that, uh, that I’ve talked to.

So that, that’s good. Um, When you hear from players that are, that are interested in your program, is there something that you really like to see or, or not like to see in the, those communications that you get from players? 

Coach: Uh, I, I like to see that, uh, they’ve kind of done some, some research, uh, and they, and they.

Themselves have reasons why they’re, they’re considering your, your college? Uh, it may be, uh, it may be the location, [00:06:00] uh, maybe they’re looking for to get out of a very dense inner city environment, and they’re looking at, uh, Lyon because we’re in a kind of a attractive scenic area. Um, so I, I like the fact that they’ve done some, some research.

Um, and I also like, , like when they, they share that they, um, they, they wanna compete. Um, they don’t wanna deal with all the drama. Uh, they’re looking for a place where they can just, uh, compete, be positive, and look to get better. Uh, so when they communicate anything about coachability, uh, they don’t pretend to know it all.

And they’re just, just trying to get, get better and be surrounded with. Teammates, uh, that want to get better and looking for coaching that, that looks to develop players. That’s music to my ears. 

Matt: No, that, that, that’s great. Um, well let’s learn a little bit more about the school. I’m sure there’s a lot of folks out there maybe aren’t familiar with Lyon, uh, in Arkansas, especially folks down near in me and Florida.

They probably aren’t familiar at all. So what are some of the awesome things about Lyon that you could tell us that maybe I won’t find just by clicking around the. 

Coach: Yeah, well, um, line is kind of a more of, um, our reputation is regional and it’s good, but like once you get out of the, uh, the neighboring states, [00:07:30] uh, it’s kind of like a, a hidden little secret.

Uh, but one of, one of the things we’re known for is you get, uh, a high quality. . Um, what I mean by that is if you’re looking to go into graduate school, we, we have, uh, very high acceptance rates into graduate school. For example, uh, our acceptance rate into medical school is double the national average. . Um, so all the regional law schools, medical schools, physical therapy schools, they have a high, uh, regard for ly college graduates cuz they know they’re getting a pretty rigorous academic, uh, experience.

Um, I also like to say that Lyon College is. For those that want to, uh, especially student athletes, they want to live life to the fullest and they want to get a big bite out of, uh, their athletic experience and they wanna get a big bite outta their AC academic. Uh, and we, we, uh, kind of feed that on both sides.

Uh, which is one reason why I, one reason we have, um, two thirds of our student body are student athletes. Uh, and then we have, uh, We have, uh, the highest paid graduates in the state of Arkansas as well. Uh, cuz they go out and they’re, they want to succeed in their, in their professional life as well, so.

Okay. 

Matt: No, that’s awesome. Well, with that academic rigor and the rigor of being an athlete, um, how do your players kind of balance those [00:09:00] demands of, of school and sport, and what kind of support systems does the school have in place to help ’em? 

Coach: Yeah, good question. Um, well first of all, I think we naturally tend to draw students that are going to be, um, on the cutting edge of, uh, time management.

Um, and so they, they, they come in pretty well organized, um, and they can handle. both pretty well, but if they don’t, one thing I’ve been impressed with Line, and I’ve been there for seven years now. Um, and this is my third college experience. Uh, line probably has the best academic support structure I’ve seen.

Um, and it’s both, uh, tailored to specific classes. So, for example, chemistry for whatever reasons, tends to give, uh, a lot of students a lot of trouble. Well, they. Uh, tutoring sessions set up just for that chemistry class where the tutor knows exactly what’s coming up next week in the class and in the quiz or, and in the exam in two weeks.

And they help students, uh, succeed in, in preparing for that. Uh, and it’s so tailored that maybe after six weeks of tutoring, the tutor says, you know what, you. You’re getting it at this point. We, we can reduce it. We’re gonna meet once a week. Uh, and then they, they may actually graduate from the tutoring and say, Hey, you don’t need this anymore.

Uh, so I’m very impressed, uh, with that and how, how specific and how, um, [00:10:30] targeted is for each student, where they’re at, where they’re at academically and where, uh, what classes are given in trouble. 

Matt: Okay. can you walk me through what a typical week during the season looks like for a player in terms of, you know, winter classes, meals, practice times, what’s the game cadence and, and travel look like, that sort of thing.

Coach: Yeah. So, um, at line most of the, which is not unusual, most of the classes will take place between, uh, 8:00 AM and, uh, 4:00 PM and then line tries to set aside 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM for practice time. Uh, so most of the practices will be, A two hour time slot within there, it could be four 30 to six 30, um, for example.

And I believe as a, as a coach, that if I can’t get my session done in two hours, The problem at that point is not on the players, it’s on me. I need to go back to the drawing board so I don’t have these marathon, three hour, three and a half hour practice sessions. Um, and then our, our game cadence is, uh, usually Tuesday and Saturday or Wednesday and Saturday.

Um, and then in division three, what I’ve noticed is every now and then if there’s two like, uh, away games, uh, in. Neighboring area. They’ll do like a Friday and Sunday, uh, so that you, on one trip you can get two of those more distance schools. So, um, kind, kind of nice and just gotta plan accordingly as [00:12:00] far as, uh, fitness and endurance, uh, that’s part, part of the game.

Matt: Yeah, for sure. Well, let’s talk a little bit more about the team and the soccer side of things. Is, is there a roster size that you try to hit each year that you find is ideal?

Coach: Uh, right now, realistically, I’m, I’m, uh, Targeting a roster size of 24 to 26. Um, and that enables, uh, us to have a full 1111, uh, scrimmage at the end of practices.

Um, lately I’ve been, lately my roster’s been about 20, uh, and I’m trying to, to, to grow that, uh, each, each, uh, each recruiting cycle. Um, so, but then we’re, in some ways we’re, we’re vi the victim of our own success. I, I, I tend to graduate, uh, by players and so, you know, they’re, they’re moving through and so we have to replace those, uh, as well.

So, yeah. 

Matt: Well, in terms of your roster size, how much of that is made up of staff? You know, there’s obviously you’re the head coach there, but do you have other staff that, that work for you? And if so, what kind of roles do they. 

Coach: Um, like the roster size I was talking about is, is, is players. Yeah. Yeah. Sorry.

And then, uh, as far as far as staff, we are, uh, looking, I, I did have an assistant coach during the season, um, uh, resigned after the end of the seasons moving back into the coaching scene, um, at the high school level. So we’re, we’re, we’ll be hiring, uh, an [00:13:30] assistant coach for, um, for next year and. Really, I’m looking for someone who’s gonna be.

Working right alongside with me. Uh, I, I want them to have a, a big, uh, role as far as, uh, practices. Uh, so they may, they may run an entire session and I may be working with a goalkeeper or, or vice versa. Um, and obviously they, in college, they have to help with the whole recruiting. Um, load as well. But yeah, I want, I want someone that’s gonna be just kind of just like me jumping in with both, both feet and, uh, getting involved as, uh, uh, as much as, uh, as possible.

So. Okay. 

Matt: Well, how would you describe your style of coaching and your team style of play?

Coach: Yeah. Uh, well, it’s one of those where I’ve gotta be realistic. Uh, so I. Coaching, uh, the national team, or I’m not coaching, uh, uh, a big time Division one program. Uh, and I say that because when you, when, if you are in one of those settings, you can kind of recruit the attributes specifically that you want, uh, for your style of play.

I’m not in that boat, so I, I try to be more pragmatic and I try to adapt my style of play, uh, to the talent I have on. . Um, so I, I’m trying to set the players up for success that I, I have on, on any given year, um, to, uh, to, to be competitive on the field, and sometimes that’s also based on, uh, what we’re playing against, um, to help us keep us [00:15:00] in the game.

Now, as far as my tendencies, I like the, um, intelligent, purposeful, uh, a lot of. Short passes and attacking the gaps. Um, I love it when players can, can split two defenders, or, or, or they’re on the two, two teammates on the same page. One making the run and another one hitting, uh, the space behind. Uh, The defensive line, for example.

I kind of like that incisive, um, intentional play, uh, and finding the, even the small openings, uh, cause I find if you can, if you can exploit even small openings, you, you’re gonna be effective against, uh, against most teams. So it’s kind of like the French, uh, French style kind of, you know, that, that kind of surfaces in my, my preferences.

Uh, but at the same time, I’ve, I’ve been in games where, um, I’ve recognized that the long ball, they’re pressing up. So, that they’re exposing 35 yards behind him. Uh, so sometimes you’d get speed on the wing and get along what behind it, and you can exploit that as well. So I’m trying to, I try to be realistic as well.

Matt: Okay. Well, you and I are talking here in March, so it’s the, the off season. Um, what does your typical off season look like from, you know, January through, through the time the kids get outta. 

Coach: Yeah. And that’s been one of the new realities with, uh, transition to division three is that in the off season, the, the coach has [00:16:30] to take a backseat, uh, and is not allowed to, uh, be running sessions, uh, especially early on.

And so the, the team, uh, and especially the, the captains kind of take the. the steering wheel, and it’s all voluntary, but they can, they can set up, um, some practice sessions, um, for the team, uh, and, you know, workouts and stuff like that, uh, which has been neat to see. My, my players and my captains, uh, take that, uh, really to heart, um, and really stepping it up and you get to see who, who, who really is.

You know, committed and wants, wants to, to play soccer, uh, and wants to use the off season to, uh, sharpen the. I always say, you know, you work on two fronts to really get better is you make your weaknesses stronger and you make your strengths even stronger. Uh, and so things that they’re, they’re working on.

And then here in, uh, in a couple weeks here, uh, the latter half of March, I get to jump back in and start running some sessions. Um, so that’s where, in that period, and then we’ll have a, a spring round. , uh, game games in, uh, in April. So kinda give us a target to work for and how, how sharp are we gonna look, uh, come that come that game in those games in April.

Okay. [00:18:00] 

Matt: Well, we’ve covered a lot of ground, talked about a lot of different things, and uh, I’m gonna leave you with one last question and that is, if there was one nugget of information, piece of advice, something that you wanna make sure every high school prospective college player or their parents knew or, or you think should know about the college recruiting process, what would that be?

Coach: Wow. Uh, that’s good question. I would, uh, 1, 1, 1 thing I guess. I would say is to, um, see, see the process as, um, as somewhat player driven. Uh, and by that I mean that they, they have to. Even the parents can be involved as far as giving advice, uh, come up with some priorities. What are they looking for in their college experience, um, and try to be granular like a, you know, as far as the location, uh, I, I’ve, I’ve been known to say, and I lived it as a college, uh, soccer player myself, is um, location is more important than distance.

Um, so some, some players and parents only use the distance factor. We wanna school within 45 minutes. Well, there may be a, a, a college university that doesn’t fit that distance criteria, but that fits everything else. Um, and then, um, be, be proactive as far as once you figured out some of the [00:19:30] attributes you’re looking for, and that could be even include, do I get along with this?

When, when I met this coach, do I get along with this coach ride? Does his coaching style does, does does his personality echo positively with me? Um, and to use that as well, don’t just say, okay, I’ve got. I, I meet all the criteria, but I’ve got these red flags as far as fitting in with this team. Uh, usually those red flags will come back to haunt you, um, and they’ll come back to haunt the coach as well.

So for me, I’d much rather than do their homework and say, you know what? This is a good, good fit for me. And there’s no red flags in this, in this scenario. Um, and I’ve sometimes in the recruiting process, uh, there’s a lot of players that, you know, ended up not going to line, which is absolutely fine. Uh, but.

Breaks my heart sometimes is I, I, I, I’m aware of where they’re going and I see the red flags, and then a year and a half later, uh, and usually it’s through a, a dad at a showcase, I find out how b how badly it went. Uh, and I just feel bad for ’em that, you know, that they experienced that for, for a year and a half and then you could kind of see it coming.

Uh, yeah. Absolutely. 

Matt: Well, coach, wish you the best of luck in this, uh, next fall, your first D three season. Hopefully everything goes well and, uh, should be great to, to have you as a former D three player myself. Uh, I, I love it. And, and hope that all your girls will as well. [00:21:00] Uh, so best of luck and if you ever get down to Bradenton, Florida area for interview recruiting, gimme a shout.

We’ll grab a cup of coffee. All right? 

Coach: Absolutely. Thanks Matt. And yeah, we’ll definitely, uh, try to keep in touch. Sounds good. Thanks, coach. All right. Thank you.