McNeese State University Women’s Soccer – Coach Juan Yepes
In today’s episode, I speak with Coach Yepes from the McNeese Women’s Program in Louisiana. We talk about how they generally don’t have players transferring in or out. Coach also shares about how they are an affordable, southern-style school with a good ROI. Plus, we discuss his adaptive style of coaching. Learn more about McNeese State University Women’s Soccer.
Matt: [00:00:00] Hi everybody. Welcome to Discover College Soccer. Today I am lucky enough to be joined by Coach Juan at McNee State in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Welcome coach.
Coach: Thank you. Thank you, Matt, for having me.
Matt: Well, I’m excited to talk to you as, uh, as, as many of. My podcast listeners and viewers know my daughter will be attending McNee in the fall with Coach Juan.
So, uh, so very excited and very excited to get to share, uh, with everyone more about McNees. So, one of the cool things here, you, uh, is you, um, are. The interim head coach right now, the, the, your, your predecessor Drew left I guess in the May. Maybe it was late. So, so you had to come in and take the reins and, and get every, everything shored up and so far so good.
You guys are four games in. You had a nice win against Southern the other day and we were just talking before this. So in terms of timing, uh, of recruiting ’cause. I’ve got, uh, you know, I coach, [00:01:00] um, our oh, help coach our oh 7 0 8 girls and there’s some 20 sixes and 20 sevens. So of course the 20 sevens are like, oh my goodness.
Uh, you know, I’m seeing all these people committing already, you know, what’s the timeline? So where are you, I guess, uh, with the class of 27? When do you expect you would wrap up that class? Are you done with 20 sixes or are you still maybe got one or two out there? What’s your timeline that, that you’re trying to, to go with?
Coach: Uh, with the 20 sixes, we are almost done. We have a big class 26. Uh, we probably gonna take one more. Just one more on 26, but 27 gonna recruit a little bit later, will be four or five top because we need to, to get that number to close to 28 to, because we opted in as mm-hmm. As a program.
Matt: So, yeah, with that opting in and the roster limit of 28, but it looks like you have a few [00:02:00] of the designated student athletes, uh, to, to get that roster a little higher.
I know some division one schools are, uh, are all in on the DSA, some are doing zero at all. Kind of talk to me about, about that process. Was that something that, that the school wanted you to do, that you guys wanted to do? Um, and, and with that roster limit, have they. Yeah, maybe. Ha. Has the school helped you out with a little more budget money on the scholarship front or maybe not?
You’re not quite.
Coach: No, no,
Matt: unfortunately not.
Coach: Um, for us it’s like a new problem added to, to everything. Uh, that’s a situation that you, you don’t want to be, because it’s in the future. For the good or for the bad. We need to, to. Clean the roster. Mm-hmm. It’s not nice to, to tell players that you wanted to, to be here the beginning to [00:03:00] say, Hey, this is what is happen, but is, this is a situation we didn’t create, so it is what it is.
And for them will be like, welcome to the adult life. This is. Something that you co face, co face in the future. Sometimes, uh, your company is cutting people. Yeah. Reducing you the labor work and Yep. Yes. It’s, what it is, is everyone needs to adapt to this.
Matt: Yeah. It’s, it’s part, part of the game now. Uh, yeah, unfortunately.
Yes. Well, one of the things, uh, I noticed about your class this year, you had a, a good number of freshmen, you also had some transfers. How has the transfer portal kind of, has that changed the way you, you guys recruit That, that, if, if someone leaves and enters the portal, are you trying to replace through the portal, or, or does that have any factor at all?
Coach: [00:04:00] Our, our tradition here is, uh, almost no one wants to leave Magnis. So it is a good thing. It’s a good thing. And we are not heavy going to the transfer portal to recruit people. Uh, so we are not like those programs who always have five or six transfer coming in. I’m going out to for the good. I think we, we have happy.
Players staying in Lake Charles. Lake Charles is a nice small city. The program is, is a good competitive program, but we are not evaluated by the results. We are evaluated here by the experience we provide to the, to the players. So we are very stable in keeping our players in their rosters. So transfer portal is not that big thing for us.
Matt: Okay, well that’s good. Um, in terms of your other recruiting, kind of, [00:05:00] where do you like to go to look at players? I know you mentioned you were at the Tampa super couple, couple years ago. Uh, but what, what are some of the other tournaments or other places, leagues, things like that, that you like to go to for recruiting?
Coach: I got like the responsibility the last two years to go out and recruit, uh, coach through trust. My, my judgment on, on players. Uh, but I have the, I’m very lucky that my daughter works for an airline, so I have almost 90% discount on tickets. So I’ve been in Canada, I’ve been in Spain, I’ve been in Netherlands, I’ve been in Germany.
Finland I have, and obviously in the big, uh, event here in the States. So I, I try to go and take advantage of this opportunity, um, and recruit from everywhere, basically everywhere. And once I see something that I like, uh, I try [00:06:00] to get in contact with the family or predators and see if we can be a good fit for their expectations.
Matt: Okay. Now, I know that this might be a little early to ask since you, since you’ve really kind of just taken over, but what about ID camps? Do you guys plan on having your own ID camps or do you or your staff work other ID camps? Are they part of the process at all?
Coach: Uh, I have to be honest, um, I’m not a big fan of having ID comms here because I don’t want to create full expectations.
You know, if, if. If you are a strong in ID camp and you’re recruiting for ID camp, go ahead. But we are not the program that is focused on making money out of the dreams of the families. So basically this first year, I don’t see the need to have any ID camp because as I say, we are almost done. We are gonna in the [00:07:00] future to see if we, we want to do ID camps or more.
Kind of open summer camps. I don’t want to crave, uh, those expectations. If you, if you have 50, 60 players in an ID camp and you don’t have a, any spot to offer what, I don’t see the, if that makes sense.
Matt: Okay. Well. Whether you’re traveling abroad or, or here in the States and you’re looking for players, kinda what makes up, uh, the hierarchy of things that you’re looking for in a player, both on and off the field,
Coach: in the field.
Um, what I first tried to see in terms of soccer is, uh, first touch is something that always catch my eye. Uh. From Columbia, we see sport a little bit different than what your use [00:08:00] here. So for us is who can deal with, with the ball Then after that, if it is a fast, speedy player, better but, and better point to, to recruit technique players, technical players, uh, out of, out of the field.
Mm-hmm. My biggest concern is a player really wants to be here because we are recruiting for four years, not for one year, and looking for a transfer. So I only want players and families that really consider lectures and magnis as a good option for the future. For the next four years is is a big decision as a family.
It is not like just buying a new car and in one year, if you don’t like the car. Just get rid of it and that’s it. Now it’s your future, your education. I do. Environment, a good program. Some of them have [00:09:00] big expectation to become professional players, so developmental program. Do you really want to be here?
And if everything matches, I think needs a good fit for Magni, and Magni is a good fit for, for a family.
Matt: Yeah. No, I absolutely love that. Well, let’s, let’s talk a little bit more about McNeese. Uh, you know, some, some folks may not be familiar. I know I wasn’t, uh, too familiar, but I, I’ve been on campus now, so, uh, so I can, I can speak to it.
But you’ve been there a few years now, kind of what is it about the school that. That you like? What are some things that you enjoy? Maybe some things we wouldn’t even know about Going to the website.
Coach: Um, Magnis is a really good, affordable, uh, souther style school. Uh, we are always in top of Louisiana education.
We are a very good option for families in terms of return benefit. We are [00:10:00] affordable and. The players or the students when they’re graduating from here, they, they, they get good jobs and they’re earning good money when they get their, the, they get from, from magnesium and Lake Charles is a nice spot to live.
It’s, uh, small city, big town, which is, is not just a college town. It’s a town with some nice things. Uh. Weather is good for most of us is has everything. A little bit of everything. We are in a good spot between Houston and New Orleans. Easy, accessible. We have a regional airport for the families who wants to come, uh, here to see a, their kids playing.
So we have like a. A little bit of everything here, a little bit. Good academics, uh, ambitious programs, [00:11:00] sports programs, uh, a nice city is a good option.
Matt: Yeah, absolutely. Well, and you know, one of the hardest things for players, especially, you know, incoming freshmen is. Figuring out how to balance the academics with the athletics.
Um, I know you guys have a, a great athletic student support center there. Kinda what all does that entail? How do, how do student athletes really get that support to make sure they’re successful both on and off the field?
Coach: We are very lucky that, uh, 18. Good in, in having, uh, support for, for the student they have, uh, tutors and, uh, any specific, uh, grade or we have like, um.
The advisors, our advisor just share, uh, with softball, baseball, and no more than that. We have [00:12:00] like one advisor every three or four sports. So it’s a good support for the freshmen. They, they have to be at, uh, study hall six hours. A week in the first year. So the, we, we balance really good, the, the academic with the athletics.
Matt: Yeah. That’s great. Well. You’re in the middle. Well, you’re not in the middle, but you’re, you’re in the start of the season. Um, but let’s fast forward just maybe into that Southland Conference, heart of the season, maybe October. Walk me through what does a typical week look like for a player in terms of when are, you know, classes, meals, games, practices, all that kind of stuff.
Coach: This year when the schedule changed, we are playing Thursday and Sunday. Past years, previous years we were playing. Friday on Sunday, which is really not for injuries and workload is [00:13:00] not the ideal work. Now we have a more normal kind of schedule. So typically is Monday off. They they have to NCAA rule.
Tuesday we do. The workload is a heavier practice and weight room. Wednesday is game preparation. Thursday will be Game Friday, light recovery sessions Saturday tactical pre-game Sunday game. So basically right now we are training a little bit, playing a lot, and recovery a lot. Yeah.
Matt: And you guys are practicing in the afternoons?
Coach: In the afternoons because we, we work around the, the students schedule, so almost all of them are having early classes. So Yeah. And that, and we are playing almost all, all of our games at 7:00 PM so it makes more sense to have 6:00 PM [00:14:00] kind of practices right now.
Matt: For sure. Well, and you guys have good news, is you have your own field that you don’t have to share with a men’s program.
Uh, and it’s a nice grass field so you don’t have to, uh, mess with that nasty turf. But, uh, well, let’s talk about the, the team in terms of, um, we know you’re the head coach, but talk to us about the other staff that help out with the program. Uh, maybe other folks you know that are. Whether they’re strength coaches or whoever.
Yeah.
Coach: We have Jay. We’re very lucky. We have Jay. She’s, uh, our assistant coach. She’s right now more in, in operations. She deals with everything in terms of paperwork, and she’s always the first contact with the, the players, with the coaching staff. We have our own trainer. We have him. Um, and we only share him in with Bul.
Bul is a, a sprint program, [00:15:00] so right now he’s full-time with us. We have our, our own student conditioning coach. He is sharing sometimes with football, but primarily with us. And yeah, so we have four right now and in the future we are gonna be one or two more. Uh. To, to cover all the needs of, of our players.
Matt: Ah, that’s great. Well, what about you? How would you describe your coaching style and the style of play you, you look to play at McNee?
Coach: Well, I am very passionate as a. South American, you probably in your region know a little bit about Colombia and so yeah, they’re very passionate about soccer. Uh, my style is kind of simple.
I have to adapt to the players I have. For me, that’s first. It’s like, it is not coaches’ idea and eh. 31 players now following me, [00:16:00] just like I’m commanding this or that. No, I, I need to read the roster, see what I have. And according to that, adopt tacticals, uh, strength conditioning, uh, the technical side of the game.
So I could describe myself to, to a very adaptive style of coaching. Everything around the ball with. Train almost 90% around the ball austral conditional strain condition around the ball. Uh, because hey, we, we want to play as a soccer players, we want to play, we want to, to be always in contact with the ball.
So that’s how I plan my, my session. And it’s always, always game related. It is almost, uh, always game related. Um. I always try to, to connect, uh, from the warmup to the main part of [00:17:00] the training session. Everything is not like a couple of isolated ideas. So one thing is progressing from another activity. So that’s my big, big picture of what is my step.
Matt: No, I love it. Well, coach, I really appreciate it. Can leave you with one last question and that is if you had one piece of advice for any young lady going through this college recruiting process, uh, what would that be?
Coach: This of advice, this will be a decision that will take four of the best of your years.
So think. Think again, uh, do your research. Don’t be flooded just for the big names or letters out there. [00:18:00] Find where you could fit. Find a good, honest coach who will look at your eyes after three or four years to say, Hey, I, I have honor my word. Okay, if you are here. Mm. And I have this expectation from you after three, four years, you can look at coach’s eyes and say, Hey, you, you honor.
So yes. Love
Matt: it. Love it.
Coach: Advice.
Matt: Well, coach, I really appreciate it. Uh, appreciate the time. Look forward to watching, uh, a lot more McNeese games over the next few years, and, uh, we’ll see you soon. All right.
Coach: See you soon. And thank you for having me again, Matt.
Matt: Thank you.
