Oberlin College Men’s Soccer – Coach Blake New
On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Blake from the Oberlin Men’s Program in Ohio. We talk about how follows a unique calendar around recruiting. He describes their high level of academics with people pursuing their passion. Lastly, we discuss his coaching style and how his players view him. Learn more about Oberlin College Men’s Soccer.
Matt: [00:00:00] Hi, everybody. Welcome to discover college soccer today. I’m lucky enough to be joined by coach Blake at Oberlin in Ohio. Welcome coach. Yeah. Thanks for having me. Yeah. Thanks for being here. I, uh, you know, I grew up in Columbus, not not too, too far away, but, uh, but, you know, never, never visited Oberlin, unfortunately.
So I’m excited to talk to you and hear all about it. Um, yeah. We’re here. End of February. It’s kind of the height of the college showcase season. Um, you guys being such a unique school in terms of the academics and, and everything like that, what is your typical recruiting calendar look like? You know, this being, let’s say we’re at the end of February.
Are you, are you done with 24? Is you still hustling? Looking at 25, 26 is what does that kind of look like for you guys in a typical year?
Coach: Yeah. So this is a big crossover period for us. Um, you know, we do have a admission deadline of January 15th, which, you know, has a little bit of wiggle room, uh, for, for, you know, I just got back from IMG at the Academy Showcase.
And, you know, there’s a special player there that showed some interest. And, you know, as long as we have all our ducks in a row, I can ask a big favor from admissions. But for the most part, um, you know, we’ve had our guys, uh, In in the mix, um, you know, and most of my time is spent looking at 25 down at [00:01:30] that event.
Um, but, you know, I’d say a typical calendar for us. You know, we, we typically get, um, 2 3rds of our class in the early decision rounds. Through 81, 82, um, and then kind of fill out the class, uh, through the regular decision. I will say it’s getting later and later though. Uh, I think the transfer portal has trickled down to division three, which I didn’t expect it to so quickly.
Um, and, and really the type of player we’re, we’re trying to recruit, you know, the, what I would call those tweener guys, right? The guys that could make a division one roster, but, you know, maybe not play for a couple of years. Um. And we’re trying to attract them here to where, hey, you can make a big impact early on, get a great education and, and play all 4 years, right?
You know, where you’re going to put 70, 80 games under your belt instead of playing 25, uh, possibly. So that’s the kind of typically our calendar is, you know, November. Through May is our identification period. You know, we’re getting out to 456 tournaments, um, to evaluate players and see if they’re the right fit.
And those will be juniors, right? 25 in this case. And then as soon as the early summer hits, we’re doing the whole academic read process, making sure they’re an academic fit, kind of putting them in front of admissions to say, hey, we like this guy. What do you think? Um, and then from there. Scheduling those official [00:03:00] visits for the early fall to try to get guys on campus so they can experience, you know, all that Oberlin has to offer.
And we’d like to schedule them around home games so that they can come in on a Friday, go to some classes, hang out with the team, see us train, and then go through a complete game day experience the next day and then head home sometime Sunday. Yeah.
Matt: Well, how has the shift in dates with FAFSA kind of altered the whole thing?
If you guys are having such an early decision or deadline and admissions deadline?
Coach: Well, I think that’s why this year, a lot of people are later in the process. We do at Oberlin, like a lot of other high academic schools, we use the CSS profile as well. So most of our financial aid, they can get a better sense.
Of where they are with the CSS, but certainly the FAFSA has delayed things a little bit. And I think it’s caused everybody to kind of put the brakes on. And so I’m talking to some colleagues over the last week, and everybody’s kind of late right now, um, in the process.
Matt: Yeah, that’s what I was hearing. Um, well, you mentioned coming down to IMG.
I wish I would have known we could have grabbed lunch, you know, down, down the street from me here, but, uh. What other events are kind of, uh, must on your must see list? Where do you tend to like to go to, to look at players?
Coach: So, you know, obviously it’s trying because we, we attract kind of a national pool, uh, we have 17 different states represented on our team.
Uh, we’re trying to get out West a couple of times, [00:04:30] uh, whether that be, um, surf in the summer. Uh, then the ECNL event in Phoenix in like late November, early December, um, probably hit a couple more ECNL events, couple MLS next events. Um, the one, I think the one that was actually 2 weeks after Phoenix this year.
Um, so back and forth to Phoenix a couple of times, uh, to LA once. And then, um, yeah, hit the, hit the kind of south and east coast. It’s the one, it’s the one thing that I think our sport has, has gotten right is that the recruiting season typically, uh, good thing for coaches that gets us into the sun, uh, a few times in the winter.
So that’s kind of nice. Yeah,
Matt: yeah. It’s a, it’s a shocking how a lot of tournaments are in Arizona, California, and Florida when it comes to January, February, March, right? Well, besides, uh, showcases and things, uh, ID camps are kind of all the rage right now too in recruiting. So do you guys do your own ID camps?
Do you or your staff work other ID camps? What’s that look like?
Coach: So I have resisted that for years. Simply because I, I’ve just seen how much I also coach in the off season. I coach on the ECNL team. Um, and I see how many times are, you know, we have some kids that, that’ll be like, Hey, I’m going to Syracuse as ID camp.
And, you know, I’m trying to say to them, like, you’re just giving them money. Right? Like Syracuse, if you look at their roster, they’re all international, they’re all [00:06:00] transfer portal. They just won the national championship. It’s not realistic for you to go to Syracuse’s ID camp. So I’ve been like, like resistant, but honestly, like, I think the players are so conditioned nowadays that I am going to dip my toes into it this year.
Um, we’re going to do just a one day clinic and we haven’t set the final date. It’s going to be in july. Um, and and that will come out in the next couple of weeks where we’re going to roll out to kind of all the guys we’ve identified to say, hey, You know, come join us for a day and see what Oberlin’s all about.
Matt: Well, and whether it’s ID camps or showcases, and obviously because of the academics there, you guys are a little bit unique, but, but kind of what makes up that hierarchy of things you’re looking for in a player and what, you know, what order are they in, in terms of kind of off the field stuff and on the field stuff?
Sure.
Coach: Yeah. I mean, I actually have found it to be quite as. convenient, if you will, strength for me in a recruiting process because I can sit down on the field and get the, you know, the brochure from the team manager and I can just cross off guys that are less than 3. 5, right? So it does, I’m going to waste my time.
Uh, if I fall in love with the player and then I later find out he has a 2. 8, you know, I just, it’s just a non starter. So, you know, the academics has to be a solid profile. It has to be, you know, with some rigor, right guys that, that are, you know, taking [00:07:30] Challenging classes and and really valuing that academic process.
Um, and then for me, I’m a big believer and I know I’m an outlier here, but I’m a big believer that our game. has very few specialists left, right? So obviously you could, you know, goalkeepers are specialists. Um, any coach will take a number nine that scores goals. Um, maybe you could argue center backs, right?
You know, you 64 and wins everything in the air. But if you don’t have feet, you can’t play for me, right? You gotta have good feet. So when we’re out on the road, we’re looking for guys that that have it. A tactical acumen, right? They have a high soccer IQ. They know how to win to arrive in space, how to arrive in space, how to overload space.
Um, and then they have the technical ability to pull off those, those visions, those ideas. Um, you know, because I can, I can tell you the last 2, not the last 2, but I had 2, 2 guys that ended up playing right back for me. Um, that one was recruited as a forward and one was recruited as a central midfield player.
And it’s just a spring season. We stuck him back there and it was just an aha moment. And it’s like, oh, man, this guy’s so much better when he sees everything in front of him. And one went on to be all region, the other one on to be all American. So, you know, I feel like if you’re a good player, I can find a I can teach you how to play in a different space.
And it’s really one thing that I talk a lot about to players, even my own players here, but also guys that I’m recruiting. The more versatile you are, the more conversations you’re in, right? So [00:09:00] when I’m a day before a game or a couple of days before a game, and we’re talking about a lineup. And if you can only play right back, you’re in one conversation.
But if you can play four different places, now you’re in four conversations about, Hey, do we play him here today? And like, this is, so, That’s kind of the process a little bit.
Matt: Yeah, no, it makes, it makes a lot of sense. Well, let’s talk a little bit more about the school. You’ve, uh, you’ve been there a year or two or 24 or five, but, uh, so you, you’ve got some good insights here.
Tell us some things that you find that are just awesome about the school. Maybe some things we wouldn’t even know by going through the website.
Coach: Sure, sure. Yeah, this is the start of year 28 for me, uh, 24 with the men’s program or 25 with the men’s program. Um, so I’ve kind of seen it all here. Um, I, I will say the 1, the sometimes the thing we fight here at Oberlin is because we’re such a.
Fantastic, um, music school conservatory that I think a lot of people see, see this and they say, oh, that’s the music school. And I have to remind them that, well, I have 9 doctors that played for me and another 10 in med school. And I’ve got guys working all over the world and finance and and econ and a few lawyers here and there.
So, um, I think the thing that’s really special about Oberlin is. It’s a place where learning, you know, it’s just a different process. Um, it’s okay to say here. There’s no stigma attached with, with asking for help. Um, and so there’s a lot of community learning a lot [00:10:30] of group learning. Um, it’s not a place that’s real great grabby, like, Hey, what did you get on that?
And what’d you get on that? And I’m better than I have a 3. 8. What do you have? Um, it’s more about the experience. And the thing that I, that impresses me every day is that. Yeah. Whether it’s music, whether it’s sports, whether it’s math, people are pursuing their passion here. And they’re, and they’re very, it’s very evident that they’re passionate.
Um, so, you know, I’m, I’m overwhelmed every year with some of the things I get to go see with my student athletes, you know, whether it be their, their thesis presentation or honors presentation or things that they’ve really gotten into off the field. And it’s, it’s kind of really cool to see, you know, um, Now that I’m here, as long as I’ve been here, I now have 200 guys around the world doing really cool things that and what I think has been a big strength is we’ve stayed connected, right?
So we have this huge alumni group that I can pick up the phone at any time and say, Hey, listen, I got this guy. He needs some help. He needs an internship. He needs some guidance. And my guys are really happy to to stay involved and help out. So that’s really cool.
Matt: Yeah, that is cool. Well, when we talked about that academic piece and, you know, for high school students transitioning to college and playing a sport, you know, finding that balance is always difficult.
So how do your players specifically kind of balance the rigors of the academics plus being an athlete and what kind of support systems [00:12:00] does the school have in place to really help them succeed?
Coach: Well, first of all, I think being a fall athlete is one of the best transitions to college that you can have because you come in with 22 instant friends who tell you, hey, don’t take that professor, like, take this professor or save that lab to the spring because it’s a killer.
Uh, here’s how you cut across campus, all those little things, right? Um, and then it’s, it’s just really part of our team tenants is right, right? We’re going to get a team GPA of 3. 2 or above. Uh, and we’ve done that for 19 straight years. Um, so the guys know it’s important and I’m a big believer that the best organizations are governed from within.
So, uh, honestly, like if it gets bad, it’s, it’s really bad. If, if it gets to me, it’s really bad. And, and that’s only happened a couple of times in 28 years. So our guys kind of police themselves a little bit. Um, you know, somebody’s starting not to show up to class because they’re sleeping in, uh, you know, our leaders are making sure they’re knocking on the door and making sure they get to class.
But we have kind of 3, 3 systems of support here. 1, the professors here at Oberlin are very motivated by their teaching, right? We’re not this massive institution where they’re paid to research and come out with the next patent and whatever research is part of what they do. But, um, their first priority is, is the students.
You know, I always tell people, like, if, if, if you haven’t been to a professor’s house in 4 years to go to a reception or a dinner or something, then something’s [00:13:30] going on, right? Something’s wrong. They’re, they’re woven into your life, right? They, they want to be accessible. Um, then the 2nd layer is, is the team itself.
You’re going to have 3, 4, 5 guys who’ve, who’ve been on the track you’re going to be on. So they can help you out, right? You know, they, they can help you with that, that 1st year, that econ 101, right? That weed out class, right? So they’re going to, they’re going to help guide you. And then the last piece, we have a really cool office here called the office of student academic success.
Um, basically you walk in the door. Say you’re struggling, you walk out the door of the tutor with resources, with help. Um, and that’s been a fantastic addition in the last seven or eight years here at Oberlin. That’s really helped our student athletes.
Matt: Well, let’s rewind, take it back to October. You’re in the heart of the conference schedule.
What’s a typical week look like for the players in terms of when our classes, meals, practices, game cadence, all that kind of stuff.
Coach: Sure. Yeah. We get in the spin cycle, right? The NCAA is never going to like make it longer. They’re going to squeeze us in. So, you know, your Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday, Wednesday.
Um, So typical week is, you know, especially as you get a little older, you, you have a little more control of your schedule. You know, I have some guys that don’t take classes on Tuesday, Thursdays, because they want that day to whether it’s just sleep in or, you know, get ahead of some work or, um, just have a day where they’re a little less busy.
Uh, but a typical day is, is going to be [00:15:00] maybe one or two classes in the morning. If you’re a science major, you probably might have a lab in the afternoon, um, maybe an afternoon class. Um, our guys are lifting today at 12 15. So they’ve got a group lifting at 12 15, a group lifting at 3 30. But during the season, um, we have, we’re blessed that overland to have a break in the academic day between 7 p.
m. Uh, there are no classes that can be offered. Uh, and even 7 p. m. are kind of few and far between maybe some senior seminars or things like that. So we, we train every day at 4 45. So we train 4 45 to 6 30. Mondays is our work day, right? It’s the one day that I’m not as a coach as worried about getting on their legs are putting some mileage on them.
Tuesdays is a pre match practice, right? So a little more tactically involved, a little less on their legs. And then you’re gonna play Wednesday. Uh, then Thursday is gonna be a region day. Um, Friday, right back into a pre match practice, right? So you get into that cycle. Um, I’m a big believer that in order to win championships, you’ve got to have 20 guys that can flat out play because of the way the NCAA has squeezed this in, you’ve got a squad to rotate or you’ve got to be able to withstand some injury and those kinds of things.
But, um, you know, I think once you get into the rhythm of it, if you’re playing well, it can be okay. Um, and, and, and that’s, we’ve seen that in the past where we would be able to go on a little run of eight, 10 games, uh, with good results. Um, but, but [00:16:30] certainly You know, sleep and, and injury kind of prevention prehab, if you will, is, is vitally important as well.
Matt: Absolutely. Well, you mentioned having 20 players that can play. Well, is there a roster size that, that kind of you find is ideal that you’re trying to hit each year?
Coach: Yeah. I mean, I think what we found over the years is that 28 is really kind of the magic number and that’s, you know, three goalkeepers, 25 field players.
We could probably stretch it to 30 and be, feel confident between my assistant and myself that we’re not going to sacrifice development and, and players aren’t going to get lost. Um, and, and so that’s where we’d like to be, you know, COVID really screwed up our balance. We, you know, I, I always prided myself on having a really good balance of, you know, 7, 8, 7, 8, um, and, you know, COVID we’re, we’re recovering from that now.
Right? So, um, That that’s we may be a little bigger this coming fall, just because we’re going to have to bring a big class to kind of get us back to that balance. Um, but yeah, we feel like we can give guys a good experience as well as development when we keep around that number.
Matt: You mentioned you and your assistant.
So kind of talk to me about your staff. Uh, how big is it? What roles do people play? What other support staff maybe help with the team within the athletic department, that kind of thing. Sure.
Coach: Sure. Yeah. So I have, um, [00:18:00] Dave Wilson, who’s been with me for 15 years, um, as my assistant coach, and then we have a goalkeeping coach and kind of recruiting guy.
That’ll come 2 days a week to work with the goalkeepers throughout the season. Um, and, and essentially, we, you know, we’ve gotten to the point where our work is really balanced. Um, Dave is. Really great with, uh, you know, our GPS trackers and getting all that data and sorting through it and making sure we’re on top of who’s healthy, who’s not healthy.
And he works with our head trainer who has been with our team for 18 years and she’s been great, uh, to work with. And And then we both kind of share like scouting video. Um, he’ll probably watch a little more than I do. Um, he’ll probably watch three games of upcoming opponent and I’ll watch maybe one, one and a half, and then we’ll come up with the tactics for, for the next match.
Um, and then, you know, we have a great sports information system who are director here, who’s who’s really good about staying on top of, you know, the next story, the interesting guy, like all those things. Um, and as you know, with our with our instagram world, you know, it’s media days and all that fun stuff.
But, you know, the guys seem to enjoy it, but, you know, we feel like you’ve got a nice, nice little team here to take care of them. Yeah, it sounds
Matt: like it. Well, but to, to train the guns on you now, though, uh, how would you describe kind of your style of coaching team style of play and [00:19:30] that culture you’re trying to implement there?
Coach: Sure. I mean, first of all, I consider myself a teacher. Um, you know, I really like, um, to, to teach the game. Uh, I, I really believe in a certain way to play the game. Um, I am a pep Guardiola aficionado. Um, you know, kind of got on to him in 2007 or eight and have studied and followed everything that he does.
It’s been a real catch 22 for me because I hated man city before he got there. And now I have to kind of like him because I just love the way they play. And honestly, I feel, um, I feel a sense. Of responsibility to the game. You know, I mean, if somebody plays for me, I want them, you know, hopefully one day they’re going to coach, right.
Whether that be just their seven year old kid down the road, because they’re the dad that played college soccer, you know, if, if he was a right back and all he knew how to do was lump it in the channel, you know, he, there’s not a whole lot he’s going to be able to teach, but if he’s understood, you know, how to overload spaces and how to invert a fullback or how to, how those things all work and.
You know, with consistently within each other. And, you know, I really want our players to understand not only their role, but how that role affects what everybody else is doing. I would say, you know, most people would tell you that we’re, we’re the team in our conference or region that kind of plays the most, you know, we, we’re going to possess it.
We’re going to keep it, [00:21:00] you know, last year, we averaged Almost 500 passes per game, which was typically double our opponents for the most part. Um, yeah, so I, I believe in that way to play, you know, I think, I think certainly it’s sometimes hard to play against those other systems, right? It’s, you know, it’s, it’s trying to control tempo.
You know, we talk all the time about controlling tempo of the game and not turning it into a track meet. That’s kind of our style.
Matt: Okay. Awesome. Well, I appreciate your time and, uh, got to leave you with one last question. Uh, someone who’s, who’s got many, many, uh, seasons of experience. Um, if you could give, uh, Families, parents, players, just one piece of advice about the recruiting process.
What would that be?
Coach: I, you know, I, I consistently say just be proactive, right? And, and I, you know, you can do this on your own, right? It’s, you don’t have to go spend a ton of money to get a video produced. You don’t have to go spend a ton of money to have somebody get your name out. You can do the work and get your name out.
And, you know, as much as students want to be pursued and loved, right? Coaches want that too. Right? So, uh, I can’t tell you how many emails I erase when I see that BCC at the top or it’s, you know, my MailChimp and it’s, hey, coach, uh, you know, it’s, it’s show some interest, right? If you really do some research and it won’t take you long.
And if, if you just put in that introductory email, Hey, I [00:22:30] saw you had a rough season last year, or I saw you guys made it to the conference final. Uh, you know, maybe one other thing that just shows me that you’ve done a little bit of homework and you’re really interested in us. Um, and then from there, be proactive and understand, you know, even me as a little old D3 coach, I get 20 emails a day.
Right. Um, and sometimes that gets through your, your inbox and you go, Oh, I, I didn’t see that one. Right. So be proactive. Right. So reach out again, say, Hey, coach, I reached out a couple of weeks ago and then just keep people updated. And, and the last piece of advice I would give you is, or them is go where you’re wanted.
Right. Go where you’re wanted, because I think in this day and age, so many student athletes don’t really realize how few opportunities there are at the high level, uh, and they may think they’re there and they could be, but honestly, in the way that men’s soccer landscape is, there aren’t enough opportunities and the three schools have really benefited from that.
Um, you know, I have six, seven guys that could be on a division one roster. No problem. But go where you want to, right? If you go to an event and you get emails from D3 coaches, but no D1 coaches, that’s telling you something, right? That’s telling you they see you at this level. Um, now I’m not saying squash your dreams, right?
I’m not saying, you know, [00:24:00] keep, keep going after them, but also, you know, keep in mind. You know, kind of go where you’re wanting. Couldn’t agree more.
Matt: Well, coach really appreciate it. Wish you the best of luck in the fall season. If you get down to any more events here in Lakewood ranch, give me a shout and we can hang out.
Coach: All right. I will do. Thanks a lot, Matt, for the time. Appreciate it. Thank you.
