Pfeiffer University Men’s Soccer – Coach Tony Faticoni
On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Tony from the Pfeiffer Men’s Program in North Carolina. We talk about how he is recruiting year-round. He describes how the campus has 60-70% athletes. Lastly, we discuss their roster size and carrying a second team. Learn more about Pfeiffer University Men’s Soccer.
Matt: [00:00:00] Hi everybody. Welcome to discover college soccer today. I’m lucky enough to be joined by coach Tony from Pfeiffer up in North Carolina. Welcome coach.
Coach: Uh, thank you for having me.
Matt: Yeah. Thanks for being here. I, uh, I had the pleasure of talking with your assistant about, oh, six or so months ago, um, but it’s great to, to, to get the, the top gaffer on.
Um, so we, we’re, we’re here talking mid, mid November. You just kind of wrapped up the season, um, just out of curiosity, because being this time of year, people are always asking me like, Matt, are, are, are coaches recruiting during the fall, during their own season? So how much recruiting were you doing during this, this crazy couple months?
Coach: Uh, recruiting is a constant 365 day a year job. Um, we definitely do more once the season’s done just really because we have more time. Um, so right now we’re really kicking it into overdrive at this point. Um, but we’re, we’re building our database, um, all year long. Um, and in any given recruiting season, our database is built through, um, the last three, four years.
So in other words, we’re, we’re, we’re obviously recruiting 2024s right now. Yeah. But we’ve been building that database for, you know, two, three, four years from just players that we see at, um, at, uh, at games, at ID camps, at tournaments, uh, obviously we get a ton of emails as well too. So it’s really three 65, but, um, you know, for us, uh, we just finished the season last week.
Um, there’s a huge tournament this weekend, NCFC, which we’re both being going to be going to that and looking [00:01:30] at a lot of players that we’ve already been in touch with. And obviously looking to identify new talent as well too. But, um, yeah, we, we recruit all year long. So,
Matt: I mean, you kind of, you mentioned it, that you’re heavy on 24s as a division three school.
That’s, and especially on the men’s side, that’s kind of your timeline, right? You’re pretty much a year ahead. Um, but as, as a division three school, you’re, you’re allowed to talk to anybody at any time. So how, How much, just in terms of percentage, um, would you say, are you spending on non seniors of all the, of the amount of time you’re spending recruiting?
How much is seniors versus the rest of the classes?
Coach: Yeah. So I, it’s not. It’s not a lot. I would say probably 80 percent of our focus is on, you know, the year that we’re in. So again, for us right now, 2024. But we do get a lot of emails from 2025 and 2026 and even the 2027 is already starting to roll in. A lot of times it’s just having an initial conversation with them, getting to know them a little bit, making sure that we’re a good fit and then really adding them to our database and then asking them You know, if if Pfeiffer is really a school of high interest to continue to stay in touch with us, continue to update us of your progress.
Um, and if we have the opportunity to go out and see them play again at this tournament, there’s gonna be all sorts of different ages. We will do so. But again, we have to really focus on, you know, the class that we’re in just so things don’t get so crazy and stuff. And, you know, even like with with this class of 2024 our databases will reach numbers of 8900 sometimes.
Thousand players, [00:03:00] um, and not to say that those are obviously all players that were interested or really are interested in us, but that’s how big the numbers can grow to. And then obviously we try to, you know, windle them down to the, the, the players that we are truly interested in and also the players that are truly interested in us.
Matt: No, it makes a lot of sense. Well, you mentioned NCFC, what are some of the other events that are kind of on your, on your must hit list each year?
Coach: Uh, we, we do, you know, we go to the ECNL tournament in Greer as well, too. Um, at times we’ll go to the Jefferson cup, which is obviously in Virginia. Um, other local tournaments, CSA will have their tournaments.
Charlotte Independence does tournaments. Um, we do recruit a majority of our kids from North Carolina. And the great thing is North Carolina is extremely strong state when it comes to soccer with, you know, CSA being a huge club and CFC obviously being a huge club as well, too. Um, but we’ll go to all sorts of different events.
We’ll run our own events in the summertime, ID camps and different things like that, um, which, uh, we recruit like crazy out of our ID camps, you know, every year. We’ll find 15, 20 guys from our camp that we are interested in and even give on most of those many offers as well, too. So, um, you know, we’re kind of doing a little bit of everything, but, uh, we stay probably more local than maybe what division ones will do.
You know, we’ll travel, we’ll travel the world. Uh, we’ll mostly stay more North Carolina or bordering states. Um, but yeah, we get out to as many events as we possibly can. Okay.
Matt: Well, whether it’s at an event or an ID camp or any of those things, what are the things that kind of make up your hierarchy of things you’re looking for in a player?
The [00:04:30] things that really make people stand out, that’s going to make them want you to give them an offer?
Coach: I’ll tell you, especially like ID camps. One of the things that I always tell players, we’re going to hear you before we see you. Um, so players that are really, uh, you know, talkative and leadership and things like that, that obviously turn your head, you turn your attention.
So again, I. D. Camps are difficult to do that because, you know, most of the kids don’t know each other. So that’s one of the first things. Um, you know, for me, I want guys that are going to play simple, play fast. Obviously, we look at athleticism as well to, um, kids that go to an I. D. Camp that can dribble 345 guys.
That’s great. But that’s not going to happen at the college level. A lot of times once they get to college. Now you’re trying to break a bad habit. Um, so, you know, we, we could probably talk for hours in terms of talent, but, you know, athleticism, you know, physicality, um, you know, first touch, uh, you know, depending on their position.
If there’s a midfielder, can they link the front, the back and left to right? Can they break lines? Can they, you know, handle the ball under pressure? But for me, a lot of times it’s playing simple. It’s playing fast, being intelligent off the ball. You know, what are they doing when they don’t have the ball?
I think statistics say in a game, you have the ball 30 to 90 seconds. So what are you doing? The other, you know, 88 minutes of that game. Um, how do you stay involved and how do you stay connected? Um, you know, we look at leadership, we look at work rate. That’s a big thing as well, too. Um, you know, if you lose the ball, go get the ball.
That’s another, you know, pet peeve of mine and stuff that we tell all our players. Counter pressing is huge. So again, at I. D. Camps, a lot of times, depending on the I. D. Camp itself, you know, you might have [00:06:00] 3400 kids at an I. D. Camp and, uh, you know, it’s hard to, we definitely miss players, but we also find a lot of players.
But I tell players, you know, we’re going to hear you before we see you. That’s going to get eyes on you, play simple, play fast, work really hard, be a good teammate and make sure that if you lose the ball, you go get the ball.
Matt: I love it. I love it. In terms of what parents always look at first, at least for me, is that that that dollar sign, right?
Um, so I’m, I’m not holding you to hard numbers here, but if you can just give me an idea of if I’m a. A freshman walking in, uh, a typical player you might recruit. What is the overall cost financial aid situation? What, what, what, what are a few people looking at coming in?
Coach: I’ll probably, I’ll probably be a little bit more transparent than most.
So, uh, Pfeiffer is about 48, 000. Now people are going to hear that and they’re going to, you know, their, their jaws are going to drop, but nobody pays that. So in division three, we cannot give athletic scholarship. But what we can give is academic scholarship. So the better the GPA, the more money that you can get.
Okay. And right now the numbers at Pfeiffer, you have a 4. 0, you can get 22, 000 in academic money. Okay. We have some other little things as well, too. If you live out of state, you automatically get 1, 000 because they, they can’t qualify for North Carolina need based. Um, if you have a sibling. That you’re coming to school with.
They’ll both get 1, 000 off. If you’re an alumni of Pfeiffer as well, too, you’ll get an additional thousand dollars off as well. Uh, and then the other piece of that puzzle is obviously the FAFSA [00:07:30] financial aid, which, you know, as a government program and what I always tell recruits is as simple as this, the more money your parents make, the less you get, the less money your parents make.
The more you get, but that obviously is different for every single individual. Um, something else that we have here at Pfeiffer, I’m sure they have at other schools too. And right now I have four guys on my team that are doing this. We have an RD program, which is resident assistant, resident director. And basically you’re, you’re in charge of the floor that you live on.
You know, you’re, you know, you help out kids if they have questions or concerns, or if there’s any issues or problems on your floor as well to you, you kind of take care of those things, but they get half of their room and board. off as well, too. And like I said, right now we have four guys on our team that are in that program.
So that’s a very significant cost saver as well. Um, the other thing that, you know, at Pfeiffer and again, I’m sure a lot of other schools have this as well, too. If you live within a 30 mile radius of Pfeiffer, you are allowed to commute to school. Um, everybody else does have to live on campus until the age of 21 unless there’s some sort of special circumstances.
Um, but right now on our team, you know, we’re close to the Harrisburg area, which is, you know, a big part of C. S. A. Charlotte Soccer Academy. We have a total of nine guys that are commuting school, which obviously is a cost saver in itself. Yeah, absolutely.
Matt: Oh, I was an RA in my junior year of college, uh, playing D three ball.
So I can, uh, say it’s a great thing to take advantage of for sure.
Coach: Well, it’s not only a great thing from the financial standpoint, but it’s also great on your resume as well too. You know, it definitely shows a different level of maturity and responsibility. And you know, uh, like I said, it’s a, [00:09:00] it’s a great way to save a little bit of money.
Matt: For sure. Well,
coach, let’s talk a little bit more about the school. I’m sure there’s folks out there not familiar with Pfeiffer. So you’ve been there a few years now. Uh, you know, what are some of the things that you find are really special about the school that set it apart? Maybe some things we wouldn’t even know by going through the website.
Coach: Um, small liberal arts school, uh, less than 1000 students here on campus. What most people probably don’t know is we’re about 60 to 70 percent athlete. Um, which is pretty cool because, uh, I could almost, you know, when players are looking at our school, obviously, depending somewhat on their major, but they’re most likely going to have classes not only with teammates, but other student athletes as well to, um, a lot of our guys really like that fact because, yeah, of course, they’re going to hang out with their teammates, but they get to know the guys on the basketball team or the girls on the softball team, and it creates a really nice atmosphere where everybody supports everybody as well to, um, so.
Thank you. That’s a big thing that I think a lot of people don’t know about the school. Um, it’s very much a family type atmosphere. It’s very supportive as well. Um, see what else, uh, it’s just, you know, everybody kind of gets to know each other and they get to spend a lot of time with each other. Like our guys will eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner with each other.
Um, we, we room of all our guys with each other as well, for the most part. Um, Let’s see, you know, we’re, we’re, we’re about 350 acres, which a lot of people are surprised about how big the school is because there’s a lot of boarding area to the school that that’s kind of in the woods area. They don’t really know about that.
Um, [00:10:30] Freshmen can have a car on the campus as well to something that Pfeiffer’s done this year. That is the first year that doing it. We only have classes from Monday to Thursday. So there is no classes on Friday, which a lot of students like that. I think they like that extra day off. But what it’s done for us in terms of the soccer team is it opens up.
Uh, things for like, you know, multiple training sessions, but also we did it. We utilize it for a lot of team bonding events this past year as well too. So I think that the big thing about Pfeiffer and, you know, taking soccer out of the picture, it’s really a community where it’s really supportive, um, you know, uh, not just the people on your team, but really the student body, but also all the other athletes as well.
Matt: No, that’s, that does sound like a great place to be besides the soccer part. There’s also the academic part. So, you know, what, how do your student athletes really balance the demands of being a collegiate athlete as well as the academic side and kind of what support systems does Pfeiffer offer to help them with that?
Coach: So, you know, generally speaking, when you have good grades in high school, you generally have good grades in college. But I think the most difficult thing, though, is now you’re in charge of your schedule. You know, I joke around with a lot of recruits. It’s a little bit of groundhogs day. When you’re when you’re, you know, in high school, you get up, you eat, you go to school, you come home, you eat, go to training, you eat again, and then you do your homework, and then you do the same thing over the next day.
Uh, in college, your schedule could change from day to day. Um, we generally train around 4 35 o’clock in the afternoon. We worked that around the academic schedule. But that [00:12:00] being said, at least our rules at our university, or at least for my team, is that, you know, if there is a conflict between going to class and going to practice, you’re going to go to class, you know, because that’s the most important thing.
Um, what we do for our student athletes is regardless of your GPA coming into Pfeiffer, You’re going to get four hours of study hall a week, um, and you’re going to have that for your entire freshman year, unless you get a 3. 5 GPA or higher in your first semester. If that doesn’t happen, you’ll continue with the study hall your freshman year.
And again, if you’re on my team, um, you will continue with that study hall until you have above a 3. 0 GPA. Uh, we also have, um, you know, tutors, and that’s not just for the athletes, free tutors for any class that you need any help with, um. us as coaches. If we do see what I refer to as a red flag, somebody struggling in class, we will force them to get a tutor.
They’re not gonna have much of a choice on that. But again, first and foremost, they’re here for their academics. And then we use a system called Blackboard, which is sort of an up to date grading system on their phone. You know, I’ve had conversations with recruits and I say, I’m not recruits but players.
How are you doing in your class? Coach, I’m doing great. Let me see your blackboard. And then sometimes a blackboard doesn’t necessarily match up with what they’re telling us and stuff. So it’s a great way to keep track of them. We’ll do great checks throughout the semester as well, too. Um, you know, with it being 60 to 70 percent student athlete, our faculty is great working with our with our, you know, our athletes.
Um, you know, when they have to miss a class for a game, it’s an excuse in terms of the class, but you’re not excused for the work. You obviously have to get that completed. What we do at [00:13:30] the beginning of the year, Every single athlete gets a, um, it’s basically a notification, a piece of paper, and we, we, we attach our schedule to it, and they give that to the professor on the very first day.
Basically, it tells them that they’re an athlete, uh, there might be some class time they need to miss because of, you know, away games, and then here’s our schedule to sort of prepare them for that, um, and just really helps them introduce themselves as a student athlete to their professors.
Matt: Okay, that’s great.
Well, you mentioned a little bit about, about training and your Friday’s off, but take me back a couple of weeks. Let’s assume it’s October. What would a typical week look like for a player in terms of schedule? When are they training classes, meals, the game cadence, that kind of thing? What can they expect?
Coach: So usually classes are going to run from eight to about 4 34 45 in the afternoon. We’ll practice every day, usually anywhere from 4 30 to five o’clock. We’ll vary it on days, you know, obviously we have some some players that have those later classes and stuff. We may have to push it back a little bit more, but we’re pretty flexible.
We can accommodate pretty much everybody in terms of, you know, getting them all there. Um, we practice every day of the week. Uh, N. C. W. A. Rules for Division one, two and three. You have to give them one day off, which typically for us, excuse me, it’s on a sunday. Um, you know, once the season is going, there’s usually two games a week as well too.
So usually a midweek game, a weekend game, you know, Wednesday, saturday type of thing. And then on top of that, we do have our team weight trained throughout the season. Uh, we have that right now, mondays and thursday mornings [00:15:00] at seven a. m. In the morning and we have different groups going at, you know, different staggered times.
Um, and then throughout the season, It may vary a little bit. We may do some individual, uh, film sessions with them, and then sometimes we’ll do a full team film sessions as well. So, uh, those will vary from week to week and stuff, but again, training every day, two games a week, training, uh, weight training on Mondays and Thursdays in the morning.
Matt: Well, let’s talk a little bit more about the team and the soccer side of things, you know, in terms of your recruiting and all that, is there a roster size that you feel is ideal that you’re trying to hit?
Coach: So we do carry a first team. We do carry a second team. So we usually hold somewhere between 35 to 40 guys.
Um, our second, I’m sorry, our first thing we generally travel with 24. Um, I will say this past season we were very deep, which, which, which is great. So sometimes we would actually dress 25, 26, 27, depending on the day. Um, another nice thing about us being so deep. I don’t know what the exact numbers are, but I wouldn’t be surprised with about half our games.
We got it. 18 plus guys into the game, which is not typical. I can’t say that it’s happened in years previous, but we had an extremely strong recruiting classes past year, and we’ve had as many as 464567 freshmen starting for us at any point as well, too. So, um, you know, it’s a very competitive environment, which is probably different from, say, high school and club soccer because We are two to three guys deep in every position.
So, you know, I always tell our guys, you’re going to earn a starting spot through training, but you’re going to have to keep that starting spot in terms of how you perform in games. [00:16:30] But there’s always somebody, you know, nipping out their heels. I would love to get that opportunity to get on the field. For sure.
Matt: Well, besides, uh, players on a roster, you got a good staff there too. So can you talk about your staff, not only your assistants, but any other. You know, athletic department staff that’s helping out anybody that’s, that’s really dedicated to the team.
Coach: Yes, I have an assistant coach. Um, he’s been with me who gosh, I guess it’s going on four years now.
He’s fantastic. Um, he’s great. He takes care of a lot of the behind the scenes stuff. Um, probably doesn’t get as much credit as he probably should. Uh, he’s a great balance for me. Um, you know, both of us are getting out on the recruiting trail this this weekend as well, too. Um, we’re also fortunate to have a strength and conditioning coach for the whole university, but obviously works with each of the teams as well, too.
And then we’ve had a young lady named Rebecca, which is, um, uh, one of our athletic trainers, and she’s been specifically with soccer for, I want to say, going on about her fourth year as well, too. So what’s nice about that is she’s gotten to know the athletes through the years. Um, she was really hands on.
She’s great about, you know, making sure a small thing doesn’t turn into a big thing. Um, so she’s been a great support as well, too. So, you know, between myself, my assistant coach, um, you know, the, the strength and condition coach and our athletic training staff, um, the guys get a lot of support. Uh, we’ve had other assistant volunteer coaches in the past.
Right now we don’t have one. Um, I’m a former goalkeeper. So a lot of times I will do the goalkeeper training, but, um, we’ve had, uh, volunteer coaches in the past that have done some of our goalkeeper training as [00:18:00] well.
Matt: Well, how would you say, uh, well, I guess, how would you describe your style of coaching and, and the team style of play that you’re looking to implement?
Coach: So for us, um, I think we’re very much a possession style team. I don’t want to name the team. things that I watch, but let’s just say they’re big time division one schools. And I was watching the playoffs the other day and I was, I was shocked how direct they were. Um, you know, in comparison stuff, you know, we’ll try to build through the thirds of the field.
Um, you know, one of the things that I always look for with goalkeepers is that they’re good with their feet because obviously if you’re going to build out of the back, they’re gonna have to be a safety valve for you. Um, I’m a huge fan of Man City. I’m a huge fan of Pep Guardiola, but I also know that we are not Man City and we don’t have those players.
So we’re not going to string 100 passes together before we get a chance in the final third. But my whole thing is, you know, we look to rotate the ball once or twice, so maybe 3 to 5 passes getting out of the defensive third. Once we get in the middle of the field, we want our, our, you know, our 6, to be, you know, link players linked to front to back left to right.
But we get through the middle third, about three to five passes as well, too. And then once we get to the final third, we want to get to the goal as quick as we possibly can. Um, we’ve been a high press team. I don’t think that’s any, uh, surprise or, you know, to, to any of the teams that we played when they’ve scouted us.
So we’re always trying to play on the front foot. We’ll step up directly to the 18, challenge them to come out of the back. Um, and, and I will say most of the time we are successful, you know, uh, you know, winning that ball in the final third. Um, I’m a big fan of the counter press. You know, that’s one of the things that we hold our [00:19:30] guys accountable from day one, which, you know, it is surprising some of these, the players that come in and the caliber that they are in the teams that they play on that it’s not that important to them, or they just haven’t learned it or held themselves accountable to it and stuff.
So that’s important for me as well. Um, On the type of coach that I’m not married to any type of particular system. So I believe you build your system around your team, not your team around a system. You know, we lose seniors every year, we gain freshmen every year. So obviously as personnel changes, we try to pick a system that compliments them as individual players.
You know, turning that into a collective group and stuff. So, um, I’m an intense coach. Uh, I wanna win. I wanna win very badly and stuff. But I also believe in the process as well too. So whatever stress or pressure we put on our players, I also feel like we back it up with the same amount of support.
Awesome.
Matt: Excuse me. Well, uh, coach you, you’ve been generous with your time. We’ve covered a bunch of ground. But I always like to finish this off with, uh, you know, if there was one nugget, one piece of information that you would hope that every parent, player, family going through this college recruiting process would know, what would that be?
Coach: Oh, that’s a great question. Um, you know, at the end of the day, we are recruiting the player. Um, we don’t mind the parents getting actually, I shouldn’t say we want the parents get involved, but to a certain extent, um, this should really be a player led process. for players that are out there. Make sure you do your research.
You know, right now again, we’re getting getting ready to go the N. C. F. C. Tournament and I’m I can’t even tell you how many emails a day I’m getting and [00:21:00] you can tell a lot by the emails that they’re sending them out the hundreds or maybe even thousands of coaches and they’re not doing their research.
You know, this is a very time consuming process and you know, If you’re a student athlete that is looking for a university, you want to make sure that, you know, you’re sending out the right message, but also the schools that do interest you. So, you know, do your research, figure out from an academic standpoint, an athletic standpoint, from a social standpoint, maybe even an economical standpoint as well, too.
Is this a good fit for you? Are you actually interested in that university? Um, but really take the lead on that, you know, contact coaches, um, send them videos, send them, you know, schedules and stuff, do your. Do your research on the school as well, too. Um, and make sure that it’s a good fit for you and stuff, because, you know, as coaches, our time is, is not limitless.
Um, you know, we have to really focus on the players, not only that we are interested in, but also are truly interested in us as well, too. So, you know, with the recruiting process, take it upon yourself to do that research and make sure that the schools that you are reaching out to, that you are truly interested in and that you believe it would be a good fit for you.
Matt: Absolutely. Love it, coach. Well, coach, wish you the best of luck, uh, on the recruiting trail. And, uh, hopefully if you, uh, if you make it down to Bradenton, you’ll give me a shout if you’re doing any of the events we hold down here. But, uh, uh, I hope all is well through the holiday season. And thanks for being here.
Coach: All right. Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity.
