Regis University Women’s Soccer – Coach Jeff Frykholm
On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Jeff from the Regis Women’s Program in Colorado. We talk about their recruiting timeline and finding players who fit. He describes how the school is really a hidden gem in a big city. Lastly, we discuss being an educator is in his DNA as a coach. Learn more about Regis University Women’s Soccer.
Matt: [00:00:00] Hi everybody. Welcome to discover college soccer today. I’m lucky enough to be joined by coach Jeff from Regis university in Colorado. Welcome coach.
Coach: Thank you, Matt. I appreciate it. It’s, uh, lovely to have a chance to talk to you. Thank you.
Matt: Yeah. Glad to have you here. You’re, uh, well, what I, what I didn’t tell you before you, you know, you’re on that, that, that long list, that first cut of list of schools my daughter’s looking at.
So I’m, I’m interested to hear, uh, your things about, about Regis. Now, um, now she, she, she’s lives in Florida, but decided if she, she’d love, she loved Colorado. We went out skiing there a couple of years ago. She’s, she loves that. Uh, so anyway, uh, but. But I mean, we’re talking about a potential recruit here, you know, she’s only sophomore can’t talk to her yet.
But, uh, so. We’re talking end of January. It’s the heart of the showcase season. Um, kind of, what is your normal recruiting class timeline? Are you done with 24s and really focused on 25s? Like how, what’s your typical timeline in recruiting your look like?
Coach: We’ve been really fortunate, um, you know, as I’ve been here 3 full years heading into my 4th year.
Now, the 1st one was as an assistant in the last 2 as a head coach. Um, we have been really fortunate to be honest that our recruiting is kind of falling into place for us for a variety of reasons, you know, dumb luck or finding the right, you know, the message matches the interest for whatever reason we’ve been able to get out in front.
Our 24s are pretty much pretty much done at this point. [00:01:30] Um, we, we are super excited about the, the. Young women that are coming into the program. So we probably a couple months ago began kind of switching to look more closely at the 25 and I’d say we’re, we’re kind of, we’re well on the path for the 25. we, man, you know, it’s, it’s, um, I get asked that question a lot, you know, from parents and, and what is the timeline?
And it’s really so variable for each individual player. What we’re trying to do here is find a match and Regis is a unique university. Um, it’s, uh, you know, it’s smaller. It’s, it’s a Catholic school. It’s. Yeah. Pretty high level academics, and so we really, um, you know, are in a position where the fit really has to be there for us.
And so I would say, honestly, you know, when people ask, like, where are you in your recruiting process? And how much time are you spending? You know, at showcases here? The majority of our time, honestly, is just right in this chair. And it’s, it’s, um, you know, responding to the interest that we get. It’s, um.
Engaging in dialogue with players and really trying to ascertain whether or not this school, this place is the right fit for, you know, fill in the blank potential student athlete and the reverse. So, you know, we, of course, do the showcase events. I’m really fortunate that our assistant coach here, Luke Meadows, he’s, he’s brilliant.
I love him. We go way back. He has been heavily involved in the club world and continues to be. Working with his club at some pretty high level events events, [00:03:00] and in the past events, so we, uh, you know, 1 of the 2 of us, we’re, we’re, we’re at a lot of events of events, but I would say that it’s not, you know, we’re not rigid or locked down into what events we go to.
It really sort of depends on where Luke’s going to be with his, with his team and his club, but then also where it just makes the most sense, given each of these recruiting classes and these individuals that we’re talking with. So, yeah, we’re in the middle of of the 25. she got a. A board right over there with a list of names that we’re starting to populate and, and, you know, the real question for us is like, whether it’s at an event or, um, someone’s on campus or our own idea event at a tournament.
The question is like, can we imagine, can I imagine that player wearing, you know, wearing this, wearing the Regis gear and that’s across the board. Can I imagine them in our, in the classroom here being successful? Can I imagine them on this campus, which. Um, you certainly don’t have to be Catholic to come here.
I’m not Catholic, but it does have a set of values. Can we imagine you kind of wearing the wearing those values? Can we imagine you wearing our jersey actually on the pitch? And that’s it’s a complicated process. So, I’m sorry if that’s too vague, but it really depends on the individual player and how we try to craft an experience for that player to help determine whether or not this is a good fit.
Matt: No, I, I don’t think it’s too vague and I’m gonna, I’m gonna make, maybe get a little more specific just in terms of, you know, that process, right? So, let’s say you’re at an ID [00:04:30] event, what would you say is the split between, I’m sitting down at this game because I’ve got somebody that I’ve already been talking to, and it could be just that email or the first phone call or whatever, but I’m here to see X versus I’m plopping down to hopefully, Have that lightning bolt moment of watching a game where I don’t know anybody.
What do you think that split is?
Coach: I think you nailed it. It’s the lightning bolt, the catching lightning in a bottle moment for me. And maybe I just need to become a better identity identifier of talent. It just, it’s very rarely happens. I mean, I very rarely sit down, Matt. I’m like, Hey, does anybody know the name of that number seven?
I really like her. It just. Every once in a while, you get a serendipitous moment where that happens, but we really try to hedge our bets and go to these events. You know, the other thing too, I probably should mention, we don’t have a ton of money to be going to these events. So we have to be really targeted.
And so for me to get up and fly out of Denver and head somewhere, it probably means I’ve got. Two, three, four players, maybe that are at that event that we are well down the road. We’ve had some email exchange, probably a phone call zoom call. I’ve talked to a coach or 2, the fit seems to be like, you know, far enough along from both sides to keep the conversation going.
That’s how we tend to do it. Now, while I’m at that. Game or event and, and, and zeroing in on the 2 or 3 players. If, if somebody starts to pop, if there’s a player that I just can’t, I can’t stop watching, you know, obviously we’re going to, we’re going to [00:06:00] get the roster and figure out who that is and perhaps follow up with a phone call.
But for us, you know, boy, I’m trying to think back 1, maybe 2 players that we have on our roster right now that came through that. Serendipitous moment where I’ve got to explain where Regis is how to pronounce the name who we are what level we are. It’s just for us. It doesn’t happen very often that way.
So I’m very much in the camp of let’s hedge our bets. Let’s be as efficient as we can. Let’s be as economical as we can and really narrow in when we it’s it’s for me. It’s just a real. It’s a privilege to be able to go to these matches and see players live. And so I want to just take advantage of that.
So we normally are well down the road. I guess the implication for players. If you’re interested in Regis anyway, is, is, you know, establish that communication, get on our radar, um, follow up, follow through, demonstrate that you’ve done enough in your own searching to, um, to be at a spot where, you know, Regis is on, is on a list of some lengths, a short list somewhere, and then we’re going to be very, we’re going to be interested in going to see you, see you play.
Matt: Great. Well, another thing you mentioned was ID camp. So it sounds like you have your own, do you or your staff work? Other ones as well, how important is the ID camp component in that kind of recruiting process from start to finish
Coach: really good question. We do occasionally attend other ID camps from other universities.
Or maybe there’s a group that’s putting together. Our club is hosting an idea event. We will, we will go to those. Um, honestly, for me, it’s, [00:07:30] it’s probably more. Kind of being a good soldier in the, in the college game and showing up and being supportive and running some sessions. Um, I think, you know, they can work the same way as a, as a tournament.
We’ve identified a player or 2. it’s gone both ways. You’re gonna make this ID camp. Okay. It makes sense. Um, so we do do that. I think for us, probably most. Beneficial in terms of the ID camp world is the 1 that we host. We host a couple of year. Um, we. Our ID camp, and everybody does it differently and, and, you know, there’s no, no judgment here on on how people do it.
What we’ve chosen to do is keep our ID camps pretty tidy, pretty small. So, um, and we don’t want to be exclusive or say, this is invitation only, but we, um, we get to a point in our relationship. Uh, recruiting relationship with the player where we feel like there’s enough promise and potential here for this match that we will invite them to come to ID camp.
We might have between 20 to 30 players. We try to kind of cap it at 30 so that it truly is an identification event that we can spend a day or 2 with them, um, allow them to really understand the campus, allow them to see, you know, to get to know us, how we engage, interact on the field. And then obviously in our home environment on our pitch, yeah.
In our classroom, those sorts of things, it’s, it’s, it’s really, um, you know, powerful. Opportunity for us to get to know these players. So we, I think I’m thinking back to our, in our current class of freshmen, um, the, the 23s out of the 8, I think 6 of them had had come to 1 of our ID camps. And that was after plenty of [00:09:00] conversation.
And we really would love to get you on campus. Here’s a weekend. We’re bringing in. Potentially, some of your future teammates, um, come meet them. It’s important for you to understand, like, are these my people? Um, and and for you to get a chance to see who it is that we’re recruiting their athleticism, their technical quality, the kind of human being that they are and so that’s been really important for us to really kind of, and we get a little bit better each year, like, Dialing in on on the intent of the ID camp and then the philosophy and what it is that we actually do with the players while they’re here.
So I would say that’s a huge component of our recruiting is, is our own ID camp and to a lesser extent those opportunities to get out and see other see other players and then present Regis as a, you know, as a. As another wonderful choice among many, you know, across the college landscape.
Matt: Okay, great. Well, let’s talk a little bit more about Regis.
Uh, you know, folks out there maybe aren’t aren’t familiar. And there’s a Regis College and Regis University. So, you always always have that fun confusion. Right? Um, so you’ve been there 3, 4 years now kind of tell me what are some of the things that you find are just awesome outstanding about the school?
Maybe some stuff we wouldn’t even know about going through the website.
Coach: Yeah, thank you for the opportunity to talk a little bit about the school. I, I, I love I love this place for me. It. Sort of captures everything that I would almost everything you never get it all. But the major components of what. I feel that I need, um, in terms of resources to build a program that I think, you [00:10:30] know, serves young women really well.
Um, I grew up in Colorado. I’ve been here, um, for a, you know, good chunk of my life. And honestly, I like, I just didn’t know very much about Regis. It is in Denver. It’s a, you know, it’s in an urban setting, um, but it’s a small campus, kind of feels like a little bit of an oasis. And I drove by it, I don’t know how many times and, and just really over the years, never really.
Invested time to understand what the university was. And so, for me, the last several years being here, it’s been just an opportunity to learn. I’m learning. I’m learning every week about something unique something. I didn’t know. It’s it’s, um, you know, it’s a small campus. Um, you know, a couple 1000 students, um, undergraduates, uh, freshmen, sophomores have to live on campus.
So you take about half of that number and it ends up being. You know, it’s not high school 2. 0. It’s bigger than that, but it is an intimate, uh, setting and you’re known on this campus. Uh, it’s, uh, it’s a Jesuit school. I didn’t know anything about Jesuit education. The more I learn, the more I’m like, man, why wouldn’t you?
Like, if you were trying to start a soccer program somewhere, why wouldn’t you choose this set of foundational values? To begin to build your culture, and it’s just it’s a lot of, you know, service with and for others and for the greater good and academic integrity. And it’s those sorts of values that you just look at.
And they’re on banners across campus. I’m like, dang. I will take that 1. I will take that 1. I will take that 1 and they just become really fundamental [00:12:00] components of the program. So we are trying within the women’s soccer program to make that feel sort of. Parallel that’s synonymous to the, to the overall life experience on campus.
Um, it’s a highly academically oriented institution. Um, as you can imagine, uh, you know, a Jesuit education. It’s a liberal arts perspective with some really strong pockets. Most of our almost all of our players. Probably, I’d say probably 80 percent are in the health sciences, very strong health science program, nursing, exercise science, physical therapy, those sorts of things.
Um, and then across campus, we have other really strong pockets. It’s, it’s just a, it offers a breadth of academic experience, but at a really high level. Um, we. You know, you don’t have to be a perfect 4. 0 student to come here. And in fact, I wouldn’t want everyone to have that same profile in order to be successful here.
You do, regardless of your GPA, your academic experience coming out of high school, or, you know, perhaps if you’re a transfer student, what you do need is to have some academic curiosity and a little bit of, um, earnestness around your own professional goal. Aspirations and your personal growth in the classroom.
So, and that’s where going back to what I was talking about earlier, the importance of the fit for us and recruiting, like, we just, we just, I don’t want every player to look alike, but I do. There has to be enough recognition. And they’re part of of what this environment is for them to come here and be successful as, as students.
1st, as, as, as humans, 1st, students, 2nd, and then soccer players. 3rd, [00:13:30]
Matt: we, we talk about that, that student and soccer success. Right? So. A lot of times that could be the tough part about being a collegiate athlete is balancing the demands of the classroom and on the field. So how do your players specifically really balance those 2 things?
Make sure they’re successful in both those things. And what kind of support systems is a school offer to make sure that they’re successful in those things?
Coach: Yeah, another really good question that, um, I think the 1st thing I’ll say is that we have. Mhm. A big part of our culture is built around academic success and there’s great pride among our players in, um, you know, I’m not a big guy, you know, because I think it’s a proxy and you can get a great GPA, but not learn anything in that course.
I’ve been teaching long enough to know that. Um, but nevertheless, there’s, there’s great pride in the program that predates me years and years that this is a place where you, you come and you’re a, you’re a great student. And so we, you know, we have, um, they have a competition within our conference for the highest grade point average.
And there’s a lot of, there’s a lot of pride around having the highest GPA across the league and maintaining that year after year. So our freshmen come into this environment where. To start with academic excellence is is prioritized and it’s driven by the players, which I coming in. It’s 1 thing that I learned.
I was like, wow, I don’t I don’t have to do a lot of harping on. Hey, good. Get get get good grades. Be good in the classroom. It’s part of the culture. So that’s a foundational piece, which [00:15:00] I think is great. Then there are the other added components that you, you know, you’re asking about, um, you know, we like, Probably every program in the United States, we have a study hall for our incoming players.
Um, that’s monitored a couple of times a week. We’re not large enough as a D2, uh, program to have a dedicated academic advisor, just for, you know, women’s soccer or just for athletics. That said, there are so many resources across campus that are open to. Every student athlete, non athlete that, um, if you are seeking support would make it hard to fail here.
You know, you do have to take the initiative, but we’ve got, uh, you know, learning service resources and folks across campus and counseling and all of those things that you would expect a college campus to have in terms of supporting academic success. We, you know, we have those here. I would say probably in terms of supporting the academic.
Progress achievement success, probably the biggest thing about our program is just what happens internally. It’s our students are great mentors for 1 another. There’s all kinds of informal guidance. Like, don’t take that class in the fall. Take that class in the spring. And I, I’m surprised, like, when we’re on the road, the number of times I will come down into the lobby and I’m Hey, ladies, you know, the study hall is from 9 to 10 and it’s 815.
you’re already down here and they’re just doing it just because they have really embraced it as something that that we do here in this program. So, honestly, I probably shouldn’t say this publicly, but I, you know, I don’t have, I don’t spend a lot of time really driving the academic piece because [00:16:30] they’ve taken so much ownership of that already and not, you know, we’ve got a couple students this, uh, you know, it’s past fall that.
That were hit pretty hard with the demands of a heavy schedule and soccer and lifting and on the road and, um, and then for the 1st time, being away from home and then getting hit with this different level of academic experience. So, you know, we’re working with them and there’s no pressure. It’s just like, this is part of what it means to be a full human being and to gain everything that you possibly can from this experience.
We’re gonna have to focus on on the tools that allow you to be successful. So, um, it’s, you know. It’s always, you know, you have your peaks and valleys as a student and, um, and that’s what we want. You know, we want it to be challenging. I don’t want everyone to get a’s all the time. We want, we want to experience.
What does it feel like to be riding a B minus and, you know, have a little bit of pressure to perform and to really, you know, crack the code in the classroom as well as the, the field.
Matt: Yeah, well, real quick, just to follow up on something you said earlier, the fact that you have a lot of health science majors and nursing majors.
I know, you know, I’ve done a couple 100 of these now and a lot of times you hear. Nursing and health sciences don’t jive with being a collegiate athlete because of the time demands. So, I know there are a few programs I’ve talked to. It sounds like yours is another one where it’s okay, you kind of welcome it, you work around it, you work with it.
How does that work for your players?
Coach: Yeah, it’s hard. I’m not gonna, you know, I’m not gonna try to avoid it. It’s, it’s [00:18:00] hard, but we, I can’t imagine. Bringing a person here and saying, um, we’re not going to allow you to pursue an academic pathway. That makes sense for you. I, that I just, that’s not part of my paradigm here.
And so, um, we, we have, I think right now on the roster, 6 nurses or 5 with some other ones coming in. We have 5 currently and it’s, it’s, it’s hard. We’ve got a couple right now that, you know, we’ve launched into the spring season and they miss they’re missing a couple of days a week. Once they hit that junior year and the senior year, it’s.
It’s very challenging. We had a couple of last year as seniors that, you know, they were missing Thursday trainings, which makes it hard to start a match on Friday. Um, but that is a consequence. We just try to be really clear with them up front. We want you to pursue like, we want to set you up for the rest of your life.
Um, and if you want to be a nurse or another program that that has labs or clinicals, we’re 100 percent okay with that. We will work with the nursing program, but you have to understand that the consequence of that is at times. Thanks. Soccer takes a back seat and we have a good relationship with nursing.
You know, we, they might be dashing in right as we’re walking out of the locker room, but, you know, they’re, they’re present. They’re here for all of our matches. And in turn, that means they do miss some training and, um, we make, we make it up. We, we, um, find other times to make sure that they’re getting in the weight room.
And they, these, these, Um, student athletes that make that choice do so knowingly up front and they are the sort of student they’re the kind of student you’d want as your own nurse, you know, down the road. Right? They’re very [00:19:30] conscientious. They’re. They have a service orientation. Um, they understand what the demand is going to be.
They understand they’re going to have to they’re putting themselves at a competitive disadvantage within our program. And yet they still say, I want to be a nurse. I love for me. It’s like, wow, those are the kind of people you want to build your program out. So it’s not easy. They miss a lot. It’s hard. We have those conversations, like, why am I not getting more minutes?
And and and sometimes it’s like, because you weren’t you missed 2 pretty fundamental training sessions this week. And and that’s why and those are tough. That’s a tough pill to swallow. But we just always try to come back to, um, what is the role of this athletic experience in your overall life relative to the academic experience?
Let’s be as exceptional as we can in both and and negotiated along the way. So I, we’re, um, It’s not right for every program. Um, we’re trying to manage and balance that. And you know, we’ve been really, we’ve, we’ve been able to attract some really high level players because they just haven’t found a fit elsewhere where the soccer and the academic, they feel the freedom to be able to be excellent at both.
Um, so we’re still working it out. There’s some bumps on the road, but, um, but, but, you know, we want to, I want to be a place that allows every one of our athletes to be exactly the student that is right for them in that moment at that time. No, I think that’s great.
Matt: Uh, let’s talk more about the team, a little bit of the on field stuff.
I mean, we, well, is there a roster size that, that you find as ideal that you’re trying to hit each year?
Coach: Yeah, we’re, we’re in a little tug of war right now across, uh, the [00:21:00] athletic program. Um, as the questions up the ladder, you know, administratively are being asked, you know, what is the appropriate size in an institution?
That’s driven largely by tuition. You know, I wish we had the endowment of, uh, of an Ivy League school. We don’t. Um, so we are heavily tuition dependent. And so what does that mean? What is the responsibility? Like, how much weight does the athletics. Program as a whole carry in terms of, you know, tuition dollars across campus, and how does that mesh with your scholarship allotment?
So there’s been a little push and pull, um, you know, between us coaches and the administration to kind of maybe perhaps bump the numbers up over the course of the next couple of years we have been running the last couple of years at 27 and 28, kind of right in that 27, 28, um, we’ll be just a little bit higher this coming year, fall 2024, we’ll be up right around 30 and, um, that to me feels like, That’s starting to push the boundary of making it really hard to ensure that everybody up and down, you know, the roster from, from 1 to 30 is having a quality experience and getting an opportunity to train well, um, to be a part of the training environment and to really fully engage there, but also, you know, opportunities to play.
Um, so it’s a balancing act. That’s kind of where we. Aim to be, I think ideally, you know, if I could pick a number, uh, it’d probably be, you know, 26, you’re carrying four goalkeepers and you got 22 field players allowing for some injuries. That’d be ideal. Um, 27, I think that’s where we’ll be probably in the future moving forward here in the next few years.
Okay.
Matt: [00:22:30] Well, you mentioned, uh, Staff with, with Luke helping out with, uh, with stuff. So what, what does your, your staff kind of look like? What other support staff are there in the athletic department that help out the team?
Coach: We, uh, there’s two of us, um, head coach, obviously, and, and, and Luke’s assistant coach, though, I think if he came in.
Took a look at a training session in a given day, might have a difficulty discerning, you know, who’s who’s on top. I’m very fortunate. Luke is a wonderful coach. Wonderful recruiter. Great on the field. So we have a really, uh, just a relationship that I really enjoy in terms of the sharing and giving take we have a graduate student.
Um, so that is a funded position every year. Uh, the graduate student we have right now. She’s lovely. She’s. From Columbia, which just brings this unique added perspective, a brilliant player in her day. So she’s here. Um, you know, the grad students, they come and go, they’re kind of on a 2 year cycle. So she’s got another year with us.
And then we’ll be looking to replace her with the next grad student. We have a goalkeeping trainer. Um, that is an independent contractor. So that’s money that we fundraise for. And then we, we pay her and she, she works, um, here’s on campus several days a week. And that. Yeah. All of our home matches supporting our goalkeepers.
Um, so that’s kind of soccer alone. Uh, we have a, uh, training program that is, uh, obviously instrumental to, to keeping our athletes healthy and, and productive and, and back in the field as soon as possible after injuries, big ones and little ones. Um, there are 4 of them that service. the program here. So in season, we have a dedicated athletic [00:24:00] trainer.
That’s at every one of our training sessions, home matches, obviously sometimes traveling with us. Other times we’ll take advantage of, uh, the visiting team or when we’re the visitor there at the home, uh, the home trainer. So great training program. We also have a full time strength and conditioning program here.
We have a dedicated strength and conditioning coach just for women’s soccer. Um, so You know, he, uh, he’s, he’s, you know, he’s at all of our home matches, occasionally pop into a training session, but is responsible for leading the strength and conditioning component right now in the spring off season.
That’s 3 days a week in the fall. While we’re in season, they’re there with Spencer twice a week. So we’ve got those really necessary components of a, of a high level program. Um, we do, those are shared resources. You know, we are, yeah. D2 program, and sometimes you go in the training room, and you got to wait a little bit to get an ankle taped.
And that’s just the way it goes for us. Um, and we just try to help our athletes understand that demands that the trainers are under servicing 250 plus athletes. And it’s okay to take. Take your spot in line every once in a while. Mm-Hmm. . And, uh, to know that, you know, in those dire moments, you, you will be cared for.
So we have also doctors, you know, off campus that have relationships with us. So if we had a, a more significant injury, we got places to go, um, that know the program, that know our athletes nor our trainers. Um, we have physical therapists that are off campus too for when that’s necessary. So we have a network around athletics to, to support.
And you, you know, we don’t have everything here. But we do, if we don’t have it, we find the connection, you know, to make sure that we’re not wanting in those [00:25:30] really key areas where you’ve got to have support for your athletes. Okay.
Matt: So we talked about your staff and I got to ask about you. Uh, so how would you describe kind of your coaching style, the style of play you want to enact and kind of just that overall team culture?
Coach: Yeah, well, I could talk an hour about this. This is the fun stuff. That’s the good stuff. Um, I think. You know, it’s probably important to know my orientation coming to, um, you know, this position is.
Full time work as a head college soccer coach has been an aspiration for a long, long time, but I, I’ve come to it out of the education world. I’ve always been coaching, but, um, had a long, you know, long stint in my career as a, as a teacher, high school teacher, back to graduate school, college professor in the school of education.
And so I, I. It’s just, it’s in my DNA, I guess, just like an orientation toward coaching that is rooted in principles of teaching and learning. And so, at the heart of that, I think, for me, is, um, is it’s, it’s gotta be relational based. I am a relational person and, um, you know, I think, I guess a couple of components.
What I would hope I don’t necessarily use these words with our athletes, but I hope if you ask them, they would, they would be able to reflect on things like. You know, it’s a, it’s a psychologically safe environment. Yes, it’s challenging, but it’s, it’s, it’s built around a foundation of trust and openness and and and safety.
Um, we try really hard [00:27:00] to keep the ego out of it to keep the outcomes out of it and have a heavy task orientation. Like, how can we hit the standard today? What is the task that’s before us today? Um, it’s that proverbial, you know, the outcome will take care of itself and it will be the outcome that you want more often than not.
If you can focus on the task at hand, so that’s a big part of our culture. Um, again, I don’t know if the play, I wouldn’t use these words necessarily with our players, but we try to add a heavy dose of autonomy into the program. Um, how does this, you know, constantly how’s how are you feeling? Is are we hitting the mark?
Is this, um, are you feeling supportive? Can you give us some insights and quick example last year? Um, at one point we, uh, asked the players, um, the back line, like, Hey, we can go, we play the four back. We can play the three back. I personally, I trust you in both. You guys decide what, what do you want to do?
We’re going into this match. We could go either way. And they’re like, we’re more comfortable in the three back done. Let’s do that. And so it was a moment where. Again, not that we, not that I made this transparent in that moment, but I, I wanted them to feel the autonomy, the ownership and buy in and, and, you know, obviously, from a coaching point of view, when your back line says, we want to play in a 3 back.
Well, now they’re on the hook for that, you know, and and that’s, it just, it allows you guys chose this. Let’s do it. Let’s nail it. And so that’s 1 example, but we’re always trying to sort of give them autonomy to, to help shape the direction, certainly of the culture, but then, you know, what we’re trying to accomplish on the field, um, terms of style of play.
You know, we’re, um, [00:28:30] you know, probably 95 percent of every college coach in America is going to say, oh, we’re a possession oriented team. You like to keep the ball on the floor. And that’s true. You know, and I would, I would say that, um, where that comes for me is that again, it goes back to the joy. Where do you find the joy in this game?
And, and I think for me, it’s like being involved in some sort of combination that is, Beautiful and unrepeatable and serendipitous and just happen like those moments of joy. I think for me, I’m thinking back, you know, dozens of years. That was always a source of joy for me as a player. And so we’ve tried to build our system around that.
How can we share the ball? But, but more importantly, you know, metaphorically, like, how can we share the play in a way that. Engages engages everybody and so that everybody is as equally likely to experience the joy. So, from an attacking point of view, um, you know, we have, we have principles. We try not to try to focus.
And we just talked about this yesterday and training session to kind of remind them as we’re getting going in the spring again. It’s like, if you’re, if you’re focusing on your position, you probably missed the boat. What is your role in this moment? In that particular location on the field and what is the game asking?
We say this a lot. Like, what’s the game giving you? What’s the game asking you fulfill that role in this moment? And we build our playing principles around around that. And and it is, you know, it is based on, like, we love having we love having the ball more than they do. And how can we, um, you know, it’s a Pep Guardiola.
Don’t you don’t move the ball. You move, you move the opponent. [00:30:00] Um, so we’re very much kind of aligned in that way. I think from the defensive side of it, you know, just trying to get our players to buy in every single day to, to love the process of getting the dang thing back. Just to really love, um, pressuring the opponent and winning balls back because that allows us to do the thing we really love, which is to share the joy in having the ball.
So that’s kind of a snapshot. And again, he’s probably, you know, you probably hear a lot of coaches that would articulate some version of that, but, um, you know, our training sessions are heavily play oriented. Um, and, you know, again, going back to the idea of giving. Players opportunity to experience autonomy and join the game.
Like, can we can we design training sessions that are well organized, uh, competitive, but also contain lots of opportunities to just experience the joy of the game at the 100 mile view. That’s kind of trying to do. I love it.
Matt: I love it a lot. Um, and, and believe it or not, a lot of coaches do say they like to have the ball more than their opponent.
Imagine that. Uh, well, coach, you, you’ve been super generous with your time going over a lot of things. I like to end these with the same question for everybody. And as someone who’s had three kids go through this process, uh, and play collegially, and now you as a coach, you’re, you’re more, you’re, you’re better equipped than most to, to answer this question.
And so if you did have one, just one. Piece of advice. If there was one nugget of info that you think all [00:31:30] families, parents, players, prospective student athletes should know going through this recruiting process, what would that be?
Coach: I think I, I think I would land here and this is certainly where we landed with our three, with our three kids.
Um, I kind of hinted at it before the game is always willing, ready, eager to give you joy. And your task as a prospective. Student athlete at X, Y, Z, A, B, C universities is to figure out which of those environments is closely enough aligned to who you are to be the greatest possible source of joy for you.
And, you know, I, I tell us that we’re obviously we’re D2 program and we, we are tracking some really high level athletes that have the option of playing in D1 programs, D2 programs, obviously D3 programs, the whole range. And what I, what I try when it, when it’s, when it’s right, when it feels right. Yeah. The thing that I, that I will try to leave them with, and this is like, whether you come to us at Regis or you go somewhere else, you know, you’ve got to find the right place and just know this, that when you make your first big time save, when you, when you blow somebody up in a tackle for the 1st time, when you score your 1st goal, whether that is D1, D2, D3, it’s not like a D1 goal gives you more joy than a D3 goal.
That’s just not true. Um, it’s about being a part of a community that, like, when you do score that first goal, that [00:33:00] joy you get when you’re mobbed by your teammates, when you have that 15 second run back to the center stripe, you know, you just to experience that moment. It’s the, the, the object is to find that moment.
And it can exist in all kinds of different environments. And so if you are absolutely bent on, on being in a D1 program, like, more power to you, go for it, like, wind in the sails, go for it. Um, if you are bent on a D3 experience, so you can study abroad and, and, you know, be involved in campus life in a different way that maybe you wouldn’t get a D1.
Go for that, whatever it is that, you know, is really driving you. Hopefully, as a 16, 17 year old, you’ve had some guidance along the way to really become self aware, understand who you are and what’s important to you. That’s the match. And just know that if you find the match. Uh, the game is going to, the game will reward that, that decision.
We don’t always nail it. You know, you don’t always nail it. You do the best you can with the data that you have, but, but the comfort and the assurance of knowing that if you find the right place, you will, this game just gives and gives and gives And, uh, you will be on the receiving end of some, you know, just some wonderful joy and fulfillment, um, if you have trusted that process and you stay true to who you are, that’s the advice I give everybody that sits in this office and whether it’s here or elsewhere, um, find the match and it’s out there.
It’s absolutely out there. And there’s been times when it’s painful, you know, sitting in this chair [00:34:30] where you, where you lose a player that you really think could help you, but they have found a better spot. You can’t do anything but tip the hat and say. Like all the best to you go, go crush it. Um, because the worst thing is to have a player in your environment that doesn’t want to be there, but doesn’t fit for, for whatever reason, because that’s just, that’s not good for the player.
It’s not good for the program. It’s not good for the teammates. It’s, it’s hard for everybody. So let’s do the best we can to, you know, to, to make the very best decision possible. And when you do great things in store.
Matt: Love it. Love it. Wise words, coach. Well, I appreciate it. Well, thank you so much for the time.
Wish you the best of luck here, uh, is your spring. And as you finish up, uh, all those recruiting and, and getting ready for the fall. And, uh, hopefully we’ll, we’ll, we’ll see around, uh, maybe I, I’m guessing you’re not doing a lot of Florida recruiting, but if you get down here, let me know. And, uh, and we’ll get to it.
Coach: I wish that I wish we could. I wish we could. There’s wonderful players. They’re not a bad place to hang out for a weekend. So appreciate it. Thanks so much for your time, Matt. This is a unique opportunity for us just to talk a little bit about the things that we feel are special about Regis. So I really appreciate you giving us this opportunity, but for the dozens and dozens and dozens of other coaches and programs, you’re, you’re providing something really special for, um, all those young people out there looking for the right soccer home, academic home.
So thank you very much. Appreciate it.
Matt: Appreciate it. Take care.
