Russell Sage College Men’s Soccer – Coach Amir Pasic
In today’s episode, I speak with Coach Pasic from the Russell Sage Men’s Program in New York. We talk about how they are recruiting everywhere, including high school games and social media. Coach also shares about their super busy in-season schedule. Plus, we discuss their attacking style of play. Learn more about Russell Sage College Men’s Soccer.
Matt: [00:00:00] Hi everybody. Welcome to Discover College Soccer. Today I am lucky enough to be joined by two coaches, coach Amir and Coach Connor from Russell Sage. Welcome guys.
Coach: Thanks, Matt. We’re, we’re super pumped to be here. We’ve been looking forward to this for, for a little while now, so thanks for having us on.
Well, y
Matt: you, you shouldn’t start by lying ’cause that’s, you know, it just gets you off on the wrong foot. No, no one, no one’s looking forward to sitting down and, no, I’m just teasing you. Uh, no, it’s, it’s, it’s fun and, uh, I mean, I guess I’ve been doing this three years now. Um, and it was cool ’cause this weekend I was at ID camps with my daughter and ran into two different coaches that I’ve interviewed.
So, uh, you know, it, it, it, it’s, it’s good. So, uh, hopefully things are, are well up there in Albany, New York. A little, probably a little cooler than they are down here in Florida right now.
Coach: No, it’s, it’s, uh, it’s not bad. These last couple days haven’t been bad. It, it gets hot though sometimes. I was in Florida maybe a month or two ago, and it was hotter in Albany than it was in Florida, but that’s, that’s the [00:01:00] exception.
Definitely not the rule. For sure, for sure.
Matt: Well, let’s get into it here. We’re talking into July, uh, as a, as a D three men’s program. When did you. Kind of wrap up that 25 class and how far along are you with 20 sixes and have you even started really talking to 20 sevens?
Coach: It’s a good question. Um, we’re actually still working on, uh, just a couple 2025, so we’re lucky we have rolling admission.
Um, and there’s, uh, a, a potential student athlete that we just had on campus, uh, a week and a half ago, uh, that we’re super excited about that we hope, um, you know, it works out with him. He, uh, was someone that we originally recruited four or five years ago, um, identified four or five years ago, went and played in Spain for four or five years.
Um, and now he’s back, um, looking for, for a home for this fall. And, uh, he was just on campus. So, [00:02:00] um, not all that, it doesn’t always happen that way, but we will recruit up until, you know, August 15th if we have to in order to get the best, the, the best possible players in. Uh, with that being said, we have definitely shifted our focus to our 2026 class.
We were just at a great ID camp over in Cortland, uh, this past weekend where we saw. A number of really good players. Um, and it, it was, like I said, mostly 2020 sixes that we’re looking at, but there were a couple 20, 20 sevens that we identified there as well, uh, at that camp.
Matt: Okay. What about roster size for you guys?
What, what is your ideal roster or what you’re trying to hit each year with numbers?
Coach: Ideal roster is right around 30. Um, which I think I saw one of your studies or one of your things that you put out actually that, that said something along the lines of a, a average college soccer roster being 30. Um, which, you know, for us it’s, it’s, it’s been around that, you know, plus or minus a [00:03:00] few 30.
32, 33, 29. Right, right in that range. Ideal roster size would be something like 28. Uh, but it usually ends up being right around 30, maybe a couple more than that. Um, just with how recruiting shakes out, we, we tend to get more, uh, commits than we, um, anticipate year in and year out, which is not necessarily a bad thing.
But yeah, I would say right around 30.
Matt: Okay. Well. You mentioned, uh, going out to Courtland, but, but when you’re recruiting, kind of where do you like to go, whether that’s leagues, tournaments, high school, that kind of thing. Where do you guys spend your time predominantly looking at, at players?
Coach: We look everywhere.
Um, we look everywhere. We’ve gone to pickup games. We’ve gone to high school games. Connor’s a, uh, you know, works at a high school. So he’s, he’s, uh, very, uh, in tune with the, the, uh. You know, the best players at locally, at the high schools. Um, we’ve gone to ID camps. Um, we’ve, my [00:04:00] first season here, arguably one of our better recruits was a kid that I saw on Twitter, um, who I never saw play live, but you could clearly see on film that he had something to him.
Um, our captain, one of our captains this fall is gonna be a student athlete that I saw on Twitter. Only saw film of him ca came on, uh, a campus visit. Loved it, committed here, spent two years here, junior year. He’s a captain. So for us, we will look anywhere and everywhere. Um, we will, uh, you know, go to, uh, the, the, the major ECNL tournaments, the MLS next.
Um, but of course there’s a, there’s a lot of really other good tournaments that we’re, we’re gonna go to. Um, and, and it might even be a pickup game. Connor, I don’t know if you want to expand on that at all.
Asst Coach: Um, I think you. Hit the nail on the head right there. I mean, we recruit every, everywhere. Um, we don’t just specifically go to like, um, high schools or tournaments.
Like if, if [00:05:00] you’re a quality soccer player, then we’re trying to, um, get you on our team. Like the, the players that we bring in. We try to. Make sure the players we bring in are better than the players that we have right now in order to grow the program. So, you know, wherever we have to look to find guys, um, we’re willing to, you know, travel and, uh, actually do that together, which is nice.
Matt: Okay. Well what about ID camps? Do you guys do your own or, or work other ID camps. Are they part of your recruiting process at all?
Coach: Yeah, we, uh, we, we do have our own ID camp. We typically have it at the end of the fall. Um, last year it was like first weekend in December. The year before that, it was in November.
So we’ve had, uh, ID camps since, since we’ve been here. Um, and we also go to other ID camps. I was just at an ID camp a few weeks ago down in Florida at, um, Florida International. We were just this past weekend at Cortland, ID camp. Really good camp. Lots of quality players there. Connor, you were at a ID camp, um, you know, a week or [00:06:00] two before Cortland, so Yeah, no, we, we, we like the ID camps.
We go to those, um, quite, quite a bit.
Matt: Well, whether it’s at an ID camp or through video or seeing a player play in person, kind of what makes up that hierarchy of things you’re looking for in a player.
Coach: Yeah, no, the, the, the soccer player obviously matters, right? Who, who, who you are on the field, what you do on the field.
But for us, the most important and, and, and probably the biggest non-negotiable is who you are as a person. Um, and we tell recruits that upfront. We tell the parents that upfront, if you’re not gonna be a good person, a good teammate, then Sage is not gonna be a good fit for you. Um, and I think we’ve done a really good job just in these last couple years, getting the right guys in the program that are bought in, that are.
They’re for each other that are good teammates that are gonna take care of all the other stuff off the field, all the details off of the field. So, you know, one of the things that we’ve talked about lately a lot that we’re really proud of is the fact that, you know, our team, GPA, this past spring 34 guys was a [00:07:00] 3.61.
Um, that’s, that’s impressive for a group of 34 guys and that’s, that’s super important for us as well. Uh, one of my favorite stories that I like to tell recruits and parents. When they come on, on campus for a visit is, uh, one of our professors telling me, um, right around Thanksgiving, she showed up for an 8:00 AM class the day before everyone left.
For Thanksgiving break. It was dark out. It was cold. Um, the lights were off in the classroom. She expected to walk in with, with no one in class, and everyone already gone for vacation. She walked in. And the only three, um, students that were were, were there were, were men’s soccer players. So, um, those are things that we take a lot of pride in.
Um, culture isn’t just a buzzword. It’s something that we work on day in and day out. Um, and, um, yeah, like I said, the, the, the big non-negotiable for us is. Are you a good person? Um, are you gonna be a good teammate? Um, and then of course the, the, the soccer stuff is really important as well. Connor, I don’t know if you want to add anything to [00:08:00] that.
Asst Coach: Yeah, we, uh, I think since Amir’s been here, he’s done a really good job establishing, uh, a solid culture. Culture where the guys feel like, regardless if you’re a starter or if you don’t play at all throughout the season, you feel included on the team. And you feel like when you’re, uh, around the team, you kind of forget about everything else.
Um, but me and Amir, I feel like we, we established with the boys like not to cut corners. And I think that translates to a lot of other things in the classroom. Um, we reiterate to the boys, you know, that this is only four years that we’re together. Um, and after this four years, like you want to be able to have those same skills of showing up to practice ready, whether that’s showing up to work ready, um, and just being ready to perform.
Um, so like when an opportunity comes your way, you’re prepared and ready for that opportunity. So I think, uh, we’re still growing that and still building that, but um, the group we have right now I think is all on the same page in that [00:09:00] sense.
Matt: Awesome. All right, well, let’s talk a little bit more about the school.
Um, kind of dive into what you find is, is awesome about the school. Maybe some things we wouldn’t even know by going through the website.
Coach: The school is, um, it’s, uh, it’s an interesting setup. We have two campuses. It’s all one school, but two campuses. So the, the, um, original campus was in Troy, New York. Um, it’s still in Troy, New York, right downtown, right down the road from RPI.
Um. We added the Albany campus not too long ago. So now we’ve got the two campuses. And depending on your major, um, most of your classes are either gonna be in Troy or most of your classes are gonna be in Albany. Um, the other thing that just happened in the last few months here is we announced a merger.
So we’re merging with the Albany College of Pharmacy, um, which will be great for us, especially from like a facility standpoint. Right. We, um, we always shared a field with the Albany College of Pharmacy. Now that field is gonna be Russell Sage [00:10:00] College’s field, um, you know, two, two years down the road. Uh.
The other really big benefit to, to Sage is, is the location. We are. Um, we’re, we’re right in Albany, New York. Like I’m looking out the window right now. And downtown is just a, a, you know, a few steps away. Um, so you can walk, you know, almost anywhere. There’s a lot of opportunities for the boys, um, for internships, for jobs, things like that.
Being right downtown Albany. Um, lot of really good programs, especially the sciences. Um, we have a lot of guys that are in the, the business program, the sports management program. Um, the, uh, we have PE which, uh, surprisingly there aren’t that many schools in the state of New York with, with physical education.
We are one of ’em. Um, so that’s, that’s also really nice for us. And we’re central. We’re, we’re easily accessible. You’re just two, two and a half hours from the city, not far from Long Island, not far from Western New York. Um, and it’s, it, it it is a small private school, so we’ve been able to expand and branch out [00:11:00] and get guys from, as far as you know, Texas and South Carolina and um, Michigan.
Different, different areas like that. Uh, Connor, you want to add anything to that? You, Connor actually did his masters at, at Russell Sage, so he might have a different perspective on things.
Asst Coach: Yeah, I, I finished up my master’s program in professional school counseling in spring of 2023. Uh, right now I’m a full-time school counselor at Icba Crane High School, which is, uh, near Hudson, New York.
Um, but, uh, since I’ve been there, I mean, Sage has taken steps, um, to grow and expand and one of those big things is combining with a CP and we’re really, really excited about that. Um, and we don’t know like what that’s necessarily gonna look like yet, but they do share campuses, so we’re exp uh, expecting like.
Um, to have like one, uh, one combined big campus now and, uh, facility [00:12:00] upgrades. Um, and we’re just really excited to see what that looks like.
Matt: Okay. Well, I. Let’s kind of fast forward or rewind your choice, uh, into say, October, heart of that conference season. Kinda walk me through what does a typical week look like for players in terms of when his practice game, cadence, meals, classes, all that jazz.
Coach: Connie, I’ll, I’ll let you take this one. I’ve taken most of ’em. You can take this one.
Asst Coach: What is, say that one more time. What does preseason look like?
Matt: No, no. Uh, t typical to week during the conference season, October, we, we know preseasons different that’ll, it’s gonna be different for everybody, but really when you’re in the meat of things, what does a typical week look like for a player?
Asst Coach: Um, well, we try to practice six days a week. Um, uh, our, our game schedule’s a little bit different, so like on, on a Wednesday, we could have a game all the way in Elmira, New York, which is a three and a half to four hour [00:13:00] drive, and the boys have to be back on campus maybe for an 8:00 AM class that Thursday.
Um, but we do have weekend games too. Um, I mean, during the week we’re just preparing for games. So I mean, uh, me and Amir usually meet throughout the week to plan practices and watch game film and, uh, you know, each game is different. So, um, we kind of like put our brains together and figure out the best strategy going forward, which is gonna be different game by game.
Um, but the collaboration between us. And, uh, you know, the, the ability of the players to kind of listen to us and hear us out and kind of, uh, we’re all on the same page, was having a plan, like on game day, which is really, really, uh, uh, good too. So, um, we’re just on the same page and, um, you know, um, um, yeah.
So, okay.
Coach: I, the, the only [00:14:00] thing that I would add, right? Like I, I, I think when student athletes go into college, they have this, uh, vision of what college athletics is, and a lot of times it is a lot of those things. Um, Connor touched on it briefly, right? But the, uh, midweek game in Elmira at seven o’clock at night, that’s three and a half hours from campus.
Game ends at nine. By the time you shower, you know, it’s 10 o’clock. Um, you get hit the road at 10 15, you’re eating on the bus. You’re not back on campus until 11 12, 1 30, 2 o’clock at the latest, you’re in bed by two 30, you have an 8:00 AM class. The next day you have practice later that afternoon. Those are things that I think when student athletes are preparing for college aren’t necessarily thinking about, which are really, really hard.
Um, so we, we remind. Um, the, the, the guys that all of that stuff is part of the process and that it’s really important to go to that 8:00 AM class regardless of how you feel. Um, and then, you know, we, we also put a big emphasis on, on [00:15:00] recovery days, right? Like recovery is really, really important in a college soccer schedule considering how many games you’re playing in a short time.
So yes, we train or play six days a week, but. Those days look very different depending on where we are in the week with games, after games training, right? Like we, we, we, we try really, really hard to manage the load and to keep that in mind when we design and prepare training sessions and, and even e even travel itineraries.
Matt: Oh, makes
Coach: sense.
Matt: Well, let’s talk a little bit more about the team. Obviously we talked about roster size. We’ve got you folks. You two on here, uh, as staff, but talk to me. Are there any other staff? Are there any support staff in the athletic department that are helping out with the team on a regular basis?
Kind of what’s everybody’s role?
Coach: No, I right now it’s Connor and I, um, we, um, we, we, we basically do everything together. Just him and I, um, I was a goalkeeper and, and, um, when, when I played in college. So I will, you know, take the goalkeepers at times and do some goalkeeper training with them. I do [00:16:00] wish we had someone that worked with the goalkeepers 30 to 45 minutes every single day.
Um, we just don’t have that right now. So I’ll, I’ll take that on. Um, you know, a couple days a week, sometimes less, sometimes more. Um, but no, it’s, it’s, it’s Connor and I, we do, uh, everything together. We have, um, you know, the support staff that we have on campus. We have athletic training, we have, um, you know, we’re, we’re, we’re adding a part-time strength and conditioning coach.
So we, um, definitely don’t have the resources that some programs do, but we, we make do with what we have, and I think we do a good job with, with, with what we do have.
Matt: Okay. Well, what about you, Amir? Talk to us about your coaching style and maybe more about the style of play you guys look to play there.
Coach: Yeah, no, the style of play is really important to us, and it’s something that we talk about a lot. Um, and I, I love that question from recruits because I think when recruits ask that question, they’re thinking, attacking style of play, forgetting that there’s attacking style of play, defensive style of of play, [00:17:00] um, and then of course transitional style of play.
So for us, um. Our, our attacking style of play is in short, right? Um, we win the ball. Can we score right away? If we can’t score, can we assist? If we can’t assist, can we, can we stay patient? Statistically speaking, most goals are scored within seven seconds of winning the ball back. So would you try to score right away?
Um, but we are also very okay with, with, with staying patient, keeping the ball, keeping possession of the ball until something opens up if we can’t score right away. Um, transitionally again, like I just said, can we try to score right away? Transitionally in, in defense, can we win the ball back within five seconds of losing it to prevent that potential goal within the, the, you know, the seven seconds of winning the ball back?
And then, um, defensive style of play. Can we, can we defend high up the field? We wanna defend as high up the field as possible. Um, almost to a fault. I think sometimes we, we, we press and defend so high up the field, but the, the, the thought is you win the ball. You’re [00:18:00] that much closer to the goal that you’re trying to score.
So that’s, that’s, you know, the, the super short version of, um, you know what our style of play is. We present a bunch of stuff to the guys, and we will this preseason as well on what that should look like with, with film and different animations and clips and, um, presentations. And then of course, on, on the, on the field, we, we, we train it as well.
But, um, as far as my, my coaching style goes, um, it’s very two weighed, right? So like we will ask the guys what, um. What coaching style? They, uh, they, they respond to the best how they want to be coached. We understand that everyone’s a little bit different in, in that sense. Uh, we want to get to know them on a deeper, much, much deeper level than just soccer.
Um, because if it’s just soccer all the time, X’s and O’s, you’re not. You’re not gonna get the best out of the, the, the athletes. So for us it’s um, getting to know, getting to know them on a much deeper level and being very open to even their input and insights that they might have, [00:19:00] um, with the understanding that, you know, sometimes we’ll go with what they say.
Sometimes we won’t. Connor, I don’t know if you want to add anything.
Asst Coach: I think, uh, that was well said. I mean, again, it’s not just, we’re not just here for soccer. They’re here for an education too, so it’s like. One of the biggest decisions they’ve made in their life, if not the biggest decision they’ve made in their life leading up to, um, graduating high school.
So we’re trying to be more than a coach at every, every time we interact with the guys throughout the season, we’re trying to be, you know, mentors and role models as well. So, um, whatever we have to do to help the boys, you know, um, grow and whatever we have to do to like, you know, just be there for them.
Um, it goes beyond just coaching.
Matt: Awesome. Well, guys, I really appreciate the time and, and all the insight. I’m gonna leave you with one last question and I’ll leave it for both of you. Uh, if you had one piece of advice for, for anybody going through this college [00:20:00] recruiting process right now, what would that be?
Coach: The, the fit is really, really important. The fit is really, really important, and that fit is gonna look a little different for everybody, right? Some people, um, want to go, go to a place with really nice, flashy, brand new facilities and new turf that gets replaced every two years. Other guys need to be in an environment where they’re really cared for, where, um, they, they feel cared for.
Um. So that, that fit is just really important. And then I always tell, tell, tell. Student athletes recruits that, that are on campus. And it’s, it’s honestly, um, you know, advice that I’m sure a lot of coaches give, but could you see yourself here if you weren’t playing soccer because. The, the, the soccer is only a small piece of it.
You’re playing soccer for a couple months outta the year, and then the rest of the time, um, you know, you’re, you’re still with your teammates. You’re, um, but, but there’s a lot more to, to, to college than just the soccer. I don’t want you to make your decision based solely off of, off of soccer. [00:21:00]
Asst Coach: Yeah. I’d kind of reiterate the same message and you know, just tell the boys, uh, just any guy looking to play at the next level, just take it day by day.
Um. Some of these guys are in, in high school, they’re all stars in their section or their region. But when they get to the college level, there’s a lot of the guys that, um, you know, are just as good as them, if not better. And you’re entering college as a 17-year-old and you might be playing with 22, 23, 24 year olds at times.
So you might not get the same opportunity you did once you were in high school. But, um, taking it day by day and seeing how you can get better. Um, and having some intention going into each practice and just being a good teammate, um, will kind of leave you at ease a little bit more than just expecting everything right off the bat.
Matt: Absolutely. Good advice. Well, gentlemen, I really appreciate the time. Wish you the best of luck, uh, as, as you get ready to start this season, and, uh, if you get down to any of the [00:22:00] recruiting events in Bradenton, gimme a shout. All right,
Coach: sounds good. Thanks a lot, Matt. All right. Thank you guys. All right, talk soon.
