Suffolk University Men’s Soccer – Coach Bill Maddock
On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Bill from the Suffolk Men’s Program in Massachusetts. We talk about how he is always recruiting. He describes the attractiveness of being in downtown Boston. Lastly, we discuss his large staff that helps tremendously. Learn more about Suffolk 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 bill up in Suffolk. Welcome coach.
Coach: Thanks. Thanks for having me.
Matt: Yeah. Thanks for being here. You’re you’re up there in, in Boston, a little bit, a little bit farther from us down here in Florida. Hopefully, uh, I appreciate you sending some of the cooler air down here this week.
It’s been a little bit nice. Uh, but, but I know, uh, you got a game later today, so I don’t want to, uh, beat around the bush. Okay. Um, we’re talking here mid October, heart of the conference season. Um, we’ll talk about the soccer side in a, in a minute, but. One question that folks always, always ask is like, well, if I’m a recruit and I want to talk to a coach, should, should I be calling or emailing them during, during their season?
Or should I just wait? Uh, how do you work on recruiting while you’re, while you’re in season?
I mean, recruiting, recruiting never stops to be perfectly honest. Um, you know, we’re, we’re fielding phone calls and. Emails and text messages and, you know, doing all that in season, right. It is definitely as a, as a coaching staff, it’s a balancing act that, that we’re trying to fine tune on a, on a daily and a weekly and a yearly basis.
Um, I’m pretty fortunate here up at Suffolk that I’ve got a really good coaching staff around me. And a lot of those coaches do get involved in the recruiting efforts. Um, so there is times where my assistants do a lot of legwork right now in the fall while I’m focused on the kind of the day to day operations [00:01:30] of the in season requirements.
Um, but yeah, if you’re a recruit and you’re interested in Suffolk or any other school, it doesn’t hurt to reach out no matter what time of the year it is.
Matt: Okay. Well, let’s kind of stay on that track. You know, it’s, it’s October of 23. You’re recruiting for the class of 24. How much, how, how much of your class is locked and loaded or, or when, or when do you think roughly timeframe, do you kind of wrap up the class?
What does a normal recruiting cycle look like for you guys?
Coach: Sure. Um, you know, it, it does vary. Year to year. Um, for the most part, though, we try to wrap up our recruiting by the end of January. You know, that’s, that’s a target timeline for us. Um, don’t get me wrong, we’ve definitely taken some players in, in the spring, and, and those players have been very impactful for us in, in the last few years.
But from a general standpoint, when we lay out and we plan our recruiting efforts from year to year, it’s okay. You know, this time of year, we’re doing overnight visits, or we’re doing on campus tours and whatnot. Um, the application process begins, um, fairly soon for Suffolk with our, where our EA deadlines and whatnot.
Um, and then obviously fast was a big component. So the changing dates on that for December 1st release and how that’s going to affect our returning. We’re not fully sure yet, but. I’d say best case scenario, we’re done with our class end of January.
Matt: Okay, [00:03:00] well, in terms of finding players, uh, you know, where do you like to go?
What are some tournaments you like to hit? Are you, uh, there’s certain leagues you focus on. Do you look at high school games? Kind of just give me an overall view of that.
Coach: Yeah. I mean, we, we’ve been pretty fortunate. We found some recent success the last couple of years here at Suffolk. Um, really going out of region.
You know, um, we’ve got, uh, four players from Miami. We’ve got a couple from, you know, Orlando and Tallahassee. We’ve, we’ve hit Florida really, really well. We’ve got some Midwest guys. We’ve got a couple guys from the San Diego area, uh, Mid Atlantic. So if you looked at our roster, I think it’s about 50 50 New England to, to non New England.
Um, and that includes some, some internationals as, as well. We’re probably a pretty unique, uh, institution at the Division III level. We’re pretty attractive to the internationals. And I think that’s due in large part to us being located in downtown Boston, you know, obviously an education hub in this country.
And it’s, it’s pretty attractive compared to, um, you know, maybe the, the, the rural or suburban campuses. So for the most part, right, we’ll, we’ll go anywhere and everywhere to find good players, um, players that we think will fit our, that our institution first and foremost. Um, but in terms of leagues, um, You know, the biggest thing, right?
It’s, it’s not necessarily what lead you play for in our eyes. Um, you know, obviously, you know, we recruit these, you know, events, we recruit the MLS next events, we’ll recruit the USL Academy events as well. Um, for us, it’s, [00:04:30] it’s just finding the right type of players. Some of our, some of our best players and our, our highest performing players or each, you know, players, some of our, uh, some of our players that are still in the kind of development or MLS next, and so we’re not biased towards one necessary, like platform, if you would say it’s just about finding the right players.
Matt: So what makes up a right player in your mind, whether that’s on the field attributes, off the field stuff, what are you always looking for when you’re recruiting?
Coach: Uh, the biggest thing I talk about when we bring players on campus, especially is, is making sure that they love the institution and coming to soccer or coming to Suffolk should never be a soccer decision.
You know, because you’ll, you’ll love our institution from mid August to mid November when we’re in season, and then when the season ends, right, uh, you better like your time here, right, because, because you’re in New England, right, you’re in a city, there’s gonna be some cold weather, right, so you better, you better be, uh, you know, prepared for that, not having that stalker release, let’s say, um, so that’s very important is we really focus on, you know, On liking the whole institution and everything that comes with it.
Um, and then just like every coach, right, we’re looking for the right kind of character. Um, are you going to be a good teammate? That’s the first thing we ask after an overnight visit to the guest, right? Do you, would you want to have this guy to be your teammate? And if the answer is yes, then great. We continue the recruitment process.
If the answer is no, then, then we move on. Um, cause that’s really important for us as well.
Matt: I love that. Well, well, let’s talk a little bit more about the school. Like you said, you’re there in downtown Boston. You know, you’ve [00:06:00] been there a few years now. What are, what are some of the things that you find particularly attractive about the school?
Maybe some stuff we wouldn’t even know just by going through the website.
Coach: Yeah, I mean, we are when I say we’re located in downtown Boston. I say we are located in downtown Boston. I mean, we have the Massachusetts State Houses is next to one of our academic buildings or dorm buildings are next to Boston City Hall, but we are very much integrated into the day to day operations of a major U.
S. City from the political standpoint, right with the state houses in the city halls. But then we’re also right around the corner from the financial district. Yeah. Right. And we’re down the street from Mass General, which is one of the best hospitals in the world. So, we felt, or at least I felt, and I’m biased, I went to a school in the city as well.
Um, I love the idea of going to school in the city because, um, it integrates you and gets you ready for that, for that next step, um, of life, right? Upon graduation, right? You’re going to go into the work world. Chances are you’re going to be working in a major city. So, going to school here allows you to get used to that right away.
You know, and I think it really does. And we talked to parents about this and parents actually do agree after when I talked to one senior day, right, compared to when they arrive on their freshman year, it really accelerates the maturation process a lot. Because you have even to go get a cup of coffee if you want to go to a Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks, you’re gonna have to walk across a major road.
Right. And that isn’t for everybody. Right. It definitely takes a very independent person to be here, but if you. If you like the [00:07:30] idea of going to sporting events and going to concerts and going out to eat and doing everything that Entertainment wise that a city can can offer. It’s it’s a phenomenal place to go to school
Matt: Yeah, as someone who went to college in a major metro downtown, I I agree um, well in terms of You know, the academic side of things, right?
It is, it’s about especially division three. It’s about being a student athlete. Um, how in particular do your players really work on balancing the demands of being an athlete as well as the academics and what kind of support systems does a school have to, to make sure they, they have success.
Coach: Sure. Um, I think Summit does a really good job, uh, supporting their student athletes.
And I think the way we set up our day, uh, the way we set up our calendar, um, really supports that as well. Uh, we mentioned pre call. Um, we practice, uh, 12 o’clock every day, which is very unique, right? Even coming from high school, going to college, right? Most, most high school students are class from, what, 7.
30 in the morning until 2 o’clock, and then they go to practice 3 to 5, and you get a club element as well. Everything’s at night. Um, for our, our students, they’re, they’re in class at eight, nine in the morning, right? They’re, they’re probably done with class at 11, they go to train 12 to two, some of them go back to class at three, four o’clock.
Some of them are then in, you know, study hall, film sessions and treatment with the athletic training room. But we structure everything that we can do here so that by six o’clock at night, they’re basically done with [00:09:00] all their academic and athletic requirements for the day. Right, so that they can have that social aspect, right, and experience Boston because it’s so, as we mentioned, it’s so, it’s so important, um, you know, to, to, to what Suffolk is, but the day to day ops, um, you know, we, we get, um, multiple academic advisors, right, multiple tutors, both peer and professional.
So we were pretty fortunate where we’ve academically been very successful since my tenure started here at Suffolk, and that’s something that we really focus on and harp on kind of in the conversation. So, but again, that all comes down to finding the right person as well and finding the right student because of like we mentioned all the distractions and the fun that you can have here.
At some point, they’re gonna have to make a decision. Okay. I can’t go to that. I can’t go to the Celtics game tonight. I got to study for my test. So finding the right people that can handle that type of atmosphere obviously bodes well, well.
Matt: When it comes to looking at colleges, which, which I’m very early on with, with my daughter and the big parent question is always, okay, well, what’s this going to cost me?
Um, so I’m not, I’m not holding you to hard numbers here, but just give me an overview of what a normal student athlete coming in. Might expect in terms of what kind of aid is available, how much aid, what might, what might the final price look like for, for a player?
Coach: Uh, you know, obviously the final price is, is dependent on so many individual factors, right?
The, their academic success in high school, right? They’re going to take an [00:10:30] holistic approach to the application process. Um, you know, whether or not the student athlete qualifies for any FAFSA government aid, any need based aid from, you know, from the institution Um, you know, Suffolk, just like many schools, offers it on a three fold rate that you’re going to get an academic scholarship based on your GPA.
Right. You’re going to get need based aid awarded from the institution, and then if you do qualify, you’ll get some need based aid awarded through, through government aid. But, um, for the most part, we’re very competitive in terms of the schools in the New England area. Um, you know, housing is, housing is a little bit pricey here, right, being in a metropolitan area.
Um. But to offset some of that cost, and we talked about the independence, a lot of our upperclassmen move off campus and go to get apartments in the city, and it actually helps alleviate a lot of the costs. So, um, you know, it is a private institution. So I wouldn’t say we’re, we’re, you know, penny for penny equal to, uh, some of the state schools in the area.
But when in terms of all the private institutions, we were extremely competitive.
Matt: Well, let’s talk more about the soccer side of things. Um, you, like I said, it’s game day for you. So, uh, let’s talk about the roster size. How many, do you have an ideal roster size that you like to shoot for each year? And does everybody travel?
What’s the roster situation kind of look like?
Coach: Yeah, we travel everybody. And I think that’s really important. Um, you know, especially not only division three, but collegiate athletics. [00:12:00] Right. I think, you know, yes, not every single player gets the player in every game. And, and that’s something that’s hard for some guys to, to learn early on in their careers, right?
Um, I was talking to one of our student athletes the other day who’s kind of struggling with that. And, and I just told him, I was like, look, chances are anybody who came into this program is probably the best player on their high school team or one of the best players in their club team, right? And now you’re basically on an all star team, right?
So then, so now everybody’s status in the program is the same, but everybody’s role is going to be different. Um, but the least I could do is allow them to travel to the games and experience the game day, and it’s only going to help them down the line. So, um, The ideal roster size for us is around 32. Our roster right now is a little bit bigger.
Um, you know, numerically, we do have a couple guys on our, like, our, our website roster that are, um, had career ending injuries that we want to keep on the roster, and which is unfortunate. So definitely skews the number, but, uh, we’re, we’re heavy in the, in the senior, junior class, just because that was the first, the junior class of mine was my first full recruiting cycle.
And it was, it was during COVID and it was, uh, we took an approach of saying, Hey, the program was struggling a little bit before it took over. We’re going to have, we have to influx with talent. So we went out there and got as many, many players, good players that we could find. Um, and then the junior, you’ll notice in the sophomore and the freshman class, it’s a little bit more around that eight, nine number that we’re consistent about.
So [00:13:30] yeah, 32 is the ideal, um, and we’re training in that way as we continue to kind of the recruiting cycles moving forward. Okay.
Matt: What you mentioned earlier about, uh, your staff helps with recruiting. So what, give me a overview of, of your staff. How many, what roles do they play and what other maybe support staff.
Uh, do you have in other areas of the athletic department that help with the team and that sort of thing?
Coach: Yeah. So, um, I’ve got a pretty big staff and I like that a lot. Um, I think it goes to a large part to our location, right? We’ve got a, we’re in a city, we have, um, you know, a lot of people live around here.
A lot of people want to be involved in collegiate athletics. So, we’ve got, we have some, some part time assistants that are paid. We’ve got some volunteer assistants as well. Um, but I’ve always been under the idea that, you know, a college soccer roster or college soccer coaching staff can, can be similar to that of a college football staff, right?
We can, we can have positional coaches, right? We have goalkeeper coaches. Why can’t we have defending coaches? Why can’t we have midfield coaches? Why can’t we have striker coaches? Um, or at least, you know, offensive and defensive coordinators. in some sense. Um, so I love the idea of having a big staff. I look back at my own career.
Um, you know, I wouldn’t be college coaching if somebody didn’t take a chance on me from an unpaid perspective. So if somebody wants to get involved in college athletics, right, I’m gonna help them. So, uh, we have six guys on staff, right? So, um, and those and those are, you know, including myself. [00:15:00] So, uh, goalkeeper coach.
Um, and then all those, all the coaches are part time. Um, Um, they all have different requirements, whether it’s recruiting responsibilities, whether it’s on field tactics, whether it’s video analysis, whether it’s, um, game day scouts and prep or, or, you know, everybody’s required or asked at least to, uh, do certain components of training sessions as well.
Um, you know, I do think there’s value in, in the players not hearing my voice at all times as well. Right. You want to have a consistent message, but, but, but having it delivered by a different person, I think is very beneficial to our guys. All right. So on field, we have all that. Um, and then off field, we have, we’re fortunate obviously to have full time athletic trainers, which is very important.
We also have a, uh, a mental skills coach that works with all the athletes within our department. Um, and then we have a sports psychologist intern that works directly with our, with our team, both as a collective and individual. So. We are trying to, you know, enhance them athletically on the field, but also try to better them off the field.
No, it’s great.
Matt: Well, how would you describe overall your style of coaching the team style of play?
Coach: Um, that’s definitely evolved over the years. I’ll tell you that. I’ve had a very unique path to, to where I am. Um, I’ve been pretty fortunate where I was 23, 24 years old when I got my first head coaching job.
Um, I was a head coach for nine years before I became an assistant. [00:16:30] So I had no idea what I was doing early on in my career, right? Trying to, I was coaching the men’s program and the women’s at the same time. Both teams played a different system. So I was basically coaching two seasons in one, right? Just trying to figure it out.
So how I coached back then, um, is obviously a little bit different. The game has slowed down, right? Uh, we were definitely very detailed. Um, you know. Defensively, right? We want to be very organized. We want to be very structured. We want to be a pain to play against, right? Our goal defensively is when they see Suffolk on the website, they’re like, oh, this one’s going to be a tough, this one’s going to be a tough one, right?
They’re going to be good on set pieces. They’re going to be organized. They’re going to be hard to break down. But offensively, I want our guys to go play. And this is something that is really involved, right? It’s what I see on the sideline or what a parent sees or another assistant coach sees on the sideline is different than what a player sees on the field.
So we want our guys to be creative. We want our guys to be instinctual, right? We want to help guide and say, Hey, we want to look to break down the team in this area. But how they do that. Right. They have to, we have to give them the freedom. We have to trust them to make decisions. So, um, very instinctual, uh, very free flowing offensively.
Okay.
Matt: Well, one thing I noticed about your, uh, your schedule and you guys are doing great having an awesome season. Congratulations. But one cool thing I noticed was a little matchup against the team across town. Uh, you know, [00:18:00] not, not many division threes get a chance in the regular season to schedule a division one opponent.
So what’s that like? How did that work? And, and were your boys psyched to, to go up against Boston college?
Coach: Yeah, absolutely. Um, yeah. You know, this is the second year that BC has done it, and, um, I’ve got a relationship with the coaching staff, I know them pretty well over there, a very good friend of mine is on the staff there.
Um, what an experience, the first in four months, right? Even, even as a head coach, right, you never expect, um, that opportunity. Right. To go play in ACC school in the regular season. Um, the players were, were thrilled that they were static. They were looking forward to it, obviously. Right. You know, out of high school, they, they were all given these, you know, aspirations to play division one soccer.
Um, you know, they ended up coming to play for here at Suffolk, but hey, we can show you kind of what that level was like. Um, and our guys were, were performed really, really well. Um, you know, the, it, and I think, you know, talking to, to, to, to BC afterwards too. Um, You know, it was beneficial for them too, you know, they even said, right, this is what we tried to do and defensively against them is what a mid major tries to do and it allowed them to, to, to work on some stuff and some concepts that, that maybe they wouldn’t have the opportunity to do, um, and then for us, right, to get that national exposure, um, it’s definitely helped in the recruiting world and it’s allowed some coaches and club coaches from, uh, from all parts of the country to, to watch us play, right, games on [00:19:30] ESPN plus.
So. Yeah. All right, they figure out who we are now and, you know, how, how good we are or how good we could be, excuse me. Um, so it’s awesome.
Matt: Yeah, that, uh, that would be really cool. I got when I, I got to play against 1 D 1 in my 4 years of division 3 playing and, uh, although it was not a, an ACC school, that’s for sure.
But that was. So I saw that, thought that’d be cool. Well, you’ve been very generous with your time. I got one last question. The way I like to end these is, you know, primarily the folks watching this, listening to this podcast are players, parents, or folks, you know, going through the recruiting process or, or starting to think about it.
So if there was one piece of advice, one nugget of information that you think all players going through this process or families going through this process should know, what would that be?
Coach: Um, First and foremost, uh, enjoy it, right? It is, it is going to get stressful, right? But at the end of the day, um, it’s every decision you make is only going to benefit you, um, you know, because at the end of the day, you get to play college soccer, right?
Or, or your son and daughter is going to be able to play college soccer, which is a very cool and, you know, percentage wise, it’s a pretty unique experience, um, if it’s cost effective, right? I recommend any player going through this process to look at and see and talk to as many colleges as they can.
Right. I think at the end of the day, right, talk to the city [00:21:00] schools, talk to the rural schools, talk to, talk to schools that are in a different region of the country that you necessarily were looking to go to. It doesn’t hurt to have a conversation, right? Um, college coaches are doing the same thing that college perspective college athletes are doing, right?
We’re looking at 10 players for maybe 1 position. You’re working at 10 school. You’re looking at 10 schools, right? For 1 position. Um, so the more you look at, the better refined your, your understanding of what college is going to be like for you. And the more schools you look at, the, the better idea that you’ll get of kind of what makes the most sense for you.
So whether it’s going through the website, listening to these podcasts, you know, just driving through when you’re at a club tournament, just find a random college and drive through it and see what it looks like, because you’re going to find things on that campus that you definitely need to have, and that’s just only going to help.
Matt: Yeah, I couldn’t agree more drove drive driven through four or five in the last six months just because and it’s been helpful. So great advice. Well, coach, wish you the best of the best of luck today. And with the rest of the season, hopefully, you’ll get your name called there for, uh, for the national tournament.
And if you, if you get down here to Lakewood ranch for any other tournaments for recruiting, give me a shout and we’ll catch up. All right. Yeah,
Coach: I’ve got, I’ve got an assistant coach from Florida. So he loves doing the Florida circuit. So we’ll definitely be down there soon.
Matt: Awesome. Well, thanks coach. We’ll take care.
Coach: Awesome. Thanks Matt.
