Tennessee Wesleyan University Men’s Soccer – Coach Codi Crippen
On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Crippen from the Tennessee Wesleyan Men’s Program. We talk about how recruiting never stops and he’s looking at every player pool possible. He describes how the school has some new programs that are driving interest from recruits. Lastly, we discuss how the staff he has built and the athletic department staff has made the transition easy. Learn more about Tennessee Wesleyan 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 Codi from Tennessee Wesleyan soccer. Welcome coach.
Coach: Thanks a lot, Matt. Happy to be here. Yeah.
Matt: Happy to have you. You’re the men’s coach there. You guys are an NAIA program. Um, you know, we’re talking here middle end of April.
Maybe there’s a couple decent, uh, college showcases coming up, right? I think Cincinnati might be this weekend. Um, but, um, you know, where As an NAIA program, a high level NAIA program, you know, what’s your typical recruiting calendar? Where are you at right now in terms of your class of 24, class 25, that kind of thing?
Coach: Um, recruitment never stops. I’ll tell you that. Um, you know, I think that’s the only way that programs work to try to get better. Um, I think the day that you kind of take a day or a week or a month off, um, you kind of put yourself behind more and more and more, so looking to really kind of fill up over the next couple of weeks, trying to fill in, um, You know, what’s left of the 24 class and I’m not saying that that’s late because previous programs have signed people all the way into June and July.
Um, so it’s been, you know, nail biting, um, to a certain extent, as long as the recruit is fit the right requirements, the right needs, um, things like that. We’ve, we’ve done it late, but. Right now, um, probably coming close. Got two or three more kind of opportunities left or options left for players. Um, I’m trying to wrap it up, but that’s not saying that the door is completely shut.
Um, as far as 25s, as [00:01:30] soon as 24s get done, it’s probably opening up the door into 25s. Um, actually trying to work with a couple of kids on early stuff. Um, as far as a couple, um, international guys who are looking for the spring of 25, because we’ve got some guys graduating at the December time period. So trying to look to fill some early gaps.
Um, but again, you know, that is super, super early. Um, generally the timelines for the men’s game is kind of relaxed. I like it. Um, I don’t have to work two years ahead, um, which makes it really difficult, but, um, really, really happy and really excited with where we’re at coming in for the fall season this year.
Matt: Well, one thing folks will notice, and you kind of mentioned it here. If you look at your roster is, is a little bit of an international, uh, yep, bend there. Um, so. Talk to me about that in terms of, I’m going to call it the non traditional recruit, the, the, not the American high school senior, but, but whether it’s transfer portal, international junior college, kind of what’s your.
Yeah. Focus there. What’s your goals there?
Coach: Um, I’m really open to all players. I mean, that’s the biggest thing I can’t be particular, um, about what we’re trying to look for. I think if you look at my roster is. You know, we’ve got one program, we’ve got two teams. The benefit of that is we’ve got our development team that also helps push us and our first team to make us grow stronger.
Um, at the end of the day is, you know, I think the, the Bible verse always says iron sharpens iron, but there’s no way that we’re going to be better if we don’t have [00:03:00] competition. Um, you know, we’ve got guys consistently year after year in our development team who want to come in, who need to make the adjustments and the adaptations to the college game, whether that be the.
Physical side, the mental side, the tactical, the technical side, um, even the speed of game, um, you know, because if you’re coming out of high school, um, whether that’s here in the states or whether that’s internationally, um, you know, you’re coming out of high school and you’re 18 years old, um, there are other guys in college who are getting ready to graduate, who were 23, 24, 25 years old.
So they’ve got anywhere from 5 to 7 years of experience. So. In that we want to get players up to speed, but we also don’t want them to sit on the bench and we don’t want them to redshirt, you know, depending on the case, but we want them to play to get better. It’s the only way that we feel our players are going to get better.
So the reason why we do that, we’ve got players from all over. Um, you know, we’ve got some American guys who worked their way into the roster, um, worked their way into the starting 11, um, case in point. Guy named, um, Zach Blair came out of near Nashville, um, came in as a freshman, worked his way, had three international guys in front of him.
Stayed patient, worked his way, learned, learned, learned. And he’s starting our national tournament game. Um, first round national tournament game. It was his first start ever, um, in the college game. And that was four years ago. So he’s coming into a senior year this fall. Um, you know, we’ve got another guy coming up in through the ranks this year is Cam [00:04:30] grooms, six foot three guy, again, out of the Nashville area.
Um, again, he’s been patient, got some good starts this year. Got some good minutes, but he started out in our development team, just trying to get up to the speed of the game. So. With it being the world’s game, um, you know, we’ve got to compete like anything else. If we’re wanting to stay consistently in that top 25, if we are wanting to again, continue to win more games at the national tournament, which we set program history, um, this past year, um, with our first ever win at the national tournament.
Um, we’ve got to make sure that we’re open to all players throughout the world.
Matt: No, absolutely. Makes sense. Well, in terms of recruiting. Domestically, um, you know, what are you, what are the tournaments you like to go to every year, the places that you like to see players specific leads like that? Are you, are you, you know, how does that look?
Coach: I think, I think what that looks like realistically, um, you know, I’ll kind of bounce around a little bit. Um, thankfully, this is, um, Finishing up kind of year four, um, of being in Tennessee. So, um, got to make some really good relationships with DOCs, got to make some really good relationship with club coaches.
Um, as far as kind of getting the insight is as far as players who I need to look at, who I need to keep eyes on, um, as far as showcases, um, you know, we’ll bounce around a little bit. We kind of. Generally keep it regionally. Um, so we’ll do, um, I’ve got a good friend down at the Atlanta Academy. Every spring they try to do the Atlanta, um, the Atlanta United [00:06:00] showcase.
So they bring in a lot of the top 16, 17 and 18 teams, um, just in order to make it competitive, bring in a lot of schools. I’ll go to that. Um, I also work a lot of camps. I think over the summer, this is actually the 1st year. I’m going to take kind of a summer off. Um, it’s been 4 years since my wife and I have been married.
So we’re finally going to take our honeymoon. So, uh, get promoted into the head job and then kind of take a summer off for the 1st time ever. Um, but some of the other showcases that wound up at. Um, you know, we’ll kind of it’s been a long time, but, you know, working to try to get out to the G. I. T. Um, it’s on the opposite side of the state.
So, from, you know, the far east side of Tennessee to the far west side of Tennessee, it’s 6 plus hours. Um, you know, we’ve ended up showing up at, um. A lot of the events in Nashville, we have a lot of success with guys in, in the Tennessee state. Um, not saying that we don’t have success with guys outside of Tennessee, um, but there’s some other contributing factors.
Um, as you look at it, Tennessee hope, um, you know, that’s the biggest one. And, you know, that’s bringing easy money for guys who kind of keep above that 3. 0. So, you know, for us, it’s. You know, it’s hard for us to speak to a kid who wants to come to us who’s outside of the state who might not get that free money.
Um, you know, not saying that we can’t work out a deal, um, like anything else. It depends on what they’re like as a person, what they’re like as a player, what they’re like academically, um, you know, for us to try to work a deal with them, but, you know, free money for the kids in the state of Tennessee. You know, I don’t know why you wouldn’t want to try to snap that [00:07:30] up as much as possible.
Matt: Yeah, for sure. Well, and you mentioned you have the first team in the developmental team. So what, how big a roster does that comprise? How, what’s your, what are you aiming for?
Coach: Our ideal number, um, is probably about 50, 55 players. Um, you know, with five of those roughly being goalkeepers, um, five to six being goalkeepers ideally each year.
Um, That kind of knocks it down into two teams of 25. You know, you throw in three to four injuries. You can have a good sized squad to train with, and it gets chopped down really, really fast, depending on what time of the year you’re in. Um, and then, like I said, you know, we got opportunities. You know, the biggest thing for us, our first team, obviously, they’re competing for conference.
tournaments, conference titles, um, national tournament, our development team, um, I’m trying to work with kind of the local coaches in the region to try to start up, um, at least a cup, you know, playing a home and away event in regards to making the competition level there. But it’s also, you know, we’ve got guys who may be on the backside of our roster who haven’t played in a little while, um, that we need them to drop down and play games.
Um, we’ve got some guys who had some real good success, you know, for three, four, five, six games straight. Hey, guys. You know, let’s bring up into training. Let’s make sure you’re still staying sharp. Let’s make sure you can do those things. So, you know, for most people, it’s, it’s probably as professional environment as you can get without getting into the professional side.
Um, you know, I think you see a lot more programs going into that because they also understand is, [00:09:00] Hey, you know, how do we provide that game time for players? If, you know, they’re sitting on the back end of the squad, um, to make them better, to develop them, to get them to do whatever way, um, your philosophy and your program looks at.
Um, but ideally probably 50, 55 players each year.
Matt: Well, let’s shift gears a little bit. Talk more about the school. Um, like you said, you’ve been there a few years now, first as assistant, now, now the head man. So what, tell me a little bit about the school, things that you found to be awesome, maybe some things we wouldn’t even know by going through the website.
Coach: Yeah, um, you know, got to make some really good relationships, I think, first and foremost with the teachers, um, you know, for being there for 4 years. I’ve had the benefit of Luke winter being in front of me has the head coach. Um, he was actually a player, um, at Tennessee Wesleyan when he first came to the states, um, and then catapulted that into a little bit of a playing and a coaching career.
Um, kind of in the region, um, he played at CFC was the former all time leading goal scorer. Um, but again, since his time being there, he’s come back to Tennessee Wesleyan. And he’s kinda, you know, ease my transition when I came to Wesleyan, um, got to get me face to face conversations with a lot of the, uh, excuse me, a lot of the directors, a lot of the teachers, um, you know, our business programs really, really big, um, at our school, um, we’ve got nine different business majors.
We’ve recently just started up, um, An MBA program this past year, um, and we’ve got 3 different sectors in that MBA program. Um, so [00:10:30] for a lot of the internationals, it’s a big sell for a lot of the domestic guys. It’s a big sell. Um, you know, we also have biology. Um, we probably have 6 different biology majors.
We’ve got physical education teaching. We’ve got sport and exercise studies. Um, we’ve got education is a major as well with different, um, categories in that. So, you know, realistically, I’d say we’ve got a lot of opportunities at our school, um, depending on what you’re looking at. We also have, uh, an engineering degree.
That’s kind of a sister school. So start out two years with us and then look to transfer to Tennessee tech. So we’ve got that start out program there. Um, so opportunities are really, really great. Um, like anything else, I encourage recruits, you know, look on the website. Does it have a major? Um, or does the school have the major that you want?
And then, you know, obviously you can start your program. I’ve got a lot of emails before about, Hey, I really love your, um, natural science program. And that’s something that we don’t have. Um, so as far as that, you know, being a smaller school, um, the average size of our school has grown over the past couple of years, which has been great.
You know, the addition of our master’s program with the MBA. Um, also this fall, we’re starting a master’s in sport and exercise studies. Um, so obviously that’ll carry over into more in depth knowledge, um, obviously higher education of knowledge to go into that, into the working world. So, you know, that’s going to be an online program to start out with.
Um, and then obviously they’re looking to try to expand that out to work to be in person, which is going to be great for a lot of people in the area, in the region. Um, but [00:12:00] as far as school wise for just over, you know, roughly around 1100 to 1200 students, you know, the average class size is probably 13 to 15 students to one teacher.
Um, you know, when I was a student myself, I was looking at all these big schools, you know, D1s, D2s in the state of Ohio, um, and then ended up going to a small NAI school. Um, and I absolutely loved it. My biggest class had 30 people in it. My smallest class had 6 people in it in a night class. Um. But I always talk to people in the recruitment side of things is, you know, you’re going to be known by your first name.
You’re going to be known by the badge that you wear on your shirt. Um, you know, if you have to wear your training top in because you’ve got training right after class, um, people are going to do that. The teachers are very, very, Lovely. Um, you know, they’re willing. They know that as an athlete, you’re going to be in and out of class, but I always talk to the recruits and the players on campus of, you know, that it has to be a two way street.
If you go in and you don’t introduce yourself, you don’t talk about who you are in day one. The teachers probably. Maybe less likely to work with you. And I only say that because if you’re going to miss class, you’ve also got to make sure that you make up the work, whether that’s prior to whether that stay after, um, you know, but a lot of teachers are, are understanding of that.
Um, as far as the athletic side, um, the other benefit of it is especially in some of the departments. You’re going to have the same teacher, um, anywhere from potentially one to three, one to four times. So the better the relationship that you’re going to have with that teacher, the more likely they, that they are going to be working with [00:13:30] you, working for you, um, and eventually hopefully helping you into the next stages, if you like, whatever that may be.
Um, as you go into a junior, what do internship hours look like? What are observation hours look like as you move into a senior? Okay. How do I catapult that into my first job? Whatever that is. Um, so thankfully we have a lot of really, really great departments and really, really great teachers to help out our students get to life after college.
Um, whatever that may look like for each individual. Um, so really happy to be a part of the program, really happy to be a part of the school, um, and it continues to grow year after year, which is the best part.
Matt: Well, In terms of, uh, the day to day, right? Let’s rewind. Let’s take you back to October. You’re in the heart of that conference season.
Oh yeah. What is, what’s a typical week going to look like for a player in terms of classes, meals, practice times, game cadence, all those things.
Coach: Yeah, so, um, with our conference, we’ve actually got a pretty big conference. Um, I think if you look at the sheer numbers of our conference, we’re probably second biggest, um, or at least up there in the top five.
We’ve got 14 teams, including ourself and our conference. Um, so we don’t have a lot of opportunities for non conference games. Um, but once we get into conference, it is every Wednesday and every Saturday, um, probably to late August all the way into the end of October. Um, So the game schedule is not too bad, um, in [00:15:00] timeline wise, but as far as sheer travel, um, this past year was our heavy travel year.
Um, so we’ve got six different States that our conference covers. Um, and we also hit back to back weekends in Columbia, South Carolina, which is an eight and a half, nine hour drive one way. Um, so what does a week look like for an athlete? Um, generally our timelines to train are Monday at three to 4 30 PM.
Um, and realistically, it’s our only dedicated day to train, um, just due to the sole fact of Tuesday is match day minus one. So we’ll go for an hour session from 11 to 12. We’ve got a little break in there, um, that we can fit in a training session. Um, obviously it being match day minus one, we’ll warm up, we’ll play a little bit, um, we’ll kind of work on some things for the Wednesday game.
We’ll do obviously set pieces, routines, stuff like that, phases of play. Wednesday we’ll play the game. Let’s just say it happens to be at home. We’ll play at home. We’ll play in the afternoon just because of depending on the opponent. We try to help out with travel as much as possible. Like I said, some of the opponents will come nine hours away, especially on the Wednesday game.
They try to regionalize it to be three to four hours, so you can do it in a day trip. But if we play at home, we’ll generally play one to three in the afternoon. Um, Thursday is match day plus one, so it’s going to be a regen sesh. Um, guys who maybe didn’t play on Wednesday, what we generally try to do is we’ll [00:16:30] run some fitness post game and then that way we try to match the levels of where people are as far as, um, exertion in the game.
Um, and then also on the Thursday, we’ve got guys who obviously, if they didn’t play, you know, we’ll try to catch them up and match their levels as well. Playing some small sided. We’ve got some region for some guys who’ve got some heavy minutes, um, Friday. It depends. So generally Saturday, especially this past year, we traveled a lot.
So we’ll train at six to 7am. We’ll do it for an hour. We’ll send the boys to go get breakfast. Um, and then the bus departs at 8am. Um, so we’ll go, we’ll travel on the bus. We’ll stop for lunch. Um, we’ll get to the hotel. Um, obviously we’ll go over, um, the opponent the night before. So that way the boys have all the information.
We’ll send it into our WhatsApp group. Um, we’ll drop the little presentation in there. Saturday we’ll wake up, have breakfast, we’ll play the game and then turn around and head home. Um, Sunday is a mandatory day off for the most part. Uh, we’ve got to have one day off every seven days. So, um, as far as, uh, what an athlete looks like, um, obviously you’ve got the timelines of training.
So as far as class wise, we always encourage people, Hey, you know, try not to miss class unless you have to. You cannot miss class if it is for a class. Uh, a class session. Um, you can’t miss training if it is for a class. So we’ve got some guys who kind of sprint up a little bit late. Their class may let out at 3 15, depending on the major that they’re in.
So some of the guys might have class, um, you know, anywhere from 8 [00:18:00] to 2 o’clock. They try to kind of block out that window, especially Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Tuesday, Thursday is a little bit flexible. Everybody has time off, um, from about 11 to 12. So. That’s also kind of our convocation time. So we kind of weasel it in there a little bit, uh, goods and bads with it.
So, um, but we do make sure obviously, you know, you don’t miss training unless you have to. That’s the biggest thing. Um, you’ve got to be a student just as much as you got to be an athlete. Um, so it is pretty much a 40 plus hour work week for those guys, um, outside of the coaches.
Matt: Yeah. Yeah. It’s definitely, uh, its own job.
Um, well, let’s talk a little bit more about the soccer side of things. We talked about the roster size and all, but, uh, what about the staff size? How many folks do you have? What role does everybody play? Maybe what other staff are in the athletic department that help out with the team? What’s that look like?
Coach: Yeah, staff size. Um, you know, generally it fluctuates a little bit. Um, obviously we’re in a period of transition where I’ve been hired as the new coach, um, working obviously with the AD right now about what staff size looks like. Um, right now I’ve got a confirmed two graduate assistants. Um, so in that I’m working on trying to finalize one right now.
Um, and I’ve got a call with another guy today, um, what those graduate assistants look like. Obviously they’ll go to school. Um, um, Night or most of those classes are kind of online. They’re a bit of hybrid. Um, so they’ve got some in person stuff. They’ve got some online classes. Um, but their job as well is to just like the head coach oversee all facets of the program.
Um, you know, [00:19:30] assistant wise, um, this past year, we kind of shared an assistant. Um, so I was the assistant that helps with the men’s and the women’s program. So. I was running around living up an espresso and coffees for about 4 months. Um, so as far as assistant, what it will look like this fall, I’m still kind of up in the air about working with our ad about what that’s going to look like, um, just trying to make the right decisions, you know, the right things to fit both of our programs.
Um, but there’s a couple of guys that we’re speaking to, which is the best part, um, obviously with a, uh, roster of that big, we’ve also got to make sure that the guys are looked after, um, that’s the biggest thing, you know, we don’t want to do things, um, part time, um, we want to do things again, if we’re wanting and our dreams are wanting to get into that neutral site and like anybody else’s when that national title, we’ve got to make sure that we have the right support staff that goes with it.
Um, we’ve also got some volunteer guys. Who are in the local area. Um, Justin McRae is a great guy as far as, you know, he’s a former alumnus played on the team. Um, he owns a gym that’s in town. So obviously his gyms open to all the guys, if they need to go in, get their weightlifting hours, um, through the week.
And that’s something that we do as well, as we try to make sure that the boys kind of maybe lower the weight, but keep up the reps in the weight room. Um, so that’s the biggest thing with us. Um, in season as well. Also got some other guys who are kind of outside staff that kind of help us out. Um, Nick Davis, who was with us this past year, um, kind of our, our [00:21:00] sport performance guy, um, as a graduate assistant.
But he’s also went the route. Um, he’s went the professional route as well with coach Luke, um, down in the Chattanooga Red Bulls. So we’re going to use him. Um, obviously he’s a great member of the staff. He’s a former alumnus as well at Tennessee Wesleyan. So he’s put together our sport and performance package last year.
Um, but. The boys have seen a lot of great improvements from it. That’s the best thing. So working with him right now, obviously, if he can get up a couple of times, you know, during the fall season, we’re going to utilize him, mobility, flexibility in the weight room, everything that goes with the performance side of being an athlete.
So, you know, although on the website, it doesn’t have, it doesn’t show that we have all these people. These are also people who are kind of in the second level or the second layer of helping out the program. Um, outside of that as well, you know, athletic training staff has been fantastic. We’ve got 3 full time athletic trainers, um, not to mention some part time staff as well from Lee University who come up, um, obviously to get some internship hours, work hands on, those students who are looking to step into the professional world of being an athletic trainer.
Um, Stacy Swafford is an absolute saint. Um, she is our compliance director. Um, she puts up with a lot of some of the stuff, um, especially over the summer paperwork, um, staying on top of us. But, you know, some of the work that she does for us, and some of the work that she does in the program, um, at Tennessee Wesleyan, um, I can’t thank her enough [00:22:30] for for who she is and what she does.
So. Yeah, a lot of people, um, really, really good. Um, and even my ad Donnie Mayfield, um, you know, he kind of relieves my job on all the travel stuff. Um, and Peyton as well. Um, so those guys, you know, they’re fantastic about, you know, making sure we have what we need to, um, stand on top of dates and timelines.
Hey, you know, make sure you come pick up your van keys or hey, the bus is going to be ready at this time. So, uh, thankfully, like I said, we’ve got a lot of people who help support us, um, in that realm.
Matt: Well, now we got to train the guns on you though, uh, as the head man here, uh, what do you see kind of your style of coaching?
Like the style of play you want to implement? What, what’s that look like?
Coach: Um, I say this as I look at it. You know, I’ve kind of been a student of the game. I think a lot of it. Um, you know, the place where I played is kind of shaped me a lot. Um, you know, going from a kid in Southeast Ohio, where it was the wrong football, um, that I played, um, you know, and then going to again, even a smaller school.
Um, an unbelievable school as well. Um, it’s been kind of an NAIA powerhouse since 2000, um, at University of Rio Grande, you know, playing with guys from England, Ireland, Scotland. And then in my timeline, they’re expanding out into Brazil, um, you know, expanding more of my [00:24:00] knowledge of the game and then turning actually into a student was never a guy who liked to read, but.
Um, favorite team, obviously being Chelsea FC, you know, watching Mourinho through his early days. Um, you know, the success he had and then the continuation of 20 some odd coaches after that. Um, but I’d say playing style, a lot of, you know, some of the things that you’ll see is, you know, a little bit of pep, probably a little bit of Mourinho, if you really look deep into it, um, you know, influential guys, kind of even nowadays, uh, some deserby stuff.
Um, but I am a guy who likes to control the ball. That’s the biggest thing. Um, I want to have the ball. I want my players to be bold. I want them to be brave. Um, I want them to be confident in some of the things that they do. Um, you know, the training environment this spring has been really good. Um, you know, the biggest thing is I promote mistakes.
You know, especially in the training environment, I want to promote mistakes because it’s the only way you’re going to make it better. Um, In the big scheme of things, um, you know, I also want to train my players to adapt to the game, adapt to the opponent, um, and have different options. That’s the biggest thing.
Um, so my philosophy isn’t realistically one philosophy. It’s one to get players to make the right decision at the right time. But doing that with having the ball as much as possible is going to be the biggest thing to go with it. So that’s probably in a nutshell, the easiest way to explain it.
Matt: That’s fair.
That’s fair. Well, you’ve been super generous with your time. I don’t want to keep you here [00:25:30] too long, but I want to ask one last question for you is someone who’s got had a, you know, a couple, uh, college coaching positions. You get a good breadth of knowledge here. So if. If you could give, you know, potential student athletes going through this journey, just if there was one piece of advice, one nugget that you think everybody should know as they’re going through this process, what would that be?
Coach: Oh, man, it’s to narrow it down to one thing. I’d probably say in the places I’ve worked at. So obviously more NAIA programs, um, worked at division three program. I’ve got a lot of friends that work at division two and division one and people who’ve climbed from NAIA into division one. You are not too good for any division.
There are some unbelievable programs. Again, I love promoting the NAIA, um, but there are some unbelievable programs who if a kid went and thinks that they’re only division one player, I would really enjoy those kids to go and try out. If they think they’re that good, and they have the opportunity to do that in the division 2 and junior college, go and try out with some of those places.
If you’re a recruit trying to look at, hey, I’m going to go and I want to try to look at these places, but I want to see what the college levels like there’s a reason why junior colleges, you can train with the team and as you can train with the team. I know a little bit in D2, you can train with the teams, but you’re going to you’re going to find your levels.
Um, and [00:27:00] I think a lot of people sometimes. Not that it’s a negative, but some people were overconfident in what level that they feel that they can get at. So keep your doors open, keep your options open, go explore many, many different levels. Um, cause I tell you, as soon as you find the right level of play, you’re going to understand that you’re at the right program for you.
Matt: Love it. Well, coach, really appreciate it. Want to wish you the best of luck here for the fall season. Get back to that national tournament and, uh,
Coach: thank you again,
Matt: man. And really appreciate the time.
Coach: Yep. Thank you again for your opportunity today. Really appreciate it.
