University of Memphis Men’s Soccer – Coach Tony McManus
On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Tony McManus from the University of Memphis Men’s Program. We talk about what types of players they feel are a fit for their team. He describes how their relationships with local Fortune 500 companies are a great opportunity. Lastly, we discuss their top-notch staff. Learn more about the University of Memphis Men’s Soccer.
[00:00:00] Matt: Hi, everybody. Welcome to discover college soccer today. I’m lucky enough to be joined by coach Tony McManus from the University of Memphis. Welcome coach.
[00:00:07] Coach: Hey Matt, how are you guys
[00:00:08] Matt: doing? Doing well. Thanks. Appreciate you joining us. Uh, love to take some time here and learn some more about the University of Memphis.
[00:00:17] It’s more than just Beale street and, uh, and barbecue down there. So. Let’s uh, let’s get right into it. So let’s talk about the recruiting side of things first, you know, I guess everybody’s curious, you know, all, all the guys out there wanting to go division one, you know, you’re, you’re approaching on that, uh, magic date of June 15th where you can start talking to players here.
[00:00:41] So when are you actually starting to look at players, uh, and, and kind of get that list going, and then. Quickly. And what are you trying to do? Come, come that June 15th timeframe.
[00:00:53] Coach: Yeah, absolutely. Um, everybody’s timeframe is gonna be different. Uh, and you know, it’s, it varies from school to school and there’s, there’s a lot of different factors that go into that.
[00:01:05] But with us, typically, we will. Start the recruiting process. Uh, when, you know, players are going into early junior year, middle of their junior year, and then carry that through all the way through their senior year. That doesn’t mean that we’re not looking at it. It doesn’t mean that we’re not identifying; it doesn’t mean that we’re, we’re not talking to, uh, freshmen and sophomores.
[00:01:31] Uh, but. The majority of our recruiting, where we’re really starting to hone in on, okay, this is a player we really are interested in and we wanna move forward with, we don’t typically do that until the middle to the end of their junior year. And then again, as I said, all the way through, uh, their, their senior year.
[00:01:50] Okay.
[00:01:51] Matt: Now, in terms of, um, going out and then looking at players, kinda what, what are you. Must go to events, tournaments, and, and places that you’re, you’re going to see
[00:02:04] Coach: players. Man, it has, it has really, really changed in, uh, in recent years. Uh, it is really hard to gauge what event, where to go to, to see the, the most players that we can possibly see.
[00:02:20] That, uh, that either fits what we are looking for, um, or is regional, uh, gonna be feasible for us. Uh, and so we try to do the major events for all the major leagues. Uh, so we’ll try to do, you know, a winter showcase for ECNL or MLS. And we typically try to do the, uh, the, um, the Southern regionals and the national championship for USU soccer.
[00:02:53] Um, and then now with the new E 64 league, we’ll start doing a lot more, with that. Um, but we tend to do those major events where, uh, where the top teams, top clubs from those different, uh, entities are competing against each other. And then, you know, whatever, whatever local regional stuff we can do that is that’s, you know, the state’s touching Tennessee, uh, the North Carolinas, the Floridas, the Georgias because those are relatively easy for us to get to and, uh, to and from, uh, but.
[00:03:29] Those are kind of the main ones. I, I think a lot has changed in the past couple of years, uh, with, with showcases. And so, you know, those big, major showcase events, the Disneys, uh, you know, the blue-chip showcases, some of those have, have kind of died down and faded away because most of those different leagues are, you know, just competing within their own separate leagues.
[00:03:54] So. Those are, those are kind of the major ones that we do now. And,
[00:04:00] Matt: and how do camps fit into everything? Whether that’s your own camps or, or your staff, uh, working other camps, how, how important are camps
[00:04:08] Coach: these days? Uh, camps are important. Uh, we just finished our first ID camp for this, uh, this summer.
[00:04:16] And we offered four players, uh, spots on the team. Three are. Um, three, our incoming players, one is and, a future. Uh, so for us, it is a major recruiting tool. Um, and I don’t wanna speak for any other schools. I don’t wanna speak out, uh, against other schools or anything. Um, because I don’t know how everybody runs theirs.
[00:04:39] Uh, but ours is a, ours is a major tool for us and. We try to keep it manageable. As far as numbers are concerned, we don’t, we don’t wanna have two and 300 kids here. We just can’t really evaluate fully players and we can’t really get to know each player here. So we try to keep the numbers really low, to keep them manageable.
[00:05:03] Uh, and they’ve, they’ve been very effective for us as far as our roster breakdown is concerned. So we’re, we’re happy with them. We like them. Um, and, uh, and obviously very, very important for. Okay.
[00:05:15] Matt: Now looking at your guys’ roster, you guys see, you guys got a handful of international players as well. So how does international recruiting kind of fit into the grand scheme of things?
[00:05:24] Coach: Um, it’s, you know, there’s there are players, that’s, you know, we have relationships with, uh, either coach, overseas coaches here in us. Or, um, we have relationships with different clubs, uh, or agencies overseas. And so we’re always gonna take a look at, at the international kid. Uh, but you know, whether it be an international or it is domestic, it’s just whoever fits us the best that’s who we wanna bring in.
[00:05:55] So whether it’s international or domestic, doesn’t matter to us, it’s just, who’s gonna be the better fit for us?
[00:06:03] Matt: Now, when you talk about fit, you know what, what does. To Memphis look like, what are those qualities you’re looking for in a player, whether they’re on the field or off the field?
[00:06:12] Coach: Well, that’s, uh, that’s a very good question, uh, on the field.
[00:06:17] I think it’s important for us to find somebody who they’re a blue-collar player, uh, both in work ethic. Both in how they, they approach the game, uh, their professionalism, you know, there, how, how they respond to, you know, ups and downs over the course of a season. Um, those types of things are, are very important to us.
[00:06:39] Um, then, you know, within our conference we have an incredibly good, we have an incredibly fast; we have an incredibly. Athletic and physical conference. And so those are some of the key components, as far as physical traits, that we look for. And then on top of that, we’re looking for, kids who have a good IQ for the game, they understand, and they can evaluate different things within the game.
[00:07:03] And then, you know, the second part of that, and probably even more important than all of that, is just their character. And we can see characters in games. We can see, you know, when they turn a ball over when, uh, one of their teammates turn a ball over, when they get scored on, or when something doesn’t go their way, a referee makes a bad call and just kind of see how they carry themselves, how, what their reaction is in those moments.
[00:07:30] Uh, those things matter to us and those go a long way. Uh, and then. Uh, you know, their, their character off the field. Uh, are they, are they somebody who are they here for soccer or are they here for the social aspect? Uh, it’s, it’s important to be a, a college athlete and it’s important to enjoy your college experience, but if it comes at the detriment of.
[00:07:54] The team, if it comes to the detriment of your development or anybody else’s, this isn’t the right fit, for a player like that. So we look out for stuff like that. We speak with coaches; we speak with other people who know these players. So we can really try to, uh, to get a holistic feel for who this player is, but we, we don’t always get it.
[00:08:15] Right. Uh, and you know, sometimes kids come to college, there’s a little bit too much freedom for ’em and, you know, they. You know, find their way out the door. Uh, and so those are, those are, you know, things that happen, but those are, uh, those are things that we try to weed out, uh, early on.
[00:08:33] Matt: Okay. Well, you know, I can’t, uh, let you go without, uh, asking about the cash side of things.
[00:08:41] People always wanting to know what’s it gonna cost and all those sorts of things, but. But, you know, I don’t wanna get into specifics, but in terms of just the whole academic-athletic scholarship mix, um, you know, what, what does that look like at Memphis for, for, let’s just say an average recruit coming
[00:08:59] Coach: in.
[00:09:00] Well, everybody’s situation is different. Uh, some of it is based on, you know, what money is available. Uh, some of it is based on what we see as the immediate impact of your being. What we see is the long-term impact of your being as well as financial needs and, you know, everybody’s situation is different. And we try to take that into account when we put different packages together.
[00:09:26] Um, but also knowing that if you’re a fully funded division one program, the most scholarships you can get is 9.9 scholarships. We carry a roster of roughly 30 guys. And so, you know, trying to break up 9.9 scholarships between 30 guys is an incredibly hard task to do, especially given all those different parameters, uh, that I just gave you there.
[00:09:51] Uh, and so, you know, a lot of it is, is, is gonna come down to those first couple traits is, you know, what, what do we see your immediate impact being? And you know, what is, what is yours. Financial needs. Um, and it’s not about ego. Uh, you know, if, if, if you want to say and tell your friends and everybody else, I have a full-ride scholarship here, and that’s what matters more than the product that we can put around you.
[00:10:20] Then again, this is not gonna be there, the right fit. Uh, we try to build a, a core group, a key group of, of guys who kind of fall into those, uh, those needs. And then build around them using different areas of academic scholarships, different packages that can be put together, uh, using the, uh, the different, um, academic components, because there is five times as much money in academics as there is in athletics.
[00:10:52] Matt: Yeah, absolutely. Well, that’s good info. Well, let’s talk a little bit more than about the school, uh, you know, university of Memphis, great city. Uh, it’s been too long since I’ve been there, but what, you know, gimme some, some inside scoop about the school, what, what’s some awesome things about it that I’m not gonna learn just by clicking around the website.
[00:11:11] Coach: Yeah, there’s, there’s a lot about the school it’s, um, you know, it’s a, it’s a great school. It’s a great campus. It’s a school of roughly 21,000 undergrad students and about 3000 grad students. Uh, we do have one of the top business programs in the country. Uh, that is something that, you know, when, when people are going through and looking at different business programs, they’re, they’re kind of caught off guard by that.
[00:11:36] But one of the big things that the university has. We have three Fortune 500 companies headquartered here in, in Memphis, Tennessee, and all three of them are major, uh, players with the University of Memphis, as well as they are there for, uh, graduates of the different programs here at the University of Memphis.
[00:11:58] And so these are great opportunities where yet, if you are involved in one of these majors that, you know, either AutoZone or international paper or, um, Uh, what is the other one? Um, FedEx, sorry, I blanked on that one. Um, FedEx, uh, if you are involved in any way, shape or form in some, some fashion that, uh, might overlap one of those businesses, uh, you have internships that are, that are available for you as well as opportunities too, to find work, uh, with those companies when you graduate.
[00:12:36] And so all of them play a major. In that respect, they also are, are big donors to the University of Memphis. So those are probably things that, that you don’t know that much about. Um, the athletics department is, is very good. Uh, you know, our, our basketball team, our football program, uh, we’re both. Top 25 programs this past year, our women’s soccer programs, one of the top 25 schools in the country.
[00:13:01] Um, you know, we’re doing our best to, to get us, uh, our program to that level. But athletics in general is, is a very popular, very big thing here. Um, we have different professional organizations here, the Memphis Grizzlies, the Memphis Redbirds, which is a, uh, triple a, uh, affiliate of the, uh, St. Louis Cardinal.
[00:13:22] So a lot of different things going on around the city. That’s intertwined with the University of Memphis in different ways. Oh, that’s great.
[00:13:31] Matt: Um, well, along with the academic. Side of things, you know, what kinds of, uh, support mechanisms are there in place to help student-athletes, you know, really balance that school and sport, uh, push and pull.
[00:13:43] That’s always
[00:13:44] Coach: there. Absolutely. And, uh, and the important thing for everybody to know is. When you go to college, if you go to college as a, as an athlete, uh, you are known as a student-athlete and a student comes before everything else. And we can’t emphasize that enough because these statistics of players going from just high school to college too, playing soccer are so low.
[00:14:11] And then the statistics of players going from. Collegiate sports at the professional levels are even lower than that. And so you don’t want to be unprepared for what the next phase of your life is. Uh, should your sport not work out now? We want. Everybody, to get an opportunity to play professionally.
[00:14:33] And we open a lot of doors. We’ve, we’ve been fortunate with, uh, quite a few guys signing pro contracts over the past several years, but at the same time, not everybody on the team has that opportunity and not everybody wants to go that route. And so we try as much as we can to prepare them. For what’s next beyond, uh, beyond the soccer side.
[00:14:56] And so athletics or academics become the major player in that. Uh, we have an incredible, uh, athletic support staff. That works with all of our student-athletes. Uh, each program has its own academic advisor that works with its specific athletes. Um, as well as we have mentors that help, uh, each one of our athletes and they help guide them through the process as you’re here as a freshman, they really kind of.
[00:15:23] Get you, um, comfortable and familiar with the college lifestyle and, and get you, uh, up to speed. And so you’re not caught off guard. You’re not behind in classes. They help you solve the different, you know, study habits or help you keep and, a good schedule so that you’re not falling behind in classes. Uh, as well as we have, uh, tutors, we have study hall.
[00:15:46] Um, we have everything that any student could need. To make sure that you meet, uh, your, your, uh, progress towards degree and not just meet that, but you’re, you’re excelling in that. Um, you know, we have, uh, our team, uh, since I’ve been here since, uh, 2014, I don’t think that we’ve had a year that we’ve been below a 3.0 GPA.
[00:16:11] Uh, we’ve had semesters where we’re above a 3.5. Uh, and so. If you don’t do well in school, it’s not because you couldn’t do it. It’s because you’re not applying yourself and you’re not taking advantage of the resources that are available to you. So if you are here as a student athlete at the University of Memphis, you’ll have every need that you need, uh, taken care of making sure that you are successful in the C.
[00:16:40] That’s great.
[00:16:41] Matt: Um, now I know there’s one there’s never such thing as a typical week in, uh, in a soccer season, but you. Let’s try to assume for once that there might be, but what, what would that week look like from a student-athlete perspective during the season in terms of what they’re doing when they get up, uh, meals, practice, traveling for games, that sort of thing.
[00:17:03] Just a rough, a rough overview.
[00:17:05] Coach: Yeah. So, um, uh, I’m not sure if you, you are aware of the, uh, legislation, that is. Trying to be passed right now. Right. Uh, with them, with the men’s side. Yeah. Uh, trying to go to a full-year model. And if that passes that it will be just one game a week. And for us, that would be, you know, a huge blessing, uh, because you know, there are, I don’t wanna sit here and preach about all the positives and the benefits that come to it.
[00:17:33] Uh, but if you’re doing one game a week, you’re playing games on, on Saturdays or Sundays. And, uh, and so. Nobody’s missing class. Uh, and that’s, that’s the first and, and most important piece of it is you’re not having to, to miss any of your academics. To play in games. Uh, so you’re able to, to we’re able to go, uh, we’ll play a game.
[00:17:56] Let’s say, you know, the game is, is on a, um, on Saturday night, uh, on Sunday we would, uh, we would either travel home or we’d stay here at home and we’d do a recovery session for the guys that played heavy minutes. For those that didn’t, we would try to have a, uh, have a, uh and, an intense session for. Uh, and then Monday would be an off day.
[00:18:20] Uh, on Monday you take that day to, you know, catch up on your academics, go grocery shopping, do all the different things that you find yourself piling up throughout the course of the week. And, uh, and kind of get that off your plate. So you, you, you don’t have to stress about it for, uh, for the rest of the week.
[00:18:38] Um, Tuesday. We would have a, uh, an am lift session. Uh that’s uh, seven to 8:00 AM. Uh, then after that, uh, there, the guys would have their snacks, uh, get their shakes, stuff like that after they finish, um, then they’d either go have their breakfast, uh, go to class. Uh, be in class until roughly 1, 1 30 in the afternoon.
[00:19:01] Uh, come over for, uh, for practice. We’ll start practice between two and two 30 and then we’ll, we’ll train roughly for an hour and a half. Uh, when we finish there, everybody’s off to go their own way. If you’re a freshman, you would have some sort of study hall mentor. Um, you know, tutors, something like that to make sure that your mind is on your academics.
[00:19:23] Um, and then everybody else is, is free to kind of do what they need too, to, to make sure that they are, um, keeping up their academics and, uh, and just making sure that they’re not falling behind. Um, and then, you know, uh, on Wednesday it would be, uh, classes in there, in the morning, uh, early afternoon and then same training schedule.
[00:19:44] Thursday would be the same schedule as, um, as Tuesday, Friday would be the same schedule as Wednesday and then Saturday, uh, have a game and then rinse and repeat the following week. Okay. Um,
[00:20:00] Matt: Let’s kind of talk a little bit then about the team and, and the soccer side of things. So, uh, what, what does the soccer staff overall look like in terms of, of how many folks, what their roles are, and how y’all work together too, to, to help the players?
[00:20:18] Coach: Yeah, we have, uh, we have an awesome staff, uh, love working with this group. Um, Richard has been here, uh, for nine years now, uh, nine or 10 years. I believe it is. Um, He was an assistant here before, um, before he took over as the head coach, uh, he took over as head coach after his second year here. And then, uh, when he took over as head coach, I came, uh, and joined him on staff.
[00:20:45] Uh, I’ve been here now with him for going on our, uh, our eighth year together. Um, as well as we have a second assistant Chris Hadley, who came down from Lehigh university last. Uh, he’s been here. He’ll be starting his second year with us this fall. And then, uh, Remco de, who has been here, uh, longer than all of us have been here.
[00:21:06] Uh, he’s the goalkeeper coach on, on staff. And he’s been here, uh, since the previous, uh, administration, I wanna say roughly mid-2000. So he’s got a long tenure of being here and helping, uh, goalkeepers out. Um, he works specifically with the goalkeeper. He’s a volunteer. So he’s really only there, uh, for training sessions for games and once or twice a year, he’ll travel with us, uh, to different games.
[00:21:31] Uh, but for the most part, he’s only there, to run, uh, sessions with the goalkeepers as, uh, as needed. Chris is the second assistant. Uh, he has on field coaching responsibilities, uh, as well as, um, As in the, uh, office he’ll work on a lot of the, uh, video breakdowns, um, you know, travel schedules, uh, you know, a lot of administrative stuff that, uh, that needs to be taken care of.
[00:21:59] He does, um, I’m the associate head coach. I basically run, uh, most of if not all the training sessions, and we all have input on those, uh, you know, coming up week to week on what we need to work on, how we need to strategize for opponents. And then I design the training sessions that are appropriate for us.
[00:22:22] And then, um, I’ll, I’ll run the sessions with the help of the, uh, of the other coaches. Uh, I do, uh, the majority of the recruiting, although. If not all the other coaches have recruiting responsibilities, uh, any goalkeepers stuff that comes to me, I pass on to, uh, to Chris and to Remco to, to look through and give us their feedback on them.
[00:22:43] Um, and then when we’re out, uh, on the road, uh, myself, Chris, Richard, we spend most of the; the time doing the recruiting, uh, out on the field. And then Richard, uh, he does a bit of everything. Um, he’ll, he. I have a lot of input on the field, but he mostly, when we’re training, we’ll sit back, uh, and just kind of watch and analyze and evaluate the guys what’s going on and then try to put everything together so that it makes sense and fits when we come to, um, Come to the, uh, the team at the end of the week, uh, that we wanna select for, for game day.
[00:23:18] Uh, so everybody plays a major role. Everybody’s got a lot of responsibilities and it’s just a, and, a group that, that we feel like functions very well together. Uh, Richard is a player-coach. He’s a very nice guy. He’s very easy to, to talk to and… Um, but he does have, you know, when, when you’ve crossed the line or when it’s not getting done the way he wants to, he’ll let you know.
[00:23:43] Uh, so he’s not afraid to, to speak up when and if he has to, uh, I’m the hard coach, uh, I hold the players accountable. Uh, you know, I, I do all the stuff that, you know, The, the other coaches, uh, don’t wanna do as, as far as holding everybody accountable. Uh, Chris is the, uh, the go-between the coaches and the, and the rest of the team.
[00:24:07] He’s kind of closer to their age. Uh, and so he has, you know, kind of those. Those types of mentor relationships with the boys. Uh, and so it’s just, uh, it’s, it’s a group that we really like, we really enjoy working together. And so it’s, it seemed to have worked in, uh, in and created a very good, uh, environment for us in the, uh, office and on the road.
[00:24:31] Matt: No, that’s fantastic. And, and ha, and having met a couple of you, I would agree is just a good, it’s just a good, uh, a good staff for sure. Well, you know, you kind of talked about a little bit on, on this, this, the style of coaching there a little bit, but talk to me a little bit about what. The style of play is, you know, obviously, I’m not holding you to, uh, telling me the formation that you have to play a hundred percent of the time or anything like that, but, but just gimme a, a, a general overview of, of how you guys like
[00:24:59] Coach: to play.
[00:25:00] Yeah. It’s um, we’ve, we’ve certainly had to be evolving. Uh, we’ve got better teams in the in-conference than we ever have before. We have some really great young coaches. Who keep us on our toes? And so it’s not something where we go into a, a season anymore. Um, thinking this is what our formation is gonna be.
[00:25:23] This is what our lineup’s gonna be. This is how we’re gonna play every game. Uh, I think it’s something that, that we’ve started to learn, uh, especially post COVID, that we have to be more adaptable. We have to be able to change, uh, you know, from game to game, not. That means we have to change our style as much.
[00:25:43] Uh, but it means that we’ve gotta find different formations. There are different moments in the game that we do have to have to change in to meet the requirements of the opponent or the conditions or anything like that. Uh, and so. These are things that, that sometimes we have to be very creative with, uh, scheming for different teams, creating different lineups, uh, styles, you know, different, uh, different ways that, that we can throw things at teams that they might not have been able to scout in the last game.
[00:26:14] And so. Sometimes you can be too creative for your own good. Um, and you have to really learn from those things. And sometimes you have to learn the lesson the hard way. And unfortunately, we have learned that lesson the hard way sometimes. Um, but it’s something where I, if we’re gonna sit here and say, this is how we wanna play, we wanna develop the game.
[00:26:34] We wanna build the ball from the defensive third. We wanna, you know, start and, you know, in to, to try to. You know, I’m trying to word it so that it’s, I don’t give too much away. Um, you know, I’ll say we wanna possess the ball. We wanna build the ball through the different thirds. Um, but we wanna do it in a way that.
[00:26:58] It doesn’t put us at a deficit. Uh, it doesn’t put us at risk. Um, and sometimes that can be really fast. Sometimes it can be slow and methodical, uh, but it’s, it’s something where we wanna control the tempo of the game. And this is still something about that. Is a work in progress for us. Uh, we’re still trying to recover from, uh, from COVID and the changes that we’ve made within the program since then, and trying to bring the right players that fit the system, fit the style, uh, and our players, who they can be adaptable to the different situations and the changing situations game to game.
[00:27:34] Matt: Okay. No, that’s fair enough. Um, well, coach, I really do appreciate the time. We’ve, we’ve covered a lot of different ground. Talked about a lot of different things, but I like to end kind of, uh, all this the same way, which is what didn’t we talk about? What did we, and what did we miss? What else do you want to let us know about either the school, the program, or anything else you got on your mind?
[00:27:54] Coach: Yeah. I, I, I think, you know, we, we did cover, uh, quite a bit there, I think, you know, for, for recruits, uh, especially in post COVID era, uh there’s the recruiting landscape has changed and that’s, that’s a reality of, of things with the COVID years that have been granted to players who were here. Um, we’re still probably two and three years away before that has kinda washed away.
[00:28:19] And now we’ve, we’ve equalized. And so I think there’s, there’s still a lot of kids. There are a lot of parents who wanna think things are the way that they always have been. And, you know, Hey, my, this kid signed and, um, or he committed to this school as a sophomore. He, committed to this school as a junior.
[00:28:41] Well, that doesn’t necessarily happen as, as much and as often anymore, uh, because of those, those players who get that extra year, you have more players in, uh, in the programs. And then on top of that, you have the inter introduction of the transfer portal, which. It just throws another wrench into the, uh, the machine for, uh, for those kids who are trying to get recruited.
[00:29:04] So now timelines for freshmen have gotten pushed further and further and further back, uh, because. When a season ends now, a team has really had its opportunity to go back and evaluate their players, evaluate their system and figure out is this working, um, are these the right players, are these the right fits?
[00:29:24] And so while you go through those end of the year meetings, uh, at, with coaches and with players, You start to have a lot of changes within the, within the team. And when those changes occur, the first thing that you do to replace those players is going to the transfer portal. And the big reason for that is because you get kids who have a year of a college experience, whether they played or whether they’re just in a really high-level environment.
[00:29:50] Now that is taken into account. And maybe that kid is valued a little bit higher than a, you know, an all-American high school soccer player, uh, while they both have value. Uh, it, it is, you know, not enough can be said for somebody who’s already been in the, uh, the college game for a while. And, uh, and so you, you start to lose opportunities to them.
[00:30:13] And now, again, once you go through the spring season now, teams are really kind of filling in the gaps, filling in the holes with, uh, with those other, uh, players. And so the one thing I can’t stress enough, uh, to parents and players is patience. And really, you know, spread a very wide net, uh, don’t get caught up in the glitz and the glamor of, you know, this team plays in this conference or they play this schedule, uh, find this program, find a school that really fits you holistically.
[00:30:45] Uh, you know, do they play a style? You know, uh, how many subs do they make a game? Um, you know, what’s the coaching styles of the, of the coaches? Those are all things that should be more important than the uniform that a team wears. It should be more important than, you know, the conference a team plays in, uh, and making sure that those are all the right fits for you as a player.
[00:31:08] And then that normally ends up. If you find that right fit; you don’t end up having those lulls, uh, in your, in your progression. And, uh, it just leads to a happier experience for the individual and their coaches.
[00:31:24] Matt: I couldn’t agree more. It’s a great way to end it. Well, coach, I do appreciate the time.
[00:31:29] We wish you guys the best of luck next season. Uh, we’ll keep an eye on you. See how you guys are doing there in the American and hopefully, you can, uh, bring home a conference championship.
[00:31:37] Coach: Uh, we’d love nothing more.
[00:31:39] Matt: all right. Thanks, Tony. Appreciate
[00:31:40] Coach: it. Awesome. Thank you so much for the time.
