University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma Men’s Soccer – Coach Tony Orsi

On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Tony Orsi from the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma Men’s Program. We talk about the academic rigor of their school. He describes the diversity and family feel students get. Lastly, we discuss how their staff is super committed and do it all. Learn more about the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma Men’s Soccer.

Matt: [00:00:00] Hi everybody. Welcome to Discover College Soccer Today I’m lucky enough to be joined by Coach Tony Orsi. How are you, coach? 

Coach: I’m good. How are you Matt? 

Matt: doing well, thanks. So coach, you are at the University of the Science and Arts of Oklahoma. 

Coach: Is that right? Yes, sir. Okay. Chickasha, Oklahoma. 

Matt: All right.

Well, it’s a, it’s a, a long name for sure. Yeah. You don’t wanna have to put that, you know, across the back of a jersey or anything like that.

Coach: No. We, uh, we go Drovers. That’s our, that’s our mascot. USAO or Drovers 

Matt:  Awesome. Well, I appreciate the time today. Um, let’s, uh, talk a little bit, uh, about recruiting and, and getting a team together.

You guys are NAIA out there in Oklahoma. Um, when do you really start talking to players and, and kind of building out those, those classes of, on the recruiting side?

Coach: I’d probably say it depends on if they’re, uh, American or international. If, if they’re Americans, it’s usually sophomore year we try to get them down on a visit.

[00:01:00] Um, just to kind of, you know, start the dialogue, start the process, and then I’d probably say junior year, beginning of senior year is when we probably start to offer. Um, and now we, we’ve done it later in the past. Obviously if a guy is, you know, kind of a diamond in the rough somewhere that’s late or, um, you know, maybe a freshman that’s just, you know, we know through the club system.

That’s just unbelievable. But I, I’d probably say sophomore year is when we start. Um, actively recruiting, and then probably junior years when we start to offer, um, it’s starting to get earlier and earlier now, um, which is, which is good. You know, obviously we’re not crazy and going into the middle school, I mean, that stuff is, is a big, you know, uh, bit too much.

But usually by senior year, they’re starting to get, uh, their looks everywhere. I know NCAA’s a little bit different. They, they have to go a little bit earlier, but I’d probably say by the middle of their junior year. Um, if we are interested and they’re interested, they’ve probably received, um, some type of offer to, [00:02:00] to, to commit or, or not to commit.

And then internationals is, is usually, um, a year before they come out because they kinda, their, their school system’s a little bit different. They have to finish graduating in June before they come over here, uh, with, with the AI clearing house they have now. So it’s, it’s really hard for them. To kind of know because they don’t have their grades or they don’t have their final exams.

So really we’ll get them for, uh, probably starting August or September of this year, we start to get videos for guys coming next year. So internationals is probably a year, um, a year before they come out, which is a little bit later from the, from the club aspect. Uh, just cuz some guys are trying to sign a pro contract.

Some guys are trying to play back home. Some guys have just decided they want to come over to the to, to the US for a degree, so I’d say they’re a little bit later. Um, then they are the, the, the American homegrown kids here, cuz the system is so different. They don’t have recruiting visits. Some of them don’t even know about playing in the [00:03:00] States until they’re 16, 17, and then they start to look.

Matt: So, I, I mean, looking at your roster looks like you, you got a, a heavy contingent of internationals over there. So, Yes. So how are you guys, uh, recruiting, evaluating, and, and deciding who, who kind of gets the, the nod?

Coach: Really we get, we, uh, it started a long time ago. I mean, this, this kind of dates us. I’ve, I’ve been here since 2007, I think.

And we didn’t have all the fans. I mean, we would not have been on a Zoom call as though, well, we would’ve been talking on a, on my land phone. Um, so the, the first couple years we kind of just really casted a wide net of email, email, email, find everybody we can, you know, it was still pretty new. Um, and then now we’ve built kind of relationships with.

With agencies and with handlers and with guys that, you know, think we have treated their, their client, their student athlete well, and now they’ll, they’ll reach out to us sometimes as much as we reach out to them where it’s, you know, Hey Coach, Hope all is well, what are you looking for for [00:04:00] 23? We’ll say, Hey, we need to, you know, right back a goalkeeper for, you know, And then they start, Hey, we think we got the guys.

They know the system now. They know the grades. They know, you know, test wise what they need to get. Uh, so now it’s more of a narrow, um, a narrow field instead of just, you know, casting that wide net. And then really it’s just, um, you know, it’s like anything else. We get a good video, we’ll get a good game film on him, and then we’ll speak with them.

And, and the biggest thing now is getting to, they can’t obviously come over here on him. Recruiting visit from, you know, the Netherlands or Germany or Brazil or Spain. But we can have a conversation like this where I can kind of look at ’em and see, you know, get a little bit about ’em, what kind of person they are.

Cuz that’s a big piece for us too, is, um, you know, it doesn’t matter how good of a player you are, if you’re not gonna fit our, our system and of our culture of doing things right. And then it’s just, we go on talent like, like, like anything else, you know, we’ll watch, I don’t know how many videos a day we get, you know, once, once we, you know, hey, here’s what we need.

You know, we’ll get 20, 30 a [00:05:00] day and we’re just kind of, here’s, so the top three here are some guys we think that could be on the reserve, and then we start contact from there. But, you know, it’s not a first come first serve. It’s not a, Well, this guy email, this first, you know, in the college game is, can you get the best available player, invest available talent to fit to, to fit your system?

So, um, it’s gotten a little bit easier, um, as far as now people reaching out to us and, and now. With email and all that stuff. Now the players can send us stuff themselves, so they’re kind of working on their own. So the first couple years it was a little chaos, just, you know, copy paste. Sure. 400 emails to everybody I could overseas.

And then, uh, now it’s more of a relationship where I’ll have a, you know, a call like this with an agency of, you know, we’re looking for this kid, this kid, this kid. Here’s what we need. Do you have anybody? And, and like I said, we have a good enough relationship now where they kind of know our team of being a good side and, and doing things right, and they’re gonna go to class and you know, we’ve had a couple guys that [00:06:00] say, Coach, this kid can play, but he’s not gonna last with you guys.

He’s just not, he, he he’ll, you know, you give him an inch, he’ll take a mile. And that’s a big thing too, is we, we want great people here as well as great players, if that makes sense. Ah, absolutely. 

Matt: Well, and, and on the domestic side of things, I know you and, and I think Coach Hampton are part, uh, of a club program as well.

So where, when you’re, when you’re looking at the domestic kids, you know, what are some of your kind of. Can’t miss events and, and tournaments and things that you go to to make sure you’re, you’re getting out and seeing players really.

Coach: Uh, the, the Oklahoma Energy is the, is the youth club we coach at. We have started a showcase.

Um, we really like the, um, uh, FC Dallas. Runs a, a showcase, um, in, in March. That’s very, very good. And, um, you know, there’s a lot of, there’s, there’s an Arlington Showcase in December. Uh, there’s an Adidas Showcase in Tulsa, So that’s kind of the, uh, the big ones that we hit. [00:07:00] Um, but to, to be honest, we’re, we’re out there so much.

We may just be walking by a. Yeah, I mean there’s, there’s times where I, I have a game and you know, and 30 minutes away and I finished my game and I’m packing up and I’m leaving. And you know, there’s an under 16 game starting and I’m, I watched the first five minutes ago. Who’s that? Who’s that kid? You know, and I’ll find them on, Got soccer or their website and I’ll email the coach.

Uh, but you know, those are really the big ones that we. When, you know, we go to a couple, you know, outof, state ones, but really, you know, we’re, we’re more, we want to get the more Oklahoma based kids if we can. I just, as far as if you’re gonna get a, a domestic kid, the parents want them close to home. They want to be able to attend the game.

So, you know, us being out in Las Vegas probably isn’t gonna do as much as, you know, uh, being at a local one here and there’s talent. As well. Um, so we, we tend to spend more local on those domestic kids. Just, it’s, it’s, it’s kind of hard now. [00:08:00] It was very hard during the Covid years of, you know, there’s a kid from Delaware that’s really interested.

How’s, how can he get here? You know, we’ve got our, we, you can’t come here on a weekend. You can’t come here on a Monday or Tuesday. They’re missing class and all that. And, you know, they come to our residential camps. But by that time, We may have already signed three players or they have may gotten five other offers.

So I, I’d say the, the, the Dallas, the Oklahoma and the Tulsa are really the three ones that we hit as far as local, that are really, really good tournaments. 

Matt: Well, you, you mentioned camp, so it sounds like you have your own, you know, how does that work? Do you guys work other schools, camps? How, how big a part of the recruiting process is?

Coach: Camps? We, we tend to sometimes work other, other schools. Camps. Uh, the main thing with our season with doing Club is, is the time to do that. So we really, you know, a couple of our assistants are undergraduates or maybe some of our players will do some, some camps over the summer or help out with another school’s camp.

We’re not anti that. We just, that [00:09:00] might be the three days we have off. Where we actually get to see our fair wife and our family, and we’re, we’re not doing that one. But yeah, our camp, um, we run it in July, usually right after regionals. Um, you know, tryouts are usually May and June here, regionals are usually mid June, so it’s real hard to get a good camp with people being gone, people being out people at regionals.

So we really do that first. Maybe second week of July is when we have our, our camp and we really run two. We have a residential camp which is more geared for under nine to under 15, 16 boys, girls, all levels. And then we also have a college ID camp that we run simultaneously. Those are the 16, 17, 18 high school age boys.

So you know, we’re not running a camp where. Uh, a team of of 11 year old and a college guy wanting to come here, we think neither one will really benefit or enjoy that camp. Cuz while camp is fun, they also want to get a little taste of what it’s like here and want to get better. So we want to put them with, with [00:10:00] likability.

Uh, but we do have a college ID camp where we, we send out invites. Um, I think we had about 65 men last year, which is very good. About 50 women and our residential camps that we max out our dorms every. So I think we’ve got 2 50, 2 60 come into those camps, which it’s a great, it’s a great event that the kids are, you know, the, the, the camp is staffed by all, almost 90% college coaches.

Um, and then the college ID camp is ran by us, but we also sometimes bring in. Guys from other schools in our conference, just cuz we don’t want it to be so inclusive that they’re just coming, You know, all these kids are coming for U S A O. So what will happen is we, we had a, our division two coach come, we had a division coach, one coach locally come speak.

Uh, we had a couple coaches even within our conference come speak, um, kind of on a college night for these players just so they can kind of get a hint of, you know, we want everybody to come here. That, that’s obviously our goal, but we also want to. These kids on how the [00:11:00] process works. That’s the biggest part of a college ID camp is, hey, look at our, look at our field, look at our facilities.

That’s, you know, we don’t wanna be used car salesman like, but we also want them to know, here’s what other schools do, here’s what other schools offer. So, you know, we, we really wanna value, especially the younger kids, we want them to. Understand the process and not just commit somewhere without really knowing what’s going on, if that makes sense.

So, Oh, absolutely. Um, we, we, our, our campus, the players love it. The, the, the college ID kids love it. Um, And then our last usually recruiting tool is our reserve team will usually get our under 18 boys teams up for a game. Um, where we can kind of see them and maybe get them on a visit afterwards. But they’re playing our reserve men so we get to see them, you know, maybe train with us and then we get to see ’em live in an 11 b 11 game.

Cuz we can attend every showcase. We just, you know, we don’t have the time or the budget to, to be going to Indiana and Georgia and Florida every, every week cuz we’re in season. Right. . [00:12:00] 

Matt: Yeah, for sure. Well, in terms of, um, you know, the, the, the dollars and cents of it all, cuz that’s what a lot of parents are, uh Right.

Are concerned about. So I’m not gonna hold you any hard numbers here, but kind of just give me a, a ballpark overview of what the scholarship and financial aid situation. On for an average incoming player, whether that’s academic money, athletic money, or any other school scholarships. What, what, what should a student athlete expect if they were coming to your school?

Coach: Well, our school, uh, without any aid is 16,000. Oh, wow. So we’re actually pretty cheap right off the bat. Um, and then there’s some, it’s a, it’s a, it’s a tough school here. It, you know, these, the, the arts, the science arts business, um, it’s a very, very good school. So the academic scholarships are, you know, you can get anywhere from everything paid for, um, to five, 6,000 coming outta your built right away.

And then, you know, ours are usually, you know, [00:13:00] 3.5 or above. 26 a c t or above. So we do hold a high standard to that because it is a prestigious school. Um, so, you know, our school right off the bat’s pretty cheap. And then with a, with an academic scholarship that can be paying under 10 without doing a thing right off the bat.

Um, and then, you know, we, as far as scholarship. They kind of redid ours to where we don’t give full rides, but we give everything but meals. Um, but what they did is they took the meal scholarships from us and moved it to other avenues to where it actually helps us. So a kid on a full ride is probably paying about $2,800 a year.

Wow. Okay. Which still, um, you know, is is still very, very cheap. Obviously it’s not, you’re, you’re not getting everything, but you’re getting pretty close. So that’s a big piece of being a public university, is you’re getting a great education and it’s, it’s already off the bat, um, fairly inexpensive for, for, for these kids to come here.

Um, [00:14:00] and then, you know, athletically, it’s just based on. You know, their, their talent level on what they can do and if they can help. And then academically it’s in the, in the classroom. Cuz that’s, that’s, you know, going back to our camp on our college night, that’s a big thing we we earn is you need to be outside every day on your own if you really wanna be elite, not just in our training sessions at the club or high school.

Same thing in the classroom. Um, because that’s a big, that’s a lot of people don’t understand that is, you know, if you do well, you’re getting a good chunk of academic right off the bat. And then, you know, we can sprinkle a little bit of athletic scholarship in there and, and you’re going to school for, you know, five, $5,000 as opposed to your grades aren’t good, now you’re paying, you know, 12.

So you’re, you’re trying to save, save a little bit money there. So, but we are allowed to stack athletic and academically, um, but the academic scholarships. Just, just because our school is, you know, um, I think, you know, 20, 27 ACT’s minimum [00:15:00] of, of getting any academic money, which is great. I, I like that because, um, we’re, we’re not just, you know, our enrollment is probably around 900.

But we’ve got students and we’ve got student athletes. We don’t have guys coming in that are, we know are gonna fail. And you know, if, if we lowered everything and, hey, you need a 16 a c t, and at 1.8, yeah, let’s sneak him in. And by Christmas time he’s struggling and he’s gone and we’ve wasted all these resources and our schools raced all these resources and the kid had a bad experience and now he’s left almost in a worse spot because his grades are bad and it’s hard to make that back up.

So that, that’s a big piece I think is, um, We get the right players and the right kids that we know are gonna have success. So when they get here, we don’t have to worry about ’em cuz we’ve seen their body of work for three, four years in the, in the classroom. 

Matt: Yeah, no, for sure. Well, let’s talk a little bit more about, about the school.

Uh, you mentioned the kind of the academic rigors. So I mean, you, you, you, you’ve been there for, for a number of years. So help us out with some of the awesome things [00:16:00] that, uh, about the school that maybe I’m not gonna learn just by clicking around the website.

Coach: I think our, the, the diversity of this place, Is, is, is, is awesome.

It’s, it’s so different than every other place I’ve been to. I mean, every school, if you look on the website has internationals, but ours is, I mean, you know, you can sit down for a, a team meal and you’re sitting with a guy from France, Ghana, Spain. Algeria and we’ve got one from more Oklahoma and they’re in a group just, and they’re talking about anything but football, anything but soccer.

And, and that’s a great piece to kind of learn about other people’s, you know, cultures and differences and, and similarities and that, that’s a good, a great thing for us. It’s just, it’s kind of a melting pot here. And, and you look at all around baseball, softball. Basketball. Um, it’s, it’s the same. There’s guys from, and girls from Everywhere, which is just really, really cool.

It’s just an experience. It’s hard [00:17:00] to explain. And, um, you know, I’m, I’m learning every day about what’s going on in the world. Sometimes just by driving our men to a game. You know of, Hey, hey, I saw what was happening in Kenya. You know what, what’s going on? And they’re like, Well, this and this, this happened and you know, this, this, this company’s buying this and here’s what’s going on.

And um, that stuff’s just really cool and that’s hard to really put on a pamphlet, you know what I mean? Yeah. Of learning about cultures and just getting everybody’s diversity is, is fantastic. Um, and then I think the, um, another thing is, We’ve probably got 40, We have a reserve side, so we have 40 men’s players.

So when I’m talking to a parent in a, uh, on a recruiting call and they’re like, Is my son gonna be taken care of? And I said, Well, we wanna try to leave them better people than when they got here. We want, you know, you guys did a great job of raising your son. Now we want to try to add some things and make, you know, make them become a good man.

And are they being looked [00:18:00] after yet? You’ve got two coaches that, again, we’re gonna be hard on you. We’re gonna coach you up. It’s not always gonna be easy, but as soon as we step off those lines, we’re here to do anything in the world for those young men. And they’ve got 39 other brothers right off the bat.

As soon as they set foot on campus. If we have 40 players that’ve got 39 guys looking after ’em. And, um, that’s just a different, it’s, it’s a, it’s more of a family. Um, cuz when a lot of players play college, the biggest regret they say is, I miss the family atmosphere of club. I miss the camaraderie of high school, even though the college level might be higher, obviously because there’s grown men in the talent.

They’re missing that, that family piece where they feel like they’re playing for something bigger than just themselves. And I think that’s, that’s what we have here. Um, you know, I, I, the perfect example yesterday, um, we finished training and I needed some stuff. I, I, we, we have a team leaders group that I could text out.

I texted my team leaders. I said, Hey, can five of you come by and need some help? 22 kids. [00:19:00] You know what I mean? Just, and these are 18, 19 year old kids that probably wanna be doing anything else, but they just, I was like, Everybody can though. Yeah. You needed. We didn’t know we’re, we’re here. What do you need?

And that’s just a, that’s tough to really explain until people get here. Um, of, of what a great, you know, the community supports us. Uh, the athletic program support us. I mean, we’ve got volleyball, basketball, baseball in the stands, every game. Ra in the other team getting the level, you know what I mean?

It’s just, um, you know, playing in Chicksha, Oklahoma, which most people haven’t heard of. It’s seven 30 under the lights. It’s an experience. And it’s something that is, is, is what keeps people coming back. Um, so and I, and then the last thing, I think our school has both academic and athletic excellence, where there’s some places maybe where the team’s not very good, but the major is fantastic.

And you have other places where the team’s great, but they don’t love the school, so they just go cuz the team’s gonna win some games and they end up not [00:20:00] happy we’re here. I. You’re getting tested. You know, we’re competing for a sooner athletic conference title every year. We’re competing for a national title every year, and you’re also getting a degree that can get your job anywhere, hopefully in the country.

So they kind of get hit with both to where, um, you know, they’re here cuz everybody wants to play pro. But it’s a 0.11% chance. , so you’re also getting a degree as well as playing for a, for a top school. So it’s just, it’s just a great place. Kind of 40 minutes outside of the big city. So, so to speak. It’s, you know, we, we like to say it’s, we’re kind of a little bit like the Gonzaga basketball, where we’re not these, the power five.

You know, we’re not, we’re not in these massive cities, but what we have here is pretty special. Um, which is why we’ve had some, some success over 25 years. And we’ve had great players, great parents, uh, great kids, great coaches come through here. I mean, one of our. X assistant coaches is the USL [00:21:00] pro goalkeeper coach.

Uh, we have another player here that is the female assistant coach of the Canadian National Team on the women’s side. Uh, we had a, a center back. Uh, Here. That was the Gotham FC Women’s Npsl coach, or NSL coach. Um, we have a former player here that is the US DEF National team coach. So, and we have one that’s a brain surgeon on the, you know what I mean?

So you just look at all these, all these people that have left and we just had, this is our 25th year, so we had a little banquet to celebrate. Coach Hampton on alumni day for everything he’s done. I’m looking around all these people and I’m just, you know, I’m watching everybody. This place for us pass us.

And that’s kind of a, a badge of honor of what, look at all what all these people are doing coming out of our place. And it’s not us. It’s, it’s, it’s the culture and everything that we’ve set and. You know, we always say try to leave it better than when you got here and when you look around this place, you know, I’m looking at everybody’s resume and I’m like, good grief.

I [00:22:00] mean, you guys have what you guys have done and, and they still, you know, uh, Still watch us. I mean, we’ve got guys from 98 in a group text, first year program, you know, tough, tough loss. Today are great win. And you know, the, the, the, the coach that used to coach the Goth FC women’s team, I mean, he’s coaching Kristen Press, I think, uh, he texted us before big games.

Still, I mean, no, just, just, Hey, good luck, man. You know, be, you know, always a drover, Let’s go. Let’s go win this game. And that’s stuff you can’t really explain until you’re part of it, if that makes sense. So it’s real hard to put that in a, you know, I can’t send that in an attachment in an email. You know, I can break down the numbers, but until you really see it, it’s something that’s, uh, you know, it’s hard to explain.

Matt: Uh, makes a lot of sense. Well, let’s shift gears. Talk a little about on the field stuff with the team. Mm-hmm. , I mean, you mentioned, you know, 40 guys with a reserve. Um, you know, what is it like for, you know, an incoming player? Is the reserves [00:23:00] mostly freshmen? Is how, how does that work when deciding? Does everybody train together?

Just kind of, how does that whole reserve squad work?

Coach: Usually during preseason we have everybody together. Um, cuz every year is kind of a clean slate. So you started 10 games last year? Or you started zero games, you started on the reserve. We don’t care. You, you had eight months to go get better. Let’s go see.

We didn’t reach our ultimate goal. So positions are open. So it’s, it’s it’s training camp, it’s preseason, and then once preseason hits, we start to kind of thin that list out and split the varsity and reserve. Usually by our second or third game, we kind of have a pretty good gauge of who’s where. Um, and not to say we don’t ever call anybody up, and not to say we don’t ever drop anybody, uh, but we usually have a, a group of probably 22.

We’ll be on that first team and then, you know, 18 to 20 will be on the reserves. So, uh, and that list is based on really what they’re [00:24:00] bringing at the moment. So, you know, when we score a goal, it’s not s AO Junior, so and so, s a l freshmen, It’s, it’s Usao drove. So we, we, we take the best player. I mean, that, that’s really it.

There’s freshmen that come in right off the. And after three days go, This kid, this kid’s gonna be special. Um, and then there’s guys that maybe need a year or two. We can see something in them. The light hasn’t come on yet. It’s still a little fast. They’re not used to the college game and maybe they start on the reserves.

Um, we’ve had players come off. Injuries usually get a week in the reserves if they’re a varsity. So it’s a mix. Um, we have some juniors that are on the reserve team. We have some freshmen that are on the reserve team. We have some juniors that start, and we have a couple freshmen this year that start on the varsity first team.

So really, we, we don’t look at the class. We look at what can they do to, to help, you know, you know, I know in high school, sometimes senior night we start all the seniors and it’s great, but, but at the college game, we honor them before the game and then we [00:25:00] gotta go win our game. Um, so really it, it’s based on what, what they can do.

You know, we, we’ll never not start an all. We’ll never not play an all conference player and go, Well, you’re a freshman. This guy’s been here longer. Yeah, coach. But we’re, we’re, we’re two and six right now, so that’s not, you know what I mean? So we, we want to do best by the team. Um, so it’s really just a mix of, of of, of both, you know, we, and we have some guys that play both.

Some guys suit that varsity team and then they play the Wednesday Reserve game. So they’re getting 90 minutes in. So it, it really will be based on, on what they do. And we see a lot of players come in after year one and just make leaps and bounds and get a kit. I mean, we have, um, a guy starting this year as a junior that played the first two years on the reserves.

He was a good player. He just wasn’t ready. And he kept at it. He kept working, he kept training and he came in this preseason and we. Wow. You know, as opposed to, well he was on the reserves two years, so, you know, off you go again. And [00:26:00] he, he doesn’t get that valuable game time. So it really just, it just depends on how quickly they pick up the game over here.

Cuz it is so different from the international game. It’s quick, it’s fast, it’s physical. No one has a lot of time on the ball. So it’s just how quickly can they adapt to that. So, I mean, we’ve started eight freshmen before we’ve started, 10 seniors before. It’s just, it’s just based on the individual player.

Yeah. 

Matt: No, I, I figured that was gonna be the case, but you always gotta double check. Uh, so you, we talked about the, the size of the team. Let’s talk about the size of the staff. Uh, besides you and Coach Hampton, like how big is the staff? What role does everybody play and, and how does they fit into the data?

Coach: We, we have about five, five on staff. So, um, we, we, we still technically do both men’s and women’s programs. So we, we, Coach Hampton is the head coach of both. Um, and then you have myself who is technically the men’s assistant and we have Coach Niall Crick, um, from Scotland. Who is the, technically the women’s a.[00:27:00] 

Um, and then we have Coach Joey Shepherd, who is, this is kind of his, he played for us. This is his second year. He kind of does both. And then we have kind of an undergraduate student assistant that, that just finished and he’s graduating in December. So we really have a staff of five. Um, and then I’m usually running the men, uh, Coach Crick will usually run the women’s session and Coach Hampton will.

You know, based on what’s needed. Hey, today I gotta go with the women, or the next two days I gotta go with the men. But he’s usually at both. Um, and then we have, you know, coach, she and, and, and Coach Harry Donaldson, the, the undergraduate assistant, kind of there if needed. Um, so really we’ve got a staff of five.

Um, and then we have, you know, co coach Harry Donaldson also runs the goal keeping sessions. Uh, and then we have two athletic trainers. So that’s really our, that’s really our staff. It’s, it’s kind of a, you know, we’re not just one guy, but we also don’t have 30 guys out running around with, with 25 different opinions.

We, we’ve got a group of [00:28:00] five that we meet here, here’s what we’re doing, here’s where we’re going. Um, so our roles are usually, you know, with an NAIA school, we’re usually doing everything. Which we love. I mean, you know, if, if I had, we, we put our job description down, it’d probably be three pages. . It’s, we, we, we, we coach the games.

Uh, we, we mow the field. We line the field, we fertilize the field, we drive the team, we organize the practices. We, we, we recruit, we get, you know, we order the gear, we, we do laundry. You know, we, we do all that to help our, our, our athletes out. But we like it. We take some pride in it. It’s our field, you know, the players, you know, we’re out there spending three hours on it.

We, you take a little more ownership than having just a staff in there of someone to do that. So I don’t, I, I think I would struggle if I was at a, a, a place where everyone did that stuff for me. I, I think I’d get too a, I just, I, I’d like to be a part. Um, you know, we’re the guys where if a sprinkler head’s leaking, we’re not calling anybody.

We’ll just go, We’ll go get a [00:29:00] shovel. You know what I mean? Let’s go, let’s go fix it. And, and, and I think, uh, it kind of teaches you to do everything. So, you know, now there, there’s nothing that we really haven’t seen or haven’t had a problem run into that we can’t fix because we’re, we kind of have our hands in everything and you know, other people are like, Oh my gosh, you have to do all that and go, Yeah, we love it.

We, we, we, I love doing it. You know, that, that’s my, you know, that’s my getaway on game days. I know the field, you know, I want it to look fantastic for the, for, for our, our men and our women that are playing on it. Um, And I take pride in it cuz it’s a big part of our, you know, it’s the first thing you see when you drive to campus.

So that, that’s a recruiting tool for every sport. So when softball has a recruiting visit, that’s the first thing that kid sees. So I wanna make that thing look special even though they’re not a soccer player. And, um, that’s just kind of my, my kind of zen moment I guess you could say on the mower of what happens if we go down a goal?

What if we go down a man? What if we go off a goal late? You know, [00:30:00] remember last year what, what, what, you know? Were they, were they good on the set pieces? When I was watching the film, what did I notice? And that just gives me an hour to, you know, not only try to make the place look great, but I’m. You know, it, it’s kind of my pre my pregame ritual to where if that was taken away from me, I probably wouldn’t do a very good job.

So, um, you know, we, we do a bit as most schools do. You know, um, we, we mow recruit inventory, budget fields, drive. We, we, we do it all. And we love to do it all cuz we want the best experience for these men and women players. 

Matt: Nah, it’s fantastic. I, I, I can relate. I I doing the same thing. 20 years ago, D two coach, mowing the field day, day of, and that exactly it.

That’s your, that’s your thinking time.

Coach: I love. Yeah. And it’s, you know, and if, if we do it, it, it kind of cult, you know. It filters on down. I mean, you know, I, I think a great story to sum up USA was Coach Hampton, um, [00:31:00] mid-September I think got his 600th win. He got a text from his wife while we were working on.

Fertilizer. We were about to fertilize it area and, and, and get a sprinkler head cuz we thought it looked a little dead in that spot on the field. So we actually got a tech saying congratulations. He’s like, Oh, you know, yeah. Big win. We’ll take it. And they’re like, No, you’re, you’re six hundred’s win. And he is like, Oh, I had no idea.

and me and him are out there right after. We just want a game. And we’re, you know, it’s just we and someone like that. Does that, it filters down to everybody on staff and the players. And now, you know, nobody is, is is above anything or too good to anything. I mean our, you know, we had a guy score the game winning gold the other day and we saw him go back out to make sure there was no trash.

Just pick just little things like that that just, it’s just a culture of something where we’re trying to produce great men and women. And when you see your head coach do that or your team captain do that. It filters down [00:32:00] to where these people are gonna be successful now, cuz Right. It’s just one of those where we’re not just sitting on our desk with our feet up, drinking coffee, texting people, Hey, do this, do that, get that done while we sit in our ivory tower and hang out.

I think, you know, that I, I wouldn’t do well in a situation as I’m sure you’re probably the same way and speaking to you, you wouldn’t do well. You know, you’re one of those if it’s gonna be right, done right, I wanna do it. 

Matt: Yeah, exactly. Well that, that’s. One, one of the reasons this website exists and these podcasts exists is cuz I’ve, people need, need to hear these conversations and Exactly.

Learn who they’re gonna go see. So, Well, coach, we, we’ve covered a lot of ground and, and I always like to end these the same way and that’s what didn’t we talk about. Is there anything else you wanna say, whether it’s about recruiting, about the school, about the team, or anything else you want folks to know?

I’ll, I’ll give you the last word here.

Coach: Uh, I, I would just say to every person that’s trying to go play, Don’t just get caught in the letters of a uni of, of a university. Don’t just get caught in a win [00:33:00] loss. Don’t just get caught in what you know, what the school looks like for everywhere. I, I’d say look at what’s the best fit.

That’s probably what we tell every player that we try to recruit, is we sure hope you come here and we sure hope you play for us, but we wanna make sure it’s the right decision because you get four years to kind of live your dream and I’ll be here the next. God willing, so we try to make sure we tell them.

Make sure it’s a great fit for you. And don’t just look at, I’m gonna go play division one, or I’m gonna go play ncaa. I wanna play D two or I want look at Thei, look at the Juco, look, look at all these places. Cuz gosh, there’s a lot of talent out here that sometimes people don’t notice cuz they get so caught up and you know, I want to go play here.

Go play here. Go play there. And they’re, they’re overlooking some fantastic offers and opportunities. Because they’re just so sole focused on what the letters are in the, uh, in the name of the school or the name of the division they’re playing in. I think that’s a big piece of [00:34:00] recruiting that people don’t look at.

Um, they always just look at, you know, well, uh, this big D one school offered me 5k. Isn’t that awesome? Yes. You’re still paying 65. As you know, as opposed to this school is in my backyard and they’re offering me so much and they’re competing for something, and you know that, that’s what we say is you can go anywhere and you know, if you go eight and 10 all four years, it doesn’t matter where you go.

Or you can go somewhere that may be a great fit for you and, and maybe you’re competing for a conference title, national title. Um, and if you’re good enough, you’re good enough for those guys that always think you gotta play D one to get to the next level. That’s not, not true, you know? And, and I’m not there, there, you know, D one is fantastic.

There’s, there’s no way I’m gonna say anything, uh, negative about D one. I played division two as as well, NCAA division two. So, um, I know the benefits of it, but I also know if you’re good enough, you can get a look. Um, you know, we, we’ve had some guys play USL Pro. Um, I think we had a women’s I [00:35:00] player actually sued up for the national team.

Yep. So I, I look if, if you’re truly good enough, There’s, there’s, there’s doors open now with, with all the social media and all the video and all the stuff that’s coming nowadays, you don’t have to be at a massive place. So I think try not to get lost in the shuffle. Look at the best fit for you. That, that’s the best piece we try to give these players cuz um, especially when they come out of our club is not only am I trying to hopefully get them to come to our school, I also.

Can I help them get to a place that’s a good fit? Um, so that’s a big piece of, of always look at everything and, you know, take a visit. Don’t, don’t turn anybody away. Don’t, you know, don’t turn your nose up at a place cuz it may be in a town you haven’t heard of. You know, And, and don’t turn away the D one job, maybe because it might be some competition to get playing time.

You know, go, go with what’s the best fit. So that’s probably the best piece of advice I could give for recruits. For us, it’s just, um, you know, [00:36:00] take a visit to U S A O. Email me, come visit. You know, you may not come here, but I, I, I, I think you’ll, you’ll pick up something that may help you down the next, next road of life.

And if you do come here, I think you’ll end up having a, a fantastic career of memories of, you know, some great wins. Maybe some, some gut wrenching losses. But at the end of the day, I think you. You know, come in here. I think you’ll leave a better person if, if that makes sense. So, uh, email us, come to our camps, you know, watch us online.

Maybe, maybe we pick up one or two Usao Jover fans off, off, off this, which is, which is, which is the gold. 

Matt: Awesome. Well, Coach, appreciate it. Wish you the best of luck, uh, on senior night here coming up, and, uh, we’ll stay in touch and see how you guys progressed. 

Coach: Yeah, thank you very much. These, these things are awesome.

We, we love these, the, the, the soccer guys with, with, with, with podcasts. I think it’s just growing the game every day and I, I know we’ve got a long way to go, but guys like you behind the scenes I think are we, we’re pushing it in the right direction. So appreciate you [00:37:00] having me. No, thank you, Coach. Talk soon.

Yes sir. Have a good one. You too, Byebye.