Whitworth University Men’s Soccer – Coach Jeremy Payne

On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Jeremy Payne from the Whitworth University Men’s Program in Washington state. We talk about the generous and genuine nature of everyone on campus. He describes how their conference plays only weekend games. Lastly, we discuss how he is super lucky with the staff that he has. Learn more about Whitworth.

[00:00:00] Matt: Hi, everybody. Welcome to discover college soccer. I’m lucky enough today to be joined by coach Jeremy Payne from Whitworth University, Whitworth University in the state of Washington. That’s a mouthful.

[00:00:11] Coach: Thanks for joining us coach. Thanks for having me, Matt.

[00:00:15] Matt: Yeah. So I’m, I’m like Mr. East coast bias, uh, growing up in Ohio, going to school out in DC and now living in Florida.

[00:00:21] So I’m, I’m not used to all the, uh, all the Pacific Northwest schools and locations, but you’re out in Spokane, Washington, you guys are division three. Um, and so let’s talk a little bit about the recruiting, uh, that you do. Um, you know, when. Start looking at players. Um, you know, when are you hearing from players?

[00:00:40] Like what year in high school, how does your kind of recruiting calendar work generally on a year

[00:00:44] Coach: to year basis? Sure. I mean, I think first and foremost, it’s probably a very fluid process and I think for us, it’s probably different than maybe some other division threes. Um, you know, if you compare us to like some of those NESCAC schools or UAA schools, or even where I was at previously, I think it’s very different, but, but typically we kind of start the recruitment process.

[00:01:08] Like at Whitworth, we have our camp in, in August, like the beginning of August. And sometimes that’s like the first time we start to see some guys that are entering their junior year and then we kind of go from there because. Um, you know, September, October, maybe a little bit of November, that kind of not dead periods, but like that’s what we’re focusing on.

[00:01:29] Like the seniors, um, you know, getting them on campus for official visits, if they haven’t. So juniors kind of take a pause a little bit. Now they still might be trying to contact us. There might be a little bit of a communication, but that doesn’t really start up. Until probably like Thanksgiving weekend, maybe a little bit before that, you know, usually for us what that means.

[00:01:50] We have like an Eastern elephant, usually in November, we’re down at surf cup, we’re at a couple different things in December. And so usually we’re able, we’re caught in the middle because like, we’re trying to wrap up the, the senior class, like those current seniors, but we’re still trying to recruit. And start early on the, on the juniors.

[00:02:09] So I would say it’s pretty early process for us, but if he has pretty fluid, we don’t get the luxury of kind of like ending a class, um, at a certain point, like I know like with our class coming up, like, you know, when we’re looking at the 20 threes. Wow. It could be, we could have guys commit probably as early as August.

[00:02:30] Like kind of like when we do have our camp, but it could drag out for some guys until, until March, maybe April, where we’re waiting for guys. So we’re just trying to piece together the right selection of guys and you know, for how many spots that we have. And, um, I don’t know if there’s like a perfect.

[00:02:49] Yeah, no, that

[00:02:50] Matt: makes sense. And, and you mentioned, uh, ECL event and surf cup. So, you know, what, what are the key events that you try to get to each year and being in your unique location? Um, you know,

[00:03:03] Coach: where

[00:03:04] Matt: are you looking specifically generally for

[00:03:06] Coach: players? I think anywhere like for us in the west. So like that west region, you know, we have, our roster is made up of guys.

[00:03:18] Literally all over the place and probably half our roster flies in, um, you know, to Whitworth, which is, I think pretty unique. So we get guys like in our roster right now, like going into next fall, we have got, we have five guys from Hawaii and our team. We have a couple of guys from Southern California.

[00:03:36] Guy died from New Mexico, Nevada. We do have a guy that’s all the way from Florida. And then, you know, we get a couple of guys then obviously from like Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, some of the ones where like, you know, it’s more of a drive. Um, so like when we look at that, We’re kind of like we have a pretty big reach, I would say.

[00:03:56] Um, you know, I think w Whitworth has the attraction and kind of every way to be able to go out and get guys to come in and spend time, money, resources to be here. Um, you know, and there’s a desire to be here. So when we’re looking at like our recruitment schedule, I mean, we have a lot going on. Um, you know, we’re usually at.

[00:04:17] Three different and L events throughout the year that are more focused on your west region teams. Like, you know, sometimes they split kind of those showcases up where it’s like, you know, they’ll have stuff in Phoenix or California, but like then the east coast teams are out in like South Carolina, North Carolina.

[00:04:34] So we’ve mostly stay out here, focus on those west region teams. We’ll go to the MLS next events. Like we usually do two of those, like one kind of in that December, January time and then one in the summer. So we feel like from that aspect, you’re probably seeing a lot of top talent, you know, for the most part.

[00:04:54] Now it’s never a perfect situation because not everybody plays in the ECL. Not everybody plays in the MLS next, but predominantly those are going to be where your better players are. That’s going to be predominantly with. You’re better teams. You’re better teams are. Um, but then like when we look outside of that, you know, there’s, there’s a lot of events that like aren’t attached to a specific league.

[00:05:17] Um, you know, so like there’s always two surf cup events that we go to. There’s multiple events in Las Vegas, there’s crossfire challenge. Um, in the summer kind of in the Seattle area, there’s a couple of smaller events that happened kind of in Portland in Seattle that we try to keep an eye on so that we can make sure that we’re.

[00:05:36] I think turning over every stone, you know, trying to find, uh, the right guys and, you know, I think there’s probably part of that, that resonates with me. Like, you know, originally being from central Pennsylvania, kind of, I don’t know, in the middle of nowhere, I don’t know. Like, I don’t think that I would’ve been on that PCNL or MLS next team.

[00:05:58] I would’ve probably been at one of those smaller clubs that were playing in some of those other events that maybe aren’t as widely attended. Maybe not thought of in a certain, uh, light, but then you’re also looking at camp stuff. So not just like our camp, but you know, we’ll go work at like university of Washington, their camps, because they’re going to have a lot of Washington kids, um, you know, that can potentially play for us, but can’t play for them.

[00:06:25] Um, we’re 10 minutes down the road from Gonzaga. So we’ll do all their ID camps. So. It is a pretty in-depth process. I think we’re between me and, you know, my, my assistant drew Williams. I think we cover a lot of ground. I think we, we work really hard to, to get out there, to see guys and not just see them once or twice.

[00:06:46] Um, you know, we’re trying to see those guys three, four or five times, because I think in that recruitment process, I don’t know. There’s a difference for me between like identification and evaluate. Where it’s like, I can identify kid. I think that’s the easy part. Like, can this guy play at Whitworth? Can, can he be at that level?

[00:07:08] I think that’s a little bit easier to answer. Um, yes or no, versus like, well, what does that mean? Um, you know, how do you fit? How do you compare? Like when we’re trying to figure out who we offer versus who we don’t offer, when both those guys might, might be able to play for us? I think that’s what, that’s, why we’re trying to cover so much ground and be at a lot of places.

[00:07:29] Obviously get, get a big pool of guys that we like that could be a potential fit, but also to narrow it down very quickly on who we, who we want. Yeah.

[00:07:39] Matt: I mean, you answered my next question would be around camps, but so whether it’s w w you mentioned evaluation, so what is your kind of checklist? What’s your hierarchy of things, whether it’s on the field or off the field that, that is helping you in those evaluations and whittle those things

[00:07:55] Coach: down.

[00:07:56] Well, I think you probably look at some things. Um, first and foremost, that I would not say are like big like soccer things. If that makes sense. Um, you know, I think we’re looking, and I don’t know if this would differ from any coach. I think like coaches want to have guys that are hardworking, that are coachable, um, you know, that are good teammates.

[00:08:18] Um, you know, just then a beat guys that you want to be around. And I think with. The rubber kind of meets the road is like, well, how much does that actually matter to coaches when it comes to their evaluate evaluation? Like will coaches say, say no to guys that are good players that have talent, but like, I don’t know, maybe there’s a red flags and question marks about those guys.

[00:08:43] Like, I think that’s where probably coaches differ and I would say. We’re very, very much concerned with like the person that we’re getting. And I think that that person, it doesn’t have like, that person doesn’t have to be perfect. We’re not looking for like cookie cutter guys like that. I think that would be pretty boring if guys didn’t have their own personality and bring things to the table that are different, but there needs to be a willingness to be at Whitworth excitement for our soccer program.

[00:09:15] I’m a guidance. Buy into like what our values and principles are. And then there’s like a desire to align with that to a certain degree to get on the same page. Like that’s, that’s what we’re looking for. I think, I think when you’re looking at some of those soccer, soccer things, um, I don’t know. There’s so many things to look at.

[00:09:35] You have like technical tactical, you know, physical, um, I think the best way to describe what we look for. We want athletic soccer players, you know, and I think. It just goes off of what our, what our game model is, how we want to play. Um, I think like positionally, that might be where we differ on like what we want out of our players, where it’s like, take like center backs, for example, or even just like backline players, like guys that play left back right back as well.

[00:10:07] For me, like, I want them to be good passes. Like, they need to have an ability to be comfortable in the ball. They need to be able to pass well into the midfield play penetrating balls, like, um, because I think that sets up everything that we do, but then there needs to be an athleticism side because of the way that we play, they need to be able to win one-on-one battles and to be able to cover ground kind of in transitional moments.

[00:10:32] I think like when you look at midfielders, I’m like, do they have the ability to. Um, keep the ball, but, but play forward, do they have the ability to understand positions that we’re trying to take up? I think when we’re looking at some forward play, um, you know, kind of those wingers kind of those, you know, our center center for.

[00:10:55] Those those need to be a little bit more. I feel like dynamic players for us that have a little bit more quality in terms of what they can do as individuals to, um, create, create chances and to cause problems. Cause I feel like if we have those kinds of players that, that I think impacts the other, the other team, the opponent, which gives more space for, for our, for our team, um, as a whole.

[00:11:17] So I think you get down, like it’s not just as simple as saying like, yeah, this is what we look for. I think it’s positionally. I think it’s. Well, where are we? Where do we need to improve? Like in our current team, who are the guys that we need to bring in and not, I feel like I’m a believer too, that as much as we, there needs to be a baseline, I think for everybody in certain areas, I feel like we need to have some variety.

[00:11:40] Some guys that can offer different, different things, you know, I don’t know. All our wingers may be to be cut from the same, same clock, if that makes sense. Yeah, sure.

[00:11:51] Matt: Well, you know, one of the struggles of being division three is, is no athletic money to give out. So, you know, what does the. Financial aid situation, just overall look like at your school, whether it’s academic need-based grants, anything like that, what, what, what would an incoming student be looking at?

[00:12:10] Coach: Yeah, so I think like what you’re going to see at Whitworth, um, I think just like any private liberal arts school, you’re going to see a sticker price. That kind of seems, I don’t know. I don’t think it would. Crazy for me to say absurd or, you know, just a,

[00:12:25] Matt: it’s a lot lower than a lot of the other ones out there.

[00:12:28] Coach: The ones that are higher than ours, but like, you know, you’re going to see like 62,000 properly, you know, give or take. Um, since the last time I checked that number. On average is probably going to be more around like 26, 27. Like when you get past like that big merit scholarship that guys receive, when you do look at the other aspects of like scholarships that you can maybe get at a place like Whitworth now that’s, that’s not going to be like, uh, those, those aren’t going to be big scholarships.

[00:12:57] Those are going to be grand here, grand there. So like we have a couple of guys that like, are doing young life. Like that would be an example. We have two guys in our program that have, that are on a music scholarship. One of our guys plays piano. One of our guys plays guitar. So there’s like little things like that, that they can potentially get in terms of like talent and participation.

[00:13:18] But then like once you kind of get past like what it has to offer. Yeah. You get into the financial aid and FAFSA. And what money are you getting? Like, is it in the form of grants? So you don’t have to pay back. In the form of loans, which like, obviously you’re going to have to pay on the backend, but then you’re kind of faced with the scenario of what do I pay now versus what do I pay on the, on the back end?

[00:13:41] And those are, those are both important figures. It’s like total cost, but what am I paying up front? But yeah, that, that sticker price usually is going to be. Less than, than half that. And, you know, so I think, and that’s not even getting into other things where it’s like, I think a lot of the guys that want to be at Whitworth like that, that have a desire to be here and love to be here while they, they work in the summer, you know, um, you know, to make, to make a couple thousand dollars to put towards their education.

[00:14:10] Like we’re pretty generous with student work as well to, to put some money in their, in their pockets and their opportunities out. Some of the guys like that are upperclassmen. They, they live off campus. They save a pretty considerable amount of money on room and board. So there’s, I just feel like that conversation there’s, there’s so many variables of like, well, how do you get that cost down?

[00:14:32] Um, so, so I think like what I always say is. If you’re, if you’re someone that truly wants to be at Whitworth, I feel like there’s usually a path, you know, w where it’s like here comparatively to every other place in terms of your experiences and the information that you have, there is usually a path. And, you know, if it’s really close between like another school and us while it’s about I think, and if we’re, I don’t know, X amount of dollars more expensive.

[00:15:00] Well, do we have value? I think that’s usually the question. Is it worth it? Um, and I would say like, you know, a lot of times the answer would probably be yes, but for some, for some it’s no. Yeah.

[00:15:13] Matt: Well, well, let’s, let’s talk about what, what makes it worth it, right? Like I can go to the website and click around and see what we’re about, but, but give me kind of the inside scoop, you know, what, what makes, what we’re stand out?

[00:15:24] What makes it awesome? What people, what are people going to know just by going to the

[00:15:28] Coach: website? Yeah. So it’s really interesting, cause like a difference for me at Whitworth for, with, um, comparatively where I was at previously. Um, just like getting kids to visit. So like we talked about the, I think the one barrier potentially, which is like a cost aspect.

[00:15:48] I think the second barrier for us. Not the location in and of itself. I think people like Spokane, I think people like where Wentworth is, is it’s proximity to home for some, for some people. So it’s like getting them to visit, getting them to spend time, money, resources to get here. Um, that can be challenging.

[00:16:08] It’s a good thing and a bad thing because when we do get guidance here, we do know that there. Their level of interest is, is up here and we’re going to yield, I think pretty highly on guys that we offer, but what makes it special then when guys come. I think the uniqueness about words is the people that we have.

[00:16:27] And I think what they experienced while they’re here. So I think that there’s probably a lot of undertones from a faith aspect where that bleeds into, you know, what we’re doing here at Whitworth, but it’s, it’s the people that are in leadership positions. It’s the guys that we have in our program already.

[00:16:45] So when people and families come. I think like when they compare that to other places they’ve been, I think they’re just blown away by how generous people are, um, how genuine they are and just how positive I think the environment can be not just in our program, but like, I think as you know, Woodward does a whole,

[00:17:09] Matt: no, that’s good.

[00:17:10] So. You know, take me through what a typical day would look like for a soccer player during the season, you know, kind of one of the, from wake up to, to go into bed, you know, w what, what, what would they be doing? How does that all come into

[00:17:25] Coach: play? Yeah. So I’ll start with, like, you know, if we’re playing on the weekend, which like, you know, we’re playing in a conference with the Northwest conference, it’s a little unique because we right now play Saturday, Sunday.

[00:17:38] Okay. And there’s no midweek games. So like that’s very different, um, comparatively to the rest of the country when it comes to any division, even our division. And so like we come off that weekend and Monday, I think what we’re looking at, I think we’re assessing. Well, who needs to be more in recovery mode from the weekend who can actually train and what, who needs what?

[00:18:05] But essentially like they, they, they come back, they go to class, they have their whole day of class. And then we, after classes for them, we’re going to have, I don’t know, like a, a short team meeting before. And what I want out of that is to kind of debrief the weekend. Um, you know, talk about the two, the two days prior, talk about the matches, get on the same page because I feel like what can happen.

[00:18:33] When you have many different guys made different personalities and you don’t come back together. Well, one guy can think this one guy can think that, and that’s when you can get fractures. So it’s like, we’re looking to get on the same page and how we’re viewing the weekend and hear each other. But we’re also trying to set the tone then for the, for the week ahead.

[00:18:53] Um, so I think like we’re reflective and then we’re being proactive about what we want to do. So then, you know, after that meeting, we go to. And then, and then we’re kind of done for the day. The guys will have their evening, um, you know, to study, to, to kind of do what they want to do. Tuesday will be our off day, you know, to, um, usually I kind of mentioned it.

[00:19:13] Sundays are usually everybody else’s off day. That’s just like the day that makes the most sense for us it’s Tuesday, just because we play on Sunday. And I think the reason that it’s Tuesday. I don’t want to go without seeing my guys on Monday. Um, kind of after that weekend, Tuesday is also a pretty heavy lab day.

[00:19:31] Um, I think at Wentworth, probably at other places as well, like just like very heavy on the labs with us in the morning, or kind of later in the day that would affect, I think our ability to train our ability to be together. So they kind of have that stare off data. I don’t know, have a break, you know, or just like mentally don’t think about soccer, you know, there’s nothing physical, but then we’re going to attack Wednesday, Thursday, Friday in very similar manner.

[00:19:57] So I think Wednesday, you know, we’re going to have another meeting before training. Um, you know, so they have class we’re going to meet by that time. Me, my assistant drew we’ll have the film that we want to show. Um, you know, our guys, so there’s gonna be. Certain things that we want to be able to discuss.

[00:20:19] Um, and that’s going to be short. Like, you know, we keep it probably 20 twenty-five minutes. We get together. We show the things that we want to show to help us grow, to help us get better. All right. We’re down, we’re down training, um, you know, on Wednesday and then Thursday, Friday are very similar. Um, I would say Wednesday is not as focused on like preparing for the weekend.

[00:20:41] I think that’s more about. And like, what do we need to do to get better as, as a, as a team? Um, regardless of opponent, I think Thursday, Friday, we’re starting to put together. Like I keep talking about like, we will meet again before training. That’s when we start talking a little bit about, about opponents, um, and how that impacts us.

[00:21:01] Um, I would say. The caveat there is like, it’s always going to be about us more than our opponent. You know, we want to, we want to be proactive. We want to have consistency in the way that we play. But in terms of putting some things in place, like little tweaks are just things that guys need to be aware of.

[00:21:19] Um, we’re starting to talk about those things like in team meetings, before training, and then you even have to training environment and usually Thursday and Friday, they are a little bit more. Um, I wouldn’t say lighter’s the right word, but maybe the duration of the sessions are a little shorter. Um, you know, we’re in preparation for the weekend at that point, trying to make sure we’re, we’re healthy.

[00:21:39] We’re, we’re putting the finishing touches and where we want to be, and then we’re into the weekend and that can look very different comparatively if we’re home our way. So, you know, if we’re away, we’re probably leaving on Friday, um, to go to go down and, you know, we’re there playing Saturday, Sunday coming back.

[00:21:57] But if we’re. Here then, then that looks a little bit, a little bit different. Um, you know, because we’re not traveling, we’re not on the road as much. Um, even on the match days, like we have stuff as a team, um, you know, kind of all day when we go on the road, like some of our families host stuff. So there’s, there’s a lot of details in there and I won’t, I won’t bore you with all that are, get into it, but like, we, we feel like there’s a lot going on for our group and yeah, I think we’re, we’re trying to be committed.

[00:22:25] We’re trying to be detailed oriented. Um, we’re just trying, we’re trying to prepare really well, but we’re also trying to make sure that the guys have the best experience, you know, where it’s not just on the match days and you know, when we’re traveling, there’s experiences to be had as a team, that’s not just soccer related.

[00:22:44] Yeah,

[00:22:45] Matt: no, I think that’s great. Well, let’s, let’s go a little more soccer related. Right. You know, uh, what, in terms of your roster size, do you have a target that you try to be at each year?

[00:22:57] Coach: Yeah, I think like for me, I would say 27 would be the sweet spot. Um, you know, with three goalkeepers, I think, you know that number, it could be 26.

[00:23:08] It could be 28, 27. Give or take is probably my sweet spot in terms of looking at our team. If I’m looking at the fall, it allows us to train at our best. It allows us to handle injuries and still be able to train and get and get the most out of it. Um, even like things where it’s like, maybe it’s not injury related, but like, but we have that number.

[00:23:30] Well, maybe there’s some guys that I want to like pull off at certain times and it doesn’t impact the training. Um, I also think it’s probably the appropriate size where we can handle all that. But I think when you start to get above that, That’s when like, roles can be very hard to talk about and to discuss whether that’s, you’re not in the team for that week, maybe it’s that year, you know, like whatever your role is at that time.

[00:23:58] I do think that guys may be conceived beyond, beyond the role at that time. There’s still something for them, whether it’s. Oh, this guy is going to be moving on and I’m kind of the next guy, or, Hey, like I need to stay ready because if this guy, if he has a problem, or maybe he’s not informed, like I’ll be that next guy.

[00:24:15] Um, you know, so we’re trying to put together, you know, 26 to 28 guys that are going to be competitive and going to be here for the, for the right reasons. I think that has been challenging, like in terms of needing that, that number. Um, you know, when I first got here, um, you know, less than two years ago, I inherited a pretty young young group.

[00:24:37] Like I had a lot of freshmen and sophomores, not a lot of upperclassmen. So like our outgoing players there hasn’t been like too, too much. Um, you know, so, but, but we still felt like we needed to bring in like healthy recruitment, um, in terms of numbers. So. I’m trying to think. We’ve been, we were at 25 this last year, but like this next year, like, because of the recruitment and not, we only lose three guys to, to graduation from this past year.

[00:25:05] And, but we’re bringing in nine and like right now, like we’re planning to be at 29. So it’s a little bit higher. And part of that, because. Over the next couple of years, guys can choose to stay an extra year because of the COVID waiver. So that’s something that we have to try to juggle, like who’s coming back, who’s actually going to be going out.

[00:25:26] So I feel like over the next couple of years, we’ll be able to balance out our recruitment. And like, as we transition out of that, those phases of guys staying an extra year, um, and not being an option for them, there’ll be a little bit easier to balance out the classes of like, Like seven, a class, like give or take and, you know, we know what’s going out.

[00:25:45] We know we need to bring in it’s a little bit, a little bit easier, but that that’s challenging right now yet to, to kind of be at that roster size and kind of plan for that.

[00:25:53] Matt: Yeah. No, that makes sense. So you mentioned that your sister, coach drew, you know, are there any other coaches, how big is your staff?

[00:25:59] What, what role does everybody play? Uh, on staff?

[00:26:03] Coach: Yeah, so I feel like division three, I feel like I’m pretty lucky. Um, you know, drew. He is, I would say pretty much full-time with us. Like he’s at the office all day. Now he has like a nut, like a, another remote job that helps, you know, kind of make, make ends meet.

[00:26:22] But like, he’s there with us. Like he’s at every session, he’s at the office. So he has a lot of responsibility and I feel like that continues to grow as he, as he’s here with us. Um, so he handles a lot of operational stuff. He has a recruitment role there isn’t on-field role for him as well. And, you know, he has a lot of responsibility and a lot of trust, um, which is great.

[00:26:45] Like there’s, there’s a lot of places that I feel like has a lot of coaches at our level that would love to have that kind of, um, situation. There’s another unique situation. And drew drew is also an alumni of our program, which is pretty, which is pretty special and unique. There’s another guy that we have in town here in Spokane.

[00:27:05] He was a goalkeeper for us. Um, graduated in 2017. He co owns like a sports performance gym. So like that’s kind of his, um, expertise. So he kind of fits like two really unique roles for us. Like he helps train our goalkeeper. But he also plans and programs, everything that we do from like a sports performance standpoint, um, which is, which is pretty top-notch and we trust him and he’s really good at what he does.

[00:27:37] Um, so we get a lot out of him and, you know, he’s invaluable to what we do. And then we have another guys named Shane, um, more of like a volunteer assistant, you know, like to, to be positive, to, to have a relationship with the guy. Um, so we, we feel like we have a great staff that has some alumni on the team.

[00:27:58] I mean, our alumni of our program that fit good roles. And like, I feel like the guys that we have, or really benefiting from that and, you know, I’m, like I said, I’m very lucky to have the staff that I do. Yeah. That’s great.

[00:28:12] Matt: Um, so how would you describe your style of coaching kind of the team style?

[00:28:19] Coach: I was, I mean, yeah, the hard question. Yeah. Uh, I mean, I would, I would say I’m demanding if that’s like, you know, as far as like what I expect and, um, kind of that the commitment level from a lot of things, like, I, I do think it’s demanding. I think, I think Whitworth. And, you know, any place that I coaches a hard place, it’s probably a hard place to play if that makes sense in terms of that commitment.

[00:28:46] But I think there’s so many benefits from it. If that, like, if we get the right guys in that resonate with that, um, I think when it comes to that demanding side, There, there has to be a relational aspect and a relational component. So I think you’re trying in terms of coaching style, trying to blend together like a, a warmth and like a relational aspect to like a demanding aspect and protecting culture and being able to, um, have standards and accountability.

[00:29:24] But I think at the end of the day that, um, You need to be guys need to be able to know that you care about them and that you can help them. And you want what’s. For them. And I feel like that’s the style, even though probably fall short at times, you know, like with who you want to be, who I want to be.

[00:29:45] That’s what I feel like I’m personally striving for is just that blend. And then I’m trying to think, you said like, just like style play.

[00:29:54] Matt: Yeah. I mean, I’m not, I’m not holding you to, uh, you know, I just w what are you hoping to

[00:30:00] Coach: do each year? You know? Yeah. Style apply. Um, I think kind of like what I said with coaching style, like, I think the way that I see the game is I think we’re trying to take too, I don’t know, conflicting ideas and try to have them match.

[00:30:15] Like, I kind of talked about it. Well, we want out of our players like athletic. We want to athletics, soccer players, not just athletes, not just guys that are technical or tactical. We kind of want a blend of that. And I feel like when we’re looking at our team, how we want to play, there is like a great desire to, and to play attractive soccer, like to, um, have the ball to be in possession for aesthetically, for it to look pleasing, to be enjoyable, to play.

[00:30:46] Are there to be excitement in the way that we play. And we want to, I think have consistency in that. You know what I mean? And not get away from that too, too often. So like, when you look at things like principal wise, you know, work we’re, we’re, we’re set up predominantly for 2, 3, 1, 4, 3, 3. Well, we want to have guys pass the ball out of the back end of the midfield, where we can turn and play, play between lines.

[00:31:09] We want to play quick one and two touch. We want to take. Positions up on the field that make the opposition move and react. We want to move the ball into one area of that field so that we can get it into other areas of the field. So there’s, there’s like there’s V I feel like there’s detail to what we’re trying to do, but it is.

[00:31:28] I feel like, I don’t know. Sometimes I struggle with saying attractive stock style of play. Like we want to play what we feel like is good soccer, but I feel like we don’t want to be so blinded by that. To, to ignore like the athletic and the competitive moments in the game. Yeah. So, so it’s like, we need to be prepared and we’ll be willing to defend our box on set pieces and to go score goals on set pieces.

[00:31:56] We need to have a plan and to have a desire to defend without the ball. Um, you know, and in transitional moments, um, I, I think like the best way I can describe it is we, we want to have that winning mentality, a desire to compete along with that, wanting to play good, good soccer. So we’re trying to take those two things and trying to make them really, uh, exhibit code just in, in our program.

[00:32:25] Okay.

[00:32:27] Matt: I like it. Um, so we’re talking here in April. Uh, what, what does your off season program generally look like?

[00:32:35] Coach: Yeah. So typically we’ll end, we’ll end the season kind of in November, you know, we, I like to give the guys like a long break after that, where it’s like, we won’t officially start anything up until January.

[00:32:47] So the guys get back in for J for January term and not much for them, they’ll just play football. Like during that time, like three, four times a week. But when we hit kind of spring semester, starting in February, I would say we go through like, Uh, pretty, I’m not into, I don’t say, I don’t know if intense is the right word, but going back to demanding, it’s a pretty hard three months.

[00:33:12] Um, because you’re not juggling, like obviously you gotta care about guys health and where they’re at, but you’re not juggling in the off season preparing for matches and kind of the freshness that comes along with that. So there’s like a two, two and a half month period where we’re in the weight room.

[00:33:30] Five times in a two week span, we’re playing foot football, you know, three, four times a week. Like we have a treadmill run, um, every other week. Um, we’re doing some team stuff, you know, like going through like a team book, like we have leadership, um, train, like I kind of make that optional right now, like where we have leadership training or devotional time in our program.

[00:33:53] So, so there’s a lot that we do, I think from a physical stamp. Um, you know, and a lot of the stuff is also kind of in the February, March time, a little bit more on their pulling their own. Like I get, I don’t have as much interaction with them from the physical stuff. Um, it’s more like the off the field stuff.

[00:34:12] Like with meeting with guys, one-on-one getting outside my office, grabbing a coffee, like go through, you know, team book, like things like that. That’s where like I get to be with the guys and that’s such a refreshing time. Cause it’s not just a soccer side. But yeah, I think, I think we’re trying to, that’s a period of growth in the off season.

[00:34:31] Like we’re trying to, we’re in transition, um, you know, to the next year we want guys to grow physically. We want them to get better. Um, you know, with, with some of the activities that we have, we want to challenge them and push growth. Like I feel like in the personal lives as well, and like, we want to use it as a time.

[00:34:53] The guys are coming together and, you know, continuing to grow and like reinforce like our environment and the culture that we’re trying to have. Um, so I would say like the off season, especially springtime, I can make an argument that that’s the most important time in, in our. Yeah, no, I,

[00:35:11] Matt: I you’re, you’re not the first person to say that that’s for sure.

[00:35:15] Well, Hey, you’ve been super generous with your time. I don’t want to keep you too long. So I’m going to leave you with one final question and that’s kind of what didn’t we cover, right? What did we miss? What’s something you want to, uh, tell us about, about the school, about the team, uh, or, or anything else?

[00:35:29] Uh, as we wrap things up,

[00:35:34] Coach: I think. A lot of great coaches out there. Great programs out there. Like I got to play at a, at a great program that had, um, a tremendous impact on, on me. And that’s where I met all the guys that I have great relationships with today. Um, that’s where I pull things from that experience all the time.

[00:35:58] So. That’s exactly. I feel like what we’re trying to do here. And I feel like that’s exactly what people that are in that recruit, going back to, like, you were talking about recruitment. Like, I think that’s what kids need to know like of like, and I think that’s what they need to search for. Like, if they can search for a place that yeah.

[00:36:17] Like has obviously soccer, you know, and like, there’s, that’s an important piece, um, for sure. But I think if you’re trying to find a place that. You can grow as a person, um, you know, and in a place like Whitworth, like in your faith and you’re challenged in those things. And if you’re, um, creating meaningful relationships while you’re there over your four years, like, like those are the things that are gonna last, like I’m like soccer, soccer is going to end at some point.

[00:36:51] Um, you know, for us all now I’m lucky that I get to stay in it coaching wise, but in terms of playing like that’ll end, and you’re going to look back and be like, well, what, what did I get out of it? And, and what do I hold dear to my heart? Going forward as the relationships that you created that were bigger than soccer, and it was all the lessons and values and principles that you were asked to embody, and now you’re instilling them in other areas.

[00:37:20] Um, of your life. So those are the things that I think we’re trying to do here with our guys. I think there are other places that are trying to do similar things, but I would still say that that’s not the normal, um, it should be, but, but I don’t know if it is. Um, so, so that would be my like last parting thing where it’s like, that’s, that’s what we’re trying to do.

[00:37:42] That’s why we’re unique and special. That’s what guys are gonna get. They’re gonna come here and compete. And be in a program that has tremendous history and tradition when it comes to own the field success. And you know, I’m not taking anything away from that. Um, the wanting to win is important. We want to win.

[00:38:04] Um, but those other things that I talked about, that those that needs to be held in high regard and it is in our program and probably others as well.

[00:38:14] Matt: Oh, awesome. Well, coach, I appreciate the time. Wish you the best of luck this upcoming season. And, uh, if you ever get down to any events in Florida, uh, on the opposite side of the country, uh, give me a shout.

[00:38:25] All

[00:38:25] Coach: right. Take care. Thanks.