William Jewell College Men’s Soccer – Coach Eddie Horn
On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Eddie Horn from the William Jewell College Men’s Program in Missouri. We talk about how he recruits primarily in his region. He tells us about the school’s great location of being near Kansas City but also near the countryside. Lastly, we discuss how he likes his team to possess the ball and play an attractive style of soccer. Learn more about William Jewell.
[00:00:00] Matt: Welcome to discover college soccer. I am lucky enough today to be joined by coach Eddie Horn from William Jewell university in Missouri. Welcome to.
[00:00:08] Coach: Thanks for having me. Appreciate it.
[00:00:11] Matt: Appreciate you being here. Um, you are the men’s coach. You guys are division two out there in Missouri and the GLVC, uh, kinda, kinda near where I was coaching way, way back in the day.
[00:00:22] Uh, we were just talking how that the boy of the schools have changed over in that conference over the last 20 years. Um, but you know, let’s, let’s talk about recruiting for wants, cause you’re recruiting against the. A bunch of schools there, especially in Missouri and in that conference, but, you know, w when do you start usually hearing from players?
[00:00:40] And when are you, when are you outbound talking to players? What year in high school? Usually.
[00:00:46] Coach: You know, um, Hey, we try to really start compiling a short list of sophomores that we can contact on June 15th after their sophomore year preceding their junior year per the NCAA rules. And then really, um, Probably focus really hard on the juniors and seniors in high school.
[00:01:04] And obviously on the men’s side, recruiting does happen a little bit later compared to the women’s side. So, you know, Hey, to be honest, we’re still looking to finish out or round out our 22 class. We’re still looking for about two guy. And then, uh, my assistant was at Dallas cup last weekend, looking for 20 threes.
[00:01:21] And you know how it goes, you’ve been in this game and, uh, you, you never stop. You’re always looking at it. Doesn’t matter the age. So to speak when somebody catches your eye, you kind of monitor along and then follow the rules in terms of when you can speak with them, contact them. Yeah. So you
[00:01:35] Matt: mentioned Dallas cup.
[00:01:36] So what, what are the major tournaments and places you like to always make sure you get to, to, to check out players?
[00:01:44] Coach: Um, let, let me digress a little bit on that. Um, Hey William Juul, um, I really view us as a bit of a regional team, uh, to be fair. So where we’re located, Hey, we really look for players in the Kansas city Metro area, obviously.
[00:01:57] And Hey, it’s a, it’s a great pocket of soccer. Um, obviously what the MLS team here, the growth of the game and the facilities have gone through the roof and my time, but doing this, uh, which is a long time. You know, for me and my experience, uh, kind of that three to four hour radius is there’s always a good distance, but I think a lot of young people looking to play college soccer as far enough away from home that you can be on your own, but yet it’s close enough that you can go home when you want to.
[00:02:27] So to speak, you know, what the schedule permitting. So for us and the Kansas city Metro area, obviously St. Louis, a big soccer city, um, you know, Wichita. Omaha, Nebraska is three hours from us. The point I was three hours from us. Um, then you kind of get down into more of the Southwest, Missouri, Oklahoma areas with Oklahoma city and Tulsa.
[00:02:49] So that’s probably like our main footprint, but, uh, this year, And we do have a, uh, a player coming out of a Western FC out of Miami. We’ve got one coming from so lore out of Dallas. And then I just spoke with a guy and Pam kind of excited about this relationship. He’s a scout for us soccer and he turned me on to a kid out of Hawaii.
[00:03:09] Um, you know, that’s kind of an area that probably not too many people get to, to recruit, but, uh, I think obviously there’s good players there and. Hey with that being said, obviously there’s good players everywhere. You just kind of have to have to search and, uh, you know, find the right people. Yeah,
[00:03:26] Matt: absolutely.
[00:03:27] Um, so how many, how many inbound contacts you think you get in a typical week? I know it ebbs and flows, but, but
[00:03:34] Coach: give me an average. Oh, gosh, in a week. Uh, well, let’s, let’s go with a day first, probably a 15 or 20. And Hey, those are primarily international players, uh, especially on the men’s game. Um, I don’t know how it is so much on the women’s side, but in the men’s game, you know, you’re getting, whether it be the recruiting services that those kids sign up or just players individually reaching out, I’d say it’s probably 20 a day.
[00:04:00] And then obviously, you know, the. Some of those are, are from players in the area as well. But primarily it’s the internationals that are searching for a place. So I
[00:04:11] Matt: I’ll get back to internationalism in a boat, but if you do get a domestic contact or someone, a real player, not an agency or something, what, what do you like to see in that first email contact
[00:04:22] Coach: from a recruit?
[00:04:24] For me, um, because you do get so many and, and Hey, it’s hard to search through all of those. Uh, I like a personal connection somehow some way where it’s not, it doesn’t have the feeling of. As, as I like to say, this big fishing trip, right. Where you’re just throwing out a thousand emails and hoping that somebody responds and has a true interest in you.
[00:04:45] So my advice is always, uh, you know, Hey, try to make a personal connection. Somehow. I don’t care if it’s a. Uh, sibling, uh, had some relationship with William Juul, uh, uh, one of your club teammates, a high school teammate, uh, whether it’s someone playing in the conference, but show that you’ve done your homework and that you really know who you’re contacting.
[00:05:07] I think that’s extremely important. A lot of times too. It’s an automatic delete for me when I see the opening sentence or two in one font and then the rest of it’s in a different font. So like, oh, I don’t think he cut and pasted that one. So, uh, you know, just a little things like that, but for me, it’s, it’s always a personal connection somehow, where I feel like that, Hey, you have a genuine interest.
[00:05:29] It’s not just, you’re just trying to get us. Yeah, no for
[00:05:33] Matt: sure. Um, on the international side of things, you know, I I’ve seen a lot of division to men’s rosters and you probably have the smallest percentage of international rosters of any one I’ve seen. So you’re getting a lot of inbound, uh, contacts. It sounds like, but, but not picking a bunch up.
[00:05:51] So w what’s your viewpoint on your kind of domestic international makeup of the team?
[00:05:56] Coach: Um, oh, gosh, man. You’re really putting me on the spot on this one and I hope this comes across, right. Uh, first of all, let me say that I am not anti international in my previous position. Um, Hey, our first 11 was all international, uh, to be fair, right?
[00:06:11] It was, uh, at a division one school and we were all primarily international and. You know, for me, Hey, haven’t done this for a long time and I really enjoy it. And I understand that in this big soccer landscape, William jewel college is just a speck, but I do feel an obligation to the domestic player. When you think about the parents and the players that put so much time into this and the club bees and attracts.
[00:06:36] Everything they do. And Hey, maybe I’m I’m way off on my percentage, but I’m going to say 40% of men’s college rosters probably go to international players and that’s, you know, and then, Hey, when I, when I do speak to two people, this is, and again, don’t try to take this to the bank and cash it because it’s been a couple of years, but just in a general context, there’s basically 1,280, uh, college programs in the United States at Offerman.
[00:07:05] I’m not the smartest guy in the world. So let’s just round that up to 1300. And if everybody’s bringing in 10 players and their recruiting class, that’s only 13,000 spots. And between the MLS academy players and the international is you might as well cut 50% of those out. And then us soccer, uh, estimates, the, you know, in any given year, more or less, there’s about 150,000 young people play him for.
[00:07:31] 6,500 spots. And of course not everybody wants to play college soccer. I get that. But, um, and I just feel an obligation to try to help the domestic player and pave, am I ever going to have a player that’s going to make it through to the national team? I hope so, but I’m also realistic. And maybe that won’t happen, but you know, when our national team struggles to qualify for the club, Hey, we’re losing to Canada and these teams that I feel like with our geographic population and everything that we have in place that we shouldn’t be losing.
[00:07:59] And I know that’s probably being critical of someone that I have no idea what their job entails. I just want to try to do my part. No, I think
[00:08:07] Matt: that’s great. And, and, you know, it’s also, you, you like to, you like to see a player play, right. And it’s just a lot harder to, to, to see those international guys besides, uh, Clip video that, uh, okay.
[00:08:19] I saw your best 10 things ever, you know, so no, I totally, I totally get that. Um, you know, we, we talked about, uh, going to tournaments and stuff, but what about camps? How do camps fit into your
[00:08:33] Coach: recruiting module? Yeah. And then, Hey, to be fair. I don’t think I really truly answered what, like tournaments we go to, so yeah.
[00:08:41] Let me again, backtrack a little bit. So, um, You know, last weekend, my assistant was in Dallas for the Dallas cup this weekend. I’m going out to Arizona for the MPL playoffs. Um, obviously, you know, there’s a tournament every weekend, within three hours of us. So, you know, you try to pick and choose a little bit on that.
[00:08:59] And typically on those we’ll go if, um, A player reaches out and says, Hey, I’m going to be a Kansas city plan in XYZ tournament. Here’s the schedule. Here’s my uniform number. Here’s the position I’ll be playing. Um, you know, especially if they, they kind of fit our profile of what we’re looking for from an academic standpoint, um, positionally.
[00:09:24] And then obviously the level, you know, that then we definitely try to get out to those tournaments as well. And then what was the second part of the question that these aren’t
[00:09:31] Matt: camps, the
[00:09:31] Coach: camps fit in? Yeah. Yeah. Um, I think, um, they’re, they’re important, but, um, to be fair and, and I’m sure a lot of guys aren’t going to like it when I say this, but I think they can be a money gravel.
[00:09:46] Um, but again, I think it’s important to attend some of those, especially if you know that, uh, uh, as, as a, as a senior in high school, let’s just say, if you’ve narrowed down your. Schools that you’re really kind of laser focusing in on, and that coach is going to be at a, at an IB camp, even though there may be 80 players there and five college coaches or whatever the, the, the dynamics of that may be.
[00:10:12] I do think it can be very beneficial because, Hey, it’s up close and personal. You really get to, um, watch closely as well as how you can speak to the players as well. And then. Obviously, you know, Hey, we host ID camps where we’re looking for players and we actually do recruit from our ID camps. I think there’s some schools that maybe aren’t super serious about recruiting from it.
[00:10:34] It’s more of a fundraiser, whatever you want to call it. But, uh, uh, we’re pretty serious about it. You know, it’s, Hey, you’ve done this for a long time. It’s kind of amazing to me, the, the days of a true teaching. Uh, where you learn, those are out the window, you know, no one goes to those anymore. And, uh, Hey for younger players, I still think that there’s some real benefit of going to a camp to actually learn from a different coach.
[00:11:00] Right. I think there’s a bunch of different ways to play a bunch of different ways to train. And so I think that, uh, uh, that in those developmental years go on to do camps can be very beneficial as well. Do you, do you have a set number
[00:11:13] Matt: of players you try to bring in every year? Does it kinda change with your graduating classes and stuff like that?
[00:11:19] Coach: Yeah, I think, uh, you know, we’re typical of a lot of, uh, smaller, private art liberal colleges in terms of, we have, we do have a roster size that we have to meet. And so it’s, it’s really driven by that quite a bit in terms of, as you just mentioned, You know, how many players were losing it, how many we need to bring it, to meet our roster target.
[00:11:38] And, you know, I think that is some advice for, for players as you’re looking, um, you know, so many colleges now, especially on the men’s side have reserved teams and it’s important to understand how big the roster is. Uh, what are you really recruiting me for? Um, you know, for us, we set at about 30 players and that’s relatively small.
[00:11:56] By college soccer standards. It’s huge for a high school or a club tape. But I think in the landscape that we’re in, uh, you know, thirties, thirties, pretty small. Yeah.
[00:12:06] Matt: Yeah. I think from what I’m seeing, that’s a bar that’s about average, you know, if w if they don’t have a JV squad or reserve squad, that’s what w when you’re, when you’re looking at players and you know, whether you’re out at a tournament or a camp or something, what’s kind of your.
[00:12:22] Your checklist, your hierarchy of these are the things I want to see in a player, whether that’s on the field or off.
[00:12:30] Coach: Um, gosh, you know, I think a little bit of this just, uh, by feel, you know, you, you go out there and I try not to have any preconceived ideas, uh, or, you know, and, and you just really watch.
[00:12:40] And then obviously, Hey, someone’s technical ability is extremely important athleticism, uh, obviously as well, but even to just your, your well, and then pay for me, I, I think that there’s probably. Oh, gosh, there are so many good technical players these days that it’s really about your IQ, soccer IQ or intelligence.
[00:13:03] And then, Hey, the spots you take up and can you play the right moments? Those are more the things that I think you can eat that, that separates some guys. Um, and then obviously athleticism, you know, the, our league is. Kind of turned into this big powerful, hyper athletic, you know, I think that’s the shortcut that a lot of coaches take at.
[00:13:23] Hey, put the ball behind the back forward, throw the football behind the back forward. Let’s go press pick up second balls, go to goal and Hey, probably to a fault. I’m a little bit idealistic. Terms of how I think the game should be played, then we want to dominate the game with the ball. So Hey, high technical ability, I soccer IQ.
[00:13:46] Um, and then, you know, Hey, are you a good person, basically? I mean, you know, when things don’t go your way. Are you blaming your teammates? Are you arguing with referee? Are you respectful to the coach? You know, one of the things that, uh, is kind of a mantra within our team that I also look for in players, are you willing to make the run required of your.
[00:14:08] Constantly without any expectation of getting the ball. You know, I think we’ve all been places where, you know, we’re watching a game and a kid will make a couple of runs and he doesn’t get the ball. And, you know, he thinks he’s Moses parting the red sea. And, you know, it’s like, come on, you know, Hey, that’s just, what’s required.
[00:14:24] So that’s what you do. So that, that’s kind of what you’re looking for then. You know, as, as the game is evolved and, and Hey, I’m still on the journey trying to learn and stay, stay current and stay modern. I think you’re also looking for, for the modern player and I, for me, and we’ll just use, let’s say a right back.
[00:14:42] That’s an easy one. You know, back in the day, Hey, maybe you could defend and kick out a little bit, but in the moderate game, you have to be able to play as a right back. You have to be able to play as a right midfielder. You got to be able to play as a right winger. You have to slide in and play as a right center back at times.
[00:14:55] If the left back goes, you have to come in and play as a six almost, um, to get the ball off and change the point of attack of time. So you’re really looking for that modern player, this well-rounded and, uh, I think views the game in a moderate sense. Nah,
[00:15:10] Matt: that’s makes a lot of sense to me. Um, let’s talk about your school a little bit, you know, I think, uh, you know, there’s probably not a lot of people outside of the greater.
[00:15:22] Kansas city area that might, might be familiar with William Juul. Uh, again, when I was, when I was coaching out that way, uh, William Jewell was not part of the, the GLVC, it was not a school I was, I was familiar with. Um, and, and I was just in Indiana. So, you know, I, I clicked around the website. I learned a little bit, but, you know, give me some of the.
[00:15:44] The juicy details, the awesome parts about your school, that I’m not going to find
[00:15:47] Coach: on a website. Okay. Um, well jewel has been around for about 175 years. Believe it or not. So it’s a very, uh, uh, traditional, I guess, uh, you know, uh, school on the Kansas city soccer landscape. Um, College landscape, as far as that goes, um, you know, we’re a smaller school, private liberal arts.
[00:16:10] So we’re about 800 5900 students. Um, we’re located actually just outside of Kansas city in a suburb called Liberty, Missouri. And with that said, we’re still only 15 minutes from downtown. Liberty is a kind of a bedroom community, obviously to Kansas city, very safe, uh, kind of low key and, and, uh, Juul sits on the edge of Liberty.
[00:16:34] So it’s a kind of has the best of both worlds. You can see, uh, the Kansas city skyline from our campus, but you can also see a bunch of cows and pastures. So when you look the other direction, so it’s a uniquely positioned. Educationally a, it’s a, it’s a great education. We’re known as the critical thinking college and that’s, um, kind of our, our trademark.
[00:16:55] Um, the one, couple of things that we really take pride in and say, you’re guaranteed to graduate in four years here. Um, because of our critical thinking classes, that line up with every major. Um, now, Hey, don’t get me wrong. I’ve had players screw it up, uh, by not going to class, I failing classes, but if you do what you’re supposed to, you can get out of here at four years, 99% of the Juul graduates within the first three months.
[00:17:17] Um, fully employed or in grad school. So from an educational standpoint, it’s really good. And then, Hey, kind of the one-off for you here is a little bit that I found interesting. Of course I’m a little bit older, but, uh, um, I don’t know. There was a famous American outlaw, Jesse James. I don’t know if you’ve heard of him or not.
[00:17:35] Well, the James family farm is about 25 minutes from us and Jesse J. Father was actually a Baptist minister that came together with four other Baptist ministers and founded William jewel college. And then yeah, the first bank that Jesse ever robbed was in Liberty, Missouri. So you talk about taking two different paths.
[00:17:54] You kind of went a different direction. That is that little bit.
[00:17:59] Matt: Well, that, that sounds great. So, you know, you mentioned academics. I mean, how specifically do your student athletes balance the, the sport with the academics? What kind of support services does the school offer and how does that all work?
[00:18:15] Coach: Yeah, I th I think we’re probably fairly typical of most colleges in terms of, you know, the support. Um, you know, and, and we’ll dive in specifically with like my team, for example. So on Tuesday, Thursday from six to 8:00 PM, we have, uh, study halls and, uh, Juul. We are a little bit unique, I think probably in the fact that we have actual professors, that man, those study halls, it’s not a graduate student.
[00:18:37] It’s not upperclassmen, whatever. They are actual professors have volunteered their time and evenings to come in, to work with, uh, our student athletes. Um, and then within my team, um, I always try to match up a freshmen, uh, because I do think it’s imperative that you get off to a great start. Your freshman year.
[00:18:56] We matched them up with an upperclassmen within our program. Preferably have the same major. Um, it doesn’t always work out that way, but preferably, and then I required to do two hours a week with that upperclassmen and I leave that up to them because our schedules are different. You know, if you want to do two hours on a Sunday night to get ready for the week, that’s up to you.
[00:19:15] Do you want to do an hour on Sunday night, an hour on Thursday? It’s up to you, but you must do the two hours a week. And then we also have, uh, we subscribed to a service that provides online tutoring also. So, uh, you have to go to our academic enrichment center, get signed up for a specific class tutor that you have and it’s done online.
[00:19:34] So I think all the pieces are in place. Um, if you want to be successful, um, you know, obviously it comes down to you wanting to do the work. You know, our academic standards, um, for admittance, um, I don’t think it’s, it’s like crazy, but, um, you know, it is, uh, you’re going to have to have a pretty solid GPA.
[00:19:55] Uh, you know, we we’ve done away with the act as a requirement for admit. And so, um, you know, the ACP score is near as important as it used to be, but. Being in division two and, and Scott stacking, excuse me, scholarships. It’s important though that, Hey, if you do take the act, try to get the highest score you can, because that is money I’m on the academic side, where we can stack athletic and academic scholarships.
[00:20:20] Matt: So it was perfect segue. It was just going to be, my next question was around scholarships, you know, your division two. So you have some athletic money and you mentioned stacking, which is great, you know, not every school does that. So how on average, you know, what, what does a typical, uh, player coming in?
[00:20:38] What are they looking at or, or, you know, are you heavily recruiting, you know, high academic players. That kind of thing. Just, just what is the scholarship picture in general look like for
[00:20:49] Coach: you guys? Yeah. Um, that’s a great question. Um, because I think it truly is different for everybody as, as an example. Um, Hey, if you’re, uh, a high need.
[00:21:00] Right through your FAFSA. Hey, I’m I’m I can bring guys in basically by the time that you do the FAFSA and some academic money, as well as, um, the athletic money. Hey, I can get you here for free basically, you know, which is, I don’t know about your house, Matt, but at my house, Brea is always a pretty good price, especially when you’re talking about college education.
[00:21:20] Um, yeah. And then on the other end, um, you know, Hey, you have great academics. Uh, you know, most of those guys, um, are probably somewhere in that 15 to 20,000 range, uh, kind of depends on their academics and, and those types of things. But, you know, when you compare, uh, the experience, I guess, of getting to play division two and.
[00:21:46] Then what I used to refer to as the English premier league of division to, um, you know, getting a private school education, that’s, you know, all your housing meals, et cetera, et cetera. Um, it’s, it’s definitely, uh, uh, manageable when you compare it to like a state university or whatever, because those schools here in Missouri anyway, are probably somewhere in that 23, 20 $4,000 range.
[00:22:09] And for us all in as. Just under 30 it’s, 29,003 10, all in it’s pretty reasonable. Yeah. Yeah. So, and then obviously any outside scholarships that a young person would get, um, to be stacked on top of, of what we do internally, and then we do offer a bunch of different types of. Internal scholarships as well.
[00:22:32] We have a shape your future for BiPAP communities. Um, we have a program here in Missouri. That’s called a plus. If you do that, it’s worth $3,000 here. So, you know, I think that the there’s definitely ways to make it affordable. If, if this is truly the place that you want. And then the, always the downfall ride is take out one of those big student loans that I don’t recommend.
[00:22:55] Matt: I just got those paid off not too long ago. Um,
[00:22:58] Coach: so.
[00:23:01] Matt: Well, okay. So you mentioned study hall a couple of times a week, but, but you know, let’s say it’s during season. What does a typical day look like for one of your players from, from when they’re waking up to when they’re going to bed?
[00:23:13] Coach: Uh, that’s great. And Hey, we’ll dive into it during what a week looks like here also.
[00:23:19] So w we’ll start with the week. Um, so basically in the GLVC, we’re a Friday, Sunday league, so we play every Friday night. The men do at seven 30. Uh, the women play every afternoon, or I’m sorry, we play right after the women, uh, on Sunday. So we kick off at two 30. So Monday is always our required day off during the season, uh, per NCAA rules.
[00:23:40] Tuesday is what I refer to. Uh, I’m going to soccer nerd out on, on everyone here for a second, but a re-entry day activation day. So our training on Tuesdays is really tight. It’s boxed in, um, just short, quick movements. Um, you know, sure. All the soccer books get that picture. Wednesday is our hardest training day of the week.
[00:23:59] It’s very expansive. Thursday, um, for us anyway, Hey, we start to slow things down a little bit, typically on a Thursday we’ll scrimmage for about 30 minutes, kind of work on our pressing cues and set pieces. Those types of things. Friday we’ll play Thursday can be a travel day at times, but typically. We’ll just say Friday, we play Saturday morning.
[00:24:19] Um, we do a recovery session in the morning. We actually have a lady that comes in that, uh, does yoga with us as soon as we’ve finished our recovery session. That also does, it was forty’s first team. So again, we’re in a good location for some of those type of activities. And then Sunday we play again and then it just repeats itself.
[00:24:35] And then. Yeah. During the week during the season, we live two days a week and that’s, uh, in the mornings and that’s usually at 6:30 AM. So, you know, the, the glamorous life of a D two soccer players typically let’s say, get up at 6:00 AM. Get to the weight room by six 30. Uh, usually you’re out of here by 7 30, 7 45.
[00:24:57] Uh, grab some breakfast, uh, hopefully take a shower. I question that all my guys do, uh, take a shower, go to class. And then, uh, within the Juul, uh, within Juul on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, we typically are, we do not have classes from 10 to noon. Uh, that’s called Juul time. And that’s a time that you can meet with your professor, but during the season, that’s when, as a coaching staff, we offer some one-on-one training.
[00:25:24] If any of our players want to get a little extra work in, whether it be around the goal, goalkeeping, midfielders, functional training. You know, the, the players want, it’s not required. It’s strictly voluntary, but a lot of times, a lot of guys take advantage of that, obviously. So we do that from Trinity love and, um, Hey, you’re probably going to either have class right after that, or go eat lunch.
[00:25:45] You’re going to have a class in the afternoon. Uh, we trained every day at three o’clock. Um, And then yeah, Tuesday, Thursday, that you’re going to study hall on Wednesday. Hey, you should be studying if you’re not a little bit. And then Hey, after all that’s over with it, you get a little bit of free time and then it just repeats itself.
[00:26:04] Matt: So you mentioned a potentially traveling Thursday GLVC is, you know, not. Totally, uh, a massive conference in terms of travel, but there’s a bit there. Um, you know, what is your kind of normal travel radius, whereas a lot of the schools that you play when it’s, when you’re on the road.
[00:26:25] Coach: Yeah, well, um, the GLVC we’re, we’re like on the Western edge of the conference and so, um, No, the closest games that we play other than there’s one other GLVC school here in Kansas city called Kansas city rockers.
[00:26:39] Uh, Tony tacos, legendary coach been there forever. So I’ll make a plug for Tony and rockers, but, uh, and then typically, you know, it’s about a two, two and a half hours. Our closest, um, a lot of the schools are here in Missouri, but more in the St. Louis Metro area, kind of up north that the, uh, the conference goes all the way to Louis, uh, just outside of Chicago Lewis university and the.
[00:27:06] Further to the east that goes to the university of Indianapolis, um, is, is the farthest that we would go. And, you know, you have Illinois Springfield McKendree. Those are Illinois, Springfield’s in the middle part of Illinois that McKendree. Kind of outside of St. Louis still on the Illinois side. So that’s, that’s kind of the geographics of it.
[00:27:24] When we go to MD or, um, Louis to Chicago, obviously we’re leaving the day before, uh, on a typical, let’s go to St. Louis and play. So what those weekends can look like, because we do do the, like I said, the Friday, Sunday, so we may go to St. Louis apply. I’m still on a Friday night and then Sunday afternoon, we’ll play.
[00:27:44] Maryville university. So we would typically leave campus at about, uh, 10:00 AM for a seven 30 kickoff. Uh, we’ll drive, get about halfway stop, have lunch drive into St. Louis the rest of the way, get checked into the hotel, have a quick team meeting, um, you know, obviously get the guys some food and then, um, you know, we’ll kick off at seven 30.
[00:28:09] Um, sometimes we shower there. Sometimes the guys will share with the hotel. Um, when we get back, obviously food, um, lights out about 11, get up Saturday morning, do a recovery session. Saturday midday typically do a study hall Sunday afternoon. We typically will try to find something to do as it. You know, um, a lot of guys, especially if you’re not from this, this, the Midwest, you know, maybe you’ve never been to St.
[00:28:35] Louis before, so we’ll go down to the arch or a ball, whatever, find something to do a lot of times too. If there’s a division one game going on, I like to take our guys to division one. I think he should always be a student of the game. So we’ll go to the different games. Um, just find something to do.
[00:28:50] Maybe it’s a movie, whatever the case may be. Uh, obviously dinner on a Saturday night, have another team meeting on Saturday night. It’s more of like a film session preparing for Sunday’s match. And then yeah, Sunday, and then we drive home after the game.
[00:29:04] Matt: Okay. That’s awesome. Well, let’s talk more about the team and the games and stuff that you’re talking about.
[00:29:11] So you said you, you roster size a 30, you know, if I’m an incoming freshmen in my, my, uh, fighting for some time right away or,
[00:29:20] Coach: or, or not. Um, okay. Another long answer for you. So 22, the 22 class will be my third recruiting class. And so. When I, when I took over, if you were coming in as a freshman, then yeah, you were probably going to start, um, you know, or you had a really good shot and to get a lot of minutes, um, you know, as we’re rebuilding the team and.
[00:29:46] You know, making it reflect more of what I like, you know, the hope is, is that as the team matures, it’s going to be harder for you to do that. Um, but again, for me, it’s always been, Hey, let’s, let’s put the best guys out there to give us the best chance to win. It doesn’t matter if you’re a freshmen or a savior, everything in between, you know, kind of one of the lines I like to use is, you know, who should.
[00:30:10] It’s not the 10 best players and Johnny. And quite honestly, sometimes it’s not the 11 best players, but it’s the 11 best players that play well together. And so, you know, sometimes, you know, you can get into those situations where, you know, maybe somebody doesn’t want to defend, like they need to, but they’re really good.
[00:30:28] Maybe they hold the ball too long because they’re worried about their statistics. You know, so it’s really about trying to put the team out there that really plays well together in my system, my style of play, Hey, everybody has to defend, we want everybody to be involved in the buildup and getting forward.
[00:30:45] So, you know, you’re really looking for that complete player. Um, this year we have 10 starters back. Obviously we’ve been playing on freshmen and sophomores and our record shows that, um, you know, the, the, I really thought we would have a better win-loss record. The fall of 21. And the one thing that I did not factor in it was my own ignorance and stupidity.
[00:31:06] But when the NCAA gave everybody the extra year, I was amazed at how many international players ended up staying to start working on their masters. And so the roster has never changed. And so, Hey for us, and maybe I’m making excuses. Yeah, we’re playing 18, 19, maybe a few 20 year olds against 24, 25 year old men.
[00:31:27] And we would just get overpowered at times. So again, I think as our team matures, that’s the hope that I’ve done my job correctly, that, uh, our win-loss records starts to look better and, you know, for us, it’s, it’s also, um, It’s about this whole experience, right? It’s not always just about winning and losing it.
[00:31:47] And so, Hey, I’m, I’m a big, uh, uh, community service guy be a role model. So, you know, one of the things that we’re kind of excited about, and we’re just kind of getting that going off the ground, but we’re probably the first sense, uh, higher education institution. Anyway, I know college university. To partner with the DEA and, uh, we’re going in and deliver an anti-drug and education, education messages, and, uh, some of the inner city schools.
[00:32:13] And so we have a great relationship with the DEA. Um, that’s also pulling in like, The Kansas city police department are the Missouri state highway patrol Jackson county with the county that, uh, Kansas city sits in the Sheriff’s department is kind of getting involved with us also, uh, really trying to reach out and we use soccer as the vehicle to try to reach them.
[00:32:35] So again, yeah, it’s, uh, it’s kind of all encompassing and, um, you know, the, the whole goal is to graduate. Well-rounded people that, you know, uh, we’ve given them a foundation that for their life’s work. And as we like to say that Juul is not a four year degree, this is what I say. It’s a 40 year degree. So put it to good use.
[00:32:55] Matt: That’s fantastic. You, you know, I think you’ve talked about your team style, play a little bit and how you like to, to do that. So, you know, can you, can you kind of round that out from where to talk about your specific style of coaching and, and, and how that all
[00:33:12] Coach: interacts together? Yeah. Again, if I don’t nerd out on you to bed here, I, I hope I don’t.
[00:33:18] Uh, so, uh, we’re a team that wants to dominate the game with the ball, right. And, and sometimes. Maybe too idealistic about that. So our in our game model, right, um, 70% possession is, is what we strive for. Obviously any soccer person knows that that’s an extremely high number, even the Barcelona’s and the man cities that I think are well known for ball possession.
[00:33:44] It’s even hard for them to get to that. So it’s a, it’s an extremely lofty goal, but yeah. Um, that’s how I think the game should be played. I, for me personally, I enjoy watching that style of play too. So, um, Hey, that’s, that’s kind of what we do. So in our game model, um, and this guides, our coaching and, and our playing style, um, one is building out to the house.
[00:34:05] Um, you know, and, and doing that and be facing forward around the half-life that’s like stage one. So I get a halftime talk as an example, if we’re not doing that consistently on probably especially in the college game, about 90% of our possessions, then obviously we have to make some adjustments and, you know, for us in our game model, we want to be plus one in the bag.
[00:34:26] So if you’re playing one up, Hey, we’re going to. Ideally right. The four and the five, the two center bags, plus the six to, to break the line of pressure. If you’re playing with two up, then obviously we’re going to play with three in the back and use the six, you know, where I’m going, right? Yeah. Yeah. And then the second stage is more what I refer to as the movement in front of the ball.
[00:34:47] So once we get to the half-life, um, For us, it’s covering the five vertical channels, trying to get up, you know, pin the other team back as far as we can, by getting high into their back line, continue to circulate the ball. Obviously the third stage of our game model is the creative stage, which, Hey, that’s the business end of all this right.
[00:35:07] Trying to score. So that’s where like in training, Hey, we work on combination play. Third man runs, overlaps under labs, slide passes. You know, crosses from the half spaces, all the stuff. And then the fourth stage is what we refer to as light switch, defending a, an immediate reaction, try to press high, get the ball back.
[00:35:28] As soon as the team plays out of the pressure pocket, then our last stage is dropping it to a bed or a low block. And so, Hey, all of our training, you know, that it’s really kind of centered around. The game model, or it drives what we do. And, you know, obviously you’re trying to create overloads in the middle of the field so that we can outplay the other team.
[00:35:46] And the off season, we really work hard on our play techniques where, you know, at rounds, you hold the play up and the off season try to do some functional training in our eight hour a week segment. And then as we currently are, we’re in our spring season. So again, we’re just trying to refine our game model, get everybody on the same page.
[00:36:02] Matt: Uh, it makes sense. What about the rest of your soccer staff? How big a staff do you have? Um, what are their roles within the team and, and whether that’s during practice during games, anything.
[00:36:14] Coach: Yeah. So I really, I only have one other assistant. His name is Donovan Castro and, um, Hey has a really good pedigree in the game, you know, played at a high level, um, younger he’s he’s on the journey as well in terms of, uh, wanting to do this as a, as a profession that haven’t really blessed to have him.
[00:36:31] And so as a head coach has done this for a long time. I feel an obligation, whether it be Donovan or anyone else that I work with, that it’s my job to prepare. To be a head coach. And so, you know, I look at it more that word, like co coaches, because I want them to be involved in everything. Um, You know, when you drill down into that, if I think they’re weak in an area, they probably don’t like it.
[00:36:55] But if I think you’re weak in an area, then you’re really going to do a lot of whatever that is because I, you know, you, you want as a head coach or coaching tree to grow with, and you want people that are loyal to you and you want to be loyal to them. And it definitely helped them, uh, achieve what they want in their professional lives.
[00:37:12] So, um, Hey, Donovan’s involved in everything that we do from recruiting to the budget, uh, uh, Travel and then training. Um, because there’s two of us say we typically break the team up at times. Um, he’ll take a group, I’ll take your group. Um, yeah, just pretty much everything. Uh, we do have a part-time goalkeeping coach that that’s a real weakness within our program that we’re really trying to address.
[00:37:37] Um, You know, just to give them the proper attention that they really need to continue to develop. Um, and then, you know, typical, I think, you know, Hey, our performance folks are good. We’ve got sports medicine folks that are good as every other program does, but in terms of the true soccer staff, it’s myself, my assistant and a volunteer goalkeeping coach.
[00:37:58] Okay.
[00:38:00] Matt: That’s still pretty solid. I want to, I want to keep you too long here. Just a couple more questions, but we’re, uh, we’re sitting here talking in March. Uh, so it’s off season. Uh, you mentioned, uh, your, your weather is not like mine today, but, uh, what, what does your, what is your typical off season program?
[00:38:21] Coach: Yeah, well, for those that aren’t familiar with, um, NCAA athletics, uh, and well in division two specifically, because I do think that division three, uh, the contact hours or whatever, it is a little bit different, but in division two, um, we go through a segment of our season where we only get eight hours a week with the T four hours of that is with evolve where hours are, that is performance.
[00:38:42] And so, um, And that in that segment, Hey, it really is about small group training, functional stuff. I’m just trying to sharpen everybody back up again. And then we’re currently in our spring season where we’re allowed 20 hours a week and that looks more like the fall. So for us, it’s again, um, kind of, Hey, we play.
[00:39:05] Different types of Rondo’s because again, Hey, you know, that’s how I viewed the game, kind of in our, our teaching and player rotations and, you know, interchanges. Hey, we use typically like a five B3, then we’ll go to seven V five, nine visa. Tim V8 to work on those types of movements. Um, I, I do like to, um, make everything competitive and, and, you know, one day or one activity a day, we try to test and rank, you know, and we keep a running total.
[00:39:36] So the players know, because I do think that’s a big frustration. Um, For players with college soccer, you know, you come in and you’re used to be in, you know, the star for lack of a better way to say it either on your high school club team, and suddenly you get thrown in this environment, you’re not getting to play much.
[00:39:55] Um, sometimes that’s really hard and a lot of players. Can can give up at that point, you know, it’s like, oh, Hey, this is too much work. I just want to go to school, get my degree, have some fun, you know, I’m not getting to play. And so I think it’s important to, uh, Be able to give the players tangible feedback, you know, so much in our game, it’s not statistically driven, so to speak.
[00:40:20] Um, although, you know, we do use an stat that that gives great feedback to the players directly, but also within just so they have a comparison, we do tap or try to test and rank, um, quite a bit as well. So, and then obviously, you know, it’s, it’s a, it’s a long haul and, uh, you know, you try to laugh along the way also, you know, this has to be.
[00:40:41] And, uh, you know, don’t get me wrong. There are days that, uh, you know, to tonight we’re supposed to get snow. So tomorrow we’ll probably just divide the guys up and bring them inside and we’ll just play football and no coaching. And I’m a big believer in that. I think that free play is important in a player’s development, because I think people like they can take the fun out of the game where we’re demanding and Hey, do this, do that.
[00:41:04] You know, this is the options. And, you know, sometimes I think that you can stifle a players’ creativity player for the game, you know, because it’s so structured all the time. And I don’t think that young people free-play enough, um, like they do in other parts of the world. So, you know, for me, Hey, I do like to let the guys just come in and play for fun and get, remember why you’re here.
[00:41:24] Remember why you played this game. It was fun. And so, yeah, I don’t know. I hope that answered it. That was a long answer. No, absolutely.
[00:41:33] Matt: Well, have a last question here. Um, it’s kind of the catch all, you know, w w what didn’t we talk about? What else would you like anybody to know whether it’s about your school, your team, your staff, anything that, that we missed?
[00:41:46] This is, this is your, your F your. To let me know what we didn’t talk about.
[00:41:50] Coach: Wow. That’s a great question. Um, I guess the thing too, like any, any player would be that, um, Hey, check us out, right? We may not be a good fit for you, but if it’s something that you think you’d be interested in, you know, Hey, we would love to hear from you.
[00:42:06] We, we, we definitely, uh, look everywhere, you know, so even if it’s not maybe in your geographical neighborhood, let’s say that doesn’t mean that we wouldn’t be interested, uh, especially on the domestic side. Um, I do think that, um, our education is great. I think that our culture within the team, our team spent so much time together because we are a smaller institution that, Hey, the friendships that you’re going to develop along the way, um, You know, are going to last a lifetime.
[00:42:35] And, um, Hey, we, we pride ourselves and trying to be fair to players. Um, you know, one of the things that we always talk to the freshmen about when they arrive is, you know, the phrase, brutal honesty. Th th that’s that’s a, that’s a misnomer, right? I, for me, Hey, honesty is because I care and I love you, right?
[00:42:55] I wouldn’t be, I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t care about your future and really trying to truly help you. So that’s something we talk about that, Hey, you can’t be afraid of this. Right. And we will be honest with you, you know, we’ll be direct, but we’re also here to help you improve in those areas. And one of the things that we really try to do also is have the players be able to evaluate where they’re at both on the journey in relation to our team in relation to the gal.
[00:43:22] GLVC because of its always coached, driven, and I’m telling you what you need to do. You don’t always get the same by, um, you know, Analyze where you’re at and then together. And I do mean together the, um, Hey, I think we can come up with a plan to help you achieve your goals. And so that’s, that’s kind of at our core.
[00:43:44] You know, the other thing too, I think is, um, Hey with us anyway, the, the off the field stuff is extremely important. Um, just, uh, let’s see. Uh, I think it was, um, Friday of last week as an example. So we, we talked about Humana. Right. And, and the importance of that and recognizing, and that’s the key word in this, recognizing that everything you have is either God-given or someone else’s done for you and helped you.
[00:44:12] So I made all the players take out their cell phone and it, you know, right before we started training and said, I want you to call someone there’s there’s no doubt. Right. You, I want you to verbally think someone that has helped you in your life. And so, Hey, that’s a big piece, I think, to what we do as well.
[00:44:28] And, you know, trying to, just to develop, you know, good young people and prepare them for their professional work. But at the same time, Hey, we want to win. Winning is what we’re here for. It’s an extremely competitive league. It’s a great level. So check us out and give us a chance. I love a coach.
[00:44:44] Matt: I, uh, it’s been a great conversation.
[00:44:48] I think, uh, you know, put my son down for your class of 33, because I think you’re, you’re, you’re definitely somebody, I wouldn’t mind my, uh, my son playing for, so I appreciate it. No, I appreciate the time and, and wish you the best of luck in building something there and, and hope for the.
[00:45:06] Coach: Yeah. Yeah. We’ll get, get the word out and bridge.
[00:45:09] And there’s a lot of good players in Florida. We’d love to have them. They got to take out. They got to love the smell though.
[00:45:13] Matt: Oh, wait. My kids are dying for me to take him to see snow again. Cause it’s been a while. So, so we’ll
[00:45:19] Coach: see. We’ll come on up.
[00:45:22] Matt: Sounds like a plan. Appreciate it, coach.
[00:45:24] Coach: Take care and thanks for all your work, man.
[00:45:26] Keep it up. This is good stuff. Thank you. Thank you. Bye-bye.
