Xavier University of Louisiana Men’s Soccer – Coach Gonzalo Carranza
On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Carranza from the Xavier Men’s Program in New Orleans. We talk about what it’s like to build a program from scratch. He describes the social and cultural opportunities in New Orleans, plus the high academics of the school. Lastly, we discuss his hard-working, passionate, human first coaching style. Learn more about Xavier University of Louisiana Men’s Soccer.
Matt: [00:00:00] Hi everybody. Welcome to discover college soccer today. I’m lucky enough to be joined by Coach Carranza from Xavier. University in New Orleans. I was going to say Xavier University of Louisiana.
Coach: Yeah,
Matt: that’s hard to hard to put together. University of Louisiana. Yeah, but, uh, love, love me some New Orleans.
Uh, I think I know I have to be there in February, but I’m trying to get there in October. So if I do, then I’ll have to see if you guys are, are playing a game. I’m happy to have you. You’re, you’re kicking off the season. And the crazy thing is most people may not know this is only the second season of the program, right?
Coach: That’s right.
Matt: That’s right. After
Coach: having me. Absolutely. We’ll chat some more about Xavier.
Matt: Yeah. And uh, I mean, you guys had a rockstar first season, uh, and, and you’re kicking off the second one. So recruiting obviously for a first year program last year, you know, I noticed you have a good number of junior college players, which makes a lot of sense and, and some transfers and whatnot.
Walk me through kind of right now. Where are you at with the 25s? Are you talking to 26 is yet kind of what’s your mindset and how you’re kind of filling out this roster for the next couple of years?
Coach: Yeah, when starting the program from 0, um, I felt like it wouldn’t be smart to recruit 30 freshmen, um, needed some experience, some leadership.
And I also took advantage of myself, uh, previously being [00:01:30] at the junior college level. Um, so I was able to see in person, obviously, my guys that I did bring a couple, um, from my previous institution, but also I was able to see some top players in person when playing against and all that good stuff, especially taking advantage of the national tournament run that we made.
So I was able to see a bunch there. And, you know, And lucky enough to bring and convince those guys to, um, buy in on a 1st year program. So brought in a very good mix of freshmen, sophomore, junior, and only now we are having, uh, seniors and it’s actually only 3 of them. Um, when starting something from scratch as well, and I was very focused on that 1st class of 23, and then as soon as I got a good feel for what.
23 was, uh, based on previous experiences, I was then able to look into 24s right now, I think we’re right now hitting that. Okay. I know what we will need for 25. So now, just now, very briefly, very surface looking for 25. It was definitely no 26 is yet.
Matt: Okay. So with that being said, how much time? Would you say in a given week right now, you know, it’s obviously you’re in the season.
That’s your focus. So what is what maybe is the percentage of your time that you’re focused on recruiting in a given week?
Coach: I’ll do this. I’ll give you this example this week. I have [00:03:00] received two players and I have not engaged conversation with them. The only thing that I did was I like your profile. I trust the person that has sent you to me.
I’m going to leave you in this wait list. Once we’re closer to the end of the season, we’ll start conversation. So I’ll be gathering these initial names from previous contacts. And then once we hit that November, then we’re on it. And then we’re really going ourselves out there, um, either in person or virtually.
Looking for players, uh, to start that 25. So very much, uh, focused on the fall season. We’re in season, uh, I think towards the end and the spring we’re hands on on recruiting and we try to be finalized. There’s always that late. A player, but we try to be finalized by me.
Matt: Yeah. Well, and when you look at your current roster, you know, some heavy South American influence there we’ll say, um, so obviously you guys are looking international and domestic when, and you mentioned going to events.
So what are some of those domestic events that are on your list that you want to make sure you get to?
Coach: I feel like convincing the local kid. To buy into a 1st year program now, 2nd year program is a little bit harder than maybe convincing the international kid. Um, the international kid as of right now seems to just want an opportunity and [00:04:30] the domestic kid seems to need to be convinced.
So with that being said massively interested now in this 3rd year, expanding even more locally and domestically in America. Um, because now we can prove that we are competitive. And that’s what these kids want, right? Um, remember also for the, for the domestic kids, we’re not just fighting against the NAIA schools or fighting against the top division one programs, which is, that’s the caliber of player we want.
Um, so I’ve really much have focused locally. We have several partnerships locally. Uh, we have an MLS next team in town. We’re lucky enough. I’m lucky enough to be involved with them on a coaching staff level as well. Um, right now, we have managed since starting the program, having 3 of their local products.
Um, this not to mention, uh, Louisiana fire, which is also, uh, a local club here in town. If I’m not mistaken, the biggest 1 here, um, we actually have partnership with a field because of them. Um, so a lot of our, our program growth, not only just player wise, but infrastructure wise. When starting something from zero has come from from the surrounding areas.
I’m not going to name too many because there’s a lot more that we owe credit to. Um, but then I’ve been to Florida. It’s not that far away from here. We actually have a kid from Florida. We, uh, are in Mississippi all the time. I actually have two kids [00:06:00] from Mississippi here. Um, I have been to Houston. I have been to Atlanta.
Um, so kind of the surrounding states of of Louisiana, but that doesn’t limit us only to that. Um, you know, I have a kid that actually his parents came to school here. And he is from North Carolina. So we try to branch out everywhere at the same time that we right now felt like the best strategy was, um, to go internationally, get us up there to where we need, and then, you know, people will start believing us here locally.
Matt: Okay. No, I like the strategy. Well, do you guys do ID camps or do you or your staff work other ID camps? Are they a part of your process?
Coach: Yeah, so, um, we have ran since we’ve gotten here for local ID camps. We still haven’t thrown out a fall date, but we will what we try to do is every semester. We at least have to.
So, every since I’ve been here every semester, we’ve at least have to. Um, we try to do it in different times of the year to try to meet different schedules as well.
Matt: Well, whether it’s at an ID camp or any of these events you attend, or even if it’s via Zoom through an international player, what, what is it that you’re looking for in a player?
Uh, what is it that makes somebody recruitable for Xavier, whether it’s on the field attributes or off the field stuff?
Coach: Man, Xavier is a, is a different animal in comparison to most schools, if I’m really honest, when it comes to the recruiting side, um, [00:07:30] we’re lucky enough to be quite prestigious when it comes to the academic side of things, which plays a good part, but also a hard part for us athletic people, right?
Um, you have to bring the right fit to Xavier. Um, so first, I’ll just kind of go down, down my list. I see someone in person, I know nothing about them, or I see a video, they have to be a good player. What’s a good player for the Xavier, uh, the Zula way we call it, right? The men’s soccer way of us playing.
It’s someone that has to be technically sound, tactically sound, physically sound, but we definitely won’t overlook you due to size or athleticism. Your skill, for us, is more important when it comes to the sport related, um, aspect of the game. After that, we recruit good players, but we need to make sure we recruit good people, not perfect people, but good people.
What is that for me? Do you love the sport? Are you willing to be coachable? Um, are you going to give me 100%? And you are allowed to have your bad days. I think the biggest differential, um, with our staff is that we try as much as possible to take care of the person before we even talk about the student or the athlete.
Um, so we understand that they’re kids and they’re gonna be fiery moments and we’re willing to work with you and we’re maybe maybe elsewhere. It’s a little more cutthroat if you will. So a little bit more patient. And then once we start getting to meet this person, you know, hey, we like you as a [00:09:00] player.
We’re having a conversation. We like you as a person. Then we go into what is your GPA? What’s your SAT? What’s your budget? We’re not cheap as well. It’s not for free. Xavier is an expensive school. Um, but we certainly find ways to make it affordable, but that, that would be kind of how it would go down the list.
Matt: Well, is there a roster size that, that you find it’s ideal that you’re trying to hit each year?
Coach: You know, one of the things that attracted me to Xavier was also some schools and, and I don’t, I don’t think that there’s a right or wrong way of doing it, maybe in someone’s eyes, it’s not ideal here, but for us, um, we are not told, 70 kids, 50 kids.
Which I probably wouldn’t be here. If that was the case. I don’t think it’s sustainable. I think there’s people that do an excellent job with that bigger roster size. It’s just not really something I would enjoy to do personally. I mean, it’s again. It’s just a matter of preference choice for us here. I settled for 30 and I think that that’s very doable.
Um, we initially started with 32 and then we had a injury and we had a personal, um, option to not return. And we’re now at 31.
Matt: Well, let’s talk a little bit more about the school. I’m sure there’s folks out there, not familiar. There’s, they may be thinking of the big Xavier in Cincinnati and, uh, not the one.
Down in Louisiana. So you’ve been there a couple seasons. This is your [00:10:30] second season. So obviously something drew you to the, to the job besides getting to create it from start. So what have you found that’s really, uh, excellent? What stands out as Xavier? Maybe some things we wouldn’t even know by going to the website.
Coach: Yeah, no, when I was at my previous institution, um, I was at a small school, small town, and we still were, were able to create something special there. Um, with that, I felt like I was able to showcase myself a little bit more as a coach myself. So I was a little bit more picky than going to this next step and Xavier checked a lot of the boxes.
Um, the first one you already mentioned, having the opportunity to start something from scratch. For me, it was extremely unique. Um, if it was bad, it was my fault, um, rather than maybe having to go in and fix someone else’s mess or even take, take a legacy on, you know, here it was blank canvas. What story were you right?
Um, so that was the main thing. But then after that. Again, I was being a little more picky. I was in a small town and I wanted to go back to a little bigger city living and we’re in the heart of New Orleans. We’re 10 minutes away from everything that you could think that New Orleans has. Um, so it’s a cool social experience for the players that we bring in here.
Um, and so far, I’ll be honest, some people think, ah, part of New Orleans, um, too much partying, too [00:12:00] much, uh, trouble. I have had zero issues, zero issues, knock on the wood, but I have had zero issues with any of that. And we’re actually in smaller towns. I feel like there’s not much to do. So the kids tend to be in more trouble.
Um, so here it’s almost like, oh, there’s an NFL going on, NFL game going on. Ah, this, this time I won’t go, but next week I will, you know, stuff like that. Um, so we do encourage the kids to enjoy themselves socially as well. I think it’s part of the process, but we obviously reinforce enjoy, enjoy responsibly 3rd thing and man academics here are something that I personally didn’t have, um, as an opportunity to be quote unquote prestigious as it is here.
I tell the kids. Look. There’s a lot of good things from graduating from Xavier, but it’s, it’s not the easiest job. You know, every day you’re going to wake up for that 8 a. m. and it’s, it’s going to be as hard as maybe practices. Um, the infrastructure here is Xavier. We’re in a high school, but man, you walk around here and you feel like you’re at a top institution.
Um, I’d encourage the listeners to. Go maybe on the website and have a look at our buildings. Our pharmacy building is insane. You walk into the basketball court and it’s like, you’re at a big division. 1 school, like, events from the city are being held there. And it’s in the long term of our program to have our own complex here.
So we have, you know, the means for that. And that was another [00:13:30] thing that, um, attracted me to Tuesday. Last thing I told you guys that I mentioned a couple minutes ago that. It’s an expensive school, but you also have the funds, you know, we have the funds to bring the correct people, um, to join our program.
So all of that kind of put together made Xavier attracted, um, attractive to me. And I was lucky enough that I got selected.
Matt: Yeah, it’s awesome. Well, let’s fast forward a minute to, uh, uh, let’s say October, hard of that, that red river conference season, tough conference to play in. Uh, what, what is a typical week look like for a player in terms of schedule with practice classes, game cadence, all that kind of stuff?
Coach: Yeah, we, uh, let, let’s do this. Um, one day we do weights sponsored by Oshner, uh, biggest health, um, biggest health. I don’t think is the word, but, um, line of health care here in New Orleans. And we have Matt that runs our, our, our training sessions. He’s unreal. Everything is sports specific, something that we’re really lucky to have.
Soon as we’re done with the weights, we head straight to the field again in partnership with, um, LA Fire, which is a soccer, uh, club here in town. We, we practice on a FIFA standard, um, brand new turf field at Lafreniere Park. Which is a beautiful [00:15:00] park, but it has around 10 fields if I’m not mistaken. 2 of those are, um, turf fields that have lights.
And as soon as as soon as we’re done with that, And drop them off and we have partnerships here as Xavier and where the kids can live in different spaces. So we have on campus housing, but this year, our kids are actually living at, you know, which is a division 1 school here in New Orleans. Um, so we dropped them off there.
They have their own time that would kind of repeat itself. Um, some days without the weight room before practice to manage legs. And then, if we have game days again, they’re at that place that I just said, but when we’re on the road, and we have quite a bit of traveling in the Red River, because we have not only Louisiana schools.
We have Texas schools. We actually have a big trip to New Mexico. Um, we travel really comfortably, though, through whole chart. Um, the buses are unreal for us as well, so it’s not like we get there and we’re all cramped up and and then it just becomes that. That process of recovery training games at the same time that the students have to have a’s in their classes at the same time that some of them, um, work on campus because we do have that availability here and then they have to be kids as well and enjoy their social life.
So we try to bunch all that good stuff and make it fun.
Matt: Yeah, no, that makes a lot of sense. Well, let’s talk a little bit more [00:16:30] about the team. Uh, besides your roster of players, you got a roster of staff. Talk to me about the, the staff you have, what roles they play, maybe what support staff that is, is in the athletic department that help out as well.
Coach: Yeah. So I mentioned our strength and conditioning, um, but we also, also sponsored by Ochsner have Caitlin. Well, she’s the head of our, um, men’s soccer program. overseen by Rebecca and I don’t want to butcher her last name, but they’re a big help behind the behind the scenes. But my right hand man is Lucas Cordero.
He’s been with me 2017. Um, he’s a big, big piece of the success of our program. Um, when I’m not there, the boys know that he is the same as me being there. Um, we kind of grew together in, in the coaching world and I’m lucky enough to have in here as my full time assistant this year. I just hired a specific.
Goalkeeper coach Michael White. Um, he was working at other universities. Now he is our GA here. Um, and then outside of that, trying to see if I’m not missing anybody, we work really closely with the women’s program, which Matt, I’d encourage you to invite Ashley Cordero on here as well. Um, we’re always sharing field activities, trips.
Um, Ashley’s assistant is Justin, and he at times also gives us a hand with the goalkeepers or any logistics that we need. So more than enough [00:18:00] help makes my life easier for sure.
Matt: Yeah, it sounds like it. Well, how about you as the head man? Uh, talk to us about your coaching style. What kind of style of play you’re looking to play there?
Coach: Yeah. Um, I kind of strive to be the coach that. Um, maybe I didn’t have and what do I mean by that? I think in a, like, I like, I use the term before and a cut throat, um, culture of business when results. Um, I have a really human first approach and don’t confuse that by me being perfect and never having to go out the guys.
They know how passionate I am. Um, and it can get quite intense. But I think that what I tell them is maybe you won’t remember me as a good coach, but I want you to remember me as a good person. Um, so I really, really try to take care of Hey, rather than are you healthy to practice today? Is it? Are you okay?
Mentally to go practice today? Um, you know, so I think I try to I try to make the person 1st, but then I’m absolutely a nerd for the soccer side of things. Um, we never go to the field without a purpose. Our practices, our games are exactly the same. Um, it’s a really. Possession, courage, uh, style of play. And we’re sometimes for some other people that are [00:19:30] looking to our game.
It’s like, uh, man, what are they doing? It’s a little risky. So we’re very much building out of the back, uh, minded. And I know that, I know that people now, I think that this whole like possession build out of the back, it’s getting overused. Um, we do that with a purpose. Like we want to win games through this.
And we feel like this is the easiest way of winning games. Um, at the same time that we’re really energetic when we’re defending and organized. So if I were to sum everything up, I feel like I’m a human being first, but that is extremely passionate and works extremely hard on everything that he does every day as a As a coach and the final product on the field, I want it to be a reflection of me and how I see life.
Um, so you’ll see kids taking risks. You’ll see kids never afraid to play. You’ll see kids with the same passion that I have and working as hard as I do also behind the scenes.
Matt: I love that. Love that coach. Well, this past spring was your, your first off season, you know, getting the kids ready for this season.
So what can a player expect during that spring, uh, non traditional season?
Coach: We try, I try to go as much as possible, even though college still is not there, um, with the rules and regulations and all that stuff. I try to keep it the same exact thing. You know, we practice inside of those, um, inside of those rules and regulations.
Like I said, those limitations may be. That that are league and the college game in general gives us. I try to run it the same exact way [00:21:00] and I actually told them before we left. I said, there’s a lot of programs out there that made spring just about having fun, if you will, which we do have a bunch of fun as well.
But we worked on on things that this fall. Made the transition easier, even if the players weren’t here, the players that are returning, they make that that transition easier for the new guys because they see them doing it. So, we, we worked as much as we did in the fall. We worked in the spring.
Matt: Well, coach, I appreciate your time.
Got 1 last question for you. Uh, that is, if you had 1 piece of advice or something, you think every player going through this process should know, uh, what would that be?
Coach: That’s a good 1. I, I, um, I help with with a lot of youth soccer here in America as well. Um, but this, this piece of advice would go to to anyone really, but usually what I tell the, the, the youth players that I work here is that this whole college soccer thing.
Um, some people make it a scary monster. And where you got to be fit when you come in, or you have to have the grades or. You know, stressful when looking to get recruited. Am I running out of time? You know, man, it was the best time of my life. Those four years. I work as a college soccer coach today because I was inspired by the process and I was given opportunities through [00:22:30] that process.
So I just say, enjoy it, man. You know, I, I’d say, enjoy the probably what would be the best time of your life and don’t make this a stressful situation. It’s not scary monster at all. All of you that are interested in work hard enough and are passionate enough. All of you have a have a market in the college game.
It might not be the best program football wise. But rather than focusing on that, focus on finding the right fit. But the main thing for me is, is enjoy it. It’s a really fun time.
Matt: Couldn’t agree more. Well, coach, really appreciate it. Wish you the best of luck, uh, in just your second season in that red river.
And hopefully at the end of it, you’ll be hanging a banner.
Coach: Yes, sir. Thank you, Matt.
Matt: Thanks for having us.
