Latest / I Hate Soccer with Jason Collinsworth / I Hate Soccer #94 - Cliff Brandmier, University of Toledo women's soccer assistant coach

Transcript

I Hate Soccer #94 - Cliff Brandmier, University of Toledo women's soccer assistant coach · I Hate Soccer with Jason Collinsworth

0:00
SPEAKER_01: This episode is brought to you by Kona.
0:03
SPEAKER_01: This is Kona.
0:04
SPEAKER_01: I got to go down to Toledo for this episode and get to check out their facilities.
0:10
SPEAKER_01: Their facilities were incredible.
0:12
SPEAKER_01: Very impressed by their facilities.
0:15
SPEAKER_01: And I got to talk to their assistant coach on the women's side, uh, Cliff Braymaier, who I've known I've known Cliff for I don't know, uh 15 years or so.
0:28
SPEAKER_01: I knew like we knew never friends, never like close or anything, but I knew of them, coached against them, and uh we finally finally chatted and and he we take a deep dive in the recruiting process.
0:45
SPEAKER_01: He is a recruiting guru.
0:48
SPEAKER_01: Uh his uh his big board of players and how far in advance he recruits, you know.
0:57
SPEAKER_01: I mean, he has lists of 2028 uh that he's checking out, and it's a great program and it's uh it's built like a family.
1:06
SPEAKER_01: Uh something that we set talked about off air is that they've only had two transfer portal athletes since they've been there uh that willingly went into the transfer portal, and that's pretty that's pretty great.
1:22
SPEAKER_01: So uh this is a fun episode.
1:25
SPEAKER_01: This could have been a four-hour episode because you gave me a tour.
1:29
SPEAKER_01: We did it.
1:30
SPEAKER_01: This is gonna be run about uh just around two hours, and then we talked for another like hour, hour and a half after.
1:37
SPEAKER_01: And this could have been an easily a four-hour episode, and I'll have I'll definitely be uh having clip on again.
1:44
SPEAKER_01: But uh please like, subscribe, share wherever you're watching this.
1:50
SPEAKER_01: Uh we just hit 50,000 downloads, which I guess is a huge accomplishment.
1:54
SPEAKER_01: And my goal is to reach a hundred thousand downloads by Christmas of this year.
2:01
SPEAKER_01: So please share this to everyone that you that you know that might benefit from it, you know, that wants to learn more about the college game, the college recruiting experience, uh, about Toledo and about the Mac.
2:14
SPEAKER_01: So enjoy this episode.
2:17
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
2:18
SPEAKER_00: I hate soccer.
2:20
SPEAKER_01: So, how much of it is you're just it's all built on relationships.
2:26
SPEAKER_01: The more college coaches that I talk to, it's all about relationships, man.
2:31
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, agreed.
2:32
SPEAKER_01: I mean, think about like that story about just Facebook becoming Facebook friends and whatnot.
2:40
SPEAKER_01: But how much of that came into you coming back to Toledo?
2:45
SPEAKER_00: I think coming down here, part of what Batman liked was my connection in Michigan.
2:51
SPEAKER_00: You know, I'd been around high school soccer, um, club.
2:56
SPEAKER_00: I coached at Western, Detroit Mercy.
2:58
SPEAKER_00: I was pretty embedded and knew a lot of people.
3:02
SPEAKER_00: So him having that connection into the state of Michigan, which is a hotbed, right, could really help because we're 11 miles in from the border.
3:10
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
3:10
SPEAKER_00: And for kids from the Detroit area, even though Toledo's close, it's still far enough to where they don't feel like they're at home.
3:16
SPEAKER_00: At home.
3:17
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
3:17
SPEAKER_01: And you don't have the stigma of like maybe an Oakland university.
3:22
SPEAKER_01: No offense to Oakland, but Liverpool kids or Nationals kids, they almost look like it, oh, that's a what should I say?
3:31
SPEAKER_01: That's like a failure.
3:32
SPEAKER_00: It's like their own backyard.
3:34
SPEAKER_01: UB in your own, in your own conference, go through that with flash kids.
3:39
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
3:40
SPEAKER_01: And it's like, well, and it's not only flash kids, it's staff.
3:44
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
3:44
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
3:44
SPEAKER_01: They're like, oh, you're not going to UB.
3:46
SPEAKER_01: There's girls that they're like committed to go to UB and and the former head of it all was like, you're not going to UB.
3:54
SPEAKER_01: Decommit and you're going to go to Syracuse or something like that.
3:57
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
3:57
SPEAKER_01: Because they wanted that ACC cell to get more kids.
4:01
SPEAKER_00: And like, like helping the one girl, well, we have two currently from the Toledo area.
4:06
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
4:06
SPEAKER_00: Then we have another one coming in in the fall.
4:09
SPEAKER_00: We always look at it as try and keep your really good talent.
4:12
SPEAKER_00: Try you don't want to leave in your backyard, right?
4:15
SPEAKER_00: Right.
4:15
SPEAKER_00: If you can stop that.
4:16
SPEAKER_00: And that we did that when I was at Western Michigan with Kellen Zoo kids too.
4:20
SPEAKER_00: Um, and with one of them, she wanted to stay home.
4:24
SPEAKER_00: She didn't want to go look at all these.
4:26
SPEAKER_00: So she looked at us and bowling green, because bowling green's 25 minutes down the road.
4:30
SPEAKER_00: Right.
4:30
SPEAKER_00: Both really good options for her.
4:32
SPEAKER_00: She fits the style.
4:34
SPEAKER_00: They're two completely different styles of soccer.
4:36
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
4:36
SPEAKER_00: But she fits both.
4:38
SPEAKER_00: So she she ended up ultimately being here.
4:41
SPEAKER_00: Her mom works here and has worked here for a long time.
4:44
SPEAKER_00: Uh it was just a really, really good fit for her.
4:47
SPEAKER_00: Um, the one coming in next year, or no, that the one that works here is the one coming in.
4:51
SPEAKER_00: The one coming in next year, she wanted to stay close to home.
4:54
SPEAKER_00: So she didn't, she always wanted to go to Toledo.
4:57
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
4:57
SPEAKER_00: Didn't matter.
4:58
SPEAKER_00: She didn't even want to look other other places.
5:00
SPEAKER_00: Really?
5:00
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
5:01
SPEAKER_00: So that process with her was great.
5:03
SPEAKER_00: She's an awesome kid, really talented player.
5:05
SPEAKER_00: And if you want to be a Toledo rocket that bad and you're that type of player, we have like we makes only too much sense to go after her.
5:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
5:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
5:15
SPEAKER_01: How often do you guys fight with Bowling Green over the same kids?
5:18
SPEAKER_01: Is that your biggest competitor?
5:20
SPEAKER_01: Your rival?
5:21
SPEAKER_00: They're the rival.
5:22
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
5:22
SPEAKER_00: Like we get the fun part is like we get along really well with Chris.
5:25
SPEAKER_00: He's done a great job.
5:26
SPEAKER_00: He was a good guy.
5:27
SPEAKER_00: Jimmy before that.
5:28
SPEAKER_00: Um, we've always had good relationships, but there's still there's not the Izzo Dusty May rivalry.
5:33
SPEAKER_00: Right.
5:34
SPEAKER_00: You want to um but but we like whenever we see them out recruiting, we're always chatting with them.
5:38
SPEAKER_00: They're great.
5:39
SPEAKER_00: Um, but there are players that pop on their list and our list for sure.
5:44
SPEAKER_00: Like I there's a couple girls that we've had conversations with and they did, and they ended up at Bullying Green, and then the same thing vice versa.
5:51
SPEAKER_00: So we're I think the Midwest, you're almost everybody looks at a lot of the same kids, and then it's whatever those fits are, right?
5:58
SPEAKER_00: Like we'll ask girls, you know, who all kind of, or they'll come out and tell us who they're who they're talking with through the recruiting process.
6:05
SPEAKER_00: And a lot of times it's like uh Central Michigan, um, Oakland, Western, Bowling Green, Miami, Toledo, like it's a lot of the same schools a lot of times.
6:17
SPEAKER_01: I mean, think it, and I'm looking at like your big board, and I love it.
6:21
SPEAKER_01: Because I asked a coach, I I think maybe Andy, no, I think it was Chris Hall, who's at Binghamton.
6:28
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
6:28
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I was like, Do you have a big board?
6:31
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because I think of draft in the NFL, and I'm like, okay, you guys have a draft board and you know all the names.
6:37
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and they're like, no, not really.
6:39
SPEAKER_01: I think I asked Andy at Ball State the same question.
6:42
SPEAKER_01: He's like, no, not really.
6:44
SPEAKER_01: You guys are the first one where I've seen like a big board, yeah.
6:47
SPEAKER_01: Where I see like all the clubs and like where you're looking, and I love it.
6:52
SPEAKER_01: And I'm looking at your list of clubs, and it's all over the place.
6:57
SPEAKER_01: It is all over the place, but uh, it makes me realize it's like your three-hour radius is pretty darn good when it comes to clubs, right?
7:07
SPEAKER_01: Very, very good because it goes all the way to Cincinnati pretty much.
7:09
SPEAKER_01: Yep, cup, absolutely, and then it can go all the way to Cleveland Force.
7:13
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
7:14
SPEAKER_01: Well, it might well, Flash is probably four hours away.
7:17
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, which they we, I mean, we talk, we have a kid on our team right now that's from West New York Flash.
7:22
SPEAKER_00: So uh Abby Marata.
7:24
SPEAKER_00: Marata?
7:25
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
7:25
SPEAKER_00: She is a sophomore.
7:27
SPEAKER_00: Uh current sophomore.
7:29
SPEAKER_00: Uh sophomore.
7:30
SPEAKER_00: Tall center back.
7:31
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, really good player.
7:32
SPEAKER_01: Abby Murata.
7:33
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
7:33
SPEAKER_01: She is probably uh uh what is that, a 07?
7:39
SPEAKER_00: Six.
7:39
SPEAKER_00: Oh six.
7:40
SPEAKER_00: But I think she played 05s, if I remember through that process.
7:44
SPEAKER_01: Okay, I was close with the 05s, I wasn't really close with the 06s.
7:47
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was weird.
7:48
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like it went like every other year.
7:50
SPEAKER_01: Like I had tons of 04s, I had zero 03s, I had tons of 05s, not a lot of 06s, tons of 07s, tons of 08s, zero 09s.
8:00
SPEAKER_01: One right.
8:01
SPEAKER_01: I had like one or two oh nines, and then a bunch of 2010s.
8:04
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and yeah, but we can we can spite like get our hands out to like you said, it's like a three, four-hour radius, and you hit I mean that takes you to Midwest United.
8:16
SPEAKER_00: Then you hit all the Detroit clubs, if it's Jags, Hawks, Liverpool, Nationals, yeah, Tigers, that's just there.
8:23
SPEAKER_00: And then you've got you go to Indy and you've got Indie Premier, you've got Indie 11, which we have both, FC Pride's there.
8:31
SPEAKER_00: Where's Galaxy?
8:32
SPEAKER_00: Everybody's out of Chicago area.
8:33
SPEAKER_01: Everybody talks about Galaxy, and I've never I'm not familiar with that.
8:36
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they're uh I think they're a newer, they're a newer GA club from within the past two or three years, but they have some they have some players.
8:43
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like they're good.
8:44
SPEAKER_00: It's a good club.
8:45
SPEAKER_01: So I just had um Shelton on and we started talking about, and so many people are scared about the um about the new five and five rule.
8:59
SPEAKER_01: And like, when is it?
9:00
SPEAKER_01: So like are you guys like in a holding pattern of 27s and then 28s?
9:05
SPEAKER_01: Kinda, kinda.
9:06
SPEAKER_01: Because you gotta wait, because if you have a if they say, okay, all current juniors get a fifth year, yeah, well then that hurts your recruiting class for 2022.
9:15
SPEAKER_00: It changes everything, right?
9:16
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but then what if it everybody's saying it's gonna happen, but what if it doesn't happen for a year and you didn't do anything in the meantime?
9:23
SPEAKER_00: So we've got we've had so many conversations about it on how do we attack that.
9:28
SPEAKER_00: And now if it's not retroactive and uh versus is it, and so there's so much unknown, but I chances are it sounds like it's gonna go through, but um how everybody adapts to it, it's not gonna be you know just the bid majors that struggle with it, it's gonna be everybody, especially with the 28 rule, yeah.
9:47
SPEAKER_00: And we just went through that a year ago, right?
9:50
SPEAKER_01: And then everybody was talking about how, well, maybe they'll get rid of the 28 rule.
9:56
SPEAKER_01: It's like, I don't think they're gonna put that genie back in the bottle.
9:59
SPEAKER_00: I would love them to do that at the beginning of the five for five.
10:03
SPEAKER_00: Because you're at some places, and who knows how many the the quantity is gonna be, you're gonna have kids that want, get that extra year that want to stay, but you don't have room.
10:13
unknown: Right.
10:13
SPEAKER_00: And what do you do in that situation?
10:15
SPEAKER_00: Right?
10:16
SPEAKER_00: And they're kids you love that have battled for you for a couple years, and like how is that gonna all kind of pan out?
10:22
SPEAKER_00: Is gonna be the crazy thing.
10:24
SPEAKER_00: I I wish they would lift the cap or increase the cap.
10:27
SPEAKER_00: Like 32, maybe I think that's the right number, personally.
10:30
SPEAKER_00: I've always been a fan of that because take us this year.
10:34
SPEAKER_00: Granted, we have designated student athletes, which don't count against the cap.
10:38
SPEAKER_00: So we have more than 28 players on our roster.
10:41
SPEAKER_01: Okay, go into that.
10:42
SPEAKER_00: What does the idea when the roster cap was announced?
10:46
SPEAKER_00: The the judge in the the house settlement, right, didn't want the roster cap to affect current committed athletes.
10:54
SPEAKER_00: So they had that's what delayed it.
10:56
SPEAKER_00: So then they had to have time to come up with how do we grandfather this in, and they came up with an idea called the designated student athlete.
11:03
SPEAKER_00: There weren't a ton of parameters other than when you sent out you had to put certain literature that said something along the lines of, you know, if we had to be in a hard roster cap now, and I'm I'm taking it out of context a little bit, but or paraphrasing it, um, you would be somebody potentially not making that cut.
11:22
SPEAKER_00: Well, how do you how do you decide that?
11:25
SPEAKER_00: So a lot of people went with if they had players that had major injuries, soft tissue injuries, things like that, that they could designate.
11:33
SPEAKER_00: And you could designate as many as you felt was right, but if the NCAA felt you were kind of abusing it, supposedly they were going to audit and find out why A, B, and C players were designated.
11:45
SPEAKER_00: So a designated student athlete does not count against your roster cut the whole time that they're on your roster until they graduate.
11:53
SPEAKER_00: If they transfer, say we have a DSA and they decide I want to go closer to home or go to another program, they're they're still very marketable because they don't count against whatever program they go to's cap.
12:07
SPEAKER_00: So you you have rosters still right now that will have 35 on it, 32 on it, 30.
12:14
SPEAKER_00: That's above above 28.
12:16
SPEAKER_00: But that'll bl that'll that'll kind of blend out over time as they graduate, your numbers of DSA's drop because they're graduating.
12:24
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
12:24
SPEAKER_00: Which I think was a a good thing to do.
12:27
SPEAKER_00: Right, to grandfather it all in.
12:28
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
12:29
SPEAKER_01: I I mean I've talked to a lot of college coaches, and the problem I have with the 28, and let's you use UB as an example.
12:38
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, UB is constantly trying to get alumni to come and train with them because they don't have enough bodies.
12:45
SPEAKER_01: Either they have too many graduated, or they have maybe they lost some in the transfer portal or injuries.
12:52
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
12:52
SPEAKER_01: And they they want to play 11v11.
12:54
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
12:55
SPEAKER_01: Because they're getting ready for spring.
12:56
SPEAKER_00: Well, the 28 parts really, really challenging.
12:59
SPEAKER_01: It's hard because if you have seven injuries, boom, you're 20, your 11v11's gone.
13:05
SPEAKER_00: Which we ran into in the fall, even with having uh uh some DSAs, you this episode is brought to you by the North American Soccer Expo.
13:15
SPEAKER_01: If you remember last year when I had Alexi Lawless on, so many of you were blown away and kept on messaging me, how did you get Alexi Lawless to talk to you?
13:25
SPEAKER_01: And to be honest with you, it was the North American Soccer Expo.
13:29
SPEAKER_01: The expo has workshops and seminars and field presentations from top coaches and industry experts.
13:37
SPEAKER_01: I will be there this year.
13:39
SPEAKER_01: 100%.
13:40
SPEAKER_01: I'll be setting them up on podcast remote.
13:42
SPEAKER_01: In addition to the podcasts that I'm going to be filming there, I'm also going to have an open hour where any coach at the expo or anybody at the expo can come sit down at the chair and have a one-on-one 15-minute chat with me, and you guys can just come and chat and talk about whatever you want.
14:01
SPEAKER_01: North American Sacker Expo, July 30th to August 1st, Novi, Michigan.
14:06
SPEAKER_01: I'll see you there.
14:07
SPEAKER_00: We had nine season ending injuries.
14:09
SPEAKER_00: So we're we're out nine players.
14:11
SPEAKER_00: And then on top of it, as you get into the max season, it's a long year, right?
14:14
SPEAKER_00: And the max of grind, you end up having to load manage players, right?
14:18
SPEAKER_00: And so when you add nine players out, load a handful of load management kids, we we couldn't get to 11v11 a lot of times towards the end of the season.
14:28
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
14:28
SPEAKER_00: And that's why I think that number is a little bit lighter than what I do.
14:34
SPEAKER_00: And I know other people have different opinions about it, but yeah, it makes it really challenging.
14:38
SPEAKER_00: Because like the spring, we never could play 11v11.
14:41
SPEAKER_00: We never had enough players because of injuries and then a couple graduating, and we never had enough to play 11v11, not one time.
14:48
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
14:49
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
14:49
SPEAKER_01: Do you Toledo doesn't have men's soccer, right?
14:52
SPEAKER_01: We don't.
14:53
SPEAKER_01: Oh.
14:54
SPEAKER_01: Did it ever?
14:55
SPEAKER_01: Not that I know of.
14:56
SPEAKER_01: I was trying to figure this out.
14:57
SPEAKER_01: Like, I wanted to go.
14:58
SPEAKER_01: Club team.
14:59
SPEAKER_00: They have a club team.
15:00
SPEAKER_01: Do you ever reach out to the club team and say, hey, we need some bodies?
15:03
SPEAKER_00: So in this past fall, we brought in three.
15:07
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
15:08
SPEAKER_00: Three three male practice players that came in.
15:10
SPEAKER_00: They were great.
15:11
SPEAKER_00: They were awesome guys.
15:12
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
15:12
SPEAKER_00: Got along really well.
15:13
SPEAKER_00: There's some stipulations to be able to do it.
15:15
SPEAKER_00: Of course.
15:16
SPEAKER_00: You know, but they were super respectful.
15:18
SPEAKER_00: And there were times where we're like, okay, you can ramp it up a little bit with how you play.
15:22
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
15:23
SPEAKER_00: And then times like, hey, just back down a little bit.
15:25
SPEAKER_00: Yes, back down a little bit.
15:26
SPEAKER_00: And it was never like in the moment.
15:28
SPEAKER_00: Like none of them did anything that were like, ooh, hey, pump the phone.
15:30
SPEAKER_01: You were just like, okay, this is the topic of today's session.
15:33
SPEAKER_01: This is what we're trying to get across.
15:35
SPEAKER_00: Like you can go to work, or you know, we're gonna play you way out of your comfort zone positionally, do your best.
15:41
SPEAKER_00: Um, and they were awesome, like they were great.
15:43
SPEAKER_00: They all they all have graduated now.
15:45
SPEAKER_00: Um, and who knows, maybe in the fall we'll go back to doing it.
15:49
SPEAKER_01: I don't I don't know why more programs don't do that.
15:51
SPEAKER_00: Seemed to tap into yeah, it seemed more popular this this past fall than I've ever really seen.
15:57
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
15:58
SPEAKER_01: How how is the 28 roster rule like affected your the size of classes?
16:04
SPEAKER_01: Because when you were at Western, obviously you could have 40.
16:07
SPEAKER_01: How many did you guys have?
16:09
SPEAKER_00: I think the biggest we were, and I might be wrong, it was 34.
16:12
SPEAKER_00: Okay, maybe 35, but we did have one year we had five goalkeepers because two transferred in and one just fell in our lap, and then we had a plan for the future.
16:22
SPEAKER_00: A lot of conversation transparency up front on what the expectation was for goalkeeper one, two, three.
16:29
SPEAKER_01: Did you guys play two?
16:30
SPEAKER_00: And then we started that year would have been 2015.
16:36
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
16:36
SPEAKER_00: So no, we had we had a clear-cut starter, like she was setting starting to set records at the time for the program.
16:42
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then we had a really good backup, and then we had another really good backup.
16:47
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then uh God, one was a transfer that came in as a grad transfer, and she's like, I can't even make every practice, right?
16:56
SPEAKER_00: But I want to be around it.
16:58
SPEAKER_00: And um, we knew her coach really well that she she played at Iowa back in the day.
17:02
SPEAKER_00: Okay, and um she was great, and so we we managed it with just being very open, honest.
17:08
SPEAKER_00: Like, here's what we see your role being, yeah, and this is how you could probably grow it, or this is where you're gonna end up sticking.
17:16
SPEAKER_00: So it we I think between Nate at the time, Smurf, myself, I think we did a really good job with connecting with those players, like not just the goalkeepers, the group in general, to where they all kind of trusted, understood, and felt and still felt part of it, not just like, oh, I'm at number three.
17:33
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like we would travel all five for a day game if they all wanted to go.
17:37
SPEAKER_01: Really?
17:37
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's a day game.
17:39
SPEAKER_01: Do you guys have rules or like how many you can travel nowadays?
17:43
SPEAKER_00: Not specifically, no.
17:44
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
17:45
SPEAKER_00: No, so like we travel programs do.
17:47
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, sure, because of costs.
17:48
SPEAKER_00: Um overnight trips, we'll we'll take like a certain number, if it's 22 or whatever it is, yeah.
17:55
SPEAKER_00: Two goalkeepers normally.
17:56
SPEAKER_00: Um day games, though, like if we go play Detroit Mercy, play Oakland, play Bullen Green, and we're going there back in the same day, we'll take everybody.
18:05
SPEAKER_00: Everybody comes.
18:06
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like that.
18:07
SPEAKER_00: Because they need to be a part of it too, right?
18:08
SPEAKER_00: Like that's a huge buy-in piece for our players.
18:11
SPEAKER_01: What's the hardest?
18:13
SPEAKER_01: What's the hardest position to sell?
18:16
SPEAKER_01: Like when you're recruiting, is it goalkeepers?
18:18
SPEAKER_01: It's tough.
18:19
SPEAKER_01: It can be tough because you know there's only one.
18:22
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, only one place, right?
18:23
SPEAKER_01: Only one place.
18:24
SPEAKER_01: It's not like outside bags where you can like get them all in, right?
18:28
SPEAKER_00: Sure.
18:29
SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah, I like we we fortunately, since we've been here, we had a crop of them when we got here.
18:35
SPEAKER_00: Then we went through a little lull because of an injury to one.
18:38
SPEAKER_00: We had to bring one in through the portal.
18:40
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then since then we haven't had a problem.
18:45
SPEAKER_00: Like we had one year, we only had two keepers.
18:48
SPEAKER_00: That was two years ago.
18:49
SPEAKER_00: That would have been 24.
18:51
SPEAKER_00: That's nerve-wracking.
18:52
SPEAKER_00: Very nerve-wracking, or yeah, it was 24.
18:55
SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, and so we were going into the like the May portal window with one goalkeeper, and it was a freshman coming in.
19:03
SPEAKER_00: And so we had a lot of urgency, obviously, to have to go find somebody, but somebody that also can come in and be impactful and put potentially be the starter.
19:13
SPEAKER_00: And we were really fortunate we picked up a girl that played at Niagara, she was a Swedish international student, and oh yeah, yeah, Agnes Stedland.
19:22
SPEAKER_00: And so she she ended up coming and was a starter both years she was here, had a great career.
19:28
SPEAKER_00: She's playing pro over in Hungary now.
19:30
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
19:31
SPEAKER_00: She left that semester because she was done playing here and could finish her degree remotely.
19:35
SPEAKER_00: And yeah, so that was the one year we had a little bit of panic.
19:39
SPEAKER_00: Um, and we were able to solve it all, which was great.
19:43
SPEAKER_00: Thank God.
19:44
SPEAKER_01: Looking at your looking at your big board from like, okay, obviously the 2027s is smaller because there's so many that are already committed.
19:53
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but what I notice is they're from all over.
19:56
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
19:57
SPEAKER_01: I see Colorado Rapids, I see supporting Blue Valley, I see FC Dallas, I see like Canada.
20:05
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
20:05
SPEAKER_01: Um, why?
20:08
SPEAKER_01: I mean, how many how many do you already have for uh the 27s coming in already?
20:15
SPEAKER_00: We have total of four so far.
20:18
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
20:18
SPEAKER_00: With one off-route.
20:20
SPEAKER_01: And then how many spots do you have going into going into this fall?
20:24
SPEAKER_01: How many do you have?
20:25
SPEAKER_01: Like total players?
20:26
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, are you already at 28?
20:28
SPEAKER_00: We have 30.
20:29
SPEAKER_00: Oh, with the DSA, yeah.
20:32
SPEAKER_00: With the DSA.
20:32
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but that'll that'll start dwindling after this year.
20:36
SPEAKER_00: Um for 27, we have maybe for two more.
20:43
SPEAKER_00: The one that we've we've already had on campus and all that, and then another another player that fits.
20:49
SPEAKER_00: And we're talking to a couple different ones and how it fits and when it fits.
20:52
SPEAKER_00: Um, but that could also change because the portal opens tomorrow.
20:55
SPEAKER_00: So who knows if there's something in the portal that we see that we're like, oh, that's a good fit.
21:02
SPEAKER_00: That could change things for what we have in 27, what we need in 28.
21:07
SPEAKER_00: Who knows?
21:08
SPEAKER_01: Do you when you when the portal opens, do you look at it as like, oh, she was on our big board in 2024, and now she's a grad and she's in the transfer portal and we have our major.
21:21
SPEAKER_01: Maybe we reach out.
21:22
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, is that how it works a lot?
21:24
SPEAKER_00: A lot of times, yeah.
21:25
SPEAKER_00: Like you'll go on and sporadically throughout the day, right?
21:28
SPEAKER_00: Because it's constantly updating and going in, and and yeah, you're searching, searching who who who this player who you've never heard of, they go to this school, so now you have to look them up and then find.
21:41
SPEAKER_00: We have we have Y Scout, which everybody has.
21:43
SPEAKER_00: So Y Scout's great, uh, a great tool to use.
21:47
SPEAKER_00: And um then yeah, you'll see a kid that either Batman might know, or Sam might know, or I might know from Club.
21:55
SPEAKER_00: Just who knows at some point, and they pop in.
21:58
SPEAKER_00: Um, it's yeah.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: Everybody probably uh approaches it differently.
22:02
SPEAKER_00: Everybody looks at it differently, everybody's different aggression levels in it.
22:06
SPEAKER_00: Um, I think there's been more aggression in it recently than there has been in the past, which affects the other classes that are still waiting to get recruited, obviously.
22:16
SPEAKER_01: So on June 15th, like how busy are you?
22:20
SPEAKER_00: So we last year, June 15th, was on Father's Day, I think.
22:24
SPEAKER_00: If I remember correctly, it was like Father's Day.
22:26
SPEAKER_00: And we decided we would reach out to certain players, but to s to set up a conversation for like the next day, two days later.
22:37
SPEAKER_00: It's not gonna change if we have a conversation with them on June 15th versus June 17th.
22:42
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
22:43
SPEAKER_00: Because we're also believers we want any player that wants to come to Toledo or wants to see what Toledo is about or is interested in Toledo, we want him on campus before anything.
22:53
SPEAKER_01: I got a DM recently about their daughter, I forget what club, it was a big, it was a huge club, and they're stressed out because they're in that 20, they're a 2010 and they're stressed out about June 15th because they're hearing rumors that some schools are calling them and then they'll want you to commit within 24 hours.
23:13
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, I've never heard of that.
23:16
SPEAKER_00: I've heard of players committing within 24 hours of it.
23:19
SPEAKER_01: Right, but I've never heard of a coach give you an ultimatum, like we need to know within 24 hours.
23:24
SPEAKER_01: Has that does that happen?
23:25
SPEAKER_00: I not like I haven't heard of anybody specifically doing it.
23:28
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
23:29
SPEAKER_00: Um, would I be surprised if somebody's done it before?
23:32
SPEAKER_01: If you're talking like to like North Carolina, I could see them maybe because they're fighting against Florida State or whatever.
23:38
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and they're like, like, no, we need this answer now.
23:41
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
23:42
SPEAKER_01: Because we don't want you to last.
23:44
SPEAKER_00: But I don't know, man, that'd be that'd be cutthroat.
23:48
SPEAKER_00: That would be cutthroat.
23:49
SPEAKER_00: That's tough because they're 16.
23:50
SPEAKER_00: Like, and I still think we recruit really, really young.
23:53
SPEAKER_00: Like, I mean, anybody that's going into their junior year, June 15th, they're 16 years old.
23:58
SPEAKER_00: Maybe.
23:59
SPEAKER_00: Right.
24:00
SPEAKER_00: Something, something might not be yet.
24:01
SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
24:02
SPEAKER_00: And that like it's that's part of the whole recruiting part that I'm glad they put that date in at one point.
24:08
SPEAKER_01: Because back in the day, you could call them as a freshman.
24:11
SPEAKER_00: We we had I remember at Western, we had a sophomore or two commit to us back then.
24:16
SPEAKER_01: And then okay, when that when it was like that, did how wasn't the weren't you more likely to miss on a player?
24:26
SPEAKER_01: Or miss maybe is the wrong word, but make a mistake.
24:30
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I I think it increases your chances of of that because there's so much development and just physical growth from when you're 15, 16 to when you're 18.
24:40
SPEAKER_00: Right.
24:40
SPEAKER_00: I mean, there it doesn't matter if you're a a guy or a girl, it doesn't matter.
24:44
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
24:45
SPEAKER_00: Like I was different when I was that age versus the day I graduated high school.
24:49
SPEAKER_00: Of course.
24:49
SPEAKER_00: Granted, I was still like four or eight at the time, but like I did grow a ton, but I still was a different person.
24:56
SPEAKER_00: And then you have to think about do they still want to major in what they originally wanted to major in?
25:00
SPEAKER_00: Do they even have an idea of what they want to major in?
25:02
SPEAKER_00: Because the lost art of it all is they are still student athletes, right?
25:05
SPEAKER_00: Like the ultimate goal is they get a degree at the end.
25:09
SPEAKER_00: Because I always joke it didn't matter if when I was running, like when I was with Liverpool and and and working with recruiting with girls there or being a college coach.
25:18
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, at the end of the day, your degree is your your pathway to make millions of dollars, potentially, right?
25:26
SPEAKER_00: Right.
25:27
SPEAKER_00: Soccer, what's the percentage of players that get to do that?01?
25:33
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
25:34
SPEAKER_00: Right?
25:34
SPEAKER_00: It's a it's a minuscule number.
25:36
SPEAKER_00: So your chances, so you have to go to a school that you're gonna get a great degree and set you up.
25:41
SPEAKER_00: If you put all athletics in front of it, this piece hopefully falls in for you, but this has to be a part of like the main process.
25:50
SPEAKER_00: Right.
25:50
SPEAKER_00: But at 16, not everybody, I thought I was gonna be a podiatrist.
25:55
SPEAKER_01: Like I think at 16, uh, I either wanted to be an architect or a teacher.
26:02
SPEAKER_01: And I ended up going into like you know, the secondary ed path, but then I started coaching, I was like, nope, I'm just gonna I'm just gonna focus on coaching because that's really true.
26:12
SPEAKER_01: I mean, how many people that went into secondary education did it so that they could coach?
26:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because we grew up in a day where you had to teach to coach, correct?
26:20
SPEAKER_00: Yeah you know, and it's just especially at like high school levels and stuff when high school was was awesome, and I was obsessed with high school for some reason.
26:27
SPEAKER_01: It's because it was awesome back then, it was awesome, and I think it was Tim Storge.
26:31
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I was obsessed with Storage because how many state titles he won, and we all knew about him and stuff, and I'm like, man, I want to be that guy someday.
26:40
SPEAKER_01: All of his players love him.
26:41
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
26:41
SPEAKER_01: Like everybody loves him.
26:42
SPEAKER_01: Even though he was psycho.
26:44
SPEAKER_01: He was running, he would run his team after games.
26:48
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
26:48
SPEAKER_01: And then even away games, they would they would drive back to Athens and then hey, you're running, you're going to the track, put your flats on.
26:57
SPEAKER_00: It was a different day and age.
26:58
SPEAKER_00: I mean, there were it was, I mean, think of like Muktar as a part of that day and age, right?
27:03
SPEAKER_00: Like he's a legendary Michigan high school coach.
27:05
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was fun because everybody did it.
27:08
SPEAKER_00: You you didn't have like on the on the boy side, you didn't have players playing all year round.
27:14
SPEAKER_00: Now, and it took longer, I feel, to to start affecting the girls' side.
27:20
SPEAKER_00: Because MLS the Academy Because Nationals is year-round, hawks is year-round.
27:25
SPEAKER_00: Liverpool's gonna slowly be going that way, it sounds wrong.
27:27
SPEAKER_00: Okay, Jags are year-round, Hawks.
27:30
SPEAKER_00: Um, and now you're seeing like Athens are still a really good team, relatively speaking.
27:36
SPEAKER_00: Right.
27:37
SPEAKER_00: But you look at the team Storch had, exactly, Todd Hugh had, yeah, like I mean, two legendary coaches in Michigan.
27:43
SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
27:44
SPEAKER_00: Those teams would smash teams now.
27:48
SPEAKER_00: Smash.
27:49
SPEAKER_00: They had Todd, like they had Olivia Brandon, who's on the national team.
27:53
SPEAKER_00: I forgot about Olivia.
27:54
SPEAKER_00: And she was a stud.
27:55
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
27:55
SPEAKER_00: And she's playing high school soccer, Virginia, yeah.
27:58
SPEAKER_00: And then finished at Michigan.
27:59
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, she ended up going to Michigan.
28:01
unknown: Right.
28:01
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like you you had girls like that that were playing not year-round club soccer.
28:08
SPEAKER_01: Did you call out she had Rochester or Stony Creek?
28:10
SPEAKER_00: I was Rochester.
28:11
SPEAKER_01: Did you have didn't you have like who played in Michigan that you had?
28:15
SPEAKER_01: Amanda Bowery?
28:16
SPEAKER_01: She was before me.
28:17
SPEAKER_01: She was she played for Todd Hugh before he went to Athens.
28:20
SPEAKER_00: So it was Bree Bree Bowery, your sister played at Oakland.
28:23
SPEAKER_00: And then who's she's my vet now, by the way.
28:25
SPEAKER_00: Nice.
28:26
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's cool.
28:26
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and then her older sister, who played for Force and all that, she ended up at Michigan.
28:32
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, Michigan.
28:33
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, she was good.
28:34
SPEAKER_00: What other ballers did you have at Rochester?
28:37
SPEAKER_00: So my Rochester teams, I so when I took over, I was at Berkeley for years before that, right?
28:42
SPEAKER_00: Like, and and I always wanted to go, I loved that program, but I knew I was gonna graduate a class that I kind of lived with for three years to grow into something special, which we were able to win districts for the first time, like some cool stuff.
28:57
SPEAKER_02: Right.
28:58
SPEAKER_00: And I got a call from Todd Hugh because he was at Rochester at the time.
29:02
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
29:02
SPEAKER_00: And he's like, hey, I'm just so you know, I'm going to Athens because he had already taken the boys.
29:07
SPEAKER_00: Right.
29:08
SPEAKER_01: And he went to Athens, and just it was an easy transition from storage to him.
29:13
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I had had conversations with him, like on when he was with Vardar and we were out at MRL events about how, yeah, I think it'd always be fun to go to a big program.
29:22
SPEAKER_00: And uh so he just called me up one day, he's like, I'm leaving.
29:26
SPEAKER_00: Would you be interested?
29:27
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, Yeah, and actually, like the two that they were talking to was me and Dougie Steinart.
29:31
unknown: Doug?
29:31
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, who I coached at Rochester College way back in the day.
29:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
29:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and as a good friend and and and everything.
29:38
SPEAKER_00: And so I ended up getting that job and going there.
29:41
SPEAKER_00: That first year, we were really young.
29:43
SPEAKER_00: We had some good seniors, but then we graduated, we were okay that year.
29:46
SPEAKER_00: Didn't give up a lot of goals, struggled to score goals.
29:49
SPEAKER_00: I returned a lot going in the my senior class going into 2013, the my second year.
29:55
SPEAKER_00: I was only there two years.
29:56
SPEAKER_00: Okay, was loaded.
29:57
SPEAKER_00: And we got we had a freshman class of girls that were all in the top division of MRL with Waza.
30:04
SPEAKER_00: And then a couple girls from a really, really good Michigan Lightning team.
30:08
SPEAKER_00: Toddy was the coach.
30:09
SPEAKER_00: And five of them ended up making varsity as freshmen, and they were the ones that kind of it you integrate them with the upper, the upper classman kids.
30:17
SPEAKER_00: And that we ended up only losing two regular season games, and we lost in a shootout to Troy to Z and Stu.
30:27
SPEAKER_00: Oh, Z.
30:27
SPEAKER_00: And all those guys on Lake Oregon's Field.
30:29
SPEAKER_00: So I hate Lake Oregon's field, by the way.
30:31
SPEAKER_00: So we know and so that that group was it was just super, super special because I think what made that that season for us wasn't even the regional.
30:42
SPEAKER_00: The regional championship was kind of boring.
30:44
SPEAKER_00: So we we played Grant blank first, who was good.
30:49
SPEAKER_00: We beat him 2-0.
30:50
SPEAKER_00: We play Heartland in the regional final, we beat them 4-0.
30:53
SPEAKER_00: Their goalkeeper got a red card at the beginning of the second half.
30:56
SPEAKER_00: So the game, we were up, I think, 1-0 at that time, and we were we were on top of them a little bit.
31:01
SPEAKER_00: They were really talented.
31:02
SPEAKER_01: This is 2013.
31:03
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so Maddie Pogarsh was on that team.
31:05
SPEAKER_00: Okay, Julie DeBus was on that team for them.
31:08
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
31:08
SPEAKER_00: And then so what made that so boring was our district was a monster.
31:13
SPEAKER_00: You had Ike Adams, who was in the top 10.
31:17
SPEAKER_00: Stoney was the only one to beat us that year, and they're in our district.
31:20
SPEAKER_00: Right.
31:21
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
31:21
SPEAKER_01: And then on the West Coast, it's East Kentwood, and then they just Forest Hills or whatever.
31:29
SPEAKER_00: Right.
31:29
SPEAKER_00: And so we we got lucky in the draw and ended up on the bottom of the bracket because it was before this what MPR, is that what they call it now?
31:37
SPEAKER_00: Or whatever.
31:37
SPEAKER_00: It was just blind draw where all the head coaches went.
31:40
SPEAKER_00: We met at, I want to say it was at R no, that one was at Troy for some reason, but then we hosted.
31:46
SPEAKER_00: And you go literally around with a hat, pick out a name.
31:49
SPEAKER_00: That's who's on that line, right?
31:51
SPEAKER_00: So dumb.
31:52
SPEAKER_00: Well, it ended up being like Stony Creek against Adams.
31:55
SPEAKER_01: It ended up being two teams that could win the state title.
31:59
SPEAKER_01: Correct.
31:59
SPEAKER_00: There were four.
32:00
SPEAKER_01: One of them's gone.
32:02
SPEAKER_00: Well, and then the next next part of that bracket was Ike, who was loaded.
32:06
SPEAKER_00: And then on the bottom, Lake Orion.
32:09
SPEAKER_00: Was it Cortag at the time?
32:10
SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah.
32:11
SPEAKER_00: No, no, I think it was I think it was Murdad.
32:13
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
32:14
SPEAKER_00: I think it was still Merdad at that point.
32:15
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was Murdad.
32:16
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so we ended up at the bottom having to play Oxford in the first round.
32:20
SPEAKER_00: Whole different Oxford program than it is now.
32:23
SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
32:23
SPEAKER_02: A lot more talent now, right?
32:24
SPEAKER_00: They have nothing to do with anything other than they have more talent.
32:28
SPEAKER_00: And club, because a lot back then, back in my day.
32:31
SPEAKER_00: They didn't go down there.
32:32
SPEAKER_01: They didn't, yeah.
32:33
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
32:33
SPEAKER_00: And so we we take care of those two games, and Adams upset Stoney in the first round.
32:39
SPEAKER_00: So we play Adams, our rival.
32:41
SPEAKER_00: Like that's the real rival, right?
32:43
SPEAKER_00: Right.
32:43
SPEAKER_00: And uh we we end up going down 1-0.
32:46
SPEAKER_00: Then we gave up a bad PK, goes down, or it was a PK, and then it was-I can't remember the order.
32:51
SPEAKER_00: We're down 2-0, two minutes left in the game.
32:54
SPEAKER_00: We end up scoring, scoring on some weird little breakthrough.
32:59
SPEAKER_00: So now it's it's 2-1.
33:01
SPEAKER_00: Now we're at like a minute and 58 seconds left, a minute and 52 seconds, something like that.
33:06
SPEAKER_00: They're trying to kill time, do all this.
33:08
SPEAKER_00: I I changed this into like this weird.
33:09
SPEAKER_00: It was a Kevin Garner thing, actually.
33:11
SPEAKER_00: He called it the flying amoeba.
33:13
SPEAKER_00: It was like what he called this this formation.
33:15
SPEAKER_00: It was like uh like a three, six, one with a box, and everything had to go big in diagonal.
33:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
33:23
SPEAKER_00: He saw it with a club team way back in the day.
33:25
SPEAKER_00: We talked about it over, you know, just hanging out one day.
33:28
SPEAKER_00: So I threw it in.
33:30
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, can't hurt.
33:31
SPEAKER_00: We find our left, our left mid, who was like the fastest kid in the state at the time.
33:36
SPEAKER_00: Jenny Golthuls was her name.
33:38
SPEAKER_00: Rapid.
33:38
SPEAKER_00: She just beams down the left channel, and you start hearing on video, you hear the 10, 9, 8.
33:47
SPEAKER_00: She whips a left footed ball in, and a girl named Maddie Moot is coming across goal, goes up, heads it back across side panel with seven seconds left.
33:56
SPEAKER_00: So we go 2-2.
33:57
SPEAKER_00: We're all over them in uh in overtime.
34:00
SPEAKER_00: We go into a shootout, we win.
34:02
SPEAKER_01: Unbelievable.
34:03
SPEAKER_00: It like it's it's probably like I've been very fortunate with a lot of really cool events like throughout my career.
34:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
34:10
SPEAKER_00: That one, like it just came up on on social media for me.
34:13
SPEAKER_00: For some reason, it must have been like during COVID time when people were posting stuff.
34:17
SPEAKER_00: That that two-minute clip came up on my on my social media like three days ago.
34:22
SPEAKER_00: And I always reshared, and then all the old old players and parents start chirping about it.
34:27
SPEAKER_00: It's a heck of a time.
34:28
SPEAKER_00: And I gave a couple girls at when I was at Western Michigan, they were on that Adams team, and I'd always run, I'd always talk to them about it.
34:37
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was fun.
34:38
SPEAKER_01: How okay, how did it go to how did you get the Western?
34:43
SPEAKER_01: Is it through Lauren or was it through through Nate?
34:47
SPEAKER_00: It was just open and you applied?
34:49
SPEAKER_00: No, so it was kind of weird.
34:50
SPEAKER_00: When Nate got the job, which would have been like two weeks before preseason in 2012.
34:55
SPEAKER_01: And you already knew Nate?
34:57
SPEAKER_00: Not at that point, not really, right?
35:00
SPEAKER_00: Not yet.
35:00
SPEAKER_00: Um, he got the job and Simone Omakanda, who I worked with with Force and became really good friends.
35:07
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
35:07
SPEAKER_00: They're buddies from growing up and of course really, really close friends.
35:10
SPEAKER_01: Still the two best players I've ever played against.
35:13
SPEAKER_00: Unbelievable, right?
35:14
SPEAKER_00: And uh and he could Simone connected me with Nate because he knew I wanted to get into coaching college and stuff like that.
35:20
SPEAKER_00: Well, he it didn't work out that time around.
35:22
SPEAKER_00: Now, fast forward to the winner, and I had Nate had been in town a couple times, and him and Simone would call me and we'd go meet up and hang out and grab dinner and and whatnot.
35:34
SPEAKER_00: So I got to know Nate enough.
35:36
SPEAKER_00: Then his assistant opening happened again.
35:39
SPEAKER_00: So I actually interviewed with him and he ended up hiring Smurf.
35:44
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, right, great hire, she's a phenomenal coach, right?
35:47
SPEAKER_00: Wasn't upset.
35:48
SPEAKER_00: I had just met Smurf like six months prior to all this, too, okay through Simone.
35:52
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and uh so we we start talking.
35:58
SPEAKER_00: He gives, you know, Smurf gets a job.
36:01
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, okay, well, Nick O'Shea worked for Force at the time.
36:05
SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah, and so I knew Nick really well.
36:07
SPEAKER_00: And so I went and had dinner with Nick because he knew I wanted to get into college, and he's like, I'll bring you on as a volunteer, like get you into the door, get you kind of to get an understanding of what Division I college soccer is about.
36:19
SPEAKER_01: Right.
36:19
SPEAKER_00: And so cool, happy days.
36:23
SPEAKER_00: Um, Nate comes in town, it's like a week later, not even, not even a week, because I didn't even have another conversation with Nick at that point about like finalizing it.
36:32
SPEAKER_00: And Nate's like, hey, I hear you're gonna end up going to Oakland.
36:37
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, yeah, Nick, Nick's just gonna kind of I'll just be a volunteer guy there when I can, just to get a glimpse of it.
36:43
SPEAKER_00: You know, I don't know what type of role outside of that I'm gonna have.
36:46
SPEAKER_00: But um he then goes, I want you to come come check out campus.
36:53
SPEAKER_00: Like, we're trying to work on adding an assistant position through if it's fundraising, whatever way.
36:59
SPEAKER_00: Um, I really want you to come check it out.
37:01
SPEAKER_00: So next week, of course, halfway across the state of Michigan, Calumazoo's getting dumped on with snow.
37:08
SPEAKER_00: And I get over there and we went out to dinner, and he offered he he pretty much I think he offered it that night, or and I stayed in his apartment with him and his wife because we were that close.
37:19
SPEAKER_00: We got close at that point, not like best friends, buddy buddy, but like comfortable.
37:24
SPEAKER_01: Right.
37:24
SPEAKER_00: And I I remember the next day I called Andy Wagstaff, um, Danny Price, and my dad, and just was like, this is what I was offered.
37:34
SPEAKER_00: I'll have to do some club while I'm over here, too.
37:36
SPEAKER_00: But I think it could be a really good career move for me.
37:39
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like it's something different.
37:40
SPEAKER_00: I love what I'm doing now, but I really want to get into like that that level.
37:45
SPEAKER_00: And every single one of them were like, do it.
37:48
SPEAKER_00: I remember Andy was actually back home in England and he he called me back and we talked about it.
37:52
SPEAKER_00: Um, so I got really, really, really lucky.
37:56
SPEAKER_00: Um, this is why I always say I'm a relationship-based guy.
37:58
SPEAKER_00: If it wasn't for me building a relationship with Simone, I wouldn't have met Nate to the level I did, and I wouldn't have ended up at Western.
38:05
SPEAKER_00: And honestly, who knows if I'm here where I'm at now.
38:08
SPEAKER_00: I like I owe a lot to those guys.
38:10
SPEAKER_01: Was that was Andy at Oakland at the time on the Burns side?
38:14
SPEAKER_01: Assisting Poggy?
38:16
SPEAKER_00: I think he just got there because he was at Michigan right before that.
38:21
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
38:22
SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to think if he was uh he might have been in Michigan still.
38:26
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
38:26
SPEAKER_00: Or was uh it was kind of in that transition.
38:29
SPEAKER_00: No, he was on the men's side.
38:31
SPEAKER_00: Andy was yeah, with Burns.
38:33
SPEAKER_00: With Burns?
38:35
SPEAKER_01: Oh, after Snape you last.
38:37
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, when he went to Butler.
38:38
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he was there for one year.
38:40
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then he ended up at Oakland.
38:42
SPEAKER_00: I can't remember, but Andy's the guy that I it's probably one of the most fortunate meetups of my life was getting connected to him through some of the players that I had coached at Berkeley that played for Force that knew him.
38:55
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
38:56
SPEAKER_00: Because I had told those families I really want to get in the club, and I had helped out at a camp because of Steve Cook and connection with high schools and stuff.
39:03
SPEAKER_00: If it wasn't for Andy, there's no I'd be running a restaurant somewhere because I was a hospitality manager guy.
39:09
SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm sold.
39:10
SPEAKER_00: I I owe him a ton, and I tell him every time I see him now, because I don't see him often.
39:15
SPEAKER_00: I always say I owe him a lot of my career.
39:19
SPEAKER_01: Those force teams, those force girls teams.
39:21
SPEAKER_00: And that was right before I got I came right after he won those two national championships.
39:25
SPEAKER_01: That's like Laura Haybor.
39:26
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, dude, okay.
39:28
SPEAKER_00: Bowery, Jackie Karen, yeah, Jackie Karenstra.
39:32
SPEAKER_01: I forgot about Jackie Karen.
39:34
SPEAKER_01: She was a Rochester girl.
39:35
SPEAKER_00: She is a Rochester King.
39:36
SPEAKER_00: They were loaded.
39:37
SPEAKER_00: That team was, yeah.
39:39
SPEAKER_00: They were loaded.
39:39
SPEAKER_01: That's gone.
39:40
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you don't get it anymore.
39:42
SPEAKER_01: Like, would they have gotten in the East NL?
39:43
SPEAKER_01: Because they had those that age group.
39:46
SPEAKER_01: Would they have gotten into the East NL back then?
39:48
SPEAKER_01: Didn't they basically had to merge with Vardar?
39:51
SPEAKER_00: That that's yeah, that's how to get into the East DNL.
39:53
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's how Liverpool got in.
39:55
SPEAKER_00: Yep, was we had felt like they had the ridiculous.
39:59
SPEAKER_00: They had a plat, they had the platform.
40:00
SPEAKER_00: Vardar had the platform, and we had a lot of kids.
40:03
SPEAKER_00: They had they had still good numbers, but we had a lot of kids, and the the marriage just made too much sense for everybody.
40:09
SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
40:10
SPEAKER_00: Like it it you weren't there when that all happened, were you?
40:13
SPEAKER_00: I was a part of all that.
40:15
SPEAKER_00: I remember right before COVID, in January before COVID, Jen Perkins and I went out to lunch with with Mo.
40:23
SPEAKER_00: At that, it's like a Coney Island sponsored.
40:26
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, at the Rams Horn.
40:30
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we he does every single meeting.
40:32
SPEAKER_00: We met up with him and talked about it, and then COVID happened.
40:35
SPEAKER_00: And obviously the world stopped.
40:37
SPEAKER_00: Like the world stopped.
40:38
SPEAKER_00: And then there was talk of certain age groups kind of plugging over to help, and that just wouldn't have made sense.
40:46
SPEAKER_00: And then over the next year, year and a half after after like the main bulk of COVID, that that's when a lot of conversations.
40:54
SPEAKER_00: Jen was huge.
40:56
SPEAKER_00: Jen was so passionate about making it happen.
40:59
SPEAKER_00: Demir was great throughout it.
41:01
SPEAKER_00: I mean, Demir's Demir, he's one of the best, right in in everything.
41:04
SPEAKER_00: Uh Andy and Mo got on the were on the same page.
41:07
SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to think we announced it in it would have been the spring of 21.
41:14
SPEAKER_00: It was spring of 21, like March of 21.
41:16
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
41:17
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was 21.
41:19
SPEAKER_01: When when you were gonna go work with Nick, was Jen the assistant at OU at that time?
41:24
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
41:24
SPEAKER_01: Or she had left it already.
41:26
SPEAKER_00: No, she was still there because Nick was there.
41:28
SPEAKER_00: She was there until Nick.
41:31
SPEAKER_00: And then Nick left, Dave Morgan, I believe, was the interim.
41:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
41:35
SPEAKER_00: And Jen was still there that year.
41:37
SPEAKER_00: And then after that year, she was done at Oakland.
41:40
SPEAKER_00: Got it.
41:40
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
41:41
SPEAKER_00: And now her daughter plays for us.
41:43
SPEAKER_00: And I I built in, she's another person that I can lean on for just about anything.
41:48
SPEAKER_01: Didn't one of the is it the same daughter that went to Niagara?
41:51
SPEAKER_00: So she has one daughter.
41:52
SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's Nick's.
41:53
SPEAKER_01: That's Nick's that's Nick's daughter, not Jen's daughter.
41:56
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that was uh Ashlyn.
41:58
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Ashley Shea.
41:59
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
41:59
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
42:00
SPEAKER_00: Uh Jen's older daughter plays at Ashlyn.
42:03
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
42:03
SPEAKER_00: And then Michaela graduated early and came down here in January.
42:10
SPEAKER_00: It's crazy.
42:11
SPEAKER_00: I know, it's wild.
42:11
SPEAKER_00: Because when I I coached Michaela when she was I coached her this in Super Y the summer of 17.
42:20
SPEAKER_00: So nine years ago.
42:21
SPEAKER_00: She's 17.
42:22
SPEAKER_00: Gonna be 18.
42:23
SPEAKER_00: Half her life ago.
42:24
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so what year did you go to with Lauren and Nate at Western?
42:30
SPEAKER_00: August of 13.
42:31
SPEAKER_01: 13, 14, 15.
42:33
SPEAKER_00: Left in the spring in June of 16.
42:36
SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah, of 16.
42:37
SPEAKER_01: To go.
42:38
SPEAKER_00: I went a rent.
42:39
SPEAKER_00: So I I got offered a job at a school in Kentucky.
42:45
SPEAKER_00: Um, really liked the head coach.
42:47
SPEAKER_00: It was EKU.
42:48
SPEAKER_00: Really liked the coach.
42:49
SPEAKER_00: Eastern Kentucky?
42:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
42:50
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
42:51
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
42:51
SPEAKER_00: Really, really liked the coach at Saturday.
42:54
SPEAKER_00: It's a great program.
42:56
SPEAKER_00: They're doing great things now.
42:58
SPEAKER_00: Like doing fantastic things.
42:59
SPEAKER_00: Um got offered a job there, and then I got offered to help run a club just outside of Boulder, Colorado.
43:05
SPEAKER_00: I lived in Boulder in college for one year for internships.
43:09
SPEAKER_00: My sister lives there.
43:11
SPEAKER_00: Um, my wife, at the time we were just dating, but had been dating for a handful of years.
43:16
SPEAKER_02: Right.
43:17
SPEAKER_00: Um, we wanted something different.
43:20
SPEAKER_00: So, and and part of it, like I told you this earlier, like we all had a really good idea that Smurf was going to become the head coach at Western after Nate left to go to Liberty.
43:29
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
43:30
SPEAKER_00: And we were roommates the whole time we were in Kalamzu.
43:34
SPEAKER_00: We were so we're like brother and sister.
43:37
SPEAKER_00: I didn't want our relationship away from soccer to be affected by me being her her assistant in her first head coaching job.
43:45
SPEAKER_00: Something I look back on.
43:46
SPEAKER_00: I never even gave her the opportunity to have a conversation with me.
43:49
SPEAKER_00: She still gives me crap about it to this day.
43:51
SPEAKER_00: Um because she's such a brilliant soccer mind, too.
43:54
SPEAKER_00: And I would have learned even continue to learn from her.
43:57
SPEAKER_00: Um so I took the job.
44:00
SPEAKER_00: In Colorado.
44:01
SPEAKER_00: So I moved out there in June.
44:03
SPEAKER_00: My girlfriend at the time, that wife, Ashley, moved out in August.
44:07
SPEAKER_00: We were there.
44:09
SPEAKER_00: God, I think Ashley was in had lived there for six weeks, and I get a call from Andy Wagstaff.
44:15
SPEAKER_00: And he's like, hey, how's life?
44:17
SPEAKER_00: How's Colorado?
44:17
SPEAKER_00: How's this?
44:18
SPEAKER_00: And they had just gone Liverpool like a year, year and a half before that.
44:22
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
44:23
SPEAKER_00: Well, that transition seemed to really help the boys' side at the time, but the girls not so much, because then the platforms were really building at that point, right?
44:33
SPEAKER_00: And so he he's like, I want to talk, would you be interested in running the girls' side?
44:39
SPEAKER_00: Coming back and running the whole girl side, uh, older girl side at at Liverpool.
44:43
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, well, you know, some some homesickness had set in with me a little bit, uh, with with Ashley.
44:51
SPEAKER_00: And so we're like, well, let's talk about it.
44:53
SPEAKER_00: So we talked about it over some time, then went to came home for Thanksgiving, and they gave an offer that I couldn't con couldn't refuse.
45:01
SPEAKER_00: Like it's comfort, it's with people I trust, I know that got me into the game to the level.
45:07
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I was back home.
45:08
SPEAKER_00: So we I was out there nine months, and my and Ashley had only lived out there for seven, and we packed everything back up, came back.
45:18
SPEAKER_00: My best friend flew across the country, drove back.
45:21
SPEAKER_00: Two of my buddies came actually.
45:23
SPEAKER_00: Where in Colorado did you live?
45:24
SPEAKER_00: We lived in between Boulder and Denver.
45:25
SPEAKER_00: Uh we lived in Westminster.
45:27
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
45:27
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
45:28
SPEAKER_00: How close is that to Eagle?
45:30
SPEAKER_00: Eagles in the Mountains.
45:31
SPEAKER_00: Eagles in the Mountains?
45:32
SPEAKER_00: That's how it's probably a couple hours.
45:33
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
45:33
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
45:34
SPEAKER_00: So that's how I ended up out there, and then back.
45:37
SPEAKER_00: And then ironically, when I was the week leading into us moving back to Michigan, the Berkeley Girls Varsity job opened.
45:46
SPEAKER_01: And then boom.
45:47
SPEAKER_00: And so my buddy, who's the boys' varsity coach, Steve Alosa, calls me and is like, hey, would you want it?
45:51
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, yeah, I would.
45:53
SPEAKER_00: Um, so then went through like a kind of an interview thing.
45:57
SPEAKER_00: I'd already coached there for years.
45:59
SPEAKER_00: I graduated, grew up there.
46:01
SPEAKER_00: Um, so I got that job and I was there for three years.
46:04
SPEAKER_00: One another district, which was amazing my last year.
46:07
SPEAKER_00: And then that's when Shelton got the job at Detroit.
46:11
SPEAKER_00: And I ended up going with him for four years, and then this came up.
46:15
SPEAKER_00: That's a it's a pretty weird path.
46:18
SPEAKER_00: Like how I got so lucky to get in with force when I did.
46:22
SPEAKER_00: Because I was just a high school coach.
46:24
SPEAKER_02: Right.
46:24
SPEAKER_00: Just for a few years.
46:25
SPEAKER_00: It got in with Wagstaff, and he basically brought me in as like his just his little assistant dealing with a couple of his older girls' teams.
46:33
SPEAKER_00: This is right after their national championships.
46:35
SPEAKER_00: So the next couple crop of teams that were really talented.
46:38
SPEAKER_02: Right.
46:39
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I just sat there for a year learning from him.
46:44
SPEAKER_00: Like we traveled together.
46:46
SPEAKER_00: I went to every MRL event with him, went to every showcase with him, like when we went to Castle, Disney, whatever.
46:54
SPEAKER_00: Um, I got real, I I got really lucky.
46:57
SPEAKER_00: I had to grind for a little bit because then he gave me like my first club team to my own, and it was an age gap for force.
47:04
SPEAKER_00: They didn't even have a team at that age group, and I had to put a team together.
47:07
SPEAKER_01: When did you learn a lot from him in terms of like recruiting too and like from the club side of it?
47:15
SPEAKER_01: Or was it more of your time with Nate from that college?
47:20
SPEAKER_00: A lot from Nate when it comes to that.
47:22
SPEAKER_00: Andy, I I think Andy gave me some building blocks, okay.
47:25
SPEAKER_00: Portion of it, watching him with all the girls that that we had, um, and listening to conversations he would have with college coaches.
47:31
SPEAKER_00: And then when I got to Western, at that point I knew so many players in Detroit area, just because everybody played everybody.
47:40
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
47:41
SPEAKER_00: And so I knew a lot of the Jags people.
47:43
SPEAKER_00: And fortunately, through those first years or two with Force and traveling with Andy, we would go out and have dinner with the Jags guys.
47:53
SPEAKER_00: Back then it was GR crew and all these guys and Vardar guys.
47:58
SPEAKER_00: Um, so that's how I got to know all of them.
48:00
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
48:01
SPEAKER_00: And so that's why I say like I owe a lot to Andy because he he's a really good businessman, he's great at networking, he's a great guy.
48:08
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
48:08
SPEAKER_00: Well, he kind of helped me in that area to get me to the next step.
48:13
SPEAKER_00: And then Nate and Smurf were massive in teaching me the college game and how it worked and how you recruit and what you look for or what they like to look for, right?
48:24
SPEAKER_00: Everybody has an idea, right?
48:25
SPEAKER_00: Um, like to say that I got to work for directly under Andy Wagstaff and Club in his heyday, pretty impressive.
48:32
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
48:33
SPEAKER_00: Then to end up going and working with Nate earlier in his career as a head coach, and now he's the head coach at Notre Dame.
48:38
SPEAKER_00: Right.
48:39
SPEAKER_00: Like, I I got to work with two of the best and learn.
48:42
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
48:43
SPEAKER_00: And then even like Shelton has the things he's really, really good at.
48:47
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he's a really sharp guy.
48:49
SPEAKER_00: Then Batman, learning from him, he's been doing it 20.
48:52
SPEAKER_00: He was a division three head coach for 19 years.
48:56
SPEAKER_00: Been doing this forever.
48:57
SPEAKER_00: Ohio Northern.
48:58
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
48:58
SPEAKER_00: Built it from a little program that really, really struggled into team that made it to the lead eight, sweet 16s.
49:04
SPEAKER_00: They're really, really good.
49:05
SPEAKER_00: So I I have been very fortunate on who I've been networked and connected to and built relationships with.
49:14
SPEAKER_00: Because like Demir came into it.
49:16
SPEAKER_00: Like Demir, he's one of the best too.
49:18
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
49:19
SPEAKER_00: And I learned a ton from him and a lot from him of like things that you can worry about, things you don't need to worry about.
49:27
SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
49:28
SPEAKER_00: Because that's a great way to put Demir.
49:30
SPEAKER_00: Like, and he's just so good at it.
49:32
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I had like kind of like a when this all the whole merger thing happened, it's almost like an oh shit moment.
49:38
SPEAKER_00: So, one of the first times I ever had a conversation with Demir, we were in Hebron, Indiana.
49:44
SPEAKER_00: Uh-huh.
49:44
SPEAKER_00: And we were at the B dubs in Valpo.
49:48
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
49:48
SPEAKER_00: It was Todd Hugh.
49:50
SPEAKER_00: It was Demir, Andy Wagstaff and me.
49:52
SPEAKER_00: What year is this?
49:54
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I want to say 2009.
49:57
SPEAKER_00: Okay, wow.
49:58
SPEAKER_00: Right in that right.
50:00
SPEAKER_00: Like you're talking, this is like early days of me getting into the game.
50:03
SPEAKER_00: Okay, yeah, yeah.
50:04
SPEAKER_00: And I Andy had a team called MFC.
50:06
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you remember the group.
50:07
SPEAKER_00: It was kind of like a collaborated team.
50:09
SPEAKER_00: Andy took it, and they were really, really good.
50:11
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
50:11
SPEAKER_00: Damere had a good Vardar team at that same age group, like a really talented team.
50:15
SPEAKER_00: Well, they were going to play in State Cup.
50:17
SPEAKER_00: Well, this is on a Saturday.
50:20
SPEAKER_00: Demir had a crossover and couldn't, and Todd had a game.
50:24
SPEAKER_00: So Demir couldn't be there for like the first 10 or 15 minutes of his Vardar MRL game.
50:29
SPEAKER_00: And he asked, you know, myself and Andy, like, could you go just help start it?
50:35
SPEAKER_00: Everybody'll get my parents, it'll be cool.
50:36
SPEAKER_00: Right.
50:37
SPEAKER_00: So Andy's like, Well, we have a start game.
50:39
SPEAKER_00: Cliff can go do it.
50:40
SPEAKER_00: Like, okay.
50:41
SPEAKER_00: So I go, I don't know, I don't know the kids.
50:43
SPEAKER_00: I'm new into this.
50:43
SPEAKER_00: It's my first fall in club soccer.
50:45
SPEAKER_00: Right.
50:46
SPEAKER_00: And so the game goes on.
50:49
SPEAKER_00: He shows up great happy days.
50:50
SPEAKER_00: That night we go to beat ups.
50:52
SPEAKER_00: And I remember that was when State Cup was like legit.
50:56
SPEAKER_00: MFC and Varnar were in the same pool.
50:58
SPEAKER_00: They're in the same group.
51:00
SPEAKER_00: And I can't remember how I said it, but it was such a young, arrogant like statement.
51:06
SPEAKER_00: And I go, oh yeah, like MFC is gonna beat him like 3-0.
51:10
SPEAKER_00: Like I said it that matter-of-factly, like I knew all of everything, right?
51:14
SPEAKER_00: And Demir looks at me, and you know how nice he is.
51:17
SPEAKER_00: He looks at me and gives me these eyes, like, how can you say that?
51:20
SPEAKER_00: And I remember like my stomach dropped.
51:22
SPEAKER_00: So now fast forward, and I'd seen Demir, he's always great.
51:25
SPEAKER_00: It's because he's Demir.
51:27
SPEAKER_00: Fast forward to the merger to bring this up.
51:29
SPEAKER_00: He's like, Oh, I remember.
51:30
SPEAKER_00: I'll never forget that.
51:32
SPEAKER_00: But he goes, and I go, Yeah, I was a young punk, blah, blah, blah, blah.
51:35
SPEAKER_00: And he's like, Yeah, it's it is whatever.
51:38
SPEAKER_00: But that that's like my Demir story.
51:39
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, man, what a young idiot I was.
51:43
SPEAKER_00: And then fast forward, and we end up working together, and yeah.
51:48
SPEAKER_01: So then, man, it's crazy just how intertwined the Michigan soccer scene is.
51:57
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
51:57
SPEAKER_01: And just and how opposing coaches go to B dubs and hang out.
52:03
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
52:03
SPEAKER_01: And everybody hangs out.
52:04
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
52:04
SPEAKER_01: And everybody talks to each other.
52:06
SPEAKER_01: And it's like not every state is like this.
52:08
SPEAKER_01: When you went out to Colorado, way different.
52:11
SPEAKER_00: And I wasn't there long enough, and the club I was with was smaller, was about to merge in, and then they merged with another club into another club, another Lbion, I think, in Boulder.
52:20
SPEAKER_00: Albion's everywhere.
52:21
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, right.
52:22
SPEAKER_00: Kind of like surf and kind of like Rod.
52:24
SPEAKER_00: Correct.
52:25
SPEAKER_00: Um, I I don't know if I got enough of a feel for it because I was I literally only coached there for like a fall.
52:31
SPEAKER_00: Right.
52:32
SPEAKER_00: Because I left in March.
52:34
SPEAKER_00: Um, but what I will say is, and it kind of goes back to like you're seeing like names from Colorado, stuff like that.
52:42
SPEAKER_00: I went out to uh Colorado Rapids like ID, girls ID session, a camp, I guess you would say, in February.
52:50
SPEAKER_00: Got connected through my buddy Austin um with a guy named Anthony who who yeah, it's Anthony.
52:58
SPEAKER_00: Um, with everything out there.
53:01
SPEAKER_00: Um, he's he's like the the top recruiting guy with Rapids girls, like he knows everybody.
53:06
SPEAKER_00: I think he works with the boys too, but it's like separate from the academy out there.
53:10
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
53:11
SPEAKER_00: Um and so, you know, we're trying to reach a little bit more outside the box to get to know are there kids in Colorado that don't want to stay in Colorado because they've lived there their whole life, they want to go try something different.
53:24
SPEAKER_00: And ironically, some of the girls we've talked to, that's like their number one thing.
53:28
SPEAKER_00: They want to just get out of Colorado, yeah, because they know they can go back, right?
53:32
SPEAKER_01: And it probably everybody goes back to Colorado.
53:34
SPEAKER_00: Correct.
53:34
SPEAKER_00: They I feel like they either go to Colorado or they end up in California or they end up like you know.
53:39
SPEAKER_00: Um and this summer, they collaborated three of the bigger clubs, right?
53:45
SPEAKER_00: So you got Real, you've got Colorado Rush, and then the Rapids.
53:51
SPEAKER_00: They're doing three days of like ID stuff for girls recruiting.
53:55
SPEAKER_00: So on like a Tuesday in June, Real's doing something.
53:59
SPEAKER_00: That's Wednesday, Colorado Rush is doing something.
54:02
SPEAKER_00: On Thursday slash Friday, Rapids are doing something, and they all work together because it's it's a lot different than the Midwest, where you can drive to Chicago, India, to Cincy, Columbus, Detroit, doesn't matter.
54:15
SPEAKER_00: Um, Colorado's kind of out, it's it's an island, but it's not, right?
54:19
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of in the middle, middle, out, middle of nowhere, but not really.
54:23
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so they have to work to get all the, you know, to maximize the amount of college coaches that come, which is really, really cool.
54:31
SPEAKER_00: So um it's I guess so they probably some of the top clubs do work together a bit out there.
54:38
SPEAKER_00: I mean, this is just going off on step planning, but like even in Michigan, I think that's changed a little bit because it's so kind of it's kind of cutthroaty a little bit.
54:49
SPEAKER_01: It's almost like the GA guys get together more, and then the ECNL guys kind of stick together, yeah.
54:55
SPEAKER_01: And it's less of at least since I've been back for a month or whatever, yeah.
55:01
SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
55:02
SPEAKER_01: But that's good to know though, because I always worry about that because the Jags throw their event, right?
55:08
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and all these clubs come in and they're all at one, and it's three fields, and you get to see every field in the same game time.
55:18
SPEAKER_00: One of my favorite events.
55:19
SPEAKER_01: Every college coach says it.
55:20
SPEAKER_01: There's a reason why there's a hundred coaches there, correct.
55:22
SPEAKER_01: And I'm sure the Hawks the weekend before is the exact same way.
55:24
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they have a ton.
55:26
SPEAKER_00: Right.
55:26
SPEAKER_00: It's back to back.
55:27
SPEAKER_00: They used to be on the same weekend.
55:30
SPEAKER_00: Two years ago, that changed.
55:31
SPEAKER_01: But where would the Hawks be?
55:32
SPEAKER_00: Would they they'd be at the school craft bar.
55:34
SPEAKER_00: At school craft ball.
55:35
SPEAKER_00: And then Wixen would be all Jags and coaches would go back and forth.
55:38
SPEAKER_00: Then they broke, I don't know for whatever reason.
55:41
SPEAKER_00: Now Hawks, I think it's the weekend before, and then Jags.
55:44
SPEAKER_00: For me, who lives in Michigan and till comes down here, it's great.
55:48
SPEAKER_00: It's 20 minutes from craft.
55:49
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, 696, and I'm there.
55:52
SPEAKER_00: Um, but I mean, you were there this year, yeah.
55:55
SPEAKER_00: Like that event was bumping.
55:57
SPEAKER_00: It was awesome.
55:57
SPEAKER_00: Tons of college coaches, it's amazing.
55:59
SPEAKER_00: And it was like ACC.
56:01
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
56:02
SPEAKER_01: You know, like Kentucky Pitt was there.
56:04
SPEAKER_01: Of course.
56:05
SPEAKER_01: And it's like, oh, yeah, I didn't I wasn't expecting this.
56:09
SPEAKER_00: It's crazy.
56:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's but they do a good job of bringing in clubs, right?
56:14
SPEAKER_00: Like normally, like in previous years, it's like Nationals, Liverpool, Indie Premier, what they had Beadling this year.
56:21
SPEAKER_00: Um who else goes?
56:23
SPEAKER_00: FC, Pride, like all of those clubs.
56:26
SPEAKER_01: And did you say Indie 11?
56:28
SPEAKER_00: Uh I were they're not Indy 11.
56:31
SPEAKER_00: Indy Premier.
56:32
SPEAKER_00: Indy Premier.
56:32
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they were one team.
56:33
SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, we were watching that one team.
56:36
SPEAKER_01: The one girl, which is unbelievable.
56:39
SPEAKER_01: Do you I remember watching that game when I was with Doug, and we were like, that girl is uh probably a power four girl.
56:45
SPEAKER_00: And she did go power four, I can't remember where though.
56:47
SPEAKER_00: It was a big school.
56:49
SPEAKER_00: I don't think it was not her name.
56:51
SPEAKER_01: We were like whoa.
56:53
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, she was she was a woman among girls, and the girls were really good.
56:58
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly.
56:59
SPEAKER_00: She was just, yeah, she was this massive athlete.
57:01
SPEAKER_01: Is it how is that how it always is?
57:04
SPEAKER_00: Always.
57:05
SPEAKER_00: I don't know, always.
57:06
SPEAKER_00: I mean, you can pick out some of the kids that you're like, whoof, like who are they talking to?
57:12
SPEAKER_01: So I've had a girl uh that I've worked with, and she's going power four, and I'm like, ah, that's a mistake.
57:20
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
57:20
SPEAKER_01: I thought it was a mistake.
57:22
SPEAKER_01: She's doing great.
57:23
SPEAKER_01: That's great.
57:24
SPEAKER_01: And I was wrong.
57:25
SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
57:25
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I mean, nobody bats a thousand, man.
57:28
SPEAKER_00: It's impossible.
57:28
SPEAKER_00: It's crazy.
57:29
SPEAKER_00: It's it's really hard.
57:30
SPEAKER_00: And then you get kids that you think are gonna do really well, and then they don't.
57:34
SPEAKER_00: And then they don't.
57:35
SPEAKER_00: But then they find homes that end up working out really well, right?
57:39
SPEAKER_01: So And that's why the portal is good.
57:41
SPEAKER_01: Everybody, everybody complains about the portal, and it's like, do you know what you wanted to do when you were 17?
57:48
SPEAKER_01: Because that's when these decisions have to be made.
57:50
SPEAKER_00: At the latest almost, with some of them for the big schools, right?
57:53
SPEAKER_00: Like, I mean, you might only be 16.
57:55
SPEAKER_01: Do you think that the recruiting process is going later?
57:59
SPEAKER_01: Or is it I do?
58:00
SPEAKER_00: I do.
58:01
SPEAKER_01: Do you think that they could ever move that June 15th date and move it to like January 15th?
58:08
SPEAKER_00: Of their software or junior year?
58:10
SPEAKER_00: Of their junior year.
58:12
SPEAKER_00: I mean, they I don't see why they couldn't because everything schools are gonna be.
58:16
SPEAKER_01: Do you think you'd benefit?
58:17
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
58:18
SPEAKER_00: I don't know, because right now I think with the amount of action in the portal, like this year at Florida ECNL, for instance, from my from what I saw going and watching that age group, right?
58:29
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, there were more high-level 2027 still available at Florida than I've ever seen for those like juniors, I guess, ever.
58:41
SPEAKER_00: There was a girl that we really I I watched, I'm like, this girl's unbelievable.
58:45
SPEAKER_00: She wasn't committed yet.
58:46
SPEAKER_00: Two months later, committed to Ohio State.
58:49
SPEAKER_00: Stud.
58:51
SPEAKER_00: And she was granted, high school in Ohio is in the fall.
58:55
unknown: Right.
58:56
SPEAKER_00: So that does change some things and delay some things, but like there were a lot of very, very good players available at Florida that I don't know in previous years would have been.
59:07
SPEAKER_00: And maybe it's the portal roster cap having to take more time throughout the process for the pieces you bring in.
59:14
SPEAKER_01: Because like on the club side, girls get so impatient and get worried.
59:19
SPEAKER_01: They see their teammates commit earlier and like, oh no, I gotta commit.
59:24
SPEAKER_01: And then they sometimes they go with the first school that it shows interest, and then it's like, if you just wait, yeah, deep breath.
59:32
SPEAKER_01: If you just waited just a little bit, yeah, you would have maybe found a better fit.
59:35
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
59:35
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes, like I always say, like, I do feel at some point a player gets a gut feeling of like, this is the school I need to, this is the school for me.
59:45
SPEAKER_02: Right.
59:46
SPEAKER_00: If you get that feeling and it it checks your boxes, by all means commit, right?
59:52
SPEAKER_00: But if it doesn't check all your boxes, but it's got a cool logo, that that's I think when players get in trouble.
59:59
SPEAKER_01: When you okay, let's say you make the call on June 15th.
1:00:04
SPEAKER_01: How quickly do you want them to get in here for a visit?
1:00:07
SPEAKER_00: We can't bring them on until August, anyways.
1:00:09
SPEAKER_00: So August.
1:00:10
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you can't bring them on until August.
1:00:11
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I had a girl last year that committed pre I I want to say in September.
1:00:16
SPEAKER_01: She got the calls on June 15th, committed by September.
1:00:19
SPEAKER_01: I think she went on campus at Sept on September in September and committed like maybe that week.
1:00:25
SPEAKER_00: I think that happens.
1:00:26
SPEAKER_00: Like we've had that.
1:00:27
SPEAKER_00: We've had that multiple players that we talk to them around June 15th, stay in touch with them through July, get them on campus in August.
1:00:36
SPEAKER_00: It's a kid we've seen multiple times and were sold on, which we probably wouldn't call them on June 15th if we hadn't.
1:00:43
SPEAKER_00: Then it's an offer.
1:00:44
SPEAKER_00: Like we've I don't we've had kids commit in August.
1:00:48
unknown: Yeah.
1:00:48
SPEAKER_00: Um, September, October, November, those are probably the busiest when it comes to that stuff.
1:00:55
SPEAKER_01: What happens once they commit?
1:00:57
SPEAKER_01: How often are you touching base with them once they commit?
1:01:01
SPEAKER_01: Because I've seen once a girl commits, the weight of the world is off their shoulders and they I can relax out.
1:01:10
SPEAKER_01: It's like you can chill.
1:01:11
SPEAKER_01: It's like, no, you this is when you need to ramp it up even more.
1:01:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think it takes away the like the anxiety of the recruitment process because it's a lot, and it's a roller coaster ride for the kids, right?
1:01:21
SPEAKER_01: Right.
1:01:21
SPEAKER_00: Um probably for you guys too.
1:01:23
SPEAKER_00: Sure, because some days you think you're gonna get a kid, then you don't get it.
1:01:26
SPEAKER_01: Then you don't get it.
1:01:27
SPEAKER_01: And then you're pumped because you're like, yeah, we got her, and then yeah, yeah.
1:01:31
SPEAKER_00: Um, but like I like even last night, I'm sitting watching the Pistons game, yeah, and I'm like, man, I haven't talked to this girl, this girl, and this girl in three weeks, or I haven't talked to this one in a month.
1:01:43
SPEAKER_00: Batman's reaching out, Sam's reaching out too, but we all try and keep points of contact with all the girls that are committed.
1:01:49
SPEAKER_02: I like it.
1:01:49
SPEAKER_00: Um, so I just shot a text off to a couple of them, you know, last night and they got back to me like, oh, things are good.
1:01:55
SPEAKER_00: I just had prom or I had this going on.
1:01:58
SPEAKER_00: Like, soccer's a little bit kind of in lull right now.
1:02:01
SPEAKER_00: We're just training a lot, not a lot of games.
1:02:03
SPEAKER_02: Right.
1:02:04
SPEAKER_00: Um, just checking in with them, and then they're like, Oh, how are you?
1:02:07
SPEAKER_00: How's how's Peyton with my daughter?
1:02:09
SPEAKER_00: How is how's how's Toledo?
1:02:11
SPEAKER_00: The girls are all moving home, all this stuff.
1:02:13
SPEAKER_00: Um, it's just quick.
1:02:14
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes in my commute, it's a good time for me to call people too.
1:02:18
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, not in the morning, but on my way home, I'll I'll reach out to one of them and talk to one of them for 20 minutes and then call another one.
1:02:24
SPEAKER_00: Talk for 20 minutes.
1:02:25
SPEAKER_00: Batman does the same stuff, so does Sam.
1:02:27
SPEAKER_00: Because it's important.
1:02:28
SPEAKER_00: They need to still feel a part of, even if they're not coming for a year and a half, right?
1:02:33
SPEAKER_00: Still feel connected, and you don't want any type of anxiety to creep back in.
1:02:39
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I haven't heard from them in a while.
1:02:41
SPEAKER_01: Right.
1:02:41
SPEAKER_00: Like I committed and now they they just whatever.
1:02:44
SPEAKER_00: I heard from them every other day while they're recruiting me.
1:02:48
SPEAKER_00: So we try not to overly call them and text them after they commit, but stay in touch so they know what's going on here because this is gonna be their program in a year and a half, two years.
1:03:00
SPEAKER_00: Right.
1:03:00
SPEAKER_00: So we try and we try and communicate as much as we can without it being over the top.
1:03:06
SPEAKER_01: What's the latest let's say class of let's say last year's class?
1:03:12
SPEAKER_01: How many did you guys bring in?
1:03:13
SPEAKER_01: 20 uh 2025.
1:03:15
SPEAKER_01: Oh 10.
1:03:17
SPEAKER_00: Oh wow, it was a big class.
1:03:18
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was big.
1:03:19
SPEAKER_01: Why was it so big?
1:03:20
SPEAKER_00: Just needed to.
1:03:21
SPEAKER_01: Because the COVID seniors graduated.
1:03:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you had that going on.
1:03:25
SPEAKER_00: Um, what we inherited roster size when we first got here, that first spring, was 16 field players, three goalkeepers, one goalkeeper out injured, with only two signed.
1:03:36
SPEAKER_00: And that's January, February going in.
1:03:39
SPEAKER_00: So did you guys all come in together?
1:03:41
SPEAKER_01: You and Batman?
1:03:42
SPEAKER_00: So Batman was hired in uh January of 23.
1:03:46
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
1:03:46
SPEAKER_00: Sam was his assistant that previous fall at ONU with him, and she's alumni.
1:03:50
SPEAKER_00: She played here.
1:03:51
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
1:03:52
SPEAKER_00: So she she came with him right away, but she got, I think her like higher date was like two or three weeks later, just because of the HR process.
1:03:58
SPEAKER_01: So same year, just not at the exact same time.
1:04:01
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I I got I took the job at the end of January, but started mid-February-ish because I was still running, like helping with ECNL stuff at Liverpool and was the regional league director and had all that going on, and I didn't want to leave them in a bad spot, knowing that all of those girls are going to high school at the beginning of March.
1:04:22
SPEAKER_00: And I just bolt with six weeks left.
1:04:24
SPEAKER_00: Like, so we we found a way to balance it to where I came kind of in between when I got off when I took the job and when the girls would have left.
1:04:33
SPEAKER_00: Right.
1:04:33
SPEAKER_00: Like Batman's like, I don't want you to put them in a bad spot.
1:04:37
SPEAKER_00: So like he yeah, he wanted me to get here, but he also wanted to make sure that the club was taken care of.
1:04:43
SPEAKER_00: Got it.
1:04:44
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but yeah, so tw so you had 10 in 2025.
1:04:51
SPEAKER_01: Okay, well were any of those really late?
1:04:55
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we had I got one of the I'm trying to think which one was the latest in that class.
1:05:01
SPEAKER_00: It was a player that was originally committed at a P4, and then um the whole roster cap stuff, all of that.
1:05:12
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and um decided it wasn't a fit for her.
1:05:16
SPEAKER_00: And she looked at three different schools, and we ended up being able to get her.
1:05:24
SPEAKER_00: Um, and that would have been, I want to say it was like October?
1:05:28
SPEAKER_00: October of her senior year.
1:05:29
SPEAKER_00: So that is considered late.
1:05:31
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's later.
1:05:32
SPEAKER_00: I would I would say so.
1:05:33
SPEAKER_01: I mean you could so by spring of 2000 uh of your senior year, by spring of your senior year, you're done looking for anybody in that class.
1:05:43
SPEAKER_00: I mean normal, I would think for the most part, because at that point you're gonna probably go to the portal.
1:05:48
SPEAKER_00: Our first spring, we were recruiting that spring for kids to come in the fall.
1:05:53
SPEAKER_01: Right.
1:05:54
SPEAKER_00: And it was like eight of them.
1:05:56
SPEAKER_00: It was nuts.
1:05:58
SPEAKER_00: That that spring was there.
1:06:00
SPEAKER_00: Lot of mornings I woke up and I'm like, what am I doing today?
1:06:02
SPEAKER_00: Like it's it was so chaotic.
1:06:04
SPEAKER_00: It was recruit this, recruit this, recruit this, being here, do going out.
1:06:08
SPEAKER_00: Like we we were traveling all over just to get it all put together, and then over time, knowing it was gonna take a bit to really get this thing going.
1:06:20
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:06:20
SPEAKER_00: Um, and we're still in that process.
1:06:23
SPEAKER_01: Because you haven't had a full year or a full recruit yet.
1:06:28
SPEAKER_00: 25 this past fall was the first class since we got here that we recruited every player.
1:06:33
SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
1:06:34
SPEAKER_01: 25.
1:06:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the 24 class, there were a few that were committed prior to us in that class.
1:06:40
SPEAKER_00: They had more committed to that class than the class previous when we got the job.
1:06:46
SPEAKER_00: And then, like one of the girls, she was an all Mac freshman player that year in 24 freshman year.
1:06:53
SPEAKER_00: She was an all Mac freshman team player.
1:06:55
SPEAKER_00: We got her in March of her junior year.
1:06:57
SPEAKER_01: So it's gonna be until 2029 when all of your players are all yours.
1:07:03
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
1:07:04
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:07:05
SPEAKER_01: For the most part.
1:07:06
SPEAKER_00: Uh uh 28.
1:07:09
SPEAKER_01: 2028.
1:07:10
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, right around there.
1:07:11
SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah, it's 28.
1:07:13
SPEAKER_01: 25, 26, 20.
1:07:14
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, 28.
1:07:15
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that insane?
1:07:16
SPEAKER_00: That is wild.
1:07:17
SPEAKER_01: And I love like looking at this board because it's it's wild.
1:07:20
SPEAKER_01: I mean, oh, so you have like next year's uh let's call it depth chart.
1:07:25
SPEAKER_00: And so the depth portion of it isn't actually the depth portion of it, if that makes sense.
1:07:32
SPEAKER_00: Right.
1:07:32
SPEAKER_00: That's just when we were putting it up there.
1:07:34
SPEAKER_00: It's like, okay, this is how it looks.
1:07:36
SPEAKER_00: This is this is how many of this positions.
1:07:38
SPEAKER_00: So like what in the fall, when we get back during preseason, then we'll start, we'll start kind of moving things around when it comes to that.
1:07:46
SPEAKER_00: So, like, that's almost just as I copied it over to the 27 year.
1:07:51
SPEAKER_01: Right.
1:07:51
SPEAKER_00: And then as girls have added, like if they've committed and and whatnot, that's how it they've just been added to it.
1:07:58
SPEAKER_01: So when you look at like okay, let's look at 2028.
1:08:02
SPEAKER_01: So when you look at that, you're basically looking at that, and what I'm looking at is your depth chart or position by position.
1:08:13
SPEAKER_01: And then you go over to your big board of recruits and you're like, uh, we are weak on the right side right now for that year.
1:08:21
SPEAKER_01: So we need more, or maybe the attacking center mid and we need more employers.
1:08:25
SPEAKER_01: And then, so you guys, are you guys dialed into where you guys are positioned specific on your recruiting?
1:08:33
SPEAKER_00: Yes, I think we're fine.
1:08:34
SPEAKER_00: I think we're definitely at that point.
1:08:36
SPEAKER_00: And then I think the other piece of it is you're never gonna turn away a kid, regardless of position, if you know they're gonna help you.
1:08:43
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, if you close the door on that, right?
1:08:45
SPEAKER_00: Man, you better be winning a lot, right?
1:08:48
SPEAKER_00: Like we're never gonna turn down, like say we had eight forwards, and you got a kid that wants to come that you know is going to come in and score 10 goals for you.
1:08:58
SPEAKER_00: Right.
1:08:59
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna say no to her?
1:09:00
SPEAKER_00: No, of course not, right?
1:09:02
SPEAKER_00: So I like this helps us map it out so much easier.
1:09:08
SPEAKER_00: Um, and obviously size-wise is bigger.
1:09:11
SPEAKER_00: You could do it on your computer any way you want.
1:09:13
SPEAKER_00: Of course, but this way, I'm looking at that constantly.
1:09:18
SPEAKER_01: I would want it written out on a on a board like that because yeah, it's it's just different.
1:09:25
SPEAKER_01: It is definitely writing, pen to paper.
1:09:29
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
1:09:29
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like, and as we go, it'll you'll start getting kids committed offers.
1:09:35
SPEAKER_01: And then you just you erase them, and then you just keep moving down the list.
1:09:39
SPEAKER_00: So, like this list, will we reach out to all of them?
1:09:41
SPEAKER_00: No.
1:09:42
SPEAKER_00: That's that's nuts.
1:09:44
SPEAKER_00: There's no way we could reach out to all those kids.
1:09:47
SPEAKER_01: Have you reached out to every single kid that's on that list right now?
1:09:51
SPEAKER_00: Not no, because you can't.
1:09:52
SPEAKER_00: We can't reach out.
1:09:53
SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, they're all 2010s.
1:09:54
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, those are all the 28s.
1:09:56
SPEAKER_00: So so then 27, we've had conversations with uh pretty much all of them.
1:10:03
SPEAKER_01: Do you ever like, okay, so look at the 2027s, right?
1:10:07
SPEAKER_01: Or or maybe so they can also contact you on June 15th, right?
1:10:12
SPEAKER_01: Correct.
1:10:12
SPEAKER_01: So do you ever uh like you're in the middle of like your calls and stuff like that, and then one person on your big board actually reaches out like you'll get you'll get a text on time just interested before you even get to call her.
1:10:25
SPEAKER_00: Text her email.
1:10:26
SPEAKER_00: You'll get emails, or at least we'll get emails from like everybody 28s, 29s, yeah, 29.
1:10:32
SPEAKER_00: How many emails do you guys get?
1:10:34
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I bet Batman gets the most for sure, but I bet every day, like recruits, anywhere from 25 to 70, it just depends what's going on.
1:10:44
SPEAKER_00: God, it's it's chaotic when you get closer to events, oh that's because you register.
1:10:50
SPEAKER_00: So for like an ECNL event, you go in and register, and then the players can go look and be like, okay, all these schools are going, and they might mass email, they might specifically email to you, and those events are pretty crazy.
1:11:03
SPEAKER_00: Even the ones we're not signed up to going for.
1:11:05
SPEAKER_01: That's the crazy part.
1:11:06
SPEAKER_01: Do you guys even do you guys ever not register and just go?
1:11:12
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
1:11:13
SPEAKER_00: No, no, I think we probably register almost every time.
1:11:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:11:17
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:11:18
SPEAKER_00: Because why not?
1:11:20
SPEAKER_01: Right.
1:11:20
SPEAKER_00: I guess what and you do want the kids to know that you're there.
1:11:23
SPEAKER_00: Right.
1:11:24
SPEAKER_00: And why like why wouldn't you register?
1:11:27
SPEAKER_00: Right.
1:11:27
SPEAKER_00: I guess is the point.
1:11:29
SPEAKER_01: How do okay, when you're looking at events?
1:11:33
SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, it's getting weird.
1:11:35
SPEAKER_01: Playoffs are coming up, right?
1:11:36
SPEAKER_01: So are all three of you gonna go?
1:11:38
SPEAKER_01: Just two of you, just one of us.
1:11:41
SPEAKER_00: Okay, how do you attack that?
1:11:43
SPEAKER_00: So I've gone the past three years.
1:11:46
SPEAKER_00: The first year I went by myself to San Diego.
1:11:49
SPEAKER_02: And my head was spinning.
1:11:51
SPEAKER_00: Spinning.
1:11:52
SPEAKER_00: I'd call I'd call Batman and Sam and Tex and be like, I don't know what time of the day it is right now.
1:11:57
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what feel like other than I just walked by Grant Hill because his daughter's playing over there.
1:12:03
SPEAKER_00: Like that was the his name and his wife manages the show.
1:12:06
SPEAKER_00: Oh, nice.
1:12:07
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, good pistons.
1:12:09
SPEAKER_00: Um and um then year two was Seattle.
1:12:13
SPEAKER_00: Sam and I went out for that one.
1:12:16
SPEAKER_00: Um and that one was obviously you have two people, it's way more manageable.
1:12:20
SPEAKER_00: But then this past year, I went by myself to San Diego again, and I think what made it easier was we're a little bit further along in where the program was in general when it comes to players and what we know we need and what we're looking for.
1:12:37
SPEAKER_00: Um, and we had uh another coach, she's a former player.
1:12:42
SPEAKER_00: Sam was out, uh, she had a baby this summer.
1:12:45
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
1:12:45
SPEAKER_00: And so she she was out of the office, obviously, on maternity leave.
1:12:50
SPEAKER_00: And so um a former player came on to help out, like kind of fill, fill the role with like to take over some of the tasks that that Sam is so good at, and I want nothing to do with.
1:13:02
SPEAKER_00: Um, or bet like she is she's a big piece of glue for the program, like does so much stuff for us.
1:13:08
SPEAKER_00: And so if we didn't bring somebody else in, our lives would have been, and I have a baby, like life would have been chaos.
1:13:16
SPEAKER_00: So we we her name is Chloe.
1:13:17
SPEAKER_00: She was a former player, bought into us from day one.
1:13:21
SPEAKER_00: Amazing kid, awesome.
1:13:23
SPEAKER_00: All the players always love her, we loved her.
1:13:25
SPEAKER_00: So she wanted to see what this was kind of like the lifestyle.
1:13:28
SPEAKER_00: So she came in and she's from LA.
1:13:30
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
1:13:31
SPEAKER_00: So she just drove down and hung out with me for a day at San Diego to recruit.
1:13:36
SPEAKER_00: So it helped with organizing it a little bit.
1:13:39
SPEAKER_00: Didn't really like help from a standpoint of okay, you're gonna go watch the yeah, like you're gonna go watch this field, I'm gonna go here.
1:13:46
SPEAKER_00: Like, like what happens if it's Sam and I or Batman and Sam or Batman and I, just like any other staff, right?
1:13:52
SPEAKER_00: Um, so playoffs are can be chaotic.
1:13:55
SPEAKER_00: Florida, if you go by yourself, it'd be really chaotic.
1:13:58
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's the big it's from my understanding, the biggest one, right?
1:14:02
SPEAKER_00: Most teams, biggest complex.
1:14:04
SPEAKER_00: And it's RL and it's they do it separate.
1:14:07
SPEAKER_01: It's separate locations.
1:14:08
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so you can go to RL.
1:14:09
SPEAKER_00: They kind of offset it, so you can go to like a day or two of RL and then travel from Samford over to Lakewood Ranch and do that.
1:14:18
SPEAKER_00: Like we we've recently just gone to uh Florida, but I went out to regional playoffs in St.
1:14:26
SPEAKER_00: Louis two years ago.
1:14:28
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
1:14:28
SPEAKER_00: Because GTFC was in RL at that point, and they had players.
1:14:32
SPEAKER_00: Like they're good.
1:14:32
SPEAKER_00: There's a reason they got bumped into exactly.
1:14:35
SPEAKER_00: They got some players.
1:14:36
SPEAKER_01: They were undeniable.
1:14:38
SPEAKER_01: They got to a point where they were undeniable.
1:14:40
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they've done they've done a really, really good job.
1:14:42
SPEAKER_00: Like Mike Aubrey's done a great job.
1:14:44
SPEAKER_00: Uh Josh is a great coach.
1:14:46
SPEAKER_00: He's a grinder, man.
1:14:47
SPEAKER_00: Like, he coached like six teams.
1:14:48
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, you're a legend.
1:14:50
SPEAKER_00: Really?
1:14:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he's a legend.
1:14:51
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:14:52
SPEAKER_00: But he loves it.
1:14:53
SPEAKER_00: Like, whenever I talk to him, he loves it.
1:14:55
SPEAKER_00: Um, but they we had to go out and see them play in that environment because it was the other top RL teams at the RL playoffs.
1:15:04
SPEAKER_00: That's right.
1:15:04
SPEAKER_00: And so I flew out there to St.
1:15:07
SPEAKER_00: Louis for like two days, got to watch all the teams, and and they did really well.
1:15:11
SPEAKER_00: I think that was the year their 08s won the national championship.
1:15:14
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:15:15
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:15:15
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
1:15:16
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was great.
1:15:17
SPEAKER_01: And now, now that they're in the ECNL, you guys could just go.
1:15:21
SPEAKER_01: You guys just go down the street.
1:15:22
SPEAKER_01: This weekend.
1:15:23
SPEAKER_01: They've got games of the year.
1:15:24
SPEAKER_00: Who are they playing?
1:15:24
SPEAKER_00: West New York Flash.
1:15:26
SPEAKER_00: I believe they play West New York Flash and Cleveland Forest.
1:15:29
SPEAKER_00: Really?
1:15:30
SPEAKER_00: Batman's going to it, yeah.
1:15:31
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
1:15:32
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:15:33
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:15:34
SPEAKER_01: I mean, yeah.
1:15:35
SPEAKER_01: It helps a lot.
1:15:36
SPEAKER_01: So think about like how many players you get to watch.
1:15:39
SPEAKER_01: Now, okay.
1:15:40
SPEAKER_01: So when you're going to a GTFC or anybody is going to a bunch of Hawks games, does it help seeing that same player ten times, or are you mostly watching players from the other clubs coming in?
1:15:57
SPEAKER_01: When you're at when you go to a local club.
1:16:00
SPEAKER_01: Bull both.
1:16:01
SPEAKER_01: It's both.
1:16:02
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:16:02
SPEAKER_00: Like and what's easy is with me being in Michigan.
1:16:05
SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure.
1:16:06
SPEAKER_01: You can go to Hawks, you could go to Liverpool, you can go to Nationals.
1:16:10
SPEAKER_00: I can I can go to their trainings.
1:16:12
SPEAKER_01: Because how big is that?
1:16:14
SPEAKER_01: Um is that bigger?
1:16:17
SPEAKER_01: Do you do you like doing that more than going and just watching games?
1:16:20
SPEAKER_00: I think it's a different way of evaluating.
1:16:23
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
1:16:24
SPEAKER_00: Because you're not in a competition from a standpoint of a match or a game, right?
1:16:28
SPEAKER_00: You're in a training environment where what do they do in between every drill?
1:16:32
SPEAKER_00: Joke around, go get water.
1:16:35
SPEAKER_00: You see how they interact with teammates a little bit more in that environment.
1:16:39
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so it just depends what the session's like.
1:16:43
SPEAKER_00: Like I've gone to Nationals training sessions of like David's and Harkins and stuff, and I don't run anything.
1:16:50
SPEAKER_00: I just sit there and I watch.
1:16:51
SPEAKER_01: Right.
1:16:52
SPEAKER_00: And and get to watch the players have done that a bunch.
1:16:55
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then you can go to, and they always offer it, but all the clubs offer like you can run sessions and you can do this and you can do that.
1:17:03
SPEAKER_01: Um, have you guys done that at all?
1:17:05
SPEAKER_00: A little bit, a little bit, yeah.
1:17:07
SPEAKER_00: Like I I those sessions are good.
1:17:11
SPEAKER_00: I like I did one with Midwest, but they had like a I like a team camp.
1:17:17
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
1:17:17
SPEAKER_00: Um, and we actually have two of the girls that I met when I ran a session out there, that would have been three years ago.
1:17:24
SPEAKER_00: Um, that I because I was interacting with them so much within the session, it helped in the recruiting process.
1:17:31
SPEAKER_00: Right.
1:17:31
SPEAKER_00: A little bit more comfortable when I call them on the phone then.
1:17:34
SPEAKER_00: Um and they get to see my like who who I am.
1:17:38
SPEAKER_00: And like I like to joke around at times.
1:17:40
SPEAKER_00: Like I'm one of the most competitive people you'll meet, but like I'm also the everything in life can't always be so serious.
1:17:47
SPEAKER_00: No, right?
1:17:48
SPEAKER_00: And especially with when you're talking about recruiting and watching these kids, you have to find a balance between like them feeling comfortable and enjoying being around and coached by you, but then it being competitive and hard because they want to be competitive.
1:18:01
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and you got to be yourself, right?
1:18:03
SPEAKER_01: Because like these kids, and and this is uh one if I'm talking to one of my performer players, is like you live with that person, yeah.
1:18:12
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you you're you're basically you're on the road, you're in hotels, you're eating meals, all the time.
1:18:19
SPEAKER_01: Here all the time, yeah.
1:18:20
SPEAKER_01: Four years, five years, some, and then you're just it's you better know that if you like that person, correct.
1:18:27
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and that was part of like even what Batman said about when he brought me here was when when they brought me on campus, he's like, I had to see if I could stand being in an office for eight hours with the person or travel and be with the person, like whoever he hired, it it's no different when it comes to that than it is with the players and how they react, right?
1:18:45
SPEAKER_00: Like, I mean, yeah, we spend a lot of time just like a lot of time together, and then we're with the girls a lot, and they're always together.
1:18:52
SPEAKER_00: Like our group is so close.
1:18:55
SPEAKER_01: When you're at a game, like let's say that one of those Jags uh showcase games, are you there to watch the game, or are you just looking at one player specifically?
1:19:07
SPEAKER_01: And then because I'm what I'm asking that because I want to know how often you're going to watch one player and then somebody else on the other team, or somebody else on that on her team maybe just jumps off the page.
1:19:21
SPEAKER_00: That happens.
1:19:22
SPEAKER_00: That that certainly happens.
1:19:23
SPEAKER_01: One of my best players that I've ever had uh was recruited like that.
1:19:28
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:19:28
SPEAKER_01: And they were watching somebody else on the other team, and they were like, who the hell is this girl?
1:19:32
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's the so one of our 20 girls coming in 26 this fall.
1:19:38
SPEAKER_00: It was at the Jack Showcase two years ago.
1:19:41
SPEAKER_00: And Sam and I were there, and we're like, she's a stud.
1:19:45
SPEAKER_00: She's really good, and she was she's a tigers kid.
1:19:47
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
1:19:47
SPEAKER_00: This is before GA, right?
1:19:49
SPEAKER_00: When were they in?
1:19:50
SPEAKER_01: Like in the National League or whatever it was.
1:19:53
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
1:19:54
SPEAKER_00: And they were a really good team.
1:19:56
SPEAKER_00: Like, really good team.
1:19:57
SPEAKER_00: And we Sam and I both really, really, really liked her.
1:20:01
SPEAKER_00: And um, but we weren't there necessarily to watch the Tigers team.
1:20:08
SPEAKER_00: They were playing nationals, and nationals seemed really good.
1:20:12
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and that kid jumped off the page for us.
1:20:14
SPEAKER_00: So she was one of our early, like first calls.
1:20:17
SPEAKER_00: We're like, we love this kid, and before other people see her even more, we we need to get on the phone with her.
1:20:23
SPEAKER_00: Um and thankfully she ended up coming because I think she's going to be very, very good in her career here, right?
1:20:29
SPEAKER_00: But there, that's the perfect example for you.
1:20:31
SPEAKER_00: Like, we have one coming in 27, PDA kid.
1:20:35
SPEAKER_00: I got some emails, I was in Dallas at ECNO, got some emails from a couple girls on the team.
1:20:40
SPEAKER_00: So I'm like, all right, I'm gonna go out and watch.
1:20:42
SPEAKER_00: And this kid kept jumping off the page to me, and I'm like, huh.
1:20:46
SPEAKER_00: I really like that kid.
1:20:48
SPEAKER_00: And she I and her and I joke about it now is I look to see if she emailed me at any point ever.
1:20:55
SPEAKER_00: She emailed me like a year before.
1:20:58
SPEAKER_00: And you didn't even uh well I couldn't respond at that point either.
1:21:01
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, because it was before the recruiting age, and so then fortunately, we end up getting her on the phone after I went after I saw her in Dallas.
1:21:10
SPEAKER_00: I saw her for like two and a half games down there, two games, and then she ends up with us.
1:21:15
SPEAKER_00: But like that again, I went to that field to look at everybody, obviously.
1:21:20
SPEAKER_00: Right, but you have a couple people that have reached out that you want to individually get something back that you know something about them.
1:21:26
SPEAKER_00: If it's a kid you think could definitely help you, somebody you want to see again, or somebody you just don't think is gonna really be a fit for your program, and then you find another kid that you end up loving.
1:21:36
SPEAKER_01: Right.
1:21:36
SPEAKER_00: Like, and and I think that kid's gonna do a really good job in her career for us.
1:21:40
SPEAKER_01: How how important is emailing you when you can't talk to them?
1:21:49
SPEAKER_01: Because you kind of just said it.
1:21:50
SPEAKER_01: It's like you want to like, has this kid ever reached out?
1:21:53
SPEAKER_01: Right, because then you know if they're actually interested.
1:21:56
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, sure.
1:21:57
SPEAKER_00: I like I think it starts just getting your name there, like just get your name out there.
1:22:02
SPEAKER_00: Like you can email me every day.
1:22:03
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, my like I always tell people like you can you can email out as often as you want, right?
1:22:09
SPEAKER_00: Because what what are they gonna remember at one point?
1:22:11
SPEAKER_00: The name of the email, yeah, always at some point, and that was part of the thing with that one player, is I'm like, man, I know that name.
1:22:20
SPEAKER_00: And she had emailed us before, and I'd like I'm like, man, but she emailed us well before.
1:22:26
SPEAKER_00: So I I think it's always good to start early.
1:22:30
SPEAKER_00: Now, I don't think you should be emailing when you're in eighth grade or anything like that.
1:22:34
SPEAKER_00: Um really 10th grade.
1:22:37
SPEAKER_01: 10th watching, okay.
1:22:39
SPEAKER_01: What uh what are ninth graders right now?
1:22:41
SPEAKER_01: 2030s?
1:22:43
SPEAKER_00: They would be 2029s.
1:22:45
SPEAKER_01: 2029s.
1:22:45
SPEAKER_01: Are you even you don't even have a board for 2029?
1:22:48
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, this will all start shifting.
1:22:50
SPEAKER_01: Right.
1:22:51
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we we won't like we know we probably will will know of a couple players, but we're still I mean, there's still t space if we want to bring in another 27.
1:23:02
SPEAKER_01: Right.
1:23:03
SPEAKER_00: So it's it's kind of balancing out what you ultimately need for the now, and then still having a plan for the future.
1:23:10
SPEAKER_00: That's why having you know four years up there helps out because you see how it naturally is going to go and where you're gonna what years you're gonna have to bring in what.
1:23:20
SPEAKER_00: And because you don't want to bring in a class of 15 to kind of fill in, right?
1:23:26
SPEAKER_00: Um so because nowadays, I mean, I don't think you'll ever see a class of 15 freshmen.
1:23:32
SPEAKER_01: No.
1:23:34
SPEAKER_01: How often do club coaches reach out to you on behalf of a player versus you see the player reach out and then you know they're a club coach and you reach out, which happens more?
1:23:50
SPEAKER_00: I think mean seeing a player what who their coach is and then reaching out, and then you're like, oh, it's Demir.
1:23:58
SPEAKER_00: I mean, call Demir.
1:23:59
SPEAKER_00: Correct, I'll call Demir, I'll call Scoby, I'll call Derek, I'll call David.
1:24:02
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, easy.
1:24:03
SPEAKER_00: But it does go the other way too, though.
1:24:05
SPEAKER_00: There are some coaches out there that do a really good job of reaching out, saying, hey, my kid's really interested in this.
1:24:11
SPEAKER_00: Right.
1:24:11
SPEAKER_00: And being being at Toledo, we'll just use us, like here, being um, and so at that point, then that that conversation is pretty easy.
1:24:21
SPEAKER_00: It's okay.
1:24:21
SPEAKER_00: Tell me about her if I don't know about her already.
1:24:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, uh, but the other way happens a lot.
1:24:25
SPEAKER_00: Like after an event, you'll see, like, yeah, I could go, we'll we can stick to the Liverpool thing, like see Liverpool kids that that we like, or Sam might, and we'll just reach out to Damir.
1:24:36
SPEAKER_00: We'll reach out to Jen and see, or we'll reach out to if like Javi's the coach, reach out to Javi and be like, hey, what are your thoughts?
1:24:42
SPEAKER_00: If you like where's she at in the process, what what does she want?
1:24:46
SPEAKER_00: Same thing with like David.
1:24:48
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:24:48
SPEAKER_00: David, call him, say, hey, I really like this kid.
1:24:51
SPEAKER_00: What are your thoughts?
1:24:53
SPEAKER_00: You know, um, and I I would say all the coaches, all the directors we kind of deal with and coaches we deal with, and I can say Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, that's like our hub, right?
1:25:06
SPEAKER_00: That's where the bulk of our roster is from.
1:25:09
SPEAKER_00: We can get like we can get feedback from directors and coaches pretty easily.
1:25:13
unknown: Right.
1:25:13
SPEAKER_00: Like they're willing, willing to pick up the phone, willing to talk.
1:25:18
SPEAKER_00: It's awesome.
1:25:19
SPEAKER_01: Do you want clubs?
1:25:20
SPEAKER_01: Do you like it when they have like a recruiting director?
1:25:23
SPEAKER_01: Or do you deal more with their just the their direct coach?
1:25:30
SPEAKER_01: I think or maybe the ECNL director.
1:25:33
SPEAKER_00: Sure.
1:25:33
SPEAKER_00: I don't think it really matters.
1:25:34
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
1:25:35
SPEAKER_00: To be honest.
1:25:36
SPEAKER_00: I mean, because just again, thinking in that hub, like we'll call a coach or we'll call the director.
1:25:44
SPEAKER_00: Normally, I feel like so, like David's a college recruiting director, right?
1:25:48
SPEAKER_00: Or that's part of his gig.
1:25:50
SPEAKER_00: I'll call him about a player.
1:25:52
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:25:53
SPEAKER_00: Right.
1:25:53
SPEAKER_01: Um, because you know that he's gonna know every single kid in the middle of the year.
1:25:56
SPEAKER_00: Every single kid at Nationals, right?
1:25:58
SPEAKER_00: Um at Jags, I'll call Derek or Scoby.
1:26:02
SPEAKER_00: I'll call those two, right?
1:26:04
SPEAKER_00: But a lot of it is long-term relationship too, right?
1:26:07
SPEAKER_00: Like I've known Scoby for 15 years, I've known David four or five years, but like he lives a half a mile from me.
1:26:16
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
1:26:16
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, so like if it comes to hawks, like normally it's talking to Doug or Michelle.
1:26:24
SPEAKER_00: Um, but they're they're all very because they want their kids to get recruited and they want to help their kids.
1:26:30
SPEAKER_00: Like nobody can take anything away from any of those with how much they care about helping their kids get to the next level.
1:26:37
SPEAKER_02: Right.
1:26:38
SPEAKER_00: They'll always do what they can to help a kid.
1:26:41
SPEAKER_00: And I mean, I I can't think of a single single director or coach that like I've ever called that just has like never gotten back to me about a kid, especially if it's like an individual kid.
1:26:54
SPEAKER_00: They they they do a good job and they they have so many things going on because that's not all they're doing.
1:27:00
SPEAKER_00: They're coaching teams, they're running the overall program that has you know, if you have the three levels of ECNL, it's 18 teams.
1:27:10
SPEAKER_01: How it seems like you guys get eyes on these kids in person, yeah, more than more often than not, obviously.
1:27:20
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know what I mean?
1:27:21
SPEAKER_01: So, like, what about a kid that's in New Jersey?
1:27:25
SPEAKER_01: Like, like if they if they email you, yeah, what do you want to see?
1:27:29
SPEAKER_01: And like, what gets you because I was thinking about this, like, okay, playoffs are coming out.
1:27:34
SPEAKER_01: You're not gonna go watch Liverpool or Hawks or you are.
1:27:42
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
1:27:43
SPEAKER_01: You'll still like because you want to see them against like, okay, if it's a Hawks, if it's a Hawks 2010 girl and she's better playing against slammers, yeah, maybe you want to go out and see this girl that you might be looking at and seeing her against that competition.
1:27:56
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and and who knows, maybe you have an offer out to a kid on that team.
1:28:00
SPEAKER_00: And you go into that game shows more support, and that gets you the kid.
1:28:04
SPEAKER_00: Or it's another contact point, too, right?
1:28:07
SPEAKER_00: It's another event.
1:28:08
SPEAKER_01: They've seen me play 10 times.
1:28:10
SPEAKER_00: I might not sit there for the entire game.
1:28:12
SPEAKER_00: I might have to bounce around.
1:28:14
SPEAKER_00: But like we I and I think I think it was when you when you spoke with Lewis, I think it was kind of the same thing.
1:28:20
SPEAKER_00: And he his response was pretty similar.
1:28:22
SPEAKER_00: It's like, yeah, you'd be shocked.
1:28:24
SPEAKER_00: We'd still go see nationals all these.
1:28:26
SPEAKER_01: We're all driving, we're all flying to San Diego, and we're all looking at but that's only a chunk, right?
1:28:32
SPEAKER_00: Like that's that's only like a piece to the whole recruiting pie at that event.
1:28:36
SPEAKER_00: Right.
1:28:36
SPEAKER_00: There's still all the other teams that are there.
1:28:39
SPEAKER_00: You're just gonna make sure you get eyes and are at, yeah, like we're always gonna go watch a Hawks game in the playoffs.
1:28:46
SPEAKER_00: We'll always go watch Nationals, Liverpool, we'll always go see those local ECNL teams, OP, Ohio Elite, Indie 11, always.
1:28:55
SPEAKER_00: But that's only a part of your day.
1:28:58
SPEAKER_00: You have a day, you get there at 7:30, you're not leaving until 7.
1:29:01
SPEAKER_00: Right.
1:29:02
SPEAKER_00: Right?
1:29:02
SPEAKER_00: So, and that only is in, it's only so much of the day that it takes up.
1:29:07
SPEAKER_00: So, um, yeah, it's kind of it is kind of funny to think like, oh, you're gonna fly to San Diego and you're gonna go watch like Hawks against uh I don't know, Solar.
1:29:18
SPEAKER_01: I mean, okay, I'm gonna put you to the test here.
1:29:22
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
1:29:23
SPEAKER_01: Let's look at the 2028 list.
1:29:26
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:29:28
SPEAKER_01: How many of those in that list?
1:29:31
SPEAKER_01: Let's say there's what, 35 names, maybe 40?
1:29:34
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, probably in that range.
1:29:36
SPEAKER_01: How many reached out to you first via email?
1:29:41
SPEAKER_00: I'll go with half.
1:29:42
SPEAKER_00: Really?
1:29:43
SPEAKER_00: I'll say half at some point.
1:29:44
SPEAKER_00: Really?
1:29:45
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:29:46
SPEAKER_00: I bet you I bet you half.
1:29:48
SPEAKER_00: Maybe a little less.
1:29:50
SPEAKER_00: Okay, maybe a little less.
1:29:52
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
1:29:52
SPEAKER_01: So in the email, were you immediately was it anything that they did that got you immediately interested?
1:30:00
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes they have highlight videos.
1:30:01
SPEAKER_01: They should always have they should always have it.
1:30:05
SPEAKER_00: Those will, those are never gonna sell you on a kid, right?
1:30:07
SPEAKER_00: Because it's their highlights.
1:30:10
SPEAKER_00: And anybody can make a highlight.
1:30:11
SPEAKER_00: I could still look good at soccer at my age, right?
1:30:14
SPEAKER_00: If I made myself a highlight video.
1:30:16
SPEAKER_00: Right.
1:30:16
SPEAKER_00: But at the end of the day, it's gonna pique your interest.
1:30:19
SPEAKER_00: So that way, you know, you're gonna like if I get an email from a couple of those kids, that's when reaching out to, especially like it's a good highlight video, decent little resume, stuff like that.
1:30:30
SPEAKER_00: And I might reach out to the director prior, or I might go watch them, be like, all right, I'm going to Phoenix.
1:30:37
SPEAKER_00: That's why they're emailing me.
1:30:39
SPEAKER_00: I gotta build out my schedule.
1:30:41
SPEAKER_00: Perfect.
1:30:42
SPEAKER_00: They I have a slot that they play at three o'clock that I can make it to their game, go see them, and then from there, like the way we do, we build out like so say the event is Saturday, Sunday, Monday.
1:30:55
SPEAKER_00: We'll build out our Saturday and our Sunday on on, you know, like we'll it'll be on Google Sheets, whatever, because then it's easy for if it's multiple of us to be there.
1:31:07
SPEAKER_00: The night before, we'll go over and be like, okay, Batman wants to see these games, Cliff's gonna see these games.
1:31:16
SPEAKER_00: Next day, we'll go through all of that.
1:31:18
SPEAKER_00: Then after Saturday, that night, go out to dinner, we'll go through all those games and talk about the players, what we and then new players that we saw.
1:31:28
SPEAKER_00: And then you start saying, Okay, Cliff, like Batman will be like, I really want you to go see this game and this game.
1:31:36
SPEAKER_00: So then I'll go to that and be like, okay, well, we can see this team on Monday morning because we really need to see this game.
1:31:42
SPEAKER_00: We'll delete that game for the day and move it to the next day to see that that team play.
1:31:47
SPEAKER_00: So we it become the first day we build out the schedule, that thing's solid.
1:31:52
SPEAKER_00: Like, we're gonna go see those games.
1:31:54
SPEAKER_00: We just pick who's gonna go see them.
1:31:56
SPEAKER_00: Day two is always fluid.
1:31:58
SPEAKER_00: How is it gonna work out?
1:32:00
SPEAKER_00: Right, which is kind of fun.
1:32:02
SPEAKER_00: I I this is the part that like I love.
1:32:05
SPEAKER_00: I like it's one of like the recruiting aspect of things is my favorite.
1:32:09
SPEAKER_00: I love it.
1:32:10
SPEAKER_01: Do you wish because a lot of people say, why uh why are the showcases three days or three games when most college coaches aren't there the third day?
1:32:19
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, it's tough.
1:32:20
SPEAKER_01: It is tough, and it's tough for the kids that are like let's say let's say that you are a kid that maybe is the 13th kid on the roster, but you're still gonna play div Division I soccer.
1:32:32
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
1:32:33
SPEAKER_01: But maybe you play half the game on Saturday, half the game on Sunday, yeah, and then on Tuesday or whatever that third or Monday, that third game, maybe you're playing the whole time.
1:32:44
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
1:32:44
SPEAKER_01: And then those girls are so depleted because the day that you saw them was Saturday.
1:32:51
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
1:32:52
SPEAKER_01: And then they got to play they played 90 on the third day, and then they scored two goals, and they're like, Well, put it in your highlight tape because you don't need I think I I think the reason they add the third day is bang for their buck.
1:33:05
SPEAKER_00: It's already expensive.
1:33:06
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we all know that, right?
1:33:08
SPEAKER_00: Like the cost of just being on some of these teams and then with the travel, like if ECNL is asking you to fly to Phoenix and you're from New Jersey or you're from Michigan, yeah.
1:33:16
SPEAKER_00: Granted, you have to you pick what events and then it's kind of like how you get in.
1:33:20
SPEAKER_00: But say that one fits with their their schedule, they're going all with all the way out the games to what play two games?
1:33:26
SPEAKER_02: Right.
1:33:27
SPEAKER_00: That's the problem.
1:33:27
SPEAKER_00: So I think that at least that would be the reasoning of why they add a third game.
1:33:33
SPEAKER_00: And there are coaches that do stay.
1:33:35
SPEAKER_01: Do you guys try to stay?
1:33:37
SPEAKER_01: Um just depends on your flight.
1:33:40
SPEAKER_00: Flight part's huge, right?
1:33:41
SPEAKER_00: Because who wants layovers?
1:33:43
SPEAKER_00: Right?
1:33:43
SPEAKER_00: And so that it limits your pool.
1:33:45
SPEAKER_00: But like this past year at Florida, ECNL, Batman and I were down there.
1:33:50
SPEAKER_00: We watched all day on like the Saturday, all day on the Sunday, and then our flight was like mid-afternoon out of Sarasota.
1:33:57
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:33:57
SPEAKER_00: So we didn't have to go up to Tampa.
1:33:59
SPEAKER_01: Right.
1:33:59
SPEAKER_00: So we were like, okay, we can go catch, I think we caught two or three time slots, and then we went to the airport.
1:34:06
SPEAKER_00: Perfect.
1:34:07
SPEAKER_00: So now the ones later in the day, I bet you they have the least amount, right?
1:34:11
SPEAKER_00: And like that sucks.
1:34:14
SPEAKER_00: But they're still getting a third game, and you never know.
1:34:16
SPEAKER_00: Maybe the one coach that shows up to that game is the is the one for you.
1:34:20
SPEAKER_00: You just don't know.
1:34:21
SPEAKER_01: How many girls have you found on third days?
1:34:24
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
1:34:24
SPEAKER_00: You've you find them all the time.
1:34:26
SPEAKER_00: All the time.
1:34:26
SPEAKER_01: And do you guys now that GTFC is still is now an ECNL full, do you guys still find yourself going to RL?
1:34:35
SPEAKER_01: Like national events?
1:34:36
SPEAKER_01: Like when you were down in Florida, were you did you go to RL?
1:34:39
SPEAKER_00: No, we didn't.
1:34:40
SPEAKER_00: We went the last one, might have been playoffs two years ago that we went.
1:34:45
SPEAKER_01: When GTFC was in the playoffs.
1:34:47
SPEAKER_00: Correct.
1:34:47
SPEAKER_00: And it was to solely evaluate those groups because we had to see them play against the better level of it.
1:34:55
SPEAKER_00: Not saying the other teams aren't good, they don't have good players because they do.
1:34:59
SPEAKER_00: But again, it it was like they're in our backyard.
1:35:02
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:35:03
SPEAKER_00: And if that's the way we're gonna see them, we gotta do it.
1:35:06
SPEAKER_00: Like you just you don't have another option.
1:35:08
SPEAKER_00: So um, because there are RL players out there that are good, like that are good enough to be division one coach.
1:35:15
SPEAKER_00: There's D1, yeah.
1:35:16
SPEAKER_00: There's D1 kids in National League.
1:35:18
SPEAKER_00: It's just it goes back to, and a lot of people say this, and maybe you've heard this, but like if budgets are only so big, right?
1:35:27
SPEAKER_00: Right.
1:35:27
SPEAKER_00: And if you're you have to be very economical when it comes to your recruiting budget or just your budget in general.
1:35:34
SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna obviously spend money on going to where there are more bang for your buck, right?
1:35:42
SPEAKER_00: Like more, more players, more teams, high-level things like that, just because there's a only so much of our time, and we're gonna go to X amount of events, so we need to make sure that we're going to events that we can see the the quantity of quality, the quantity of quality, right?
1:35:59
SPEAKER_00: Right?
1:35:59
SPEAKER_00: Um, and that that can be challenging when you start going to some of the other levels.
1:36:05
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
1:36:06
SPEAKER_01: Do you man, I love it.
1:36:10
SPEAKER_01: And you know, forever I've I've heard that okay, recruiting is 90% or 80% or whatever percentage you want to put on it.
1:36:20
SPEAKER_01: College athletics is 80 to 90 percent.
1:36:23
SPEAKER_02: Right.
1:36:25
SPEAKER_01: And then I'm looking at this, I'm like, yep, that's like, do you I feel that I would enjoy this part more than on the field?
1:36:37
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, no, like it just depends the time of the year, I guess, right?
1:36:42
SPEAKER_00: Like I mean, in season, nothing beats in season.
1:36:44
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, in season.
1:36:44
SPEAKER_00: Well, sometimes it can when you're stressed to the max, but part of that is like you just drive yourself to want to be the best you can be.
1:36:52
SPEAKER_00: So like the fall is great, yeah.
1:36:54
SPEAKER_00: And yeah, it's competitive as hell, especially in the Mac, right?
1:36:58
SPEAKER_00: Like absolute grinder of a conference, really good teams.
1:37:03
SPEAKER_00: Um, then once the season gets over, you almost need like a little break.
1:37:07
SPEAKER_00: Like you need like a week or two to like decompress and and relax, and then it's like a lot of focus goes to this.
1:37:14
SPEAKER_01: So, how much of this are you focused on during the season?
1:37:17
SPEAKER_01: Not at all, really.
1:37:18
SPEAKER_00: No, you still are, but it's just so much harder to get out.
1:37:21
SPEAKER_00: Like, I'll I'll catch some games in Michigan in the fall because I'm leaving down here driving home, and um and we train on a on a Saturday morning, right?
1:37:35
SPEAKER_00: So then I have the afternoon.
1:37:37
SPEAKER_00: So I'll I'll I'll catch some of those games.
1:37:40
SPEAKER_00: Um what ones are really beneficial at that time of the year, to be honest, is if like Nationals plays Hawks.
1:37:47
SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
1:37:48
SPEAKER_00: Nationals play Liverpool, Liverpool plays Hawks, or Jacks plays Midwest.
1:37:54
SPEAKER_00: Right, that's almost when you really, really want it to be two teams that are in your backyard because you're getting more bang for your buck because you're not out, you're not able to get out as much.
1:38:03
SPEAKER_02: Right.
1:38:04
SPEAKER_00: So why not with the clubs that you recruit a lot from get to see them both in the fall?
1:38:10
SPEAKER_00: Right?
1:38:10
SPEAKER_00: So that that part's really beneficial, but like we're not traveling and flying anywhere during the fall season.
1:38:17
SPEAKER_00: We're too embedded in our our girls, our team, our season.
1:38:22
SPEAKER_00: And then it kind of gets going after that, depending if you go to Phoenix or not in November.
1:38:27
SPEAKER_00: That's normally where it starts picking up.
1:38:31
SPEAKER_01: So your system, right?
1:38:33
SPEAKER_01: You got a 352, right?
1:38:35
SPEAKER_01: Or three two three two or whatever, or whatever you want to call it.
1:38:40
SPEAKER_00: Now we'll see if we stick with it.
1:38:43
SPEAKER_01: Let's say, let's say one of the 2028s is strictly a 433 and she's an uh you know a right back on a flatback four.
1:38:54
SPEAKER_01: Like, the like how how does that play into everything?
1:39:00
SPEAKER_00: It does.
1:39:01
SPEAKER_00: So ironically, we just tried this out for the spring.
1:39:05
SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
1:39:06
SPEAKER_00: Right?
1:39:06
SPEAKER_00: So before that, if you would have been I'll cut this out.
1:39:08
SPEAKER_01: So the most.
1:39:10
SPEAKER_00: Well, if you if you would have came uh in like December, for instance, right?
1:39:15
SPEAKER_00: You would have saw like a 4-4-2 diamond.
1:39:19
SPEAKER_00: That's what they all would have been, because that's what we played in the fall.
1:39:22
SPEAKER_01: Why change?
1:39:23
SPEAKER_01: Is it because of the personnel that's going out, or is it because you guys want the the signs of the times is this?
1:39:30
SPEAKER_01: Ah, it seems like it is.
1:39:32
SPEAKER_00: Well, you gotta look at it, right?
1:39:33
SPEAKER_00: We regardless of injuries and everything from our fall season, did we win the Mac?
1:39:39
SPEAKER_00: No, we gotta find a way to, right?
1:39:41
SPEAKER_00: So something's gotta change.
1:39:43
SPEAKER_00: So now you have to figure out ways.
1:39:45
SPEAKER_00: And our biggest, our biggest issue in the fall was scoring goals, which is a lot of teams, right?
1:39:50
SPEAKER_00: Of course.
1:39:51
SPEAKER_00: So we had to find a way and a system that helped.
1:39:54
SPEAKER_00: The reason we were a 4-5-1-4-3-3 type team up until last fall.
1:40:02
SPEAKER_00: And then in game two, it was game two against Cincinnati, we changed because we had injuries, and we realized we can't play that system and be effective.
1:40:13
SPEAKER_00: So we had like to the level we needed to to compete, so we had to go to a four-four-two diamond, and or whatever way you want to call it, right?
1:40:22
SPEAKER_00: Basically, it was a four for two diamond.
1:40:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, um, and then we're like, well, we can try this out.
1:40:26
SPEAKER_00: So at that point, like if you would have seen this in July, it was all four through three, all every single year.
1:40:33
SPEAKER_00: Then you it's whatever we're playing right now, because we could come in in July and be like, we liked it, but let's take a look at this, and then we look at that and and we train with it, and we're like, ooh, that fits.
1:40:49
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, if you came in here in August, that could be all different, right?
1:40:54
SPEAKER_00: So, and and back to part of your question, like if it's an out, we try and it's change things to obviously be successful, but that also has to do with what your talent has, right?
1:41:08
SPEAKER_00: Like what they're good at.
1:41:09
SPEAKER_00: You have to match the system to your players, right?
1:41:12
SPEAKER_00: So there's all of that conversation too.
1:41:15
SPEAKER_00: So if we have like a stud outside back that is great in a back four, that's gonna be a part of our conversation when we think about playing a three back or playing a different shape that doesn't allow them to do their what they do, because that changes how you're able to be successful.
1:41:33
SPEAKER_01: When you're recruiting, do you see the versatility of a kid?
1:41:38
SPEAKER_01: Like in terms of like I believe that if I'm the if I'm working with a player in my former role, right?
1:41:46
SPEAKER_01: And I always liked developing the technical skill of a 10.
1:41:53
SPEAKER_01: Because I believe that if you have a 10 or a 6, you can play every single field position.
1:41:59
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
1:41:59
SPEAKER_01: And I think that you're can be more versatile.
1:42:03
SPEAKER_01: And I think the more versatile you are, the more likely you are going to play as a freshman.
1:42:08
SPEAKER_01: If you're only a 10 that can only play the 10 that can't play out wide, you're not gonna get on the field.
1:42:15
SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be really hard.
1:42:16
SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be really hard.
1:42:18
SPEAKER_01: And I I just always try to tell people because people, okay, in my role, everybody would complain to me about what is happening at their club because I'm not part of a club.
1:42:29
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I I'm Aaron Burn-ish.
1:42:32
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, like I get the players in and they're like, Man, I want to play the 10 all the time, but then she comes in and then I get moved, kicked out wide, and I'm like, and now I look at back and I'm like, you have a better college career than that girl.
1:42:46
SPEAKER_01: You know why?
1:42:47
SPEAKER_01: Because she could play, and then this girl can only play the 10.
1:42:50
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:42:51
SPEAKER_01: She didn't even get on the field until she was a junior.
1:42:53
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
1:42:54
SPEAKER_01: Stuff like that.
1:42:54
SPEAKER_00: Part of that is a big part of it.
1:42:56
SPEAKER_00: So, like one of our incoming 26s, one of the things we loved about her was that she was a big, strong athlete.
1:43:03
SPEAKER_00: That I as of three months ago, I could have told you she could be a center back, she could be an outside back, she could be a wing back, she could be a target, yeah, she could be a forward.
1:43:14
SPEAKER_00: Like, you could put her in a magnitude of different areas, and she's gonna help you.
1:43:20
SPEAKER_00: And that was one of our biggest reasons on why we wanted her.
1:43:23
SPEAKER_00: Big, strong athlete that's versatile.
1:43:25
SPEAKER_00: Who doesn't want that?
1:43:26
SPEAKER_02: Right.
1:43:26
SPEAKER_00: Right?
1:43:27
SPEAKER_00: Um, and that player, like unfortunately, went through an injury, but ultimately when she comes back, that's what her role's gonna be.
1:43:38
SPEAKER_00: Is she's like a plug-and-play kid.
1:43:42
SPEAKER_01: Do you think that the Mac has a style of play?
1:43:45
SPEAKER_01: No, because all you guys are different.
1:43:47
SPEAKER_00: Way different.
1:43:49
SPEAKER_00: Look at my here's what I would say are two of the a couple like BG.
1:43:55
SPEAKER_00: Really good in possession, very technical, very methodical, um like to build.
1:44:02
SPEAKER_00: Patient.
1:44:02
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, very and he does a great job at teaching that too, to be fair.
1:44:06
SPEAKER_00: Right.
1:44:06
SPEAKER_00: And it was effective.
1:44:07
SPEAKER_00: They made it to the Mac Championship, right?
1:44:10
SPEAKER_00: You have a couple other programs that are way more direct, more like we're gonna grind you down, we're gonna play big, we're gonna play in your half, we're then gonna press the heck out of you, we're gonna force you into mistakes, and we're gonna score goals.
1:44:23
SPEAKER_00: Right.
1:44:24
SPEAKER_00: Those are two polar opposite styles aside.
1:44:26
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, right?
1:44:27
SPEAKER_00: Um, I think you do have teams that are kind of a blend of the two.
1:44:30
SPEAKER_00: We're probably in there, just depends.
1:44:33
SPEAKER_00: We're not gonna pass, we're not gonna connect 75 passes to go forward, but we're also not only gonna connect one.
1:44:41
SPEAKER_01: Right.
1:44:41
SPEAKER_00: It's we always say it's choice and moment, right?
1:44:44
SPEAKER_00: Like best choice in the moment.
1:44:45
SPEAKER_00: So um, no, I think the Mac has, and that's what makes it harder.
1:44:50
SPEAKER_00: That makes it like because what if you play BG on a Thursday, but you go play Maya of Ohio on Sunday?
1:44:57
SPEAKER_01: Right.
1:44:57
SPEAKER_00: They're both completely different style teams, both really good, successful teams that play two completely different styles.
1:45:04
SPEAKER_01: And how much of that is dictated?
1:45:07
SPEAKER_01: How much do you dictate your starting lineup based on how you play?
1:45:10
SPEAKER_01: Or is it always the same starting lineup?
1:45:12
SPEAKER_01: It's just the tactics and the the message changes.
1:45:15
SPEAKER_00: I think tactics message more than general personnel, but like if say a team's completely healthy, you might see a little bit of movement within the starting lineup from game to game.
1:45:26
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:45:26
SPEAKER_00: Maybe if you look at it one month to the next month, that could be the a little bit more drastic.
1:45:31
SPEAKER_00: But I would say it's more like our scout and prep for that game.
1:45:40
SPEAKER_00: Which is fun.
1:45:40
SPEAKER_00: That's the fun part of it, right?
1:45:41
SPEAKER_00: Like you get to come in as a that that's part of the job.
1:45:44
SPEAKER_00: You come into an office, watch a bunch of film, meet as a staff, and go talk about soccer.
1:45:49
SPEAKER_00: Like, it's awesome.
1:45:50
SPEAKER_01: During the season, what's your primary role?
1:45:53
SPEAKER_01: Is it scout and like game plan, or is it is it the training?
1:45:58
SPEAKER_01: Is it both?
1:45:58
SPEAKER_01: Is it all of it?
1:45:59
SPEAKER_00: Is it it's probably one of my favorite parts about working with Batman?
1:46:03
SPEAKER_00: He trusts his staff.
1:46:05
SPEAKER_01: Delegates.
1:46:07
SPEAKER_00: Oh, it's it's really fun because I run a lot of technical.
1:46:12
SPEAKER_00: Because again, from my background of working with Nate, he loves passing patterns.
1:46:16
SPEAKER_00: I love technical passing patterns and little technical stuff.
1:46:19
SPEAKER_00: It really, like, especially when it goes really well, it's a great way to start a training session.
1:46:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and we're talking no non-contact, no pressure.
1:46:28
SPEAKER_00: That's it.
1:46:29
SPEAKER_00: Get the ball moving, buzzing around.
1:46:31
SPEAKER_00: I do a lot of that, and then it just depends.
1:46:33
SPEAKER_00: Like Bat Batman will do that some days too.
1:46:35
SPEAKER_00: Like, some some role, some days I'll run the training session and he'll watch and he'll talk to individual players throughout.
1:46:42
SPEAKER_00: Then maybe the next day he's like, I'm gonna run it all.
1:46:46
SPEAKER_00: You you kind of watch and have individual conversations just to mix it up a little bit.
1:46:50
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
1:46:51
SPEAKER_00: Um and to have that trust is awesome.
1:46:55
SPEAKER_00: Like it's so like he he genuinely trusts what my thoughts are, and like I'd never have to like go to him and tell him something I think to go tell this player.
1:47:06
SPEAKER_00: Like, he he's so good at delegating and having trust in us.
1:47:10
SPEAKER_00: Um, like Sam deals with the goalkeepers a lot and field players, she goes back and forth because we also have another coach that helps out with goalkeepers.
1:47:18
SPEAKER_00: So, depending on if he's here that day, so if he's here that day, Sam's more with the field player sometimes.
1:47:24
SPEAKER_00: Her role kind of switches back and forth, which is pretty cool because she was a goalkeeper, right?
1:47:28
SPEAKER_00: A really good one.
1:47:29
SPEAKER_00: So she can benefit, she benefits the team doing both.
1:47:32
SPEAKER_00: Um, so when it comes to scout and all of that, Sam breaks down the film a lot.
1:47:39
SPEAKER_00: And then, like last fall, I did I did a lot of that because she was out, obviously.
1:47:44
SPEAKER_00: But she'll do film and she'll present a lot of it, and then Batman and I will chat, like we'll bring out our points in the film that she picks out, and then I do a lot of our scout where but Batman does a bit of both, if that makes sense.
1:47:58
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because he's the head coach, right?
1:47:59
SPEAKER_00: So, like he'll I'll do a scout and we have like a template, put it all together, we give it to the girls, we give it to each other first, and we go over it, and he might see something from when he was watching a bit of film on a team from what my scout was.
1:48:14
SPEAKER_00: So we'll talk about it.
1:48:15
SPEAKER_00: If we have to adjust, we will.
1:48:16
SPEAKER_00: So I get to do the scout a lot, which is fun.
1:48:19
SPEAKER_00: So I why scout my life away when you go into scout, are you?
1:48:25
SPEAKER_01: I mean, obviously you're doing both, but are you more offensively minded, or are you like, this girl might be a real problem, and we gotta like we gotta start that.
1:48:36
SPEAKER_01: We gotta start with how can they hurt us?
1:48:39
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
1:48:40
SPEAKER_01: And if they have a player, and then sometimes you're probably like, they can't hurt us.
1:48:44
SPEAKER_01: Okay, let's focus on how we can hurt that.
1:48:46
SPEAKER_00: Sure.
1:48:47
SPEAKER_00: I think a lot of it is prep of what shape they play and what style, right?
1:48:53
SPEAKER_00: We talk about step pieces, tendencies and step pieces.
1:48:56
SPEAKER_00: That's number one.
1:48:57
SPEAKER_00: It has to be, right?
1:48:58
SPEAKER_00: Um, then we'll talk about their offensive tendencies, certain key players.
1:49:05
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's a girl, it's their goal scorer, their center back, whatever.
1:49:09
SPEAKER_01: Key players negative and positive.
1:49:11
SPEAKER_00: Correct.
1:49:11
SPEAKER_01: Because if you think that you can exploit somebody.
1:49:14
SPEAKER_00: Yep, yep.
1:49:15
SPEAKER_00: And then we'll talk about their defensive tendencies, and then we'll talk about what we need to focus on in our attack to be successful.
1:49:24
SPEAKER_00: Same thing defensively, the things we need to make sure we do defensively to help us be successful.
1:49:30
SPEAKER_00: So that's all on one document, and then we go over that, like I'll present that to the girls.
1:49:36
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and sometimes actually, sometimes Batman will too.
1:49:39
SPEAKER_00: Um, but he always will, because he's always a part of the process, but he entrusts us so much, which is it's awesome.
1:49:48
SPEAKER_00: I love it.
1:49:49
SPEAKER_01: So I just finished this book, right?
1:49:52
SPEAKER_01: Aaron Rodgers from uh OU actually like the Picker Ball Champion like he uh Linked me with him.
1:50:01
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:50:01
SPEAKER_01: And the daughter is going to be a senior at OU.
1:50:05
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
1:50:06
SPEAKER_01: And he wrote a book.
1:50:07
SPEAKER_01: It's called Soccer Dad.
1:50:08
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:50:09
SPEAKER_01: And basically, it's just about her career as a player in a club, obviously.
1:50:15
SPEAKER_01: But then it's like her path.
1:50:17
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:50:17
SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's cool.
1:50:19
SPEAKER_01: The dad wrote it.
1:50:19
SPEAKER_01: And it's like basically it's his, it's her path, but it's his path together.
1:50:24
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:50:25
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, it's cool.
1:50:26
SPEAKER_01: And so they it's very interesting because her career has kind of gone like this.
1:50:31
SPEAKER_01: Like she's like on ESPN for topics.
1:50:33
SPEAKER_01: Oh, and then it goes down.
1:50:36
SPEAKER_01: It's like, how do you help the players ride the roller coaster of a college season?
1:50:42
SPEAKER_01: How many times are you getting a knock on the door be like?
1:50:44
SPEAKER_00: A lot.
1:50:44
SPEAKER_01: Can I talk to you?
1:50:46
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:50:46
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we we jokingly say it's it's like I have Dr.
1:50:50
SPEAKER_00: Phil moments.
1:50:51
SPEAKER_00: So, like, uh, which is part of the reason I love the job.
1:50:56
SPEAKER_00: Like, I love helping them one way or another understand, know where they're at with us, help them with things through sport that will help them outside of sport, right?
1:51:08
SPEAKER_00: Um it happens a lot, like it's it's a lot of listening, it's a lot of some of the girls just want to come vent just because they're stressed out, right?
1:51:19
SPEAKER_00: So sometimes they don't even, I don't need to say anything.
1:51:21
SPEAKER_00: Or if they go meet with Sam or with Batman.
1:51:24
SPEAKER_00: Like it's just they need to get things off their chest, and that helps.
1:51:27
SPEAKER_00: It's good.
1:51:27
SPEAKER_00: Some of them come in and want direct advice, some of them want very transparent feedback, like because they're frustrated.
1:51:35
SPEAKER_00: I feel like I I like could have played more and helped us more.
1:51:38
SPEAKER_00: Well, okay, let's have that discussion.
1:51:41
SPEAKER_00: Like it's okay.
1:51:42
SPEAKER_00: We we say our doors are always open, we'll always have a conversation with you about anything, right?
1:51:49
SPEAKER_00: Right?
1:51:49
SPEAKER_01: Could be school, could be boyfriend, could be girlfriend, could be very good.
1:51:54
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, of course.
1:51:55
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes you might not like what we have to say, but you'll like when it comes to soccer stuff, you might not like what comes out of our mouth when it comes to the questions you're asking, but at least you know where you stand.
1:52:07
SPEAKER_00: Right.
1:52:08
SPEAKER_00: I learned that from Nate.
1:52:10
SPEAKER_00: Nate always said that.
1:52:11
SPEAKER_00: He was always like, you can come talk to me about anything, but understand I'm gonna be honest and transparent.
1:52:19
SPEAKER_00: With that, sometimes you don't like what I say, right?
1:52:24
SPEAKER_00: And in a respectful way, but the context of it.
1:52:27
SPEAKER_00: But know that at least you know where you stand in that moment, what you need to do to change whatever you're looking to have change.
1:52:35
SPEAKER_02: Right.
1:52:36
SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, that's another another piece that I took from him that that I think makes the most sense.
1:52:42
SPEAKER_00: Because I'm I always say I'm a I'm a decent soccer coach, I'm a people person.
1:52:46
SPEAKER_00: Like I connect with our players a lot.
1:52:48
SPEAKER_00: It's what I love to do.
1:52:49
SPEAKER_00: I think it's great.
1:52:50
SPEAKER_00: Like I want them to know who my wife is, I want them to know my daughter.
1:52:54
SPEAKER_00: Right.
1:52:55
SPEAKER_00: Like I just think when you when you're able to do that and build relationships, especially with girl female athletes, right?
1:53:05
SPEAKER_00: Once you once you build that, you gain their trust, then you gain respect, they'll do they will run through a brick wall for you because they know you care about them, not just as a soccer player, but as a person.
1:53:16
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
1:53:18
SPEAKER_00: Once when people figure out that formula, the relationships with the players just grow.
1:53:23
SPEAKER_00: And and that part is so much fun.
1:53:25
SPEAKER_00: It makes it really hard when they graduate, to be fair, most of them, because they've become family on the world.
1:53:30
SPEAKER_00: Correct.
1:53:31
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, one of our players babysits my daughter all day.
1:53:33
SPEAKER_00: She's babysitting my daughter this weekend.
1:53:35
SPEAKER_00: Like, and that that stuff means stuff to not just me, my my family.
1:53:40
SPEAKER_00: It means stuff to like when my daughter's sick, Batman would just text me.
1:53:44
SPEAKER_00: He won't ask how I'm doing, he'll ask how Peyton's doing.
1:53:47
SPEAKER_00: You know, like that's the the environment that we've kind of adopted here.
1:53:53
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's why we've seen our culture just continually getting better and better and better.
1:53:58
SPEAKER_00: Because it starts with us, yeah, and then it trickles down to the next level of like our leadership group, down to our players.
1:54:05
SPEAKER_01: I was watching like I think it was like hockey, it was probably around the Olympic time, and somebody was being interviewed, and this guy is obviously an NHL or whatever, and he was talking about playing high school and juniors and everything, and then he was talking about playing in the NHL, but he said that he's closest with everybody he played in played with in college because they're they live together, they live together, they're around each other 24-7.
1:54:30
SPEAKER_01: It's like you have to build some kind of culture where it's just open and honest and family, and there's gonna be fights, there's gonna be disagreements.
1:54:41
SPEAKER_01: It's not always rainbows and butterflies, exactly, yeah, right.
1:54:44
SPEAKER_01: And it's just like I mean, and I think that's the coolest thing about college sports, and that's why I get so like worried about it, yeah, because of the current trajectory that we're going, and it's just so weird, yeah.
1:54:56
SPEAKER_01: And it's like, oh well, yeah, I saw it this morning.
1:55:00
SPEAKER_01: It's like 61% of tennis players on men's and women's are internationals.
1:55:05
SPEAKER_01: Oh, and it's like, oh god, look at no wonder why Arkansas, St.
1:55:09
SPEAKER_01: Louis, and Illinois State all got rid of tennis this week.
1:55:13
SPEAKER_01: And it's just insane.
1:55:14
SPEAKER_00: And then I'm looking, and track and field has a lot of internationals as well.
1:55:18
SPEAKER_01: They had every sport.
1:55:20
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:55:20
SPEAKER_01: Soccer, yeah, 48%.
1:55:23
SPEAKER_00: Was that on the was that men's or combined?
1:55:25
SPEAKER_01: Combined.
1:55:26
SPEAKER_01: 30.
1:55:27
SPEAKER_01: It was it was 49.
1:55:28
SPEAKER_01: It was it was 38 men, 38 percent, yeah, and then 11 on the women.
1:55:34
SPEAKER_00: Which that makes sense.
1:55:35
SPEAKER_00: That makes sense, and the women's side's small.
1:55:37
SPEAKER_01: Canada counts.
1:55:38
SPEAKER_00: I don't think Canada should count as international, but at least like the states that are around.
1:55:44
SPEAKER_01: Because like, so I didn't know this.
1:55:46
SPEAKER_01: I talked to the MLS next director last week.
1:55:49
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he told me that the MLS he played in the MLS for like 20 years.
1:55:53
SPEAKER_01: MLS has a eight international rule.
1:55:56
SPEAKER_01: I did not know that existed.
1:55:58
SPEAKER_00: Oh, on their on the roster.
1:56:00
SPEAKER_00: On the content.
1:56:01
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, on the roster.
1:56:02
SPEAKER_00: What they used to have, it was smaller than that back in the day.
1:56:05
SPEAKER_00: Did they have like when like Blanco played for like Chicago Fire?
1:56:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:56:10
SPEAKER_00: They could only have X amount of those players.
1:56:12
SPEAKER_00: So it's eight.
1:56:13
SPEAKER_01: It's eight, but I guess you can trade them.
1:56:15
SPEAKER_01: In the MLS, you can trade them.
1:56:16
SPEAKER_01: So like inner Miami, if they want to trade, they can give you cash, and it's Columbus crew can like send them two international stuff.
1:56:24
SPEAKER_01: So now they get 10, and then and then Columbus gets six, and but so yeah, so US soccer and MLS are trying to get a hold of especially men's soccer.
1:56:35
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and they want to they want to propose like eight, twenty and eight.
1:56:38
SPEAKER_01: That's 70-30.
1:56:40
SPEAKER_00: That would well, it's also gonna dwindle down if they go five and five with the the age start.
1:56:45
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think that would fix it alone.
1:56:47
SPEAKER_00: I I think it would definitely at least cut into it for sure.
1:56:51
SPEAKER_00: But uh crazy.
1:56:52
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I don't know why I brought that up.
1:56:54
SPEAKER_01: It's just it's a college, it's just the college is Landscape.
1:56:57
SPEAKER_01: The landscape.
1:56:59
SPEAKER_01: I'm never gonna worry about women's.
1:57:01
SPEAKER_01: I'm really not.
1:57:02
SPEAKER_01: Not anytime soon.
1:57:04
SPEAKER_01: I am worried about the men's.
1:57:05
SPEAKER_01: I could see that.
1:57:06
SPEAKER_01: I mean, we already don't we don't have a Mac.
1:57:09
SPEAKER_00: Oh no, it's Mike.
1:57:10
SPEAKER_01: In men's soccer, we don't have a Mac.
1:57:12
SPEAKER_00: Well, when they did, when I was at Western, on the women's side, there was a Mac, but like West Virginia was in it.
1:57:18
SPEAKER_01: Right.
1:57:19
SPEAKER_01: I think it was West Virginia, Northern Illinois, Bowling Green, Western Sacramento State Football just joined the Mac.
1:57:28
SPEAKER_01: What are we doing?
1:57:29
SPEAKER_01: Borders American Conference.
1:57:31
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:57:31
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
1:57:31
SPEAKER_01: Stanford.
1:57:32
SPEAKER_00: UMass.
1:57:33
SPEAKER_00: UMass.
1:57:34
SPEAKER_00: We have the flight of UMass in the fall.
1:57:36
SPEAKER_01: How does that do?
1:57:37
SPEAKER_01: How does that work with your budget?
1:57:39
SPEAKER_00: Uh it hurts.
1:57:40
SPEAKER_00: It's well, it yeah.
1:57:42
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because flights alone, I think it was like 16 grand.
1:57:44
SPEAKER_01: My buddy always makes fun of it.
1:57:46
SPEAKER_01: Stanford is in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
1:57:50
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't make sense.
1:57:51
SPEAKER_00: Pacific Coast.
1:57:52
SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
1:57:53
SPEAKER_01: Um, okay.
1:57:56
SPEAKER_01: You said earlier we want to win the Mac.
1:57:59
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
1:57:59
SPEAKER_01: What does that mean?
1:58:01
SPEAKER_01: Does that mean this is what pisses me off about soccer?
1:58:04
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:58:04
SPEAKER_01: You can win the regular season and not make the tournament, but if you uh not make the national the NCAA because it's only the tournament that gets the automatic bit.
1:58:15
SPEAKER_00: The AQ.
1:58:16
SPEAKER_01: That drives me up the wall.
1:58:18
SPEAKER_01: Because I a couple times I've seen UB win the state or win the uh regular season, and then they don't win the tournament, and then they don't get to go.
1:58:26
SPEAKER_00: 2014.
1:58:27
SPEAKER_00: We lost uh lost to Buffalo, one nothing.
1:58:32
SPEAKER_00: We were I God, what I can't remember what seat we were.
1:58:34
SPEAKER_01: This is when you were at Western.
1:58:36
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we had a great year.
1:58:37
SPEAKER_00: I mean, that was we were really good.
1:58:39
SPEAKER_00: And so we lose to Buffalo in the Mac Championship.
1:58:43
SPEAKER_00: They go obviously AQ, and they deserve to.
1:58:46
SPEAKER_00: They swept it, they won the regular season in.
1:58:48
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that was charisma.
1:58:49
SPEAKER_01: That was one of my old uh players.
1:58:51
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that was Sean's first year.
1:58:52
SPEAKER_00: Unbelievable.
1:58:53
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:58:53
SPEAKER_00: That guy is he's he's done an amazing job, man.
1:58:56
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
1:58:56
SPEAKER_00: Um, and we didn't we didn't get invited to the party, obviously.
1:59:00
SPEAKER_00: Look at Western Michigan a couple years ago, same thing.
1:59:02
SPEAKER_00: They didn't win the Mac.
1:59:03
SPEAKER_00: That was the year Ohio won it.
1:59:05
SPEAKER_00: They didn't get in.
1:59:07
SPEAKER_01: So crazy.
1:59:08
SPEAKER_01: So when you say, okay, our goals, is it is it really is it to win the regular season or is it to get into the Mac tournament, win the Mac tournament?
1:59:18
SPEAKER_01: And is that decide?
1:59:20
SPEAKER_01: Is that does that mean let's win the Mac?
1:59:23
SPEAKER_00: I think your initial goal needs to be to win the Mac regular season.
1:59:27
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
1:59:28
SPEAKER_00: And here's why.
1:59:28
SPEAKER_00: Because say you come up a little bit short.
1:59:30
SPEAKER_00: You get a buy.
1:59:31
SPEAKER_00: Yep, you get a you get a little seeding action in there, right?
1:59:34
SPEAKER_00: Once you get into there and you get to the best seed you possibly can, hopefully it's one and you win, you win the Mac regular season.
1:59:40
SPEAKER_00: But say you're a two, a three, right?
1:59:45
SPEAKER_00: Then the goal is we have to win the tournament.
1:59:48
SPEAKER_00: So I think it's almost like a one A, one B kind of idea.
1:59:52
SPEAKER_00: Um because yeah, you're right.
1:59:55
SPEAKER_00: Like only what's the goal?
1:59:56
SPEAKER_00: Get to the NCAA tournament and then do as much damage as you can in that, right?
2:00:02
SPEAKER_00: Like as much as you can, like like we did in 2013 beating Marquette.
2:00:07
SPEAKER_00: Unbelievable day.
2:00:08
SPEAKER_00: And then made it really hard for the other team when we played them in in the second round.
2:00:12
SPEAKER_00: And who knows?
2:00:13
SPEAKER_00: Say something fell our way, we lost one-nothing.
2:00:15
SPEAKER_00: Say it flips another way, we're now a sweet 16 team out of the Mac.
2:00:20
SPEAKER_00: Like it's kind of crazy.
2:00:21
SPEAKER_00: But if we don't win the Mac that year, we're not in the NCAA tournament.
2:00:26
SPEAKER_00: Who knows who plays Marquette and what happens in that like changes a lot of trajectory, but like, yeah, for mid-majors, I I know other schools that have had amazing seasons.
2:00:38
SPEAKER_01: Right.
2:00:38
SPEAKER_00: And they don't win their competition.
2:00:40
SPEAKER_00: I mean, Dayton.
2:00:41
SPEAKER_00: Unbelievable program.
2:00:43
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
2:00:43
SPEAKER_00: Really good.
2:00:44
SPEAKER_00: They they didn't win the A-10, I think it was like two years ago, didn't win it, didn't get invited.
2:00:50
SPEAKER_00: They were every bit good enough to be in the NCAA tournament.
2:00:54
SPEAKER_00: They were fantastic.
2:00:55
SPEAKER_01: Look at a different sport, but look at Miami of Ohio basketball.
2:00:58
SPEAKER_00: I know.
2:00:58
SPEAKER_01: There was all the play-in! They went undefeated.
2:01:02
SPEAKER_00: Barely.
2:01:02
SPEAKER_01: And then they lose in the in the Mac tournament, and then they had to go into the play-in.
2:01:08
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
2:01:08
SPEAKER_00: It's like what are we doing?
2:01:10
SPEAKER_00: Like what and and as that conversation as they were having what a miraculous year.
2:01:17
SPEAKER_00: So cool.
2:01:18
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter who you're playing.
2:01:19
SPEAKER_00: I hate the oh well, they didn't play anybody.
2:01:22
SPEAKER_00: They still had to win three.
2:01:27
SPEAKER_01: Correct.
2:01:27
SPEAKER_00: Like, I mean, it's it's unreal.
2:01:30
SPEAKER_00: So then they make this run, and then I felt like after every like once once they lost, or or as they were getting close to the end of the regular season, that's what it was.
2:01:38
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
2:01:39
SPEAKER_00: It would be like, well, what if they lose this game?
2:01:41
SPEAKER_00: Do they not get the NCAA?
2:01:42
SPEAKER_00: It's like if they're say they played 35 games, and I don't know how many they totaled did.
2:01:47
SPEAKER_00: They end up 34 and 1.
2:01:49
SPEAKER_00: You're not gonna bring them in the NCAA tournament, but you're gonna have some team that's 500 who won their their conference get in.
2:01:56
SPEAKER_00: Like, what are we doing?
2:01:58
SPEAKER_01: So then okay, so the uh well and we'll start wrapping this up.
2:02:02
SPEAKER_01: But um they just announced that uh March Madness is going to expand to 72.
2:02:09
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, I'm okay with that if they give more automatic bids to regular season champs.
2:02:16
SPEAKER_00: I think they will, but to power four ones would be my guess.
2:02:20
SPEAKER_00: That's just my guess.
2:02:21
SPEAKER_00: Are they already basically how many Big Ten teams were in the NCAA tournament for Make Well?
2:02:26
SPEAKER_00: 109, yeah.
2:02:28
SPEAKER_00: Something like that.
2:02:30
SPEAKER_00: My guess.
2:02:31
SPEAKER_00: I I mean I you would think.
2:02:33
SPEAKER_00: I'm just I don't know.
2:02:34
SPEAKER_00: Because why are they doing it?
2:02:35
SPEAKER_01: What are you yeah, why are uh obviously it's money and everybody comes exactly?
2:02:40
SPEAKER_01: But I want I didn't realize this.
2:02:44
SPEAKER_01: So my buddies do a uh a March Madness trip every year.
2:02:51
SPEAKER_01: But it's not March Madness, they do it during the conference tournament.
2:02:55
SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah.
2:02:55
SPEAKER_01: I didn't realize there's like 38 conferences in Division 1 college basketball.
2:03:00
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, how many are there in college soccer?
2:03:02
SPEAKER_01: It's right around something like that.
2:03:03
SPEAKER_01: It's like 28, 30.
2:03:05
SPEAKER_00: It's in the for women's mid-30s?
2:03:08
SPEAKER_01: Conferences.
2:03:09
SPEAKER_00: Conferences.
2:03:10
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
2:03:10
SPEAKER_00: And here's the crazy part.
2:03:12
SPEAKER_00: Two years ago, this is why the Mac is so freaking hard.
2:03:15
SPEAKER_00: Two years ago, we were like fifth or sixth RPI by conference in the country in women's soccer.
2:03:21
SPEAKER_00: Fifth or sixth?
2:03:22
SPEAKER_00: Somewhere in the yeah, it was yeah.
2:03:24
SPEAKER_01: So that only means ACC, Big Ten, SEC, and um what is it?
2:03:31
SPEAKER_01: What is it now?
2:03:32
SPEAKER_00: Who was the other one?
2:03:33
SPEAKER_00: Big 12?
2:03:34
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, big twelve.
2:03:35
SPEAKER_00: And then there was one other one I can't remember.
2:03:37
SPEAKER_00: Oh, big east.
2:03:38
SPEAKER_00: I think it was the but they're they're not a power four, supposedly.
2:03:42
SPEAKER_01: I guess there's only power three, uh, or no, you have ACC, big ten, big twelve, and SEC.
2:03:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
2:03:51
SPEAKER_00: And and that year, I mean, we were we were in the top, like we're normally, I think we flutter normally around 10 or 11, somewhere in there, maybe low, like as as a conference RPI-wise.
2:04:02
SPEAKER_00: So but that year it was in the single digits.
2:04:04
SPEAKER_01: Don't you think the Mac deserves a second seed or a second team to get it in?
2:04:09
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if every year they would, but there are certainly years there are.
2:04:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
2:04:14
SPEAKER_00: 100%.
2:04:16
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because there's teams that are really like like the past couple years, Western Michigan's been fantastic.
2:04:23
SPEAKER_00: Of course.
2:04:23
SPEAKER_00: Like very good.
2:04:25
SPEAKER_00: And the year they didn't get in the NCAA tournament, I'm like, how?
2:04:30
SPEAKER_00: Like they're they're gonna be better than a handful of teams in the NCAA tournament.
2:04:35
SPEAKER_00: So in a year like that, sure.
2:04:37
SPEAKER_00: Sure.
2:04:37
SPEAKER_00: It's crazy.
2:04:38
SPEAKER_01: Do you okay?
2:04:39
SPEAKER_01: So the last non-power four to win it was Santa Clara, right?
2:04:44
SPEAKER_01: And Santa Clara is really out of the last 20 years, Santa Clara is really the only one that has won.
2:04:53
SPEAKER_00: I mean, well, there was the year that was.
2:04:55
SPEAKER_01: Well, Portland, maybe.
2:04:56
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
2:04:57
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but it's gone to like Christine.
2:04:59
SPEAKER_00: The ACC has like six of the the eight elite, exactly, which is very impressive by that conference.
2:05:05
SPEAKER_00: But man.
2:05:06
SPEAKER_01: So do you and I've asked, I asked Andy this, I asked Lewis this, I'm gonna ask all I'm my goal is to have everybody on the map from Mac on.
2:05:16
SPEAKER_01: Do you think a do you think a Mac team could win a national title?
2:05:20
SPEAKER_01: Lewis thinks that the men could uh I would agree with that.
2:05:23
SPEAKER_01: With with uh with Western.
2:05:26
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but they're not in the Mac, but whatever.
2:05:28
SPEAKER_01: They're in the big East or whatever American.
2:05:32
SPEAKER_00: I I agree with that.
2:05:33
SPEAKER_01: Do you think that the women can?
2:05:36
SPEAKER_01: It's so tough.
2:05:37
SPEAKER_01: The ACC is just different.
2:05:39
SPEAKER_00: There's just such a different amount.
2:05:43
SPEAKER_00: Like, I mean, you're talking about programs that have 28 scholarships.
2:05:48
SPEAKER_00: Fully funded.
2:05:49
SPEAKER_00: Is there ever gonna be a Mac school that has it?
2:05:51
SPEAKER_01: And they are getting the girls on June 15th of like the national team pedigree and those girls.
2:05:58
SPEAKER_00: Man, I I guess I'd never say never, because we've seen some crazy things happen in sports in the world, right?
2:06:04
SPEAKER_00: Like over the years.
2:06:05
SPEAKER_00: So I would never say never, but I think it would be very, very historic if that happened.
2:06:13
SPEAKER_01: That'd be nuts.
2:06:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because like hockey, Western Michigan won hockey.
2:06:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, right?
2:06:17
SPEAKER_00: You've had like fair stay.
2:06:19
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
2:06:19
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, go dollars, alumni.
2:06:23
SPEAKER_00: But like at the end of the day, I think through a lot of this change in the NCAA, and people have probably said that it's like the rich getting richer, and the other ones trying to keep up.
2:06:34
SPEAKER_01: I mean I've never asked her.
2:06:38
SPEAKER_01: Linda Olmark, who played for North Carolina, yeah, that she's now at Houston Dash, she played two years in North Carolina, won a national title.
2:06:45
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what her NIEL deal was, but I know it was.
2:06:49
SPEAKER_00: I'm sure there's kids that that are making a a pretty penny.
2:06:52
SPEAKER_01: And then Rihanna Hudson, another flash kid, who is the the final four MVP of the College Cup.
2:07:01
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
2:07:02
SPEAKER_01: And that's like she's at four estate, and she's probably gonna play one more year, and then she'll probably go to NWSL as well.
2:07:08
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well, like say it gets to a point where like I don't it'll never get in women's soccer to the point that like basketball, even with like women's basketball, men's basketball, football, right?
2:07:19
SPEAKER_00: Like never.
2:07:20
SPEAKER_02: No.
2:07:20
SPEAKER_00: Um but like say you you're getting to getting NIL to girls that are they're now making 500.
2:07:29
SPEAKER_00: Like, who knows?
2:07:30
SPEAKER_00: They might be.
2:07:31
SPEAKER_00: I don't I don't even know if they are now.
2:07:34
SPEAKER_00: Schools that are able to do that, that's again, it does that, right?
2:07:38
SPEAKER_00: Like, is is a max school ever gonna be able to do that?
2:07:42
SPEAKER_00: Not that much.
2:07:43
SPEAKER_01: No, they could pay on top, but it's not gonna be it's gonna be 10,000 or 20,000.
2:07:49
SPEAKER_00: Maybe adding another zero.
2:07:50
SPEAKER_01: Clemson men are in Ontario for they had they did this like portal thing, FTF or whatever.
2:07:56
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they did a uh portal combine, Clemson comes up.
2:08:01
SPEAKER_01: This is the men's side.
2:08:02
SPEAKER_01: Okay, Clemson comes up to see one kid, offers them 60k per year on top, and that's Clemson.
2:08:08
SPEAKER_01: And they've won two national titles on the men's side, and 60k is like holy cow! Yeah, right?
2:08:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I mean, we're not talking like hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people.
2:08:20
SPEAKER_01: It's like a five million, like a quarterback.
2:08:22
SPEAKER_01: Mike Room's buying some players, yeah.
2:08:24
SPEAKER_00: Like it's it's such a different, different world.
2:08:27
SPEAKER_00: I mean, even when you were able to play, pay like cost of attendance, that that part, like you could add, I can't remember how much it was.
2:08:36
SPEAKER_00: We had it at Western and we had it at here at one point, but like it's a certain amount of money on top of room and board intuition, right?
2:08:44
SPEAKER_00: But you're talking three grand, five grand.
2:08:47
SPEAKER_00: Like nowadays, what's probably could get a kid a sponsorship and get them more than that.
2:08:53
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
2:08:54
SPEAKER_00: Because we have girls that like go out and get little NIL deals and stuff like that through like the little marketplace that they're able to do it through.
2:09:00
SPEAKER_00: Right.
2:09:01
SPEAKER_00: But you're talking like we had a girl that had something with like a Lani, the energy train.
2:09:05
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, she didn't get paid, but she got product.
2:09:08
SPEAKER_00: So they'd send her like cases of a lani, gummies, protein bars, all of that stuff, and then she'd do social media posts.
2:09:15
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, liquid IV is a big one.
2:09:17
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I think those are all great because it gives a free product, it's it's cool.
2:09:21
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
2:09:21
SPEAKER_00: We had one girl that got paid for social media's uh like posts with it, it was a water bottle, yeah, and had like a little ring that popped up that you could mag safe your phone to, and they set it for another screen when you study.
2:09:34
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, let's be honest, for like TikTok, yeah, do it all that.
2:09:38
SPEAKER_00: She got paid by the post, which is cool.
2:09:41
SPEAKER_00: Like they're creative little ways for them to get extra money, but you can do that at any school.
2:09:47
SPEAKER_00: It just depends on how bad the player wants to do it.
2:09:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they're the ones that have to do it.
2:09:53
SPEAKER_01: It's uh it's work.
2:09:54
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, oh yeah.
2:09:55
SPEAKER_00: It would be that'd be tough.
2:09:56
SPEAKER_01: Do you guys have an NIL coordinator here?
2:09:58
SPEAKER_00: Uh, not like not that we really deal with, no.
2:10:01
SPEAKER_00: No, but for the football and they have all that stuff, yeah.
2:10:04
SPEAKER_01: How big of a sell is having a football program?
2:10:07
SPEAKER_00: I think it helps, but like women's soccer, how many games they get to go to?
2:10:10
SPEAKER_00: It's true.
2:10:11
SPEAKER_00: And if once if it's a 75 degree, 80 degree set like sunny Saturday and we trained in the morning, they play at home.
2:10:19
SPEAKER_00: How much do you want your girls out there for the whole game?
2:10:21
SPEAKER_01: You don't, especially if you play Sunday.
2:10:23
SPEAKER_00: Correct.
2:10:24
SPEAKER_00: So we like they go.
2:10:26
SPEAKER_00: The cool thing is the action, though.
2:10:28
SPEAKER_00: Like with all the max Tuesdays, Wednesdays.
2:10:30
SPEAKER_00: So they can go during like once the scene's over and like you know, into November, they can get to games.
2:10:37
SPEAKER_01: It's just cold, but yeah, my nephew plays at Eastern, so okay, yeah.
2:10:41
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, it I think it helps.
2:10:44
SPEAKER_00: It gives you like that all American feel.
2:10:49
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and because Toledo doesn't have professional sports, like closest to Detroit, yep, and Cleveland is we have two minor league, right?
2:10:59
SPEAKER_00: Walleye, um the Mudheads, the Mudheads, yeah, the muds tigers, yeah, yeah, the the dirty birds.
2:11:06
SPEAKER_00: Um they we get a lot of support from the community to UT Athletics for that.
2:11:13
SPEAKER_00: So like basketball games sell out all the time.
2:11:16
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, right.
2:11:17
SPEAKER_00: Uh women's basketball game, they sell out a couple games a year.
2:11:20
SPEAKER_00: Football's big, right?
2:11:22
SPEAKER_00: So the amount of of support from the community that comes here because we're the we're the university in town.
2:11:28
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's really, really, really special.
2:11:30
SPEAKER_00: It's really cool.
2:11:31
SPEAKER_00: I love it, man.
2:11:32
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
2:11:33
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having me.
2:11:34
SPEAKER_00: Oh, thanks for coming.
2:11:35
SPEAKER_00: Dude, this was a good time.
2:11:36
SPEAKER_00: We could probably keep doing this forever.
2:11:37
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
2:11:38
SPEAKER_00: I actually said that to my wife's like, How long do you think it's gonna last?
2:11:41
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, I don't know, Jason, so can I it could go forever?
2:11:45
SPEAKER_00: She's like, What are you gonna talk about?
2:11:46
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, I don't know.
2:11:47
SPEAKER_00: I don't know, we're gonna figure it out.
2:11:48
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna figure it out.
2:11:49
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's great.
2:11:50
SPEAKER_01: And this is why, like I I love doing this, dude.
2:11:53
SPEAKER_01: And like, and part of me wants to okay, set up in somewhere like Novae, Lil Vonia, something like that.
2:12:00
SPEAKER_01: That and have my own studio, but I'm I might put that off for a little bit because I'm enjoying coming out and seeing all these facilities.
2:12:08
SPEAKER_00: I think that's a that yeah, like because you'd never been here, right?
2:12:12
SPEAKER_00: And you probably had no idea what we had.
2:12:16
SPEAKER_00: Uh-uh.
2:12:17
SPEAKER_00: No.
2:12:17
SPEAKER_00: And like facility-wise, I think we are one of the like it's probably one of the strongest mid-majors facility-wise around.
2:12:25
SPEAKER_01: It has to be.
2:12:26
SPEAKER_00: It's it's just really not they did a really nice job.
2:12:28
SPEAKER_00: When they moved everything here in 2019, that's that's what changed it all.
2:12:32
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
2:12:32
SPEAKER_00: Because this is all new.
2:12:34
SPEAKER_00: These were like different offices.
2:12:35
SPEAKER_01: This is not here when I coached at U of D and we played Toledo.
2:12:39
SPEAKER_00: This was not no, no, no, because when I was back in the day at West.
2:12:44
SPEAKER_00: That was like 2011, 2012.
2:12:46
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because they were at Scott Park then.
2:12:47
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
2:12:48
SPEAKER_00: And then when I came down here with Detroit Mercy once, that's when they had moved here, but I never like came into the building.
2:12:55
SPEAKER_02: Right.
2:12:56
SPEAKER_00: And um, so I never saw any of this.
2:12:58
SPEAKER_00: Uh like I'd been out to the field and I was like, wow, like it's really nice.
2:13:02
SPEAKER_00: You got lights, a big digital board, the stands are built in.
2:13:05
SPEAKER_00: Like, it's a cool setup.
2:13:06
SPEAKER_00: It's awesome.
2:13:06
SPEAKER_00: Um, and having it at our disposal, like our girls, we tell them all the time, we're like, Man, you have no idea how fortunate you are.
2:13:13
SPEAKER_00: Like, have no idea.
2:13:15
SPEAKER_00: Go to some of the other schools we've been to and go go check out their facilities and tell me you're not blessed with some some nice, nice, like a you're in a very comfortable situation.
2:13:27
SPEAKER_01: How many kids come here and like they're sold?
2:13:30
SPEAKER_01: Ooh.
2:13:31
SPEAKER_01: Like once you finally get them on campus, but they're personal, like a good amount.
2:13:36
SPEAKER_00: I I I think the the statement we hear a lot is I didn't really know what to expect, but it like once I'm here, I was like blown away by what campus is like.
2:13:46
SPEAKER_00: Because even walking around campus, yeah, like I didn't I did that on like my interview, and I had no idea because I'd only been on the campus like once.
2:13:55
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
2:13:55
SPEAKER_00: And we're what and it was cold and it was windy and it was snowy, and I still was like, this has got to be amazing in the fall.
2:14:02
SPEAKER_00: Like when the trees are changed, because we have the the river that goes right there right by.
2:14:07
SPEAKER_00: Um, the trees all change.
2:14:09
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, this place is unbelievable.
2:14:11
SPEAKER_00: And um, because all the buildings match, every single building on campus, they they have some sort of uniformity.
2:14:18
SPEAKER_01: I love it.
2:14:19
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so it's a it's a fun place to be.
2:14:22
SPEAKER_00: I enjoy it.
2:14:23
SPEAKER_00: Like everything about it, it's just so different than anywhere else I coach to.
2:14:27
SPEAKER_00: Like our admin's awesome.
2:14:29
SPEAKER_00: Like our our supervising AD might be the kindest, most supportive man like I've ever met.
2:14:35
SPEAKER_00: Love it.
2:14:36
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like he is good to know.
2:14:38
SPEAKER_00: He's currently the interim ad for another couple weeks.
2:14:40
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's kind of a big deal.
2:14:41
SPEAKER_00: Good dude, though.
2:14:42
SPEAKER_00: Brian Wutz, yeah.
2:14:44
SPEAKER_00: He's he's been so supportive of everything we've done since we got here.
2:14:49
SPEAKER_00: Because we chose to go the let's build this out, let's build the culture out, and then over time, winning's gonna come, right?
2:14:56
SPEAKER_00: He has been such a supporter of that concept.
2:15:00
SPEAKER_00: And whenever we're like frustrated, he's the one like being like, it's all right, you guys are you're on a good, good path.
2:15:07
SPEAKER_00: Like he's just really, really good guy.
2:15:09
SPEAKER_00: We just got a new AD.
2:15:11
SPEAKER_00: Um, just got announced on Tuesday.
2:15:14
SPEAKER_00: He got to meet him briefly.
2:15:16
SPEAKER_00: We had an all-staff meeting, it was great.
2:15:18
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
2:15:19
SPEAKER_00: Young and uh big person.
2:15:21
SPEAKER_00: He wants he's big on relationship building, which so are we, which is you, it's very fitting, right?
2:15:27
SPEAKER_00: So excited for that, and yeah, it's been it's been a fun ride.
2:15:32
SPEAKER_00: Thanks, Cliff.
2:15:32
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
2:15:33
SPEAKER_00: Awesome, appreciate it.
2:15:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, sweet.
2:15:37
SPEAKER_01: I hate soccer.
2:15:40
SPEAKER_01: This episode is brought to you by Salt Athletic.
2:15:43
SPEAKER_01: A couple weeks ago, I'm training one of my college players.
2:15:45
SPEAKER_01: Uh, she plays at Kentucky.
2:15:47
SPEAKER_01: I noticed that she has uh one of these salt bags.
2:15:50
SPEAKER_01: Uh, I see them on social media all the time, and I was wondering, I was like, okay, does this thing really work?
2:15:57
SPEAKER_01: Well, she opened up her bag and pulled her cleats out, and it was the worst smelling pair of cleats, maybe that I've ever smelled.
2:16:05
SPEAKER_01: While they were in the bag, I didn't smell anything.
2:16:09
SPEAKER_01: And it was amazing that it could trap in all of the smell so that her bag doesn't stink, that her car doesn't stink.
2:16:19
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2:16:22
SPEAKER_01: As a goalkeeper, I wish I had this 20 years ago to for my gloves, and they do have a glove bag.
2:16:29
SPEAKER_01: Go to the link in the description for 10% off and get rid of all the smell, guys.
2:16:35
SPEAKER_01: How long does it take your players to send out an email to a college coach?
2:16:40
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