Latest / I Hate Soccer with Jason Collinsworth / I Hate Soccer #97 - Chad Wiseman, Head Men's Soccer Coach at Western Michigan University

Transcript

I Hate Soccer #97 - Chad Wiseman, Head Men's Soccer Coach at Western Michigan University · I Hate Soccer with Jason Collinsworth

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: I got to go out to Western Michigan and talk to the head coach, Chad Weisman, of the men's program out there.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and he's doing unbelievable things.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_01: He he's he's in charge of the best men's soccer program in the state of Michigan right now.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: And it it was a joy to talk to him.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: And my my first collegiate game was actually against Western.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_01: And he was in his first year as the assistant coach.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: We go into detail about how that year, the year that I played against them, they were going to cut the program.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: They were about to cut the program, and it was gonna be no more, and instead they they cut Trump in the field because they won the map that year.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: And we go into his philosophy of recruiting, um how we need to focus more on the domestic players than international players, then we need to focus on recruiting the in-state guys.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: He also goes into detail about how he doesn't recruit from one platform.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: He gets among next kids, he gets easy and number kids, and he gets enemied kids.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: Just other leagues.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's a big it's a big issue.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_01: You gotta be in the platform.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: You gotta be in the platform, you gotta be in the platform.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: You don't have to.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: And these coaches, some coaches only one international, some coaches only want MMSN, some coaches only one ACMM.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: Chang once players.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: He doesn't care where you played.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: This is a great episode.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: Again, and always, please like and subscribe.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um shit, please share this everywhere.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um again and we're trying to get to a hundred thousand numbers by Christmas.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: I'm trying to get to five thousand subscribers on YouTube um by Christmas.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: And this this is one of my favorite episodes, and really this is one of my first episodes with a Division I men's college coach.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: And Joy.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: I hate soccer.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: I started getting a lot of college players, and I didn't even know really the recruiting process.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: After coaching for 20 years, I didn't really know what all went.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: To go to college, you're talking about for for soccer and men's side and the girls' side.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: And so one of my top players went is at Nebraska.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: She's a goal leading goal scorer.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: So I had her on, and then I learned so much, and then that episode kind of exploded.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: And some of my younger players and their parents were like, this is the most amazing like information because we we don't really get a lot of information from our club, and then that's what started this podcast, and it's kind of like blown up, and I just and now I get to talk to you, and I I get to meet all of you.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like I met Dave Diani last week, you know.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: I'm hoping to get hoteron in the next couple weeks, you know, and just and soccer is just so much bigger here.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: I was getting to the point where there's no there's nobody else to really talk to in Buffalo that will come into talk to me.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: So I was like, you know what, I'm gonna move home.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: Move back to Michigan and then and then just see because if I can grow it to be pretty big out of Buffalo, which is a small market, I can do massive things here in Michigan.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: Michigan's a great soccer thing.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: I mean how much how much over the years?
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: This is what you're thirteenth years head coach going into this.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's 13th or 14th, I can't remember to be honest with you.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_02: I think it might be 14th or 13th.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I mean how many Michigan kids all the way through.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's our number one priority, right?
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_02: Is the recruiting state of Michigan?
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: Do you think I mean where personally I kind of always rank the um the programs, right?
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: For me right now, I think that on the women's side, I would say state is obviously the number one, and I think Western maybe number two.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_02: On the women's side, well, with Michigan going through a transition right now, I think that's pretty fair.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_02: And I think we beat them last year, too.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_02: I think the women beat Michigan last year, but they the the women are in an elite spot right now.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_02: Three state championships, three straight championships, two straight trips to the NCAA tournament, and their next step is they need to get an NCA tournament win, right?
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_02: That's their next step.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_02: But um, you know, I mean Michigan and Michigan State are are resourced differently, right?
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_02: For sure.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_02: And um anytime I think uh I think Lewis would probably say this, and if you can be caught in the same breath uh of some of those schools, you're gonna be pretty happy.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_01: Uh but on the men's side, where do you think?
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, are you guys at the top?
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_02: No, it's not even close.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_02: Right now we're the number one team in the state of Michigan.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_02: We haven't lost a game.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_02: We're 19-0 since 2018.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's almost a decade now.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_02: So, and we got wins in that win streak against every school in the state of Michigan.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_02: It started in 2018, where we played all four schools away.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_02: At MSU, at Oakland, at Detroit, at Michigan, and we went four and all.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_01: Is that by design on the road?
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I mean, not so much Oakland and Detroit.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_02: Um, Michigan and Michigan State don't really give you too many options, right?
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um but uh you know, that year, Charlie Sharp, one of our best players of all time, he had scored three game winners, one at Michigan State, one at Michigan, one at Oakland.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_02: And then Dylan Sangh scored the other game winner at Detroit, both those guys playing professionally now in the USL championship for Indy 11.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_02: Um so that's what started this streak, right?
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_02: And now, I mean, we recruit heavily in the state of Michigan.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_02: That's our philosophy.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and we want guys that want to come in here and proud of that streak and want to extend that streak, right?
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_02: Like, and if you give anybody a little bit of hope, they'll take it, right?
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, we we we thought maybe this last fall we were gonna get matched up with Michigan in the NCAA tournament, and we were all very, very excited about that opportunity or what would have been an opportunity, right?
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_02: And then, you know, the NCA selection show comes and they send us to Clemson, and nobody was upset about that either.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we never got to play that program before.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_02: Um, very talented and at the time had won two of the last three national championships, right?
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_02: So we knew we were gonna be up against it.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_02: Uh very welcoming institution.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I got nothing but unbelievable positive things to say about Clemson, their staff, their players, their uh support staff, the people that worked, the facilities, just welcomed us for the entire time that we were down there, even after we won.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_02: They were very uh appreciative of the way that we played and wished us luck at the next round, all those things.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not sure that I think that's that southern hospitality, if you will, right?
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_02: My my uh my sister-in-law studied and graduated from Clemson, and when we drew them, um she mentioned to us like they're gonna treat you very, very nice down there.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um and they did, right?
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_02: And they did.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, we were disappointed that maybe we didn't get Michigan in the NCAA tournament, but uh very excited about the opportunity to go down there to Clemson.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_02: And I mean, we just every day is a day to try to continue to stay on top in the state, right?
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_02: Like whether you're training or right now, most of our guys have fallen into the USL summer cycle, yeah, right.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_02: And uh watched the Nationals come to town last night and play KZFC and Alec Markowski had a goal and assist, and Liam Smith had the other goal, and those are both Broncos playing for nationals.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_02: So uh that was good to see coming back into where they live for nine months out of the year, right?
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um but that's a big part about our players' development is that they play in the summertime um at a high level, but also for different coaches, right?
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_02: Like we're talking about nationals, the G coaches, those boys during the summer, and you look at the other spots.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_02: And you said you just met with Luke at Midwest, he coaches four or five of our guys in the summer.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_02: I value that, right?
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_02: Like those coaches are talented coaches, and for our guys to go there, learn from them, might be saying something exact that that means the exact same thing the way that we say it, they just might say it differently.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and and maybe a player uh connects with that, right?
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_02: And um it's it's worked very, very well for us.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um we want to continue to do that, and guys aspire to play at a high level year-round.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: It all depends on you know what what part they're in in their development and what they need.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_02: You know, if a guy sat and never played many games here at Western for an entire year, I'm not sure the USL2 level is a great level for him because he he might find himself in the same spot, so maybe we'll we'll look for a lower level where he's getting 90 minutes, 90 minutes, 90 minutes.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um but that that's where we're in right now in the summertime.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_02: And where I sit, I like to get out and watch my guys in the summertime.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um I think you can learn a lot from watching your players and not coaching them at the same time.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_02: We watch them when they're 16, 17, and 18 recruiting them.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know, I don't know how many times we watch them when they're in college because we coach them most of the time, but in the summertime it's a great one.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_02: To sit back and, you know, and last night I'm watching four Broncos play between the two teams, and um maybe I'm learning a little bit about them so that I can coach them better when the fall season comes around.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: Does that change your perspective on some players?
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes it does, sometimes it stays the same, right?
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_02: But uh I mean when you're coaching in-game your players, you're gonna look at the game slightly different than when you're just spectating on the fence line.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_02: So I enjoy it, and I bring my kids down to it, and we're certainly big KZFC supporters in the summertime, right?
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_02: That's the local local team here in Kalamazoo, and Dave Schufeld does a does a great job with that club.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_02: But um, you know, you can only have so many players on that team.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_02: And so we sprinkle them at other spots and a lot of them come in when they play KZFC on the road.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_02: How?
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, we talked I talked to Mark Zathy a little bit and you you or both of you were at the Jags event.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: The winter event?
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the winter event.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: And how you want to you want to recruit men, right?
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, players that can play at least play against men.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: How do you recruit like a 16 you said 16 or 17 year old and know what they're gonna become because they're not yet men, right?
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, how do you how well we don't I think when you're looking at those younger guys, maybe say 16, we're just watching and evaluating.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_02: We're not recruiting them at that point.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_02: At least where we sit here at Western Michigan.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, we just got our first 2027 commitment and it's at the end of the junior year, right?
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_02: So we can start to see you know what those those guys may be looking like when they get a little bit older and they mature.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_02: But we don't move too fast on freshmen these days.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_02: Uh true freshman that would come out of high school.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_02: We don't feel like we necessarily have to.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_02: The portal has opened up some windows, yeah, right.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_02: So there's better.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, even right now, you can find a talented senior out there.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_02: Ten years ago, all those seniors would be gobbled up before September, right?
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, we we have to find the ones that that fit into to what we like to do.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and and I still think you know, you need four-year, four-year players to continue to build and maintain your culture.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_02: Hard for one-year guys, two-year guys to come in here and build off your culture.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_02: They have to really fall in line, and they can have a big impact on the field, no doubt.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_02: But you have to be able to have a culture, whatever, whatever it is that you choose, right, as a coaching staff, as a program, and then believe in that and then coach to that direction.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um and culturally speaking, if it if we don't have players that come in and sit and go through every phase of it, then I don't know how it grows, right?
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_02: We have freshmen that come in and play right away, too, but we have freshmen that sit.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_02: And maybe redshirt in the past, maybe moving forward, redshirt won't be a thing anymore.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so maybe some of those guys get a couple games in as opposed to having to sit the whole year.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_02: I think that could be a good thing.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but yeah, that's that's kind of where we're at with that.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um it's I don't think there's a foolproof plan, but you know, you're looking at the Jags.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I think sometimes we're watching guys when we go over to that, the guys we already have committed.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_02: I think we like watching our committed guys, right?
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_02: We want to get to know them the best that we can.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_02: We want to stop watching them after we commit them.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and Jags brings in some different clubs that maybe we don't have a shot at watching all the time.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_02: We can't be everywhere.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_02: We I think you got to be really smart with how you recruit right now with your resources.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, the women's game is different than ours.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_02: There's just a lot more programs, but we don't feel like we have to be everywhere, right?
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_02: We we feel like, all right, we review every single year where did we get, where did we identify our incoming class at?
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_02: What events?
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_02: Right, and then okay, and then what events did we not come out with a player from?
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_02: And then maybe don't go to those events, go to the ones we're finding players, and then maybe find another one or two or three or four new events.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, because there's new events every single year right now with how youth soccer is just changing.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um, we we're dabbling a little bit more on the ECNL men's side, trying to look for a player there.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we'll be going out to the national championships in July, so we'll see what that looks like.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_02: Um we've never been to that before.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um we'll see if we get a player, or maybe we don't.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_02: But uh that's kind of where we're we're gonna spend most of our time and certainly in the MLS next platform and MLS Academy platform.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_02: But we we don't want 28 players from that platform.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_02: We don't want 28 players from the ECNL platform or the National League platform.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_02: We want to have a diverse roster of players coming from different platforms.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_02: So if you look at us, yes, the majority of our roster is gonna be the state of Michigan, but they come different ways.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe they play for one of the MLS next programs.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe they play for um an MLS Academy, right?
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_02: Taken from one of those, but they're Michigan kids.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_02: And then they're state level kids, right?
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_02: I mean uh quarterfinals and semifinals, a State Cup or are this weekend, and there's a lot of clubs that are excited about that.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not so sure that you're looking at the whole teams when you go out there and recruit that space, but there's certainly players that can play at our level.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and then you mix in um internationals, right?
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_02: And the internationals that we usually recruit, outside of the Canadians, are already here in the United States.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_02: And then we'll we grab them from a different program when they get on the portal, or um, and then that's how they come into California.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_01: After after they've already proven it somewhere else.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, proven it somewhere else or come to the United States.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, most I would say 75%, and that might be a low number, of internationals that come here never visit the school that they're going to.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_02: It's all virtually, and then they get there and then they figure out how the U.S.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_02: process works a little bit more, the school, and they realize okay, there's several different levels, and I'm playing at this level right now, which might be junior college or NAIA, for example, and they want to go and play at D1.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_02: So they get smarter through the process and then you know figure out a way to jump on the portal, or so if you're in NAIA space, you don't necessarily need that, or junior college, but uh be identified by some of these division one coaches, and then they move up.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_02: Um, well, we're never gonna be in a heavy international program.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_02: We won't be that.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: I like how how you say that you recruit from all the different platforms because I think that there are prior programs out there, and I know there's programs on the girls' side that will only recruit from one platform.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: Or one, you know, they'll just go to Utah in two weeks and they'll go to Cup, you know, playoffs, and they're only gonna they only want MLS next kids.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_01: Or there's some that only want internationals, or they all want transfer portal, and they're not even recruiting.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_01: How big are your recruiting classes these days with the change?
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, geez.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, so the last wow, that's a good one.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_02: The last four years we've been 12 or 13.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_02: We've had big senior classes, we've done well with the grad transfers with one year, right?
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_02: So obviously you got to replace them after the season.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_02: And then we've had a lot of players leave early for professional opportunities.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_02: Carson and and and um Tanner Hodgins both left uh with a year to play.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um J.R.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_02: Robinson, who led the nation in an assist, he left a year out there, Jalen Shannon left a year out there.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_02: Those guys are all playing professionally, you know.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_02: When you have a really, really good college year, my question to them is like, okay, right, we're really close to graduation, which is really important to us.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_02: We can do that remotely.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah but like, are you gonna have a better college season than you just had?
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_02: Because if you don't, your stock's gonna drop.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_02: I I don't think your stock's ever gonna be higher.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_02: And so those guys take those opportunities.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_02: And if you're going to recruit, saying, hey, we we've produced, we have 19 active players playing professionally right now at different levels.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_02: 19.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_02: It's unbelievable.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_02: That is unbelievable.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_02: And and what else is unbelievable is all the different opportunities that North America presents right now.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_02: We get one of one of our old captains, Daniel Nimick, maybe one of the best center backs we've ever had.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_02: He's the captain for Forge out of the Canadian Premier League.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_02: And probably their biggest club, and they're playing in Confacal Champions League games.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so we use that to have that league.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_02: We have guys in MLS Pro, we have guys in USL or USL 1, USL Champ, right?
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_02: So Tanner was playing for the Milwaukee Wave and the professional indoor uh uh uh platform.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_02: So, so when those young men decide to leave early, that obviously opens up another spa.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_02: And so we're hopeful that maybe you know it seems like maybe the grad transfers are are fading out, but if the five for five rule passes, I think they'll always be there now.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_02: Um and we can package a grad transfer very, very well here at Western Michigan.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_02: Very, very well.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um so I don't think that we want to leave that space, but I don't think that's the only space we want to be in.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_01: And and it's about balance probably for your roster.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_01: You don't want all seniors, obviously.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_02: No.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, certainly the rosters have been older recently.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_02: At w at Western and probably throughout college soccer.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_02: Um, with the extra years that certain players are or you know, certain platforms have been given the NAI, the c the JUCOs, and then you know the COVID years, which which is basically omitted now, but um, yeah, it seems like college rosters are older.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_01: How many JUKOs have you had over the years?
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_02: Not many.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_02: Not many, not many, but we did get the JUCO National Player of the Year when I first got the head coaching job here, like around 2015, Greg Timmer.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_02: Uh out in Iowa.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_02: He's actually a Michigan guy that went out there.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_02: He was a really good pickup.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_02: Paul Laraghe, we got from Colorado.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_02: My assistant coach took the job over there.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_02: And so he kind of pushed him our way.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_02: Outside of that, we haven't had a whole lot of um success.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_02: But we haven't really, I don't think that we've really hunted that hard in the JUCO world.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_02: We might have a few other JUCO kids that come to us, but after junior college, they went somewhere else first and then joined us.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_02: But um right from the JUCO platform, I we haven't had a whole lot.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: Do you um how is the five and five going to affect you?
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: Do you like that rule?
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I like it.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, we don't need waivers, right?
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_02: Omit the waivers.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um it kind of gives everybody more of a playing field, right?
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_02: Like there's some institutions that won't write right waivers.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_02: You know?
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_02: It takes man hours and uh compliance hours, and um we're not one of those.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_02: We've we've rolled many waivers and we've won some and we've lost some.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but I I think it's fine.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_02: I I like the ability to maybe be not have to make a decision on a freshman because you play a freshman 10 minutes, you burn his whole year.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_02: And I don't want to do that.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_02: Now there's no foolproof plan there.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_02: You get through preseason and you gotta roll with what what the team is showing you, but we're pretty conscious to make sure that if we're gonna burn your year, your freshman year, you're gonna be in kind of in the mix.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_02: Um, with the new rule, I think that would allow us more opportunities to maybe play some of those younger guys and give them a look.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_02: They perform well, maybe they get another look.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_02: If they don't, then maybe they they continue to develop until they're ready.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: Big news today, with uh with the full year.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that came out, yeah.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, did you guys get to vote on that?
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_01: How did that work?
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_02: I don't think they're asking in I don't the people in charge of that, I don't they're not asking any of us for our opinions.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think they're basically saying this is the direction we're going.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_02: You're either on board or you're not.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so we'll see.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_02: It looks like it still has to pass the cabinet, maybe, um, to get to the finish line, but it's definitely got some momentum.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, so they didn't give you a vote because somebody because I brought it up that okay, why aren't they doing that on the women's side?
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_01: And then somebody DM'd me and it was like, oh, um, they voted against uh the women side voted against it.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, who?
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_01: Who voted against it?
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_01: Like, there is there a board I don't know about that voted against it?
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_02: It's like so they they did they changed a little bit the women's side, but uh you know, they have their own vision.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_02: Their membership has their own vision, and I think our membership has our vision.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, probably the only the only thing that's really holding me up for being all in on this is they wanna you know the powers to be want to kind of form a two-season, you know, season, two fall and spring, but to align with the you know the world's leagues, okay?
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_02: The one thing about every single league in the world, they play just as many home games as they play away games.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_02: Uh huh.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_02: And only in college soccer are we allowed to manipulate home and away games.
• 21:59
  unknown: Right?
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, I think growing the game here domestically, um, you know, uh a Maryland coming into Kalamazoo, I think that would do a lot of things to grow the game.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_02: Uh you look at some of these smaller schools, and like if a big school comes in there, that whole community is gonna come out to it.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_02: And right now, I think how it's set up is they want to throw a guarantee out and get you down there on a on a Saturday for$5,000, right?
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_02: And play 15 home games and five away games that are only league games.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_02: You can look at schedules, that's not me creating that.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_02: That that's out there.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_01: That's just how it is out there.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_01: I never thought about that.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and that that part to me, I don't think, is growing the game.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_02: And I also think growing the game domestically, I mean, look at all the leagues that play in North America.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_02: They have international caps.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_02: College doesn't.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_02: We got programs that only have international players out there.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_01: Is that growing the game here domestically?
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think I don't think a lot of people know that there is an international cap in the MLS.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, MLS, the CPL, the UP, the USL, they all have it.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_01: And nobody realized that.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_01: And then people are like, well, that you're being a nationalist or you're being racist.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, wait, what?
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, no.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: The Bundesliga has that rule about you know we don't even bring it up in college soccer.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_02: We don't even bring it up.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_01: Do you think that that should be a topic?
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_02: Are we trying to grow the game domestically?
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_02: It should be a topic.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_02: You would think we have institutions that sit here in the United States that have a bunch of money, and we go and we give this money.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_02: Don't we want to give those scholarships to some of these American kids to see if they can grow, make our national team better every single phase?
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_02: Or are we just I mean, most internationals that come over here come over here because they didn't make it at whatever country they were at.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_02: That's the truth.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_02: And then you want to come over here and live an American dream for four or five years.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and and listen, that's the way the rules are set up.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm not salty about it at all.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_02: I'm just saying if we're really looking to transform the game and grow it here domestically, then we need to continue to invest in domestic players.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: And then and then I'll get comments of like, well, be better or develop better players.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, will you shut up?
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, we have amazing players here that we've helped develop.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_01: Look at Washington.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_01: Look at what they just did.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_01: That was mostly just Washington kids.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_01: Let alone domestic Americans.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_01: It was mostly Washington kids.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_01: And like, why not Michigan?
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_01: Why can't you do that in Ohio?
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_01: Why can't you do that in California?
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_01: Why why Missouri?
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_01: Why do you why do you have to rely so much on internationals?
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_01: Is it because it's sometimes easier?
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_01: Is it easier because you have you're using a recruiting agency to build out your roster?
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_01: Or is it I don't want to I don't want a 17-year-old kid.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want to go out to fest and look at those kids.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean that's a loaded question.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_02: I think you'd have to ask maybe some of those coaches that are a little bit more international heavy.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_02: That's my goal.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_02: But um, yeah, it might be a combination of everything that you just said, to be honest with you.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_02: I I I don't really, I can't really put my finger on it, but like the ones that I think that are really internationally heavy, they're they're them and their staff are going overseas into those countries and finding those players.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um, sure.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, when you run out of players to look at domestically, uh going internationally, there's always going to be another player.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_02: And then I would also say maybe some of those states that are really international heavy programs, from where I see, they're not great youth soccer states.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_02: Like they're just not.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_02: Like Michigan, we're very, very lucky.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, yeah, we can we can talk all day about the different clubs that we have in the state of Michigan and how they're run and the players that they you know produce to our level.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_02: There's other states that can't really talk like that.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so then you look at the institutions that are in that state, and it's like, okay, well, I'm not gonna find a whole lot of great players here, so you know, maybe maybe that's an international button.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um, sometimes admissions have different packages for internationals, right?
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_02: And so if you're able to package a kid internationally better because your admissions office, you know, offers this for a GPA or whatever it may be, uh, why wouldn't you go that way, right?
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_02: You're stretching your dollar.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um that that's the way the system is set up.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_02: And certainly admissions, if you can bring uh men or women in from different countries that they don't have checked off, that helps your institution, right?
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um so I think there's a little bit of that too.
• 26:28
  unknown: Man.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: How what was your spring like?
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_02: Uh it was good.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, we we we on we had we lost a lot of guys, so we were uh we lost 12 guys at the end of the term.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_01: That's crazy.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_02: And then we brought in seven in January.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_02: Two freshmen, and then five transfers.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so that that was exciting to start the spring because seven, seven new, seven onboarding new players mixed in with your returning guys.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_02: You want to see what that looks like.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_02: We got into the game slate, yeah, right.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_02: Played our first game against DCFC, got taught some proper lessons there.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um, showed up on game day, and coach is like, hey, um, do you want to play an extra 30?
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_02: I don't really think we're in a position to say no to that.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_02: And I just said, Coach, okay.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but in that extra 30, you're probably gonna see a few guys that weren't weren't being planned on playing today.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_02: He's like, Oh, that's all right, that's all right.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_02: So it was a good game, but uh, we enjoy playing against those guys, and those guys are off flying right now, right?
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_02: And top top four or five in the championship, and it felt like they were gonna be pretty good, at least the way that they played against us on the day.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I actually thought maybe they wouldn't be too up for the battle because we're a college team and they were looking at the start of the season, but they were up for it, and they looked pretty good.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so so we took that and had a nice game against Marquette and beat those guys and um played a nice double header with Detroit and Davenport, where we kind of split our roster in half and put some stars on both teams, and then some guys that are in the developmental stage, they gotta play 80 and sink or swim, and there's no taking you out, right?
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_02: Those minutes are really, really important for guys, and uh especially guys that don't play maybe in the fall.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a little concerned about that with the two season, like where where are those guys gonna get their minutes?
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I don't have an answer on that yet, but I I have a little concern there.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_02: But I think the spring went really, really well for us.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_02: We're really happy with it.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that uh some of those guys that we onboarded have kind of worked into their roles, they still will expand on those roles, but like we're much more comfortable coaching them.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_02: I think collectively the unit is really tight.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_02: Anytime you can spend you know 60 training sessions together before the season, like we just did in the spring.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_02: I think that uh there'll be some positive positives that come away from that.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_01: How is a full year gonna work if the transfer portal is in the middle of the season?
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I think that that they're probably working on that yet.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_02: I don't think that's a foolproof plan, right?
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_02: I I I think they're talking about potentially only one portal win window.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_02: Uh-huh.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_02: As opposed to we have two right now.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_01: So get rid of that winter one and it it's only at the end of the season.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_01: That's what you have to do.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_01: Because you could you you would have programs that have a completely turned over roster in the f in the spring versus the f what they had in the fall.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_02: Whereas now, I mean, I think that's our main window.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_02: That's of course.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_02: For for for the men's soccer, that is our main window, that that November, December window.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I think that's where most of the movement comes.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_02: And when you look at the spring window, I mean, might be 450 names in there, but it's not as active.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_01: And the quality probably isn't as high.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_02: Just not as many players, so there's probably not as many chances to have the top players in there.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, when are your when are your guys coming back from summer?
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_02: So they report back mid-July.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_00: The 14th or the 15th.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, right around there in that weekend, and then they'll work with our strength staff.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then we don't get them until like the third or fourth.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_02: But you know, we kind of have that, we call it a soft opening.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_02: They settle in here, they're training with their captains, they're working out with the strength staff, right?
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_02: Settling into Kalamazoo so that when we get them on the third or the fourth, um, we're ready to hit the ground running.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_02: We're not trying to play catch up and test them and all those kind of things.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_02: How old is your schedule for next year?
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_02: It's dynamite.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_02: It's dynamite.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, last year before we went into the NCA tournament, we had the 19th SOS strength of schedule of 213 teams.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_02: This year might even be stronger.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_02: We got we got a really cool trip that's uh uh going out east.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_02: We're gonna play UConn and Bryant.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, top 16 seed in Bryant last year, and UConn was top 15 team, both uh in the NCAA tournament, both won games in the NCAA tournament.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_02: That's gonna be a really elite weekend for us.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_02: We're gonna find out a lot about ourselves, right?
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Wisconsin's on there, we play them, we're bringing Seattle in.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_02: And that's a new home and home for us.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_02: We've never played them, so we look forward to that.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_02: One of the things we like to do as a program here is continue to do things the program's never done.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_02: Some of that is institutions with your schedule, right?
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_02: Like scheduling is there's two things to a successful lifeline in college, in my opinion.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_02: One is schedules, the other one is recruiting, and not necessarily in that order, right?
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_02: I'd say that they're both equally as important.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we got Cornell coming back from a home and home.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_02: They've been an NCA tournament team that's won multiple games in in pop previous years.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um, we got Butler out of the Big East that's coming.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so so we play Xavier, and then we play Oakland and Detroit, in-state rivals.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_02: Of course.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_02: Um, no Michigan or Michigan State on the schedule this year.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so we'll see.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe maybe we'll get them in the postseason.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but but yeah, and then the Missouri Valley, we're going into year four now, and so some rivalries have been built.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_00: Good.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_02: Year one, we just don't play each other, so so it's not like that, right?
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_02: It still feels like a non-conference game.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_02: Year two, you get a little bit more.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_02: Now, after three years playing each other home and away, playing each other in the conference tournament.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_02: Well, we've got some nice, tasty rivalries right now, right?
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we got one going with Evansville.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, and they've won a couple titles in that time too.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_02: And we've won now three since joining the conference.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, they've knocked us out.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_02: We just won a championship on their field.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_02: We've had some spicy uh uh uh regular season games, and so like I just think that one's out there.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um Bowling Green has always been always been with us, and I think we're creating a new one down there in Chicago, too, with UIC.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_02: UIC.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I think those guys down there do a fantastic job, and their teams are always really talented.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_02: They got a beautiful complex now.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_02: It's the only grass, I think, in the whole freaking city of Chicago, right?
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um he's got it going on, right?
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_02: And uh they they had the player of the year last year who's now playing professionally for uh down in Texas in the MLS Pro, and he was he he he was great.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_02: Those types of players that UIC recruits into our conference only makes our conference stronger.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um so in and and listen, to have a rivalry, both teams gotta win.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_02: If one team's only winning, I don't think they're calling it a rivalry.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_02: You're right.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so and now with UIC, we've both exchanged uh blows, and so I think that's kind of coming too.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um and we enjoy that.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_02: Listen, as a program, we want that.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_02: We want those games to be spicy, we want those games to have a lot on the line.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's what we play for.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_02: Those are those are fun moments to us.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um now whether we can, you know, win those games every single time.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, that that's our that's our goal.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_02: But you know, when you get in some of those, it it doesn't really matter what conference you're in, certainly the level will be different depending on what conference you're in, sure.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_02: But the rivalry itself, when you create that with a conference, you know it's game on and throw the records out.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_02: Let's go.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_01: Do you think the conference has a style, like a style of play?
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_02: Ours?
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_02: No.
• 34:07
  unknown: No.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_02: It's just it's we're all over the place.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_02: And we got teams down to warm weather.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, that was one thing about last postseason run.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_02: We went to DeKelb for the first round.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_02: It was horrible weather.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_02: Raining sideways, seems to always be that way when we visit DeKelb at least.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_02: We found the result there, and then we moved on.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_02: We went to Drake.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_02: We were there for four days and 65, 70 degrees.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_02: Then we went to southern Indiana to play Evansville, 75 degrees at kickoff time there.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_02: And then the NCA sent us down to Clemson.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_02: It was mid-70s.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_02: So in postseason, when we have hats, gloves, and parkas, we didn't have any of those things.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_02: To be honest with you, some of our players busted out the no sleeves when we went down to Clemson again because it was just beautiful out.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_02: I don't think we've ever really had a complete postseason season that way.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_02: A couple years ago we went down to to Duke and played them in the second round.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_02: It was beautiful down there when we did that too.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but so so that was a little unique perspective of our of our postseason run this year.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_01: When you talk about uh uh going back to the recruiting different platforms, what about states?
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_01: Do you see a difference in states?
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like what's your second okay, so if Michigan's number one, what's number two?
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_01: Do you have a second state?
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_02: So hub hub one is up.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_02: Tell all our secrets because they're so they're so secretive.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_02: But we're up and down 131, Travis City to Elkhart, Indiana, and you can get some sneaky players down there in Elkart, Indiana.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um, that's hub one.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_02: Hub 2A and 2B in Chicago and Detroit.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_02: No specific.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_02: We're right in the middle of both.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_02: Two hours.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_02: And then anything outside of that is game on.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_02: Anything outside of that is game on.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_02: And if we're going, if the if the reach is really far out of the Midwest, it's probably something very specific, major, that we're offering, like flight aviation, like I told you about.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um, or we pick them up in the transfer portal.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_02: I think the transfer portal geographically sometimes omits things.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_02: Those young men have already been through the process once.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_02: They know what they want or don't want.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_02: They wouldn't take a call with Western Michigan if they if they weren't up for living in Michigan, right?
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_02: Let's just say they're from Texas or, you know, out west, Arizona.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_02: Like they wouldn't take our call if they weren't up for that.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_02: And so a lot of times you're dealing with a 20, 21, 22-year-old guy, right?
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_02: Not an 18-year-old.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes as an 18-year-old, it's a little bit harder to move that farther away from home.
• 36:35
  unknown: Right?
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_02: But when you get 19 or 20, you've kind of already gone through that phase in your life.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_02: And so if it's the right fit, you may you may you may roll the dice and take a chance there.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_01: And I that was that was brilliant what you just said about they've already been through this, they've already been through the process and they know what they do want and they what they don't want.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_01: When they're 16 and 17 and 18 years old, they don't know what they want.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_03: No.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_01: So why are we so hard on kids going in the portal?
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_01: I don't understand how some college coaches in other sports, you know, the celebrity coaches, just rip on the portal and it's like, hold on, you left Michigan State for the NFL.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_01: Why are you talking why are you talking bad about uh a kid that's going in the transfer portal when you bailed on LSU?
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_01: And you know who I'm talking about.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_02: Well, yeah, yeah.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, when you're talking about maybe the some of those bigger sports, at least here in America, maybe they don't have a grip like they used to have on it, right?
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um and and then they don't like that.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I I actually think that the portal has been something that has really helped maybe the smaller schools.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, we lose players too, right?
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_02: But y roster cap, they can't they can't just hoard all Americans up to 35, 36 guys on their roster.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_02: Like when you talk about guys in some of the best programs that have ever played college soccer, you know, the Clemsons, the Virginias, the Indiana's, right?
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_02: Like guys that don't play in those those teams are really good.
• 38:11
  SPEAKER_01: Billy Weaver.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_01: I played with Billy Weaver.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_02: He played here in Kalamazoo for the Kalamazoo Kingdom PDL team.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_02: I know Billy.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_01: I played with Bill, and he really didn't play that much.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_01: And he's his Michigan player of the year.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_02: So that was one of my first jobs.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_02: I was a general manager of the PDL Kalamazoo Kingdom in like, I don't know, 2003, 2004, that's about when Billy would have played, right?
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_02: And uh the kingdom director there, Chris Keenan's an IU guy, and so obviously he's got connections with Yagley.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_02: And so they sent Billy here, right?
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_02: And they're like, oh man, this guy's really good, right?
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_02: And he was scoring goals for us, but couldn't get on the field at IU.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_02: That's insane, right?
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_02: I I think that there's probably still many of those stories out there, but I think there's a few less.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_02: Because just go in the portal and the roster caps, right?
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_02: Like if you used to keep 34 guys on your roster, now you're at 28, those six guys, right?
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_02: Like again, maybe maybe the bottom six guys from our program aren't going up, right?
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe if they decide to go in, they maybe have to transfer down.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_02: But it all is a domino effect to whatever whatever level you want to talk about, there's a domino effect to everything.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then there's some institutions that maybe just aren't aren't able to package transfers like others.
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_02: And so that's not going to be their market, right?
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_02: But I would also fancy it maybe those institutions can go and get the best 10th and 11th grader at any time.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_02: I don't think that's our market.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_02: Like if you want to put out there the best 20 10th graders right now, I I don't think either any of them are coming to Western.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_02: At least not the first time around.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe the second time.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but so so everybody has their niches.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_02: And some are good at navigating the portal than others.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_02: Some are better at it.
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um one of the things here at Western Michigan we're really good at that whatever transcript that I look at, you know, you want to transfer to Western, I'll look at your transcript from school, wherever school you're leaving.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_02: We're gonna take more credits from that transcript than any other Division I school.
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_01: That's yeah.
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_02: And that's a big advantage for us, right?
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_02: Um guys don't want to repeat a whole semester.
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_02: Now there's always some some one-off cases, depending on where you were studying, right?
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_02: But generally speaking, we do really, really good with that.
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so then therefore, you know, that's part of the package too.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_02: Hey, you you've you've got 65 credits overall, we're gonna take 58 of them.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, right?
• 40:37
  SPEAKER_02: Like they're like, Really?
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_02: You're gonna take 58 of them?
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yep, we are.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_02: And that gets, you know, so the other schools, whoever they may be, that he that he may be talking to, that number's not that high.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_02: So uh there's a little bit of that, but that's I think that's part of the reason why we've been a little bit successful there too.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um but yeah, it's definitely changed the landscape of of recruiting.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_01: How do you help your guys get all these pro opportunities?
• 40:59
  SPEAKER_01: I'm looking at that sheet over there of of Broncos and the pros.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 41:04
  SPEAKER_01: And and you were talking about 19 active.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_01: How do you like do you have relationships with the pro teams or do you want do you recruit kids that want to be pro?
• 41:15
  SPEAKER_01: How do you how do you have so much success at that?
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_02: So maybe a combination of things.
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not so sure when when when I started my tenure that that was what we were looking at.
• 41:27
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 41:27
  SPEAKER_02: 2017 kind of broke this wall down.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_02: That was our first Sweet 16 um uh appearance, and we won a MAC championship that year uh against a very talented Akron team.
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_02: We both got top 10 seeds, right, in the NCA tournament.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_01: What yours is 2017.
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_02: And we produced Brandon Bay and Drew Shepard as our first MLS draft picks under my tenure, and both just terrific players and both Michigan guys.
• 41:53
  SPEAKER_02: I love that, right?
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_02: I love also that Drew Shepard got cut from the DA, which is now MLS Next, at the Michigan Wolves, right?
• 42:01
  SPEAKER_02: And so got sent to the state team.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_02: Saying, come on over here, Drew, right?
• 42:05
  SPEAKER_02: And I would say that among everything Drew developed himself, what we say about what we say here at Western is that we can foster an environment, but we can't make you a pro.
• 42:16
  SPEAKER_02: Foster an environment is have elite facilities.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we got two unbelievable turf facilities, we've got two unbelievable grass facilities.
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_02: And sometimes, you know, at the bigger institutions, you know, they have 35 sports.
• 42:29
  SPEAKER_02: And so sometimes the facilities aren't always open for them.
• 42:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 42:32
  SPEAKER_02: Here at Western Michigan, our guys can come down here into the indoor facility all day, any day.
• 42:37
  SPEAKER_02: And then go out there, and they do.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_02: And the ones that want to go on, you know, they do more when coaches aren't looking.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um so that's part of fostering the environment.
• 42:47
  SPEAKER_02: We can challenge those guys, right?
• 42:49
  SPEAKER_02: Like we're extremely competitive programs.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_02: If we don't like to compete, and I mean compete for anything and everything, then this isn't the spot for you.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_02: You want to go down to our player lounges, I'll show you a little bit later.
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_02: We got foosball down there, we got golden tea, we got air hockey, we got shuffleboard, we got video games, FIFA.
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_02: If you sit down at a shuffle bowl table, you better be ready to win.
• 43:08
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_02: You want to jump on, you want to jump on the sticks at a foosball table, you better be ready.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_02: And then that transitions down into the training field.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_02: We compete for everything, transitions into the academic field.
• 43:18
  SPEAKER_02: We just I mean, check this out.
• 43:19
  SPEAKER_02: With 25 players this spring, right?
• 43:22
  SPEAKER_02: Our team GPA just came out, 3.71.
• 43:25
  SPEAKER_02: 25 guys.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_02: Eight guys with a perfect 4.0.
• 43:29
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_02: It's unbelievable, right?
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_02: Since 2017, we've had 20 academic all-Americans.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_02: Since 2017.
• 43:38
  SPEAKER_02: 20.
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_02: Of those 20, check this one out now.
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_02: We've had four different players win men, scholar, player of the year.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_02: That is four different ones.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_02: Those four guys are Brandon Bai, Anthony Bowie, Charlie Sharp, Dylan Singh.
• 43:55
  SPEAKER_02: You want to know what's awesome about those four guys?
• 43:57
  SPEAKER_02: All four year players for us, all Michigan raised and born kids.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_02: It's unbelievable.
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_02: There's not another institution in the last 15 years that even has one in the state of Michigan.
• 44:10
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my God.
• 44:11
  SPEAKER_02: It's unbelievable.
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_01: That's gotta make you so proud.
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_02: Oh man, it's what I didn't have when I was a player.
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_02: Like checks and balances, be accountable.
• 44:19
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_02: Like we don't you don't gotta come here and get all A's.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_02: You don't.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_02: You just gotta give me the same effort in the classroom that you would give me on the field.
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_02: Like, would you no-call, no-show me for a training session?
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_02: That's probably not gonna work out too well for you.
• 44:34
  SPEAKER_02: So you can't no-call, no-show for class.
• 44:37
  SPEAKER_02: For class.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, we talk to them, we don't hold their feet to the fire by any means, right?
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_02: I think we talk, we talk and treat them like men and just say, listen, and we try to find guys with the appropriate and want-to degrees.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_02: Some guys come here and the number one thing is they want to play soccer.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 44:57
  SPEAKER_02: I get that.
• 44:57
  SPEAKER_03: Uh-huh.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_02: And we have to kind of help bring in the academic field and make them understand, like, we want to get you to your graduation day, this is what it looks like, etc., etc.
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_02: These these types of degrees, I think you can move in this space.
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, one of the one of the ones we really got going on right now is sports management.
• 45:12
  SPEAKER_02: It used to be only a master's degree, now it's a BA.
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_02: Tony Rizzo, Novi Jags kid.
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_02: He comes in here, does that, he leaves a year on the table.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_02: This is a great story.
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_02: He leaves a year on the table.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, you're not gonna come back for your senior.
• 45:25
  SPEAKER_02: Nah, coach, I got a job opportunity.
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, what is it?
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_02: It was first job opportunity after graduating in sports management.
• 45:31
  SPEAKER_02: He was like a 3-6 student, really good student.
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um, he's gonna work for the Las Vegas Knights.
• 45:37
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 45:37
  SPEAKER_02: So that was 2022.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_02: We win the Mac championship, right?
• 45:41
  SPEAKER_02: So he's a little salty about that.
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_02: Man, I stayed, didn't win the Mac championship, but the Las Vegas Knights win the NHL's championship.
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_02: So when I showed him our championship ring, then he showed me his championship ring.
• 45:53
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, oh my goodness, right?
• 45:55
  SPEAKER_02: Like that's a different level.
• 45:57
  SPEAKER_02: So I think the young man made an unbelievable uh decision.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 46:01
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 46:01
  SPEAKER_02: But uh, you know, that that that's what aligned for him, right?
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_02: And so, and we've we've had some other ones.
• 46:07
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you know, we talk about our business program, there's a lot of guys in that, a lot of guys in our engineering school, a lot of guys in our sports management.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and and then we got probably two or three right now, I think three in flight aviation.
• 46:18
  SPEAKER_02: That's a really tough major, real tough major, and it conflicts a lot with soccer.
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_02: You just got to work through the athletes with that.
• 46:24
  SPEAKER_02: But but what they have been able to accomplish in the classroom, this isn't just one semester, this isn't just one year.
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_02: I would say this is across our tenure, right?
• 46:33
  SPEAKER_02: Like, very, very proud of that, and I hope the moms are very, very proud of that too.
• 46:37
  SPEAKER_03: I bet you they are.
• 46:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um, the dads are more about stay out of trouble, right?
• 46:40
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I get that part.
• 46:41
  SPEAKER_02: Uh but you know, at some point their athletic careers are gonna come to an end.
• 46:44
  SPEAKER_02: Of course.
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_02: And I think you know, higher education gives you an advantage over others in competition, right?
• 46:51
  SPEAKER_02: And maybe it gets you the foot in the door for whatever that first job might look like after athletics.
• 46:56
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 46:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um so so so I mean, I I don't I don't know that we are just a a professional team here, but but we we can foster that environment for players that are talented enough and that want to work hard enough.
• 47:08
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 47:09
  SPEAKER_02: I don't have a lot of rules, but I have a few non-negotiables.
• 47:12
  SPEAKER_02: Like, if you if you if you don't work hard, like don't come here.
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_02: I I don't care how talented you are, like I just don't do well with those types of guys.
• 47:20
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um and so we we speak very honestly in the recruiting process, and I think that those young men and those families can kind of weed themselves out uh if they don't like what they hear.
• 47:31
  SPEAKER_02: And we tell them it all the time.
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, if you don't like what you hear on this on this visit today, well then decision's easy.
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_01: How do you rank or where do you rank competitiveness into when you're like talking to a recruit?
• 47:43
  SPEAKER_01: How competitive do you do you want that kid to be?
• 47:45
  SPEAKER_02: So we we call it a little different.
• 47:46
  SPEAKER_02: We say competitive excellence.
• 47:47
  SPEAKER_02: All right, like you can't just be competitive on the training field or on the game field, you've got to be competitive in the classroom.
• 47:52
  SPEAKER_02: You've got to be competitive on Friday night in your decisions socially, right?
• 47:56
  SPEAKER_02: Like you got to be competitive.
• 47:58
  SPEAKER_02: AD Dan uh he wants us to lead the nation to have our student athletes holistically prepared when they leave Western Michigan.
• 48:07
  SPEAKER_02: All right, and I think we do an unbelievable job of that.
• 48:10
  SPEAKER_02: We have a whole department here in our athletic market called Bronco Empowerment, right, which will help you in all those spaces.
• 48:16
  SPEAKER_02: Uh that's donor-based, right?
• 48:18
  SPEAKER_02: And we've got four guys or four uh FTEs in there, full-time employees in there, and it gives our student athletes a lot of outlets, um, whether that's our community reach program.
• 48:28
  SPEAKER_02: You talk about uh competitive excellence.
• 48:30
  SPEAKER_02: Last year we were number nine in men's soccer for community service hours.
• 48:35
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 48:35
  SPEAKER_02: Like you won't see us post those all over social medias and things.
• 48:39
  SPEAKER_02: I think if you're gonna give back to your community, I don't think you need to go and do all these things.
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_02: You don't got the flaw onto it.
• 48:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, that's just my personal philosophy.
• 48:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I know.
• 48:46
  SPEAKER_02: But when you log up to ours, we're in the top ten of the nation last year, right?
• 48:50
  SPEAKER_01: So I didn't even know they tracked that.
• 48:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yep, yeah.
• 48:53
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 48:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um, um, so what I would suggest there too is like you know, we we recruit leaders.
• 49:00
  SPEAKER_02: And and if you're a leader, then you're you're you're gonna value growing your community.
• 49:06
  SPEAKER_02: Growing our community as a college soccer player, it could be going to a soccer camp, it could be signing graph autographs after a game because you know you scored the goal or you got the cool haircut, and now those 10 little kids over there want everything to do with you.
• 49:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 49:18
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 49:18
  SPEAKER_02: And you have to give some of your time.
• 49:21
  SPEAKER_02: And we talk about that when we recruit um young men.
• 49:24
  SPEAKER_02: It's like we're gonna expect you to give back to this community.
• 49:27
  SPEAKER_02: And in return, this community is gonna give you a lot.
• 49:29
  SPEAKER_02: And then we kind of go through that, right?
• 49:31
  SPEAKER_02: But we expect you to give back to this community.
• 49:32
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, we we really fancy ourselves in developing leaders, and I I would suggest to you that I think the world needs more leaders right now, right?
• 49:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I hope that we're doing our part as a program is that we're building that, and that's not just from us.
• 49:45
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, we bring a lot of guest speakers in and put our student athletes in front of people that I think can be very influential and make you a stronger leader.
• 49:54
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe, maybe each function you only take one nugget, but if you take one nugget, then I would say that was a successful meeting.
• 50:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 50:01
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 50:01
  SPEAKER_02: And continue to want to be better in those.
• 50:04
  SPEAKER_02: Whether they might be uh leaders in other student organizations here on campus, we encourage that.
• 50:10
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes they have to come to me and say, Coach, this is gonna be the commitment if I if I go down this this space.
• 50:16
  SPEAKER_02: I said, I'm okay with that, right?
• 50:18
  SPEAKER_02: Especially maybe here in the springtime.
• 50:20
  SPEAKER_02: And again, maybe that'll change, right?
• 50:22
  SPEAKER_02: But uh when we have a little bit more downtime, I think maybe maybe instead of training six days a week, it's okay to take a day and and go do some type of service project.
• 50:31
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, right?
• 50:32
  SPEAKER_02: I think maybe that grows the team off the field too.
• 50:36
  SPEAKER_02: And you you can't really just dissect it and say, oh, we just grew like that and that, but if you if you value those moments and you're consistent with it, I think you'll see your team grow tighter together.
• 50:46
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 50:47
  SPEAKER_01: And and there's multiple multiple avenues that you're building this team culture is is it is the foosball table and the shuffleboard, but it's also helping out the community.
• 50:57
  SPEAKER_01: It's also probably these guys are probably competitive with grades.
• 51:00
  SPEAKER_01: It's like I'm I I got a 3-7, what do you got?
• 51:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 51:04
  SPEAKER_02: Our team goal this year in the fall was to lead the nation in GPA.
• 51:08
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 51:09
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we've never done that.
• 51:10
  SPEAKER_02: We've been in the top five a couple times, all right, but that's one of our team goals.
• 51:13
  SPEAKER_02: I don't, I'm not even in those meetings.
• 51:15
  SPEAKER_02: That's awesome.
• 51:15
  SPEAKER_02: So if you get 28 guys that come up, I mean the 28 guys wouldn't have come up with that team goal when I was playing, I'll tell you that.
• 51:21
  SPEAKER_02: No.
• 51:22
  SPEAKER_02: We want to be eligible at the end of this year.
• 51:27
  SPEAKER_02: But uh I think it speaks to the character of the young men that are in our program, how their families have raised them, right?
• 51:33
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and that's a little piece to the recruiting process, too.
• 51:36
  SPEAKER_02: Like we probably won't recruit you if you don't value the education side.
• 51:40
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 51:41
  SPEAKER_02: It doesn't have to be everything that you do.
• 51:43
  SPEAKER_02: I don't want to say that too loud, but you know, you have to value that side.
• 51:47
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 51:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, we are still amateurs here, right?
• 51:50
  SPEAKER_02: And I think uh, you know, the best day of your college career will be when you get to walk across that stage and get your diploma.
• 51:58
  SPEAKER_02: Now, a very close second at Western Michigan is when we start making championship rings and passing those out, right?
• 52:05
  SPEAKER_02: But as the head coach, I gotta help align them to understand priority number one, graduation, priority number two, right?
• 52:14
  SPEAKER_02: Let's win some championships together.
• 52:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um, if the two flip-flap, I might not be leading the program like my boss would want us to, um, like I want to, right?
• 52:25
  SPEAKER_02: And sometimes when you go into the season, right, like you get really tunnel vision, right?
• 52:30
  SPEAKER_02: Because you're in it.
• 52:31
  SPEAKER_02: And you don't get out of that tunnel until the season's over.
• 52:34
  SPEAKER_02: That's just what it is.
• 52:34
  SPEAKER_02: It starts, my wife and I, every single time, all right, here we go.
• 52:37
  SPEAKER_02: High five it, we're in it for the next three and a half months.
• 52:41
  SPEAKER_02: And we're high-fiving when the season's over, too, and just saying, you know, because I mean your families go with you through it.
• 52:47
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 52:48
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 52:49
  SPEAKER_02: And uh you look at when you look at maybe my coaching career, it really took off in 2016, 2017, and that's when I met my wife.
• 53:00
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 53:00
  SPEAKER_02: And um, I think you know, finding your partner in life is is a big big piece to it, and in sports, I mean one that can support you and handle you you're away a lot.
• 53:11
  SPEAKER_02: It's not an easy lifestyle.
• 53:12
  SPEAKER_02: No, you're away a lot.
• 53:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um, Western Michigan is very much a family inclusive environment.
• 53:18
  SPEAKER_02: You got kids, you can bring your kids to work, right?
• 53:21
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I wouldn't say you do that every single day, but you get pinched sometimes, right?
• 53:25
  SPEAKER_02: And um I'm very, very appreciative of that.
• 53:28
  SPEAKER_02: Very, very appreciative of that.
• 53:30
  SPEAKER_01: Of course.
• 53:31
  SPEAKER_01: I can't stop thinking that this almost didn't happen.
• 53:34
  SPEAKER_02: In terms of Yeah, you want to talk about 2003?
• 53:37
  SPEAKER_01: A little bit.
• 53:38
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, okay, so I'm there's the there's the photo right there.
• 53:42
  SPEAKER_01: So you were on that team.
• 53:44
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, it was my first year as an assistant coach.
• 53:46
  SPEAKER_01: That was your first year as an assistant coach.
• 53:48
  SPEAKER_02: Knew nothing.
• 53:49
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
• 53:50
  SPEAKER_02: And also a reminder that you know I played with half of that team.
• 53:54
  SPEAKER_02: So how hard was that?
• 53:55
  SPEAKER_02: I just didn't coach any of those guys.
• 53:58
  SPEAKER_00: You just kept coached a freshman?
• 54:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, coach, or coach would send me down with the goalkeepers.
• 54:02
  SPEAKER_02: I can do that, no problem.
• 54:04
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 54:04
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I'm pretty good at understanding my role at those moments, but what I wasn't is I didn't understand what you do as an assistant.
• 54:12
  SPEAKER_02: I don't understand.
• 54:13
  SPEAKER_02: I'll give you another good story.
• 54:14
  SPEAKER_02: So back then you used to uh uh scout in person your opponents, right?
• 54:19
  SPEAKER_02: And you got and you got some Detroit background.
• 54:22
  SPEAKER_02: So coach Coach Karwalski sends me, he says, Hey, you're gonna go to Detroit coming up, I'm gonna send you to Detroit today.
• 54:28
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 54:29
  SPEAKER_02: What am I doing?
• 54:30
  SPEAKER_02: You know, he's like, Well, you're scouting Detroit.
• 54:33
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, what does that look like?
• 54:35
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 54:36
  SPEAKER_02: So I go over there and I'm on the fence line, I'm watching them warm up.
• 54:39
  SPEAKER_02: This is old school Detroit.
• 54:40
  SPEAKER_02: This is when they had the crown on the field.
• 54:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yep, right?
• 54:43
  SPEAKER_02: And you couldn't, you know, if you were in the bench, you could see half their body.
• 54:47
  SPEAKER_02: You can see half their body.
• 54:48
  SPEAKER_02: Grass field, which I like better than the turf.
• 54:51
  SPEAKER_02: But so Morris is the head coach, and I'm a youngster, and and we'd been, you know, I've just previously played the last five years at Western, and we always played Detroit, so he he knew me a little bit.
• 55:01
  SPEAKER_02: And he sees me on the fence line, and I must have one of those faces that you just recognize all the time.
• 55:05
  SPEAKER_02: And he was walking walking towards me, and I'm 22 at the time.
• 55:07
  SPEAKER_02: Oh shit, what's this guy got what's going on?
• 55:10
  SPEAKER_02: You know, and comes over, shakes me, hey coach, how do you doing?
• 55:13
  SPEAKER_02: He goes, Hey, you can tell Karwowski if you want a scout, just call me.
• 55:16
  SPEAKER_02: I'll give it to you.
• 55:19
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, I don't even know what to say.
• 55:21
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, what do you say?
• 55:22
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, Morris has been doing this his whole life.
• 55:23
  SPEAKER_02: He's a Vardar guy, right?
• 55:25
  SPEAKER_02: That's probably back when Vardar was maybe a it's heyday.
• 55:28
  SPEAKER_02: The top.
• 55:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and I I just had a laugh with them and uh just never forget that story, right?
• 55:34
  SPEAKER_02: And um I'm glad that you don't have to in-person scout anymore, and the film exchange is there because those created some really late nights, right?
• 55:40
  SPEAKER_02: And that's kind of why they they got away with that, because you don't want assistance on the road in the middle of the morning, and then getting up the next day to make training.
• 55:47
  SPEAKER_02: I I get that.
• 55:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um but yeah, that that was uh that was one of my first moments.
• 55:52
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, okay, what what am I doing?
• 55:53
  SPEAKER_02: Is there like a is there like a spreadsheet I should follow?
• 55:56
  SPEAKER_02: Like I just hadn't been taught yet, right?
• 55:59
  SPEAKER_02: I'm still in the player mode.
• 56:00
  SPEAKER_02: And when you're in a player mode, you certainly don't think about coaching.
• 56:03
  unknown: Yeah.
• 56:04
  SPEAKER_01: So, okay, did you guys know ahead of time that they were going to coach?
• 56:10
  SPEAKER_02: Oh yeah, there were forums like on campus throughout the fall.
• 56:14
  SPEAKER_02: We went to them, spoke on our behalf, right, and so did all the other sports.
• 56:19
  SPEAKER_02: Nobody knew nobody knew exactly who was gonna be cut, but you can kind of read between the lines.
• 56:25
  SPEAKER_02: You're not cutting basketball, you're not cutting hockey, you're not cutting football here.
• 56:29
  SPEAKER_02: No, right?
• 56:30
  SPEAKER_02: So, um, and again, I I'm really young at that age, so like I don't I don't really have a whole lot of pictures in my head, like how some of those conversations went.
• 56:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but I know once we won the championship, everybody felt like a little bit of a relief in that there's no way they could cut a championship team.
• 56:47
  SPEAKER_02: Now, in saying that, unfortunately, track and field got cut.
• 56:52
  SPEAKER_02: They have got lots of championships in their history, just in that exact moment, they didn't win it.
• 56:59
  SPEAKER_02: And honestly, you know, when you look at resources for both sports, you probably save a little bit more with the size of a track team than what you do with a soccer team.
• 57:07
  SPEAKER_02: And back then we were probably right in three scholarships, right?
• 57:11
  SPEAKER_02: So um, yeah, I mean, I would tell you the majority of Broncos don't even remember that time, and it's probably good that we don't.
• 57:19
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 57:20
  SPEAKER_01: And then I guess I mean how many programs have we lost since then?
• 57:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like, think about the Mac that you played in.
• 57:29
  SPEAKER_01: Buffalo's gone.
• 57:30
  SPEAKER_01: Who else is gone?
• 57:30
  SPEAKER_01: Talia.
• 57:31
  SPEAKER_02: Well, back then Marshall was in the Mac, Kentucky was in the Mac.
• 57:35
  SPEAKER_01: Really?
• 57:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 57:36
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my god.
• 57:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 57:38
  SPEAKER_02: So my freshman year actually, uh uh um Miami of Ohio, Ohio folded their men's team.
• 57:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 57:45
  SPEAKER_02: And my sophomore year, Eastern Michigan, folded their men's team.
• 57:49
  SPEAKER_01: 2002, 2001, I can't remember exactly the year, right?
• 57:53
  SPEAKER_02: We picked up one of my best friends to life, is Jeff Schlitt.
• 57:56
  SPEAKER_02: Um he transferred over to us.
• 57:58
  SPEAKER_02: Jeff Schlitt?
• 57:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 57:59
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I touched with him.
• 58:00
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 58:00
  SPEAKER_01: He's a Lake Orion guy.
• 58:01
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a Lake Orion guy.
• 58:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 58:03
  SPEAKER_02: Jeff we vacation all the time.
• 58:04
  SPEAKER_02: He's coming up here in another month.
• 58:06
  SPEAKER_01: Is he still in Chicago?
• 58:07
  SPEAKER_02: No, he's in Florida.
• 58:08
  SPEAKER_01: He's in Florida now?
• 58:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 58:09
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, I haven't seen him in a while.
• 58:10
  SPEAKER_02: He ain't leaving Florida either.
• 58:12
  SPEAKER_02: He's too cold up here.
• 58:13
  SPEAKER_01: Jeff Schlitt.
• 58:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, he's he's a big director for NCSA.
• 58:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 58:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 58:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 58:17
  SPEAKER_01: He's been there for probably 20 years.
• 58:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 58:19
  SPEAKER_02: So he came over in January.
• 58:21
  SPEAKER_02: I don't remember what the year was exactly, but when they cut the program, of course, you know, Eastern and Western, it's pretty spicy rivalry, right?
• 58:28
  SPEAKER_02: And so the fact that our coach was going to bring a couple Eastern guys over, I mean, I don't know exactly how the team felt about that, but I don't think we we were like, come on in, guys.
• 58:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know.
• 58:38
  SPEAKER_02: But uh he was a great player for us, and outside back ended up captaining in our team his senior year.
• 58:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um, yeah.
• 58:45
  SPEAKER_02: Guys like Jeff Schlitt, Mike Gilmore, Brian Whitman, and myself, we all played together.
• 58:50
  SPEAKER_02: We all have kids in week 52.
• 58:52
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, we all go down to Florida and we got a timeshare down there, and we tell stories and we let the 15 kids rule the pools and uh you know, have some fun times, right?
• 59:03
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 59:04
  SPEAKER_02: And life's too short, it's hard to get together.
• 59:06
  SPEAKER_02: It's hard.
• 59:07
  SPEAKER_02: You know different things, but we've been able to do that 10 years running.
• 59:11
  SPEAKER_02: Um it's been uh I hope that you know some of the guys that I coach, I talk to them about these stories all the time.
• 59:16
  SPEAKER_02: I hope you you build these relationships so you know you can carry them on once you once you start families and whatnot.
• 59:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and I think we see that.
• 59:24
  SPEAKER_02: I mean you're not gonna carry 28 relationships on, you're gonna be the ones that you're tighter with tighter with, right?
• 59:29
  SPEAKER_02: Oftentimes you probably live with some of those guys, right?
• 59:32
  SPEAKER_02: Because when you live with them, you form a little tighter bond, I I I would suggest.
• 59:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um But yeah, I mean, those I don't take those times away.
• 59:39
  SPEAKER_02: Shalidity is a really good friend and certainly happy he came here to uh to Kalam Zoo.
• 59:44
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I just saw So it was Billy Weaver, he was in the Lake Orient guy too, right?
• 59:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 59:49
  SPEAKER_02: You Lake Orient guys, you know where they're at.
• 59:50
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 59:52
  SPEAKER_01: So, I mean, so I I think it was during the Olympics, and they were talking about U.S.
• 59:58
  SPEAKER_01: hockey, and they were talking about how somebody, one of the commentators were talking about how I played ho obviously I played in high school, I played pro, but it's the relationships with the guys that I played college hockey with that are my lifelong friends.
• 1:00:15
  SPEAKER_01: I there's high school guys I don't really talk to anymore, and there's pro guys that I don't really talk to anymore, but those college guys, it's because you live with them, but you you do everything together, right?
• 1:00:26
  SPEAKER_01: Well and you sweat and you bleed together and travel together.
• 1:00:30
  SPEAKER_02: You you know, a lot of people will suggest, and this has nothing to do with athletics, that you know, those four or five years in college are some of your best years that you'll ever have in life at the time.
• 1:00:42
  SPEAKER_02: I think when you get a little bit older and maybe maybe have your first child, that that'll give you different perspective.
• 1:00:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but I would agree with that.
• 1:00:49
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, my college experience was unbelievable, right?
• 1:00:52
  SPEAKER_02: And we didn't win much at all.
• 1:00:54
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 1:00:54
  SPEAKER_02: We were actually quite horrible.
• 1:00:56
  SPEAKER_02: But the relationships that I created with those guys was unbelievable.
• 1:01:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and maybe there's a little bit to say, you know, 18 to 23, they're very influential years in your life.
• 1:01:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, it's the start of you can kind of do your own thing.
• 1:01:10
  SPEAKER_02: You know, mom and dad aren't telling you what to do anymore.
• 1:01:12
  SPEAKER_02: You're living on your own.
• 1:01:13
  SPEAKER_02: Those are all really exciting things.
• 1:01:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um so yeah, but and I I would comment too that some of the some of the reasons that you mentioned would probably line in there too, that why those relationships get so tight.
• 1:01:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um you ever like recruit kids from like the same teams and stuff like that that are already really good friends at all, or not really?
• 1:01:37
  SPEAKER_02: So I would suggest this.
• 1:01:38
  SPEAKER_02: Once we land recruits in class, they usually help us recruit other guys.
• 1:01:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um I don't think it I think it would be the same as like we don't recruit all from the same platform.
• 1:01:49
  SPEAKER_02: So we don't want to get too much there.
• 1:01:52
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, a couple years ago, I mean, during COVID, shoot, we probably had six or seven kingdom players on my team.
• 1:01:58
  unknown: Yeah.
• 1:01:59
  SPEAKER_02: From Kalamazoo, right?
• 1:02:01
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 1:02:01
  SPEAKER_02: And that might have been a little too many, but now you look at some of those guys, I mean, four or five of them playing professionally, right?
• 1:02:07
  SPEAKER_02: So maybe it was just a really unique pocket of players.
• 1:02:11
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but yeah, I mean, twins.
• 1:02:13
  SPEAKER_02: We've had several sets of twins.
• 1:02:15
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:02:15
  SPEAKER_02: They often play on the same team.
• 1:02:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:02:18
  SPEAKER_02: And when you look at Carson and Tanner from the Nationals, I mean, shit, though those guys, they knew where you were.
• 1:02:24
  SPEAKER_02: And they didn't even have to tell each other.
• 1:02:26
  SPEAKER_02: And they knew where you were when they were sleeping, when they were playing.
• 1:02:28
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, they just they just knew.
• 1:02:30
  SPEAKER_02: Um so we've done a little bit of that over the past.
• 1:02:34
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, sometimes now MLS next platforms, those rosters are a little bigger, you know, 26 guys maybe, so it's a little bit easier maybe to grab a couple guys.
• 1:02:42
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 1:02:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um, or maybe you grab a couple guys off like a U-19 team, but one's you know, a senior and one's a junior, so they come in at different years.
• 1:02:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um do you have can you go into any players, not specifically, but like the the the ones that you miss on?
• 1:03:02
  SPEAKER_01: And what was missing?
• 1:03:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so so I think any coach would tell you we don't try to miss.
• 1:03:08
  SPEAKER_02: Of course not.
• 1:03:09
  SPEAKER_02: But there's no foolproof plan there.
• 1:03:11
  SPEAKER_02: Um I don't know, I think sometimes when when we miss, I mean maybe maybe the uh young young man um not competitive enough for us, right?
• 1:03:20
  SPEAKER_02: Like he's working his way up the roster, but he's not willing to compete as he does that.
• 1:03:26
  SPEAKER_02: Um you know, maybe maybe he doesn't fall in love with the process anymore.
• 1:03:30
  SPEAKER_02: And if you if you if you fall out of love with the process, you'll never make it here.
• 1:03:36
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 1:03:36
  SPEAKER_02: That just the process just demands so much.
• 1:03:39
  SPEAKER_02: That's gotta be enjoyable to you.
• 1:03:41
  SPEAKER_02: Whether that's a regen session, a gym session, training, film, games, right, making up schoolwork because we traveled in the summertime.
• 1:03:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you got some leisure, but you're also developing in a program.
• 1:03:55
  SPEAKER_02: All of that is the process, right?
• 1:03:57
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes the process for a young man is sitting.
• 1:04:00
  SPEAKER_02: And right now, that's becoming harder and harder, I think, um, for players to do.
• 1:04:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um the portal presents itself as, oh, well, if I go in there, I can go play.
• 1:04:12
  SPEAKER_02: And that's not always the case, but you know, I I I we try to be as honest as we can in the recruiting process.
• 1:04:17
  SPEAKER_02: Hey, I think I need three, four semesters from you before you're gonna break through the lineup.
• 1:04:21
  SPEAKER_02: And I think recruits are really good at selective listening, right?
• 1:04:26
  SPEAKER_02: And so they hear a lot of the other things throughout the day, but though that that comment goes in and out of an ear, you know, and we'll make sure that we revisit that comment several times throughout the course of the visit because, like we say, we have a plan for everybody that we recruit.
• 1:04:40
  SPEAKER_02: We have a plan for you.
• 1:04:42
  SPEAKER_02: And today's your visit day, and we're gonna execute that plan, and hopefully we articulate everything that we have for you in that plan.
• 1:04:49
  SPEAKER_02: Some plans go exactly as planned.
• 1:04:52
  SPEAKER_02: Some plans get sped up, some plans take more time.
• 1:04:56
  SPEAKER_02: That's all dictated by the athlete.
• 1:04:59
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 1:04:59
  SPEAKER_02: But all we can do in the recruiting process is articulate to you what our plan is for you.
• 1:05:05
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 1:05:06
  SPEAKER_02: And um I think that that's worked well for us.
• 1:05:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um hard honesty, I think a lot of people like that.
• 1:05:13
  SPEAKER_02: I think there's some others that don't do well with that, but uh, that's just kind of who we are.
• 1:05:17
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:05:18
  SPEAKER_02: And a lot of times people, you're negatively recruiting your own players.
• 1:05:21
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, no, I'm not.
• 1:05:22
  SPEAKER_02: I'm just telling them how tough it's gonna be here.
• 1:05:23
  unknown: Right?
• 1:05:24
  SPEAKER_02: If they don't like that toughness, they won't make it anyway.
• 1:05:27
  SPEAKER_02: So let's just let's figure it out now.
• 1:05:30
  SPEAKER_01: How long?
• 1:05:32
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, if you play us, if you play us, yeah, right, like I don't know what those scattering reports are gonna be, but but but but they're they're gonna be telling their team, like, you gotta be ready to play 90.
• 1:05:44
  SPEAKER_02: West is not gonna give you a breath, right?
• 1:05:46
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you better be ready to play 90.
• 1:05:48
  SPEAKER_02: They're gonna compete the entire time.
• 1:05:49
  SPEAKER_02: They're not gonna make nothing is going to be easy.
• 1:05:52
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 1:05:52
  SPEAKER_02: I think those are some of the characteristics that just about any program that plays this um might have uh to their team at some point or another.
• 1:06:00
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm very proud of that.
• 1:06:01
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 1:06:02
  SPEAKER_01: How do you okay, these kids are coming from high school and they're going into literally a professional environment.
• 1:06:11
  SPEAKER_01: Kind you know, like where they have recovery and they have, you know, 24-hour access to care or health care or just to, you know, um to rehab, right?
• 1:06:27
  SPEAKER_01: And then they have strength and conditioning, and they have all of this, and it's becoming a 24-hour athlete and a 365-day athlete.
• 1:06:36
  SPEAKER_01: Whereas they came from a club that maybe trained three times a week or four times a week.
• 1:06:40
  SPEAKER_01: How long does that change?
• 1:06:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like Yeah.
• 1:06:44
  SPEAKER_02: I think it might be slightly different from from individual to individual, but I think you gotta you gotta lean on your leadership group, right?
• 1:06:52
  SPEAKER_02: Like those those young men that are your leaders in your program at whatever year have probably been through that process a little bit initially.
• 1:07:00
  SPEAKER_02: That's the your hardest your hardest year is your freshman year for sure.
• 1:07:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um so how do you get them to buy into all that well as a coach?
• 1:07:08
  SPEAKER_02: You gotta take the temperature of your team.
• 1:07:09
  SPEAKER_02: And if you need to throw a couple extra days off in there, you do.
• 1:07:12
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, when we throw a day off, you're gonna see 25 guys down here playing what we call just open turf time, right?
• 1:07:18
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:07:19
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but that's still a different, that's different than training, right?
• 1:07:23
  SPEAKER_02: It's like like a basketball player knows it.
• 1:07:26
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you're not training today.
• 1:07:27
  SPEAKER_02: How many times do you go get up shots?
• 1:07:28
  SPEAKER_02: And next thing you know, there's four guys in there, so you play 2v2 real quick.
• 1:07:32
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 1:07:32
  SPEAKER_02: Like that same thing exists in soccer, right?
• 1:07:35
  SPEAKER_02: And if there's no goalies that show up, they'll play the pugs.
• 1:07:37
  SPEAKER_02: If the goalies show up, you'll see them play the big goals.
• 1:07:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um so so taking the temperature of your team, do they need more?
• 1:07:45
  SPEAKER_02: Do they need less?
• 1:07:47
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 1:07:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, newcomers to our program, I think this is a big piece.
• 1:07:51
  SPEAKER_02: Everybody has a mentor, right?
• 1:07:53
  SPEAKER_02: So, so you have a returning player, and we try to match those up, but maybe you have similar degrees, et cetera, et cetera, whatever it is.
• 1:07:59
  SPEAKER_02: And so, so though that young man is gonna go to their mentor probably for 90% of his thoughts, right?
• 1:08:05
  SPEAKER_02: And that mentor's gonna have an answer.
• 1:08:07
  SPEAKER_02: So we always say, if you're thinking about something, you need to tell somebody what you're thinking.
• 1:08:12
  SPEAKER_02: Because the might not it might might not be anything, but it might be something.
• 1:08:15
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 1:08:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and we find that they're much more, um, the freshmen are much more uh uh easy to to to to tell those things to appear as opposed to always coming to a coach's office.
• 1:08:29
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 1:08:29
  SPEAKER_02: That's worked really well for us.
• 1:08:31
  SPEAKER_02: I we've had that in, I think, since 2016.
• 1:08:33
  SPEAKER_02: Do you assign?
• 1:08:34
  SPEAKER_02: Do you assign?
• 1:08:35
  SPEAKER_02: Coaching staff does.
• 1:08:36
  SPEAKER_02: You guys sign.
• 1:08:37
  SPEAKER_02: Try to pack it up.
• 1:08:37
  SPEAKER_02: And then we have some non-negotiables.
• 1:08:39
  SPEAKER_02: These are some of the things you gotta do, like in preseason, when we go to the VDC, the Valley Dining Center for lunch every day, you and your mentor need to have lunch together.
• 1:08:47
  unknown: Right?
• 1:08:47
  SPEAKER_02: And then we do red card, we give them some cash, whatever, for their dinners.
• 1:08:51
  SPEAKER_02: But so that's one on our exhibitions, you gotta sit on the bus next together.
• 1:08:55
  SPEAKER_02: We have like five of them, right?
• 1:08:56
  SPEAKER_02: They have to take their student their their mentee, and they have to go and physically knock on every door of their class.
• 1:09:04
  SPEAKER_02: All right, so they got five classes.
• 1:09:06
  SPEAKER_02: You can't tell them, oh, there's Sangren Hall.
• 1:09:08
  SPEAKER_02: No, you've got to go in the Sangarn Hall, find 322, walk them up there.
• 1:09:12
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, here's where your holistic one has 1000 classes.
• 1:09:14
  SPEAKER_02: All right, that's one.
• 1:09:15
  SPEAKER_02: So that when school starts, they know where all their classes are, they're much more comfortable.
• 1:09:20
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe there's no nervous anxiety, maybe there's still a little bit, right?
• 1:09:24
  SPEAKER_02: But uh it's worked really well, and then and hopefully we're doing things right, and then those mentees become mentors later in their careers.
• 1:09:32
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 1:09:32
  SPEAKER_02: It's been another great way of leadership and and just uh keep us all going the same direction.
• 1:09:38
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:09:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and that that wasn't something that we came up with.
• 1:09:41
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's something that um that we kind of stole from from other coaches, not necessarily here, but just uh people that we talk with, and um we've kind of twisted it in our own way over the years, and we believe in it.
• 1:09:53
  SPEAKER_01: Do sophomores have a older mentor?
• 1:09:55
  SPEAKER_02: No, just your just first year.
• 1:09:57
  SPEAKER_02: Just first year.
• 1:09:58
  SPEAKER_02: So you could be a freshman or a transfer.
• 1:10:01
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, first year on Western's campus.
• 1:10:03
  SPEAKER_01: So you can be a fifth year.
• 1:10:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and you're gonna get a mentor.
• 1:10:06
  SPEAKER_02: We had a couple of them this fall.
• 1:10:08
  SPEAKER_02: The mentor was 20 and the mentee was 24.
• 1:10:13
  SPEAKER_02: That's awesome.
• 1:10:15
  SPEAKER_01: That's and that's building culture.
• 1:10:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:10:17
  SPEAKER_01: Just something like that.
• 1:10:19
  SPEAKER_02: It's how we do things, you know, and and the you don't know until you go through it.
• 1:10:22
  SPEAKER_02: So if you got a grad transfer, the quicker that you can get him up to speed, probably, in my opinion at least, the the more likely you are gonna be able to get him to his potential level for that season.
• 1:10:34
  unknown: Right?
• 1:10:34
  SPEAKER_02: If he's struggling with some of these other things off the field, whether that's academics or where we go for uh you know, this or that, whatever it is that we're talking about, then you know, if you're an international, where's the international office?
• 1:10:45
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I gotta look at my visa, I gotta, you know, like all those things get taken care of.
• 1:10:49
  SPEAKER_02: And um, they all need time.
• 1:10:52
  SPEAKER_01: How important is it that you win here?
• 1:10:55
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's extremely important.
• 1:10:57
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I think that that Ed, I mean, he calls us the city of champions right now, right?
• 1:11:03
  SPEAKER_02: Since he's taken over, we've won 32 championships.
• 1:11:06
  SPEAKER_02: That doesn't count.
• 1:11:07
  SPEAKER_01: I mean how long has he been there?
• 1:11:09
  SPEAKER_02: Uh he's just finished his fourth year.
• 1:11:11
  SPEAKER_01: Thirty-two in four years.
• 1:11:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we only have sixteen sports.
• 1:11:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:11:16
  SPEAKER_02: The other thing that I would suggest too is like you got 32 championships, but you know, hockey too the last three years have gotten an at large.
• 1:11:24
  SPEAKER_02: Two years ago, 2024, men's soccer got an at-large.
• 1:11:28
  SPEAKER_02: I would suggest to you, at the mid-major level, maybe not hockey, but certainly uh in soccer, it can be harder to get an at-large than a championship.
• 1:11:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:11:38
  SPEAKER_02: Not only do we get an at-large, we got a first-round home game.
• 1:11:42
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 1:11:42
  SPEAKER_02: So I mean Dan fancies those things.
• 1:11:46
  SPEAKER_02: Dan wants us to win.
• 1:11:46
  SPEAKER_02: He wants us to win the right way, right?
• 1:11:49
  SPEAKER_02: And he I think it gives an incredible amount of space to each coach to be able to coach their sport the way that they they were hired to do it, right?
• 1:11:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but he wants to fuel you with all the tools, as he says, the resources, uh, to help you continue to climb.
• 1:12:05
  SPEAKER_01: I get frustrated when when a tournament or a regular season winner doesn't get an at-large or an automatic in, especially on the women's side.
• 1:12:17
  SPEAKER_01: Is that more common on the men's side?
• 1:12:19
  SPEAKER_01: That a tur that a regular season will automatically get in regardless of what happens in the tournament?
• 1:12:25
  SPEAKER_01: Or do you need to win the tournament?
• 1:12:27
  SPEAKER_01: Or at least make the final of the tournament?
• 1:12:29
  SPEAKER_02: So I think there's I think there's 21.
• 1:12:32
  SPEAKER_02: I think there's 21 conferences.
• 1:12:34
  SPEAKER_01: In men's soccer.
• 1:12:35
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 1:12:36
  SPEAKER_01: Compared to like 37.
• 1:12:37
  SPEAKER_01: Something like that.
• 1:12:37
  SPEAKER_02: It might be 22.
• 1:12:38
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not looking at it.
• 1:12:39
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's 21 though.
• 1:12:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I would suggest maybe if you're in the top 10, for sure that regular season is gonna probably get in.
• 1:12:49
  SPEAKER_02: If you're outside the top 10 RPI conferences, you're probably looking at a uh at a one-trick pony.
• 1:12:56
  SPEAKER_02: There's always one-offs.
• 1:12:57
  SPEAKER_02: Of course, right?
• 1:12:58
  SPEAKER_02: Like if you have an insane season.
• 1:13:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:13:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:13:00
  SPEAKER_02: And you look at some of those conferences that are, you know, RPI speaking lower, there's usually one or two elite programs at the top, right?
• 1:13:10
  SPEAKER_02: So if one of those programs were to get upset, which sometimes they don't, right, or maybe most times they don't, then there would be a potential for two off.
• 1:13:19
  SPEAKER_02: Um but I I mean I think especially if you're 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, you you gotta win that tournament.
• 1:13:27
  SPEAKER_02: That's the only way you're getting at it.
• 1:13:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:13:29
  SPEAKER_01: How how budget-wise because you look, especially at these power fours, they're they're posting what they're making and how much men's soccer and women's soccer are in the red.
• 1:13:47
  SPEAKER_01: Versus how how much does football help you?
• 1:13:50
  SPEAKER_01: How much does having hockey and their success help you?
• 1:13:55
  SPEAKER_02: Well, so so when you're when you're a mid-major program and you offer the three big sports, hockey, football, and basketball, there is a perception out there that it's gonna hurt maybe some of the other Olympic sports.
• 1:14:08
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 1:14:08
  SPEAKER_02: And and just maybe you could suggest that before this leadership that it did hurt us.
• 1:14:14
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 1:14:14
  SPEAKER_02: If you're ever able to get all three going at one time, I think that we're gonna climb like no other.
• 1:14:21
  SPEAKER_02: Right now, uh w we got to get our basketball team going.
• 1:14:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 1:14:25
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 1:14:25
  SPEAKER_02: We're building a$600 million facility downtown, and I think that's gonna help them.
• 1:14:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um but our football team, I mean, they won a championship last year.
• 1:14:33
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, you look at our hockey team with a national championship, that's all unbelievable PR to us.
• 1:14:38
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 1:14:38
  SPEAKER_02: Unbelievable PR.
• 1:14:40
  SPEAKER_02: And so maybe I can't put my finger exactly how that helps us, but I'm a believer that, you know, iron sharpens iron.
• 1:14:46
  SPEAKER_02: So, so so certainly internally, these athletes are around each other and that's making us better.
• 1:14:51
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:14:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but you know, okay, so you saw hockey, they won a national championship.
• 1:14:56
  SPEAKER_02: What do some of these other sports need to do to make the next jump?
• 1:14:59
  SPEAKER_02: And that's how A.D.
• 1:15:00
  SPEAKER_02: Dan thinks.
• 1:15:01
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm not sure that he thinks, okay, let me give you all nine things right now, right?
• 1:15:06
  SPEAKER_02: But as you progress as a program, he wants to give you more and more.
• 1:15:10
  SPEAKER_02: And listen, in today's era of college athletics, you better be good at fundraising.
• 1:15:14
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 1:15:14
  SPEAKER_02: And I think within the men's soccer program, we've got an unbelievable support system.
• 1:15:19
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we just announced that we fundraised$2.1 million for soccer only, and we're putting in new beat new benches, lights, a couple other projects out there at the game facility.
• 1:15:30
  SPEAKER_02: $2.1 million.
• 1:15:32
  SPEAKER_02: That's a that's amazing.
• 1:15:33
  SPEAKER_02: We just had giving day last uh last month.
• 1:15:35
  SPEAKER_02: We did$70,000 on giving day.
• 1:15:38
  SPEAKER_02: How like if you if you put that in this into like the football world, I don't think$70,000 goes that far, right?
• 1:15:45
  SPEAKER_01: But in our world, soccer world, I think it does.
• 1:15:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it does.
• 1:15:48
  SPEAKER_02: Right, and that's just a giving day, right?
• 1:15:50
  SPEAKER_02: Certainly winning gets the bandwagon a little bigger, right?
• 1:15:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but I there's a few programs in the state of Michigan.
• 1:16:01
  SPEAKER_02: You can look at Michigan State, Damon, and where the head coach played there too.
• 1:16:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 1:16:06
  SPEAKER_02: And I think uh even Paul of Oakland, as he gets his tenure started, there's a different connection to your supporters when maybe that aligns.
• 1:16:15
  SPEAKER_02: You you know more players, yeah, former players, um, maybe community leaders, because you've been in there a little bit longer.
• 1:16:24
  SPEAKER_02: It's just a unique perspective.
• 1:16:26
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, being a head coach in college soccer is unique to begin with.
• 1:16:28
  SPEAKER_02: There's only 213 jobs.
• 1:16:30
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 1:16:31
  SPEAKER_02: So then, excuse me, when you're also an alumnus from there and you played there, I don't know, you're certainly going to be probably a little bit more passion.
• 1:16:40
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:16:42
  SPEAKER_02: But we when I first took the position, I mean my my my MO is not to go knock on the AD's door and say, I need, I need, I need.
• 1:16:51
  SPEAKER_02: Um I don't believe in no, I let creativity take over.
• 1:16:55
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 1:16:55
  SPEAKER_02: So I'll tell you again, don't believe in no, let creativity take over.
• 1:16:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um so if if one roadblock appears, okay, let's let's go figure out how to do it a different way.
• 1:17:06
  SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
• 1:17:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um and sometimes you need resources, you need other people that are that are good in those spaces.
• 1:17:11
  SPEAKER_02: And um we got a lot.
• 1:17:13
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, our alumni are are not envious of what we have now, they're very proud, right?
• 1:17:18
  SPEAKER_02: Um our players know where our program was.
• 1:17:21
  SPEAKER_02: I talk to them about it all the time.
• 1:17:23
  SPEAKER_02: And our our former players know exactly where our current program is.
• 1:17:27
  SPEAKER_02: I talk to them all the time.
• 1:17:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um and together we continue to probe forward uh, you know, as a men's soccer program.
• 1:17:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um and the support that we get.
• 1:17:37
  SPEAKER_02: And support can be this: hey man, we're playing DePaul in Chicago, so our Chicago supporters come out and watch the game.
• 1:17:42
  SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
• 1:17:43
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 1:17:44
  SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
• 1:17:44
  SPEAKER_02: You know, and support can be like, hey, I got I got the post-game meal coach.
• 1:17:49
  SPEAKER_02: Sweet.
• 1:17:50
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 1:17:50
  SPEAKER_02: Do you want to come sit down with us?
• 1:17:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um Another thing about you is that you're not.
• 1:17:57
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like a lot of mid-majors or maybe smaller college coaches, they're they're there, hopefully, to even level up even more.
• 1:18:06
  SPEAKER_01: I don't get that from you.
• 1:18:07
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like you're here.
• 1:18:08
  SPEAKER_01: This is home.
• 1:18:09
  SPEAKER_02: I've been I mean, mom and dad dropped me off here in 1998, right?
• 1:18:13
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, mom was, you know, make sure you go to school, and dad's make sure you stay out of stay out of trouble.
• 1:18:19
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then I've changed my my roles a couple times in this community, but this community has shaped me.
• 1:18:24
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, and as a soccer coach, as a young man, as a father, uh, my wife and I and our four kids, we love Kalamazoo, right?
• 1:18:31
  SPEAKER_02: And maybe someday that'll change.
• 1:18:32
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I'm getting sick of the winters, I'll tell you that.
• 1:18:35
  SPEAKER_02: But my parents now, especially on the west side, they snowbird down in Florida, so we get down there a little bit more than than we used to.
• 1:18:42
  SPEAKER_02: But uh yeah, it's it's been really great to me.
• 1:18:44
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, you know, I look at my time as a as a young club coach.
• 1:18:48
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I coached club for 20 years.
• 1:18:50
  SPEAKER_02: I was a head coach at Western, coaching multiple club teams.
• 1:18:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 1:18:53
  SPEAKER_02: Most head coaches don't do that.
• 1:18:54
  SPEAKER_02: The only one that I know did it was Nick Darren.
• 1:18:56
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, right?
• 1:18:57
  SPEAKER_02: We'd always be playing each other laughing about it.
• 1:18:59
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 1:19:00
  SPEAKER_02: But at that time we didn't have many resources, and coaching club soccer allowed me to get to some pockets that I couldn't get to.
• 1:19:06
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:19:06
  SPEAKER_02: Because it was on the club dime instead of Western's dime, right?
• 1:19:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then we evolved a little bit.
• 1:19:12
  SPEAKER_02: Uh my time at Plainwell High School coaching high school girls for 11 years.
• 1:19:16
  SPEAKER_01: While you were here.
• 1:19:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's a spring sport.
• 1:19:19
  SPEAKER_02: No, no.
• 1:19:19
  SPEAKER_02: As soon as I became the head coach, I had to give that role up, but as an assistant coach, I did that.
• 1:19:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um, we were very fortunate out there.
• 1:19:26
  SPEAKER_02: We won a state championship, we lost a state championship.
• 1:19:29
  SPEAKER_02: Unbelievable family.
• 1:19:30
  SPEAKER_01: What division are they?
• 1:19:31
  SPEAKER_02: Division two.
• 1:19:32
  SPEAKER_01: Division two, okay.
• 1:19:33
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we beat uh, I think you're gonna know them better than I, Ken from the Wolves there.
• 1:19:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:19:37
  SPEAKER_02: Um they were private girls' schools.
• 1:19:39
  SPEAKER_02: I don't I don't know.
• 1:19:40
  SPEAKER_02: I can't remember them as much.
• 1:19:41
  SPEAKER_02: Uh should remember those, but um we had some really great matches.
• 1:19:45
  SPEAKER_01: Is that Marion?
• 1:19:45
  SPEAKER_02: Marion is the one that we lost to.
• 1:19:47
  SPEAKER_01: Marion's the one that you lost.
• 1:19:49
  SPEAKER_02: And then Ladywood?
• 1:19:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 1:19:50
  SPEAKER_02: Ladywood is where Ken was the coach, and that was the one that we won.
• 1:19:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um so, but but but the families out there supported me and still support me to this day.
• 1:19:59
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, Plainwell is an unbelievable community.
• 1:20:02
  SPEAKER_02: And if I hadn't lived here as long as I have, I probably would have never got that.
• 1:20:06
  SPEAKER_02: That was my first head coaching job as being a high school coach, girls coach.
• 1:20:09
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, I don't know, and I I guess I'll give it a go, right?
• 1:20:13
  SPEAKER_02: Um my friend and I, teammate at the time, Andy Fear, we both applied.
• 1:20:17
  SPEAKER_02: And I said, okay, well, listen, if you get it, I'll be your assistant.
• 1:20:20
  SPEAKER_02: If I get it, you'll be my assistant.
• 1:20:21
  SPEAKER_02: And we'll just cut the salaries down the middle.
• 1:20:23
  SPEAKER_02: We're living together, right?
• 1:20:25
  SPEAKER_02: And so I got it, and so he's my assistant, and we did that for a few years, and then he got his first head coaching job at Porridge Northern here in town, so that's when we split.
• 1:20:32
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:20:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but yeah, that that that was great.
• 1:20:35
  SPEAKER_02: Um, coaching club, high school, and then I got my first college head coaching job over at Olivet College, now called the University of Olivet.
• 1:20:43
  SPEAKER_02: Unbelievable, 56 miles away, I can tell you, because I made that drive all the time.
• 1:20:47
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't I didn't relocate over there, I just drove in.
• 1:20:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I was suggesting maybe maybe one of the worst Division III programs in the entire country.
• 1:20:57
  SPEAKER_02: And what maybe made it a little attractive to me was I just kind of felt like I can go in there and do everything that I want to do.
• 1:21:04
  SPEAKER_02: There's no strong history where you have to do certain things.
• 1:21:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um and that could be a uh a plus and maybe a negative, if you will.
• 1:21:13
  SPEAKER_02: But so I went over there and um spent four years there.
• 1:21:17
  SPEAKER_02: Dominic Levadotti was the head football coach, he's also the athletic director, and he's the one that hired me, still a really good friend to this day, and lives down in Bradington.
• 1:21:25
  SPEAKER_02: So when I'm down at IMG, yeah, I always make sure I make time to connect with him.
• 1:21:29
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, he's a football guy, and I I would suggest I'm a really big sport sport enthusiast.
• 1:21:35
  SPEAKER_02: I like a lot of different sports, right?
• 1:21:37
  SPEAKER_02: And I definitely follow American football, especially at the college level a lot.
• 1:21:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um so he took a chance on me, and I think what maybe we were able to do at Olivet was just bring a stronger student athlete there that they hadn't seen before.
• 1:21:50
  unknown: Right?
• 1:21:50
  SPEAKER_02: We had four winning seasons, and the last year we were ranked in the top five in the country for like seven straight weeks.
• 1:21:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I mean, and the one thing about doing Division III is you got to wear every hat.
• 1:22:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:22:02
  SPEAKER_02: So you don't have a staff.
• 1:22:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you learn a lot about some different spaces that you know you maybe you weren't weren't so comfortable in beforehand.
• 1:22:10
  SPEAKER_02: So I never take that time back, and then this position opened up, and A.D.
• 1:22:14
  SPEAKER_02: Beauregard um, you know, chose me to be the next leader and very, very, very, very appreciative of her leadership here.
• 1:22:21
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, she was a trailblazer here, right?
• 1:22:22
  SPEAKER_02: She would tell you before she retired, she's like, listen, college athletics is going in a different direction.
• 1:22:28
  SPEAKER_02: And we didn't, that's how she would talk.
• 1:22:30
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, well, what is she talking about exactly?
• 1:22:32
  SPEAKER_02: You know, and and she's like, I and I'm not gonna be here for this new direction, you know.
• 1:22:36
  SPEAKER_02: I'm exiting my way out.
• 1:22:37
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, but what she did for Western, and then we being able to hire Dan during that time, it was a great transition for us.
• 1:22:44
  SPEAKER_02: Great transition for us.
• 1:22:45
  SPEAKER_02: And I mean, AD Bogart is still heavily involved in this community and in the Broncos.
• 1:22:50
  SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, I just when somebody hires you and takes a chance on you, you have a different appreciation for them.
• 1:22:57
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 1:22:57
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 1:22:58
  SPEAKER_02: And I I know there was a a great deal of candidates that wanted this position at the time, and I just always felt like there's not gonna be anybody that can can be a leader of this program better than what I can do, right?
• 1:23:09
  SPEAKER_02: And then try to articulate that to administrators, right?
• 1:23:13
  SPEAKER_02: And they're not so interested in, well, tell me how you're gonna play.
• 1:23:17
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 1:23:17
  SPEAKER_02: Like they're not they want to know how you're gonna run your program, not necessarily what the X's and O's look like, maybe on the field.
• 1:23:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um so yeah, that that that that's a lot about kind of me living here.
• 1:23:29
  SPEAKER_02: And I don't know, I've had a couple opportunities maybe to you know, maybe leave the community, but it just hasn't felt like it was the right time or place or institution for that matter.
• 1:23:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, the grass isn't always greener on the other side.
• 1:23:43
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 1:23:43
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 1:23:44
  SPEAKER_02: And I think we got a really good thing going on here.
• 1:23:47
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, you know, I mean, listen, we've been to three sweet sixteens in the last eight years.
• 1:23:54
  SPEAKER_02: All right, our next step is to make a college cup.
• 1:23:57
  SPEAKER_02: And I believe we can do it.
• 1:23:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, if you if you wanted to talk ten years ago, nobody would tell us that we would be in three sweet sixteens, right?
• 1:24:05
  SPEAKER_02: And and four straight NCA tournament appearances in that same time.
• 1:24:09
  SPEAKER_02: We've won four championships.
• 1:24:12
  SPEAKER_02: It's just that's not sorry.
• 1:24:14
  SPEAKER_02: That's not that's not our history.
• 1:24:16
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 1:24:16
  SPEAKER_02: And I I'm certainly not suggesting that because I'm here is the reason why we want all those things.
• 1:24:22
  SPEAKER_02: No.
• 1:24:23
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, I'm a I'm a piece to that.
• 1:24:25
  SPEAKER_02: You look at my assistant coach Shane Lyons, has been with me for a decade, and I think guys are an unbelievable young coach.
• 1:24:31
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I think we've done a really good job of surrounding ourselves with some other really elite people.
• 1:24:35
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, Scott Spade is our director of operations, has been for four years, taught 25 years at KPS, Calms Ray Public Schools, baseball guy, played baseball here for the Broncos, right?
• 1:24:45
  SPEAKER_02: Retired from teaching.
• 1:24:46
  SPEAKER_02: I got him in here in the afternoon, he's a realtor.
• 1:24:48
  SPEAKER_02: It's freaking unbelievable.
• 1:24:50
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 1:24:50
  SPEAKER_02: It's unbelievable.
• 1:24:51
  SPEAKER_02: And I mean, you mean 25 years teaching Fizz Ed, KPS, like he he helps us in the recruiting space a lot, especially when we bring families in here that maybe match the demographics of a KPS student.
• 1:25:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:25:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so that's been great.
• 1:25:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um you gotta surround yourself with good people.
• 1:25:09
  SPEAKER_02: I don't care, you can be the best coach in the world, but if you don't surround yourself with good people, I think you're gonna you're gonna fall short.
• 1:25:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:25:15
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 1:25:16
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm constantly trying to do that.
• 1:25:18
  SPEAKER_02: And a couple years ago, we had Coach Haynes in here.
• 1:25:20
  SPEAKER_02: Coach Haynes, a former women's head coach at Western.
• 1:25:23
  SPEAKER_02: I think our our first ever women's head coach, I believe.
• 1:25:26
  SPEAKER_02: Um then he went into the entrepreneur space and kind of retired.
• 1:25:31
  SPEAKER_02: And um I saw we went out to the golf course together, and uh he was a mentor of mine.
• 1:25:37
  SPEAKER_02: Like we're coaching club teams together, and he'd been doing it, and we we co-coached together when I was 22, 23, 24.
• 1:25:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:25:43
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I always kind of had him in the back of my mind, and then the opportunity came, and so he spent three years with us, and we won championships, we went to a couple sweet 16s.
• 1:25:52
  SPEAKER_02: It was unbelievable.
• 1:25:52
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, when you're a 10-year head coach, you see things differently, and then he comes into the assistant role, and you know, he he he's easy to here's my opinion, and if we don't go with it, he doesn't get all salty about it, and he he understands how that works.
• 1:26:06
  SPEAKER_02: And he's just a it was a really good staff member to have.
• 1:26:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:26:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um, that was hard to replace, but then we replaced him with Josh Oakley, right?
• 1:26:13
  SPEAKER_02: Just came from eastern Michigan, was or sorry, not eastern Illinois as the head coach.
• 1:26:17
  SPEAKER_02: He was also the head coach at Spring Arbor and Alma College.
• 1:26:20
  SPEAKER_02: So we competed against each other and uh we're able to bring him on board, and he's a lot, all those coaches have a lot to offer our student athletes.
• 1:26:28
  SPEAKER_02: And you look at the our last coach we was brought in, Chris Allen, he was the head coach at Davenport University for 10 years, right?
• 1:26:34
  SPEAKER_02: And then kind of segued out of coaching.
• 1:26:36
  SPEAKER_02: Now he's kind of coming back in.
• 1:26:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um so I I think you know, being able to kind of whether it's moving your staff on, but being able to replace them with other good dudes, right?
• 1:26:48
  SPEAKER_02: That's important.
• 1:26:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 1:26:49
  SPEAKER_02: I think a big piece to our staff is Danny Whalen.
• 1:26:51
  SPEAKER_02: He's our athletic trainer, he's been with me now.
• 1:26:53
  SPEAKER_02: I think we're going on year 12.
• 1:26:55
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, athletic trainers and head coaches usually don't stay together for 12 years.
• 1:26:59
  SPEAKER_02: Usually somebody gets fired or somebody somebody takes a new job, right?
• 1:27:05
  SPEAKER_02: But I mean, as as he would say, he's wicked good at his job.
• 1:27:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:27:09
  SPEAKER_02: Uh he's got his doctorate, right?
• 1:27:11
  SPEAKER_02: And he's a men's soccer athletic trainer and he oversees this building.
• 1:27:14
  SPEAKER_02: Uh he's got different relationships with our players, and that's gone a long way.
• 1:27:18
  SPEAKER_02: And listen, when we went kicked off against Clemson, had all 28 guys healthy.
• 1:27:23
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 1:27:23
  SPEAKER_02: And that's the end of the year.
• 1:27:24
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 1:27:25
  SPEAKER_02: That usually doesn't happen that way, right?
• 1:27:27
  SPEAKER_02: So he's been really, really good.
• 1:27:29
  SPEAKER_02: He leads a lot of our, Danny leads a lot of our uh our kind of team building activities.
• 1:27:35
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 1:27:35
  SPEAKER_02: He's got some he's got some games out there that he likes to put in put into the team.
• 1:27:39
  SPEAKER_02: And he, as he says, we're extremely talented at making you feel comfortable about being uncomfortable.
• 1:27:48
  SPEAKER_02: And he'll repeat it, you know, around the bus, he grabs the mic, and it's just it, you know, the game itself it can be so intense, and so sometimes the athletes don't even know what.
• 1:28:00
  SPEAKER_02: how or how to take a log off the fire.
• 1:28:02
  SPEAKER_02: And so you gotta help them with that.
• 1:28:04
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 1:28:04
  SPEAKER_02: And everything can't if everything has to come from me, we'll probably fall short.
• 1:28:09
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 1:28:09
  SPEAKER_02: And and and Danny's another great staff member that um first his education and his background and his craft is unbelievable.
• 1:28:17
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 1:28:17
  SPEAKER_02: Like I I can't tell you this for a fact, but I'm just gonna say it I don't think there's any other soccer athletic trainer out there that has his doctorate.
• 1:28:26
  unknown: Right?
• 1:28:26
  SPEAKER_00: Not out of college.
• 1:28:27
  SPEAKER_02: No, and this guy, I mean Danny's doing app he's doing treatments on all kinds of athletes that aren't his athletes because he's got certifications that the rest of our athletic training staff just doesn't have right right um so he's he's a busy guy.
• 1:28:41
  SPEAKER_02: But uh you know together all of us kind of makes up the staff we're currently looking for a new strength coach which we're really excited about because it's going to be a soccer specific strength coach.
• 1:28:51
  SPEAKER_02: AD Dan has already said that and we got both soccer programs winning championships right now and he thinks that maybe this position can help us even go to another level so we're really excited as we go through that process.
• 1:29:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah but but but when you talk about staying here I mean we have the we have the facilities we have the resources Kalamazoo is a really cool little town.
• 1:29:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yes it is it's right in the middle of Chicago and Detroit.
• 1:29:15
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly right and um some people really value that and others don't that's okay if you don't I mean you go up to Grand Rapids is only 40 minutes away.
• 1:29:22
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly and Grand Rapids is a really cool town my sister's a principal up there and so we get up there quite a bit and my in-laws live up there a Stonewater Country Club and so we get up there quite a bit too especially this time of year.
• 1:29:34
  SPEAKER_02: It's been really good to us I mean when when you think about my wife and I we have four small children and you know being able to have both sets of parents within 45 minutes to an hour and a half wow not everybody has that no no and and for me like there's sometimes I just and she knows this that I just can't be there right because the job takes you where it takes you and to have those support of the kids' grandparents our parents has been phenomenal right and you move away from that now we're talking how often are are we seeing that right right I would also say what's phenomenal is being down this hallway with the women's soccer team and I only have to make one call and then they have a whole fleet of babysitters right and so say okay coach Wiseman you know Allie can do it tonight.
• 1:30:21
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like okay great right it's not free by any means but having a fleet of babysitters is very very important to Morgan and I absolutely did you know during your college career that you wanted a coach in college?
• 1:30:34
  SPEAKER_02: So so so I've been asked that a couple times um around somewhere in my senior year there wasn't as many opportunities to play at the next level after college back then.
• 1:30:46
  SPEAKER_02: And certainly our program wasn't one that was being looked at for the opportunities that did exist.
• 1:30:51
  SPEAKER_02: And then you can even go a step further and I probably didn't have whatever it was that you needed to be talented enough to go to the next level to play.
• 1:30:59
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 1:30:59
  SPEAKER_02: So like I could put all those together and realize that I I I just didn't want to be in an office all day and I'm like maybe maybe I'm gonna get into coaching.
• 1:31:08
  SPEAKER_02: I think my mom kind of directed me that said I think you should you should look into that I think you'd be really good at that and so then right as soon as I I I got I got done playing I was the assistant coach here and worked for the Kalamazoo Kingdom and hit the ground running you know what that looks like right and you just keep going.
• 1:31:24
  SPEAKER_02: All right and I just really fell fell in love with that um and and it's kind of got me to where I'm at today you know like I've had different jobs between that I'm I'm always a hustler right like like if there's an opportunity to to make some different monies out there right to supplement you know what your job is I can do that.
• 1:31:43
  SPEAKER_02: And whether that was private lessons or you know prairie's golf course here I worked at that place for like eight years.
• 1:31:49
  SPEAKER_02: My senior year in high school was best they made me the golf shop manager right so I'm basically just working on T-Books and making sure that it's all good.
• 1:31:56
  SPEAKER_02: And then the fall comes and they know I'm playing my senior year and they let me go away no problem.
• 1:32:00
  SPEAKER_02: Well in November I'm collecting unemployment because there's a full-time employment over there.
• 1:32:05
  SPEAKER_02: So from November to March I got unemployment checks.
• 1:32:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah and you know back then we spent those checks a little differently man thank you thanks thanks for doing this man it's great to meet you and dude you make Michigan proud like the whole state and even even in Buffalo it's seen and what you guys are doing and it's just I'm so happy and it went from almost not existing anymore.
• 1:32:35
  SPEAKER_01: And I know what that's like because I was there when they shut down UB and it's just not fun man.
• 1:32:41
  SPEAKER_01: It's it it hurts the entire area of soccer and it's just I'm so happy that Michigan is so healthy.
• 1:32:53
  SPEAKER_01: It seems like Michigan soccer is very healthy.
• 1:32:56
  SPEAKER_02: I think so I mean I'm a little disappointed that maybe we can't get a World Cup here right like as strong as we are and we're having it in in in Arbor yeah DCFC's great MLS Pro team that's coming to Grand Rapids that's gonna be great.
• 1:33:12
  SPEAKER_02: Just drove by the stadium both are building um soccer specific stadiums I think that's a big move to grow us um yeah I think we're very lucky I mean you look at I mean those are the that's the top right those are the professional teams but I think there's probably some space in here that we could bring in some type of women's professional platform.
• 1:33:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah especially with some of the players that the state has produced over the years.
• 1:33:36
  SPEAKER_02: Look at the sporting Kansas or the Kansas City current half of them are hauled it seems like and then you go to the colleges and you look how successful all the different colleges are and it's not just D1 you look at the D2 schools you look at the D three schools you look at the junior college schools the NAI schools I mean you just met with Zafi I mean he's got I mean Madonna if they don't win a championship they don't know what they're doing.
• 1:33:59
  SPEAKER_02: And my good friend over there Scottie Doole just took over the women's program at Madonna we played together.
• 1:34:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah um so it's just different levels for sure but uh very elite programs then go into the club exactly I mean the club dynamics I mean the the recruiting and the you know the battles that they gotta have is I'm happy I don't have to do with that anymore.
• 1:34:22
  SPEAKER_02: But I mean you you can't even count on one hand how many talented clubs there are in the state of Michigan.
• 1:34:28
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly and so and then and then you can even go down you know another lower high school and I I do think the MHSAA needs to loosen up.
• 1:34:36
  SPEAKER_02: I mean get with the rest of uh you know the Midwest we're the only ones that restrict what our athletes can do.
• 1:34:43
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly but the ones that do play high school right there's some really good high school programs too yes all right so I think you had all that together I mean it's what I don't know what what how many kids are playing soccer in the state of Michigan by any means but like seems like you got the participant participation numbers and you got the quality numbers on both boys and girls men or women depending on what platform you're talking about.
• 1:35:07
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah and you got a lot of people that can continue to grow the game and I thought you know we can do the right thing this summer and I'm a I'm a firm believer I'm gonna say that the the U.S.
• 1:35:16
  SPEAKER_02: national team is going to ball out this summer.
• 1:35:18
  SPEAKER_02: I know they haven't shown necessarily the best but I think they're holding all their secrets.
• 1:35:23
  SPEAKER_02: Right and then when the games come out this summer they're gonna be playing fantastic and we're gonna get out to the knockout stage and we're gonna win a game and then what happens from there I'm not sure but we can rally all the the guys and girls that don't really follow our game we can really take advantage of this that's what my hope is I mean we got Messi here right now and all he does is score an assist and an assist last night again and that's got attention right like I think this is a great opportunity for our sport here.
• 1:35:55
  SPEAKER_02: And you know when COVID happened oh all these programs are going down we lost a couple we certainly lost a couple programs but we've actually gained more than we've lost in our sport right and if you look at some of the Olympic sports right now that are that are cutting and I'm not sure that's the say that's the same.
• 1:36:10
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 1:36:10
  SPEAKER_02: Right and so you know I just think you know podcasts like yours continue to grow our game in here too.
• 1:36:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:36:18
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 1:36:18
  SPEAKER_02: Like give give great perspective of people that listen to your podcast of you know whoever might be on there.
• 1:36:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 1:36:26
  SPEAKER_02: You know if you're talking to a club coach it's probably gonna be really club heavy.
• 1:36:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 1:36:29
  SPEAKER_02: Right talking about a college coach that's that heavy and all those things help grow our game.
• 1:36:33
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly I mean they all help um I mean one thing's for sure is that all these youth players got long car rides right they got long car rides so listening to a podcast from time to time is uh is not is not a bad thing, right?
• 1:36:48
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:36:49
  SPEAKER_02: And most of them this this weekend are going to be traveling over to Saginaw for the for their State Cup games and you know I think the MLS next platform unless you're playing in the uh in the cup in the cup you're you you're you're you're just about done.
• 1:37:00
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 1:37:00
  SPEAKER_02: And I like that.
• 1:37:01
  SPEAKER_02: Like they want to be done before the World Cup.
• 1:37:02
  SPEAKER_02: The World Cup that was on purpose yes yeah the World Cup should be the center stage.
• 1:37:07
  SPEAKER_02: Should come first.
• 1:37:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 1:37:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 1:37:09
  SPEAKER_02: And what I've told all my guys this summer too is find a way to go to a World Cup game.
• 1:37:14
  SPEAKER_02: And then they first come back with all the prices and I'm like yeah that's why I said find a way right like find a way that pattern and when you do when you do find a way and your summer your summer coach is mad because you're gonna miss four or five days if they don't understand just call me and I'll call your coach right because I mean it's gonna be another 25 years before this comes back.
• 1:37:34
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly and 94 was amazing.
• 1:37:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yes and going I don't know I mean when you're when you're college road tripping is what you do.
• 1:37:40
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly I don't know if they do it as much anymore but road trip out there maybe you don't have any tickets maybe on the day you find how to get a ticket.
• 1:37:47
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly right well I don't have a hotel yep yep yeah I mean that's part about being in college because when you get to be 2728 no all those details are filled oh we're gonna stay here we got our tickets we're gonna go there when you're 192021 I mean so so so I'll share one more story it was the year it was it was 1999 New Year's Eve right cold is convened six of us college guys we jump in a car we're going to New York City right and this is when it's gonna turn 2000 right no computers know how to turn over yes no computers know how to turn over it's gonna be the end of the end of the world as we know we don't have anything other than everybody has a little bit of money and we have one car and we have to trade who pays for gas and so we get to New York and we couldn't even get to New York City we had to go to New Jersey parked our car on a road right and jumped into the train system to get over to New York City and then experienced that and we didn't get to leave New York City to like three in the morning that was awesome and then we couldn't remember where our car was we had no idea where that was found it stopped at a rest area and that's where we slept right and then woke up whatever the next morning was and got the rest of the trip back but like I'm not saying that everybody in college should do that but I'm just saying like when you're in college you have opportunities to do things like that.
• 1:39:11
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely and we encourage our roster to do that.
• 1:39:15
  SPEAKER_02: You can't do that in the fall can't do that in the spring you can do that through these three and a half summer months and this summer we're so fortunate to be hosted in the World Cup.
• 1:39:24
  SPEAKER_02: Go out and be in those environments.
• 1:39:26
  SPEAKER_00: Make it happen.
• 1:39:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah we're my wife and I and our kids we're going to two games we're gonna go well right now we're going to two games we're gonna go up to Canada.
• 1:39:33
  SPEAKER_02: Toronto's roommate Mike Gilmore he's got five kids we got four so it should be a wild wild environment and we're gonna go check out Germany and Ivory Coast.
• 1:39:42
  SPEAKER_02: Now we don't have 12 tickets so I'm not sure who's all gonna get to go we'll figure that up when we get up there but we'll spend a couple days up there and then we're gonna we're gonna travel down and go to Philadelphia that's where my my wife and her whole family they're all from Pennsylvania and we're gonna check out um Ghana versus Croatia.
• 1:40:03
  SPEAKER_02: That's awesome.
• 1:40:04
  SPEAKER_02: And those are those are going to be the two games that we catch all in the pool of play and then come back home.
• 1:40:09
  SPEAKER_02: And um really looking forward to it like we're gonna be out about 10 days and we've been saving for it since it's come and we'd love to see USA but that's just not feasible for us.
• 1:40:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah and they're all on in LA or West Coast.
• 1:40:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah in LA Seattle LA and then we'd love to maybe see Team Canada when we're up there too but uh that's a hard ticket to come by too might even be harder.
• 1:40:32
  SPEAKER_02: And then Mexico Mexico might be the hardest yeah we're not gonna go that direction it just doesn't work for us but uh I I I think it's great and and we're looking forward to it and I hope I don't I I hope that every youth soccer player every college soccer player every professional soccer player right tunes into what this World Cup's gonna be about.
• 1:40:52
  SPEAKER_02: I think we got some unbelievable venues how unique it is being played all throughout North America right like like as you said Mexico USA and Canada and if you get an opportunity to go experience some of those cultures it's unbelievable right like in um I've never been I mean when it came in 94 yep I was right there in Detroit too and I'm I'm 13 years old and we didn't go.
• 1:41:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah again I maybe that we're from St.
• 1:41:19
  SPEAKER_02: John's and I went you know unless it involved the tractor we weren't doing a whole lot of things and my dad was big on uh his business with the Farm Bureau insurance he was we we had uh Red Ring tickets all the time yep all the time through his work right and so I don't know I probably went over as a youth player or as a youth kid more than 20 Red Ring games a couple Stanley Cup games all in a box seat very spoiled right very spoiled but that's what we knew and that was Red Rings heyday absolutely hockey town yes um and so that's probably why we didn't see some of those other sports right like we had those opportunities I'm certainly okay with it but where I sit now I mean I got three of our really small kids but they play soccer a little bit and I don't know how much they're gonna remember of the World Cup right now when they get older but Morgan and I want to take them.
• 1:42:11
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely and only a life they'll remember it for the rest of their lives at least the ones that are old enough to remember but uh thank you so much I know you gotta run but uh I appreciate you having me thank you so much good luck with your podcast yeah and I learned a lot I think everybody that is watching is gonna learn too I hope so awesome thank you so much okay by I hate soccer