Preseason will be a lot of
learning. I did have the chance, 
and that's the benefit of the
technology that we have now, 
like I had regular Zoom
meetings, we had senior meetings
pretty regularly, and I wanted
those just to get a feel of how
the team was. And I mean, they
would be the most honest and the
most mature guys in the team. So
that, that's been really helpful
leading up into this. The preseason
will just be learning how the guys
play. Right? Like you said, I
haven't met them. I gotta watch film.
Even watching film is going 
to be different than watching them 
in person, because I can't actually
be there during the film or
anything like that. So a lot of
it will be learning what they
can do technically, at first.
Can you catch a ball? 
Right? For soccer,
can you settle a ball? Can you do 
that stuff properly? So then we can
work on the tactical side that I
really, really want to work on.
But of course, even with that,
we have the delay of getting the
testing back. So that will be my
technical work. And then we can
go in the tactical stuff. So the
first day that we can actually
play play will, I'm just going
to send them out there. We'll
play elevens and let's see what
we can do. And it'll, it'll be a
big learning curve for both of
us, but that was the benefit
over the summer that they got
to know me. They got to know my
style a little bit, my
personality, and I got to learn
theirs as well.
So that's been good.
It's only affected just slightly. We 
have one guy that will definitely be
missing that was a starter
basically every game in
Will Mansfield last year. We have Cam (Shaw),
who won't be returning as well
just because of safety concerns
and they didn't want to make the
trip, and I completely understand
all that. And then I had a guy
coming in from Brazil, but
because their situation as well,
he couldn't get his visa and 
wouldn't be able to get here.
Everyone else is returning. So I
was pretty fortunate and pretty
lucky in that regard that I got
to get a lot of international
guys. Definitely the flights
opening up in Europe was a
nail-biter for me. I was really
really waiting on that to make
sure that, that happened. But in
terms of international, I got
really lucky and that the
majority of the guys would be
showing up to campus.
It's tough.
But even, even with teams like
CMU, there's a way to beat them.
Now, will we do that regularly?
Will we do that effectively?
That's kind of waiting to see if, if
I'm correct or not. How I can,
how I can think I can beat them. 
But everyone's beatable, and that's
the beauty of our camp ... of
our conference, that it is a
pretty even slate. I mean,
you'll have some teams that will
drop off throughout the year.
But for the most part, every
game is pretty competitive, and
that's kind of my goal for this
season is that we did have a
couple games that weren't
competitive last year. Of
course, those were against the
top teams, and that is what it
is, but I want to make sure that
we're competing the games and
that we're, we're reckoning, 
because that ... there's a big
difference from what you
mentioned when I was a player
before from where we were then
to where we are now are night and 
day teams. We were not very great
when I played here, and not to
toot my own horn, but ... and you saw
this as well, I was kind of the
only ... bright spot on the
team for the most part. So (former coach 
Michael) Prunty did a good job of
furthering that, and (former coach) Blake 
(Ordell) did a really good job of even getting
to the conference final at one
point. So my, my goal with the team
in terms of competing with the
conference is to make sure that
we further, right? That's, that
should be always the goal of the
new coach coming in is, 'Can I
further the team and leave a
legacy that everyone looks back
and like, alright, you made the
team better.' And so that's kind
of my goal of the season is I
want to be competitive with
every team. I want them to know
that I'm a decent coach, and
then hopefully have some success
in the future.
I have a, I'm very defensive and
that, that's been, that's been
very nice about watching film,
because I don't have to spend as
much time as I normally would
just because we have a very good
returning starting back and
goalkeeper. Even a freshman 
coming in, Jack Gibson, that will
compete with Ryan (Houston) for the
goalkeeping spot. So I'm really, really
excited about our backline,
because that's always where I
start. I start from the back and
then I build out there because
you don't score a lot in our
games, so the priority has to be
defensive. And then you can
worry about the rest later.
I definitely do a lot of
possession. I like to keep
attack. I like to keep a hold of
the ball. I think in like any
sport, you want, you want the
puck, you want the basketball,
you want the football. You have
more opportunities when you're
able to keep any of that stuff.
So that's definitely what I
focus on. Having said that, I
like to keep possession in the
attacking third. I think that's
the best defense that you can
possibly have. If they have to
dribble or play the ball 60
yards to go score, I think that's
a good scenario for us. So I
want to make sure that we're
calm, collected, and that's why I
focus on the technical ability.
So when you get into the
attacking third, and you're
running into a bunch of people
that we don't panic, right? And
my guys will hear this all the
time. They already hear me say 
this a lot of time. It's just to don't
panic, right? It's, it's
watching what everyone else is
doing on the field and then
making smart informed decisions
where we can keep possession of the ball, 
we're calm and then good things happen after that.
Am I confident in Ryan? Absolutely.
I think he's a very good keeper.
Of course, he has big shoes to step
in. And of course, I had the
privilege to coach Nick (Luciani) when 
I was an assistant as well. So there
are big shoes that he's fitting
in, but even every player has their ... 
their self that they're not
necessarily as good at. And I
think there's some things that
Ryan ... is good at that Nick
maybe necessarily wasn't good
at. But yeah, I definitely. I'm
definitely confident but I also
want to compete, right? Like I
mentioned, we have a bunch of
goalkeepers that are coming in
that I think could really compete and 
be able to do well. And I want them.
That was probably one of the
first things I told the team in
general is I don't want them to
ever come to practice and feel
comfortable, right? Anytime we
come in training, I want them
feel uncomfortable. I want them
to feel unsure if they 100 percent
have their spot, because that's
when you, you produce
competitiveness. And so now we
come to the situation where we
come into games that you're, you
feel comfortable, right? I've
been uncomfortable on this whole
position. I feel comfortable in
the game, and I think Ryan and
the other goalkeepers, I want
them to be in that position
where they are uncomfortable.
And so especially, especially in
a goalkeeping situation during
the game where you might
not be doing something for 10, 15
minutes and then have to make it
miraculous save, right? But that
should feel comfortable for them,
and I have a lot of confidence
in Ryan. I have a lot of
confidence in all the other
goalkeepers that they could be
able to do that.
That one's a hard question, just because
we lost so many, so many guys up top.
So that one's kind of a tough one. That's what
I'm more curious about where we can go
up. I do have a guy coming in.
He's a JUCO transfer that I'm
really excited he'll play. He's a
left-footed guy, play out in the
right wing probably for me. I'm
really, really excited about him.
Some of the Argentina guys that came in the 
spring that didn't have a season are going
to be able to play in the fall now.
A couple of them play up top, 
so I'm really excited. That,
that will be the learning curve
of really who can be the biggest
threat up top of there and who can
win us the most games, really.
So the guys from, from
Argentina that were coming back
from the spring will be Ale (Maccio), 
Manuel (Gavina) and Mateus (Madaria). I've had
really good conversation with
the guys. Again I haven't watched
them play yet so I'm really, really
curious, but speaking with,
of course I still have a good relationship 
with Blake, speaking with him
and speaking with Tyler (Tomlinson, women's
soccer coach) about kind of what they saw in the past, I'm
really looking forward to them.
Gabriel (Fernandez), as I mentioned
earlier, that can come up top.
I recruited a guy from Texas
that I think he can kind of be
a utility player for me, and I'm
excited to move him around and
figure things out with him.
That was the
interesting thing about the
pandemic, because when I came
in, I had to start recruiting
right away. And we had about
half the class that we usually do
do. So that was kind of a rush.
But I was happy with the guys
that, that are coming in. They,
they wanted to compete, they
wanted to do well, and they
want to develop, which was
really, really good for me, news
for me. So in general with the
class and with the guys that
came in the spring, I think
there's a lot of upside, but
it's again, kind of waiting to
see how they do in preseason.
So this is going to sound very
simple, but I think it's a
massive thing that a lot of
teams and coaches overlook is
just watching what people do
on the field. I don't think we
did a very good job of just
watching what happened. The ... so
for example, the times that we
would make a run, but we would
be in space, but we'd be making
run into a defender and then
trying to play that guy the
ball, it'd be the same thing if
I was a little kid playing
monkey in the middle. I wouldn't
run next to a guy that's trying
to take the ball away from me.
And we did it all the time. And
this is, this is no fault to
anyone else, but that's just how
the team kind of played last
year. So a lot of it, I think, would
be that of recognizing what's
happened on the field. Again,
this kind of ties back into the
technical aspect. I think
there's a lot of times that we
weren't sure with our feet. So
we're staring at the ball. We
weren't paying attention what
else was going on the field. So
it sounds rudimentary, sounds
simplistic, but I do think it
makes a massive difference when
you have the understanding of
what can go on the field because
then again, you can have the
informed decisions of, alright,
there's a guy standing there,
here's my two or three other
options that I can do. And then
we can start to keep that
possession a little bit better,
and most importantly, again, we feel 
comfortable with the ball at our feet.
Absolutely livin'. I'm so
excited. This was kind of a long-term
goal for me, and I think I
probably hit every stepping
stone there possibly could be
here as a player and
assistant coach and now the head
coach so absolutely buzzing
about it. I've been waiting for
this opportunity for a very long
time and to implement my system.
I had the privilege of learning
from some really good coaches,
especially Paul and Heather
Nelson at SEMO soccer last year,
and got to see the side of
winning a regular season, cuz
we, we've won the regular season
title for, with them as well. So
I'm really, really excited to
use everything that I've learned
and kind of implement the system
and my style of play.
