Speaker 1: Alrighty, everyone, welcoming to the Grizzly Den here on the
Speaker 1: SDH Network. That's what we're calling it. It's says show
Speaker 1: going to be weekly talking about everything. Georgia Gwinnette Soccer.
Speaker 1: I'm Madison Cruz. Join with me. Is head coach of
Speaker 1: the men's soccer program, Steve to Chew. Steve, how have
Speaker 1: you been good?
Speaker 2: Good? Preseason's done? So those double days are over and
Speaker 2: now it's into the season starting and so just looking
Speaker 2: forward to that and loving the opportunity to work with
Speaker 2: these guys.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead talk about that that matchup as well.
Speaker 1: You guys started the season. That actually was yesterday. You
Speaker 1: guys got the two nil win over Campbellsville. Talk about
Speaker 1: that matchup. What impressed you the most, especially your guys
Speaker 1: coming out strong and getting your first one of the season.
Speaker 2: Well, we've got just four returning starters from last year's team,
Speaker 2: so a lot of new guys, a lot of transfers,
Speaker 2: so they're at least accustom to college soccer. But to
Speaker 2: understand our system, our core values are just the intricacies
Speaker 2: of the way we want things done, the way they've
Speaker 2: come together. Good first game, we still got a long
Speaker 2: way to go. We're gonna look a lot better and
Speaker 2: a week, a month, three months down the road. But yeah,
Speaker 2: anytime you can go on the road and get a win,
Speaker 2: you'll take it.
Speaker 1: With the roster, with how much turnover there is and
Speaker 1: only having four returners, having a lot of like just
Speaker 1: new players coming into the squad, it's great that they're
Speaker 1: accustomed to the soccer game, but how difficult hasn't been
Speaker 1: to get them bought into the system you guys are
Speaker 1: trying to do. But also as well, you know how
Speaker 1: important was it to have the preseason and all those
Speaker 1: scrimmages as well to allow them to get acclimated before
Speaker 1: this match.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's that's the challenge with coaching, is is it's
Speaker 2: more the psychology, the psychological getting them all on the
Speaker 2: same page, because they're all good, very good players. But
Speaker 2: as opposed to other sports like our baseball team, softball team,
Speaker 2: they get a whole semester to work on implementing culture,
Speaker 2: on getting their playing style in place. We have seventeen
Speaker 2: days from the first time we met until yesterday. So
Speaker 2: but but you ask, how difficult is it that starts
Speaker 2: in the recruiting process. You kind of tell them who
Speaker 2: you are, this is what we're about, this is what
Speaker 2: we're going to do, and that's when they start to
Speaker 2: buy in. And that's when they start to understand things.
Speaker 2: And through the communication throughout the you know, the rest
Speaker 2: of the academic year into this summer, they have a
Speaker 2: bit of an understanding what's going on. So it's not
Speaker 2: the first time they hear it when they step foot
Speaker 2: on campus, but you know, roles in the team, starter,
Speaker 2: sub bench player, to get that all figured out, to
Speaker 2: understand what I can do to improve to help this team.
Speaker 2: That's kind of where we are right now. Still I
Speaker 2: think we've got a good handle on who the top
Speaker 2: sixteen seventeen guys are, but you know that always changes,
Speaker 2: and that's kind of where the team is right now.
Speaker 2: Get ourselves some areas we've got to improve on. But
Speaker 2: if it's we just played game one, so we can't
Speaker 2: expect perfection today.
Speaker 1: It's just got to keep working. Especially but with that
Speaker 1: recruitment process, What are some of the things that you
Speaker 1: do to help sell players in on coming to Georgia Guinnett.
Speaker 1: I mean, I know one thing for me, if I
Speaker 1: was an athlete coming for the facilities would be number
Speaker 1: one for me for sure.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but you're gonna mat You'll find great places that
Speaker 2: have great facilities, and maybe the culture isn't good. You'll
Speaker 2: find places that have terrible facilities. But it's about the
Speaker 2: people absolutely, and I think that's the first thing we
Speaker 2: sell as the people and what makes this place great.
Speaker 2: It's not the buildings, it's not the field. It's the
Speaker 2: people in the locker room. It's the coaching staff, it's
Speaker 2: the support staff, in the athletic office, it's the athletic director,
Speaker 2: it's the administration. Now, having said that, we sell location.
Speaker 2: For these guys who are coming from overseas, it's a
Speaker 2: direct flight to Atlanta. There you are. It's everything you
Speaker 2: want in Lawrenceville is within walking distance of campus. We're
Speaker 2: what thirty to forty five minutes from downtown, so you know,
Speaker 2: you can go check out a Milandi United game. My guys,
Speaker 2: a lot of them love the Hawks and so they'll
Speaker 2: get down to catch a Hawks games. Some of them
Speaker 2: go and get a they'll see a Falcons game. But
Speaker 2: what I say about Georgia Gwinnette is I think I've
Speaker 2: got one of the best non powerful jobs in the country,
Speaker 2: based on facilities, based on the university based on the people,
Speaker 2: because the question is asked, why have you been there
Speaker 2: fourteen years now? We've had unbelievable success in my time here,
Speaker 2: but the answer is where am I going to go
Speaker 2: where it's any better? It's we've got one of the
Speaker 2: best jobs, one of the best programs to sell, and
Speaker 2: so that's what we sell.
Speaker 1: I love that because I think the one thing that's
Speaker 1: alwaystood out to me with Georgia Gunette is just I
Speaker 1: think just how close knit everyone is with everything. And
Speaker 1: I'm really looking forward to just being a part of
Speaker 1: it this season and getting the chance to call some
Speaker 1: of those matches because it's always such a treat whenever
Speaker 1: I get to come up there as well, because what
Speaker 1: you guys have done up there with not more program,
Speaker 1: with the women's program, and just with everything I'll do
Speaker 1: with Georgia Guinnette is is unbelievable. And this also the
Speaker 1: calling card for anyone who hasn't come to a game.
Speaker 1: You got a lot of them this season. You got
Speaker 1: to come out to a couple of the women's that
Speaker 1: it will be fun. Let's talk about that matchup coming
Speaker 1: up as well against Brasia. That's going to be Saturday
Speaker 1: at tomorrow. Actually, the women will be kicking off their
Speaker 1: season tomorrow. You guys will be having your second game
Speaker 1: of the season. What are some things that stand out
Speaker 1: to you from Bracia, but also what are some things
Speaker 1: you want to see from your team to improve upon
Speaker 1: from the last matchup?
Speaker 2: The game last night against Dalton. I don't I don't
Speaker 2: think they ended till like eleven thirty. Because of a
Speaker 2: lightning delay, we didn't get to see much of it
Speaker 2: until this morning. They're a very organized team, new coach,
Speaker 2: a bit of a younger team, so they've got that fire,
Speaker 2: that passion they try to play. What we're going to
Speaker 2: have to do is just be effective with the ball.
Speaker 2: Got to keep it simple, keep the ball moving, and
Speaker 2: then get it to the get it to the big men.
Speaker 2: And when I say big men are two starting number
Speaker 2: nine's are both you know, six, two sixty three, they're
Speaker 2: they're monsters. And so we have an advantage over most
Speaker 2: teams with regards to that. So I want to see
Speaker 2: us be a little bit cleaner getting into the final
Speaker 2: third and getting more chances created. We got the ball
Speaker 2: in there yesterday. I just thought we overplayed a little
Speaker 2: too much and didn't get the shots off like we wanted.
Speaker 2: But if we can come out of there again with
Speaker 2: a clean sheet, that's the most important thing. So clean sheet,
Speaker 2: score one more score at least one goal, and I'll
Speaker 2: be a happy man.
Speaker 1: Let's go back to talking about a lot of the
Speaker 1: players that you recruited, a lot of the new players
Speaker 1: here too. I want to switch it over to maybe
Speaker 1: the four returners as well. How important have they been,
Speaker 1: especially in helping establish the culture with some of the
Speaker 1: new guys being those veteran fases that have been there
Speaker 1: already and having them be such an integral part this
Speaker 1: season and helping getting everyone together.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's well, it's not four returners, it's four starters
Speaker 2: from last year. So there's about twelve guys, twelve to
Speaker 2: twelve to thirteen guys and then about fourteen to fifteen
Speaker 2: new guys. But to your point there, they understand culture,
Speaker 2: they understand what we're about. But with a new assistant
Speaker 2: this year, so new players. Steve McGinnis, my former system
Speaker 2: of nine years, got the Cocher University head coaching job,
Speaker 2: and so we brought in Tom Bentham from Dalton State
Speaker 2: and we're kind of trying to tweak some things with
Speaker 2: what we do with more of an emphasis on values
Speaker 2: and things like that, so they understand what they're getting into.
Speaker 2: And so for the new guys, even for them, it's
Speaker 2: been a bit of a change, and so it's been
Speaker 2: more about the coaches just making sure that we're very
Speaker 2: precise and deliberate about what we are emphasizing. So everything
Speaker 2: goes back to our four core values, which is love, excellence, respect,
Speaker 2: and responsibility. So pregame talks, training sessions. If things aren't right,
Speaker 2: you know, are you living up to the standard. So
Speaker 2: the new guys are kind of obviously it's it's brand
Speaker 2: new to them, but even to some of the returners,
Speaker 2: and that's been the thing I've asked them. I'm like,
Speaker 2: what do you guys think? And they love it. They
Speaker 2: just feel the clarity. It's simplified the old handbook that
Speaker 2: we used to give out and all coaches do. It's
Speaker 2: probably that thick and you didn't know what was important.
Speaker 2: We've simplified it down to like two pages, so that's
Speaker 2: all they're thinking about. And then the football side of things,
Speaker 2: it's make it simple, get back to basics and work
Speaker 2: on that. And we're just trying to want them to think.
Speaker 2: You want the players just to react and to just
Speaker 2: go do what they're capable of. When you have to
Speaker 2: think is when you get in trouble. And I think
Speaker 2: that's kind of where we are a little bit right
Speaker 2: now with the two scrimmages we had last night's game.
Speaker 2: They're getting it, but they're still Once we can get
Speaker 2: them on autopilot and go, then that's when they're going
Speaker 2: to be their most deadly.
Speaker 1: It's something listen and playing rec soccer. It's something my
Speaker 1: friend will scream to me sometimes too when I'm playing
Speaker 1: up top. She'd be like, just don't think.
Speaker 3: It's like, just go.
Speaker 1: And that's exactly what it is with all of that too,
Speaker 1: I mean like it brings up the idea of I
Speaker 1: think something that I love talking about with the game
Speaker 1: is like the mentality side and how important it is
Speaker 1: to the match. A lot of people don't talk about it.
Speaker 1: They don't think it's like, oh, it's whatever, you know,
Speaker 1: you're just kicking a ball. It's like there's so much
Speaker 1: more that goes into it. When you do have those
Speaker 1: situations where you're trying to instill in them, hey, don't
Speaker 1: overthink it, don't try to do too much. Just keep
Speaker 1: it simple. How has that been Trying to just like
Speaker 1: relay that to them and not allow them to overthink
Speaker 1: and get stressed out in those moments.
Speaker 2: When I figure it out, I'm going to write a
Speaker 2: book and I'll make millions. It's it's just patients. It's
Speaker 2: just patients with them understand Showing them on film what
Speaker 2: they've done right, what they've done wrong, Uh, showing it
Speaker 2: on the on the blackboard, you know, x's and o's,
Speaker 2: so they can understand, just another understand idea of what
Speaker 2: they're supposed to do, and then when they do it right,
Speaker 2: just praise them. You know last night with with some
Speaker 2: of the goals that were scored, the shots that were taking,
Speaker 2: you know, you saw good things out of that. It's
Speaker 2: in training when you see something right, you're you're just hey,
Speaker 2: that's exactly what we want well done. You know, like
Speaker 2: right now the Nines, if they could just quicker touch shot,
Speaker 2: that would be perfect. But it's there. I'm not going
Speaker 2: to coach them on that. They know what to do.
Speaker 2: They're just thinking they want to get that first goal.
Speaker 2: They're they're starting to put the pressure on themselves. And
Speaker 2: I was like, come, on we got It's a long season, guys,
Speaker 2: I need you, You're gonna it's gonna come.
Speaker 1: So yeah, last one for you, coach, and it's one
Speaker 1: just or viewers as well who maybe aren't familiar with
Speaker 1: your style and the way that Georgia Gwinnett does play.
Speaker 1: What what are some things you want people to take
Speaker 1: away from when they do watch you guys on the field.
Speaker 1: What what you would you say is the personality of
Speaker 1: this team? It's a loaded question. It's a loaded question.
Speaker 2: No, we want to be You're going to come out
Speaker 2: and you're going to see a very organized, discipline, defensive group.
Speaker 2: You're going to see teams that are going to cheer
Speaker 2: for the for winning the first and second ball, for
Speaker 2: the for the hustle play, for the getting stuck in
Speaker 2: out of tackle. I mean, everybody knows when a goal scorer,
Speaker 2: that's when you cheer. So what you're going to hopefully
Speaker 2: see is just a team that embraces and enjoys winning
Speaker 2: the physical battles, but also a team that can play
Speaker 2: some pretty good football. A team that can get it down,
Speaker 2: move it around, play play through the lines. We can
Speaker 2: attack and beat you in different ways. We can go
Speaker 2: right through your heart, through the middle. We can get
Speaker 2: balls out wide. We've got athletes who whipping crosses. Yesterday,
Speaker 2: that's what it was. The first goal came from a
Speaker 2: wing back, got it, got the ball, beat his man
Speaker 2: around the corner, whips across in shortest guy in the
Speaker 2: field scores a header. Unbelievable second goal. Great pressure, We counterpressed,
Speaker 2: won the ball back. The striker attacks the near post,
Speaker 2: plays a little diagonal ball back and one of the
Speaker 2: eights comes on and hits it. First time goal. And
Speaker 2: so you're going to see a team that is organized, disciplined, feisty.
Speaker 2: I love having that streak about you. I don't mind
Speaker 2: getting stuck eminal defender, so I'd rather kick people and
Speaker 2: score goals. That's what I love. And so hopefully that
Speaker 2: team has that bit of bite about him. But the
Speaker 2: fact that when you come out, when we're on the ball,
Speaker 2: we can play, and that's what we've been known for
Speaker 2: as a ball playing team. It's just one of the
Speaker 2: focuses this year has been to get us back to
Speaker 2: just stingy. It's how many clean sheets can we get now?
Speaker 2: That's what we've been preaching, and we got our first
Speaker 2: last night. So really happy with that, but yeah, that's
Speaker 2: what you're going to see out of us.
Speaker 1: Well, coach, thank you so much for taking the time
Speaker 1: and joining us here on the Grizzly.
Speaker 2: Then the Grizzly love it, We love it.
Speaker 1: Up next on the Grizzly Then I had the chance
Speaker 1: to catch up with head coach of the women's program
Speaker 1: for Georgia Gleennett and head coach Mike Giuliano. So that's
Speaker 1: coming up next. We're getting ready for the upcoming twenty
Speaker 1: twenty five season for the for you guys, and I
Speaker 1: want to ask too, how is preseason been for you
Speaker 1: guys getting ready?
Speaker 4: Well, it's it's uh, it's exciting and strange and wonderful
Speaker 4: all in the same way. Because this is my first
Speaker 4: team here in my nine years here where we have
Speaker 4: as many new players as we have returning players. Wow,
Speaker 4: And anytime that happens, you both have the thrill of
Speaker 4: possibility and the fear of of you.
Speaker 3: Know, team meltdown breakdown.
Speaker 4: So so far has been very very good, and you know,
Speaker 4: we're trying some new things on the pitch and so
Speaker 4: far it's gone well. But of course we haven't played
Speaker 4: anyone outside of friendlyes and so we'll find out tomorrow
Speaker 4: night and we'll see see if you're ready.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a it's a quick turnaround for you guys.
Speaker 1: But let's talk about that new squad, you know, like
Speaker 1: for you finding the balance with then bringing in some
Speaker 1: of those new guys and then bringing in some of
Speaker 1: the older turners. How has it been like bringing all
Speaker 1: them together not only on the pitch, but also letting
Speaker 1: them get to know each other off of.
Speaker 3: It as well.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, we're you know, like most coaches were
Speaker 4: big into culture and trying to find ways to to
Speaker 4: have fun. That we start every every training session with
Speaker 4: the player joke of the day. I never want them
Speaker 4: to criticize me for my bad dad jokes because their
Speaker 4: jokes of the day.
Speaker 3: Are twice as bad as mine are.
Speaker 4: But anyway, so I think team culture's gone as well
Speaker 4: as I could have possibly dreamed. Uh. And I think
Speaker 4: at this point, going to the season, I would say
Speaker 4: that we we know we're deeper than ever. This is
Speaker 4: by far the deepest team I've ever had. If you
Speaker 4: were to watch tomorrow night, I think you'll see us
Speaker 4: play more players than we ever have before. And that's
Speaker 4: a good problem to have when you're when you're when
Speaker 4: your whole DNA is to be high pressure, full court press,
Speaker 4: to use a basketball term.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 4: In terms of how we play the game, it's it's
Speaker 4: it's very valuable to have you know that many plays,
Speaker 4: you players you can trust. You know we have we
Speaker 4: have three Division one transfers in. We have two players
Speaker 4: to start for their countries national teams that have joined us.
Speaker 4: So I think, I think for sure we're better. Offensively,
Speaker 4: we're deeper.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 4: Defensively, we lost what I think is the best, the
Speaker 4: best center back in the country. She's now playing in
Speaker 4: that whole crazy Division one. You can have a six
Speaker 4: year of eligibility if you come from an AI She's
Speaker 4: now playing for Florida International right now. And and we
Speaker 4: also lost I think the best goalkeeper in the country.
Speaker 3: So defensively we'll see. But offensively so you know, we're perfect.
Speaker 3: We're a perfect kind of team for an American audience
Speaker 3: who all our heads not be eight to seven, you know,
Speaker 3: I mean, that's that's what Americans want anyway, So hopefully,
Speaker 3: well we'll see how that goes.
Speaker 1: It's interesting as well, I think you look back at
Speaker 1: last season and for you as a coach, what are
Speaker 1: some of the biggest things that you want to see
Speaker 1: continue from last season, but then something you maybe want
Speaker 1: to see improved from last season too.
Speaker 4: Sure, I think I think improvement is qubatly easier. You know,
Speaker 4: coach sit around thinking how do we get better? And
Speaker 4: I think I think dealing with the inevitable negative moments.
Speaker 4: You give up a late goal and you didn't expect
Speaker 4: to and suddenly you're down by a goal late. We
Speaker 4: did make some comebacks last year, but I felt like
Speaker 4: I wanted to see more of a fight there and
Speaker 4: and so and then tactically and technically or more taclic.
Speaker 4: I guess we are we are gonna die in the
Speaker 4: hill of being a better small ball possession team. And
Speaker 4: it's never been a major emphasis of mine. I'm not
Speaker 4: interested in just kicking and running, but I am interested
Speaker 4: in having no more athletic team.
Speaker 3: And if that means that we've got to go over
Speaker 3: the top, we go over the top.
Speaker 4: But we have decided that we just don't possess the
Speaker 4: ball as much as we need to, and so we
Speaker 4: are working very hard. Uh and and in the friendlies
Speaker 4: it looked spectacular until the last one, which we still won.
Speaker 4: The game, and we didn't give up any goals, but
Speaker 4: it wasn't quite. You know, when you play a better
Speaker 4: and better team, then you find out where your new
Speaker 4: plans are exposed. So I really want to see us
Speaker 4: possessed better. I want to see us keep the ball longer,
Speaker 4: and I want to see his fight through the mentally
Speaker 4: adverse time.
Speaker 3: So every team has.
Speaker 1: As a head coach, how hard is it to kind
Speaker 1: of get your girls rally behind that idea? Because it
Speaker 1: can be really difficult, like in a matchup when you
Speaker 1: are down and trying to fight back into the match
Speaker 1: and get that things back going as well. How how
Speaker 1: hard is it for you to kind of delegate that
Speaker 1: with the girls? But then also, is there anyone else
Speaker 1: that has come forward within the group to help lift
Speaker 1: everybody up?
Speaker 3: I think so, I think so.
Speaker 4: But again, you know we're, oh, no, we haven't lost
Speaker 4: a game this year, and so who knows? You know,
Speaker 4: we you know, we have we have an interesting first
Speaker 4: game against a team that we tend to do really
Speaker 4: well against. Last year was nine to zero at our place,
Speaker 4: but at their place it's always really hard and they
Speaker 4: have you know, it's a campus that's just gone through
Speaker 4: an unbelievable adversity because they were in the floods and
Speaker 4: so they have I had someone tell me that, you know,
Speaker 4: right now, that's such a rallying point for them and
Speaker 4: things like that. But then after that game, how over
Speaker 4: that game goes. We turn around and we play a
Speaker 4: team that we just don't match up well, we never do.
Speaker 4: And then after that, we got a little team called
Speaker 4: the defending National Champions in our third game. So so
Speaker 4: we've got to figure this out quickly, and we've got
Speaker 4: to We've got to find out if we have that
Speaker 4: player Madison we got.
Speaker 3: We got to see if we have that player who
Speaker 3: can say it's fine, ladies, it's fine.
Speaker 4: Yeah, we're down by goal, but there's there's twenty minutes left,
Speaker 4: there's fifteen minutes left.
Speaker 3: Let's see what happens. So we'll see. We'll find out
Speaker 3: starting tomorrow.
Speaker 1: Is there a player that has I don't want to
Speaker 1: say surprised, but is there a player in the preseason
Speaker 1: or even coming in for the spring training and everything
Speaker 1: that's really stood out to you on the roster?
Speaker 3: Yeah? I could name a bunch, but let me just
Speaker 3: name one.
Speaker 4: You know you tend to I had one of my
Speaker 4: former players that lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, and she
Speaker 4: called and she said, she said, Kush Mike, he said,
Speaker 4: she said, I have this player on my club team
Speaker 4: and we're playing a team the other day of all
Speaker 4: D one signees and everybody on the pitch was D
Speaker 4: one signees.
Speaker 3: And he says, and she's not.
Speaker 4: She hasn't got much attention to do you one, and
Speaker 4: I think she's as better than all of them.
Speaker 3: And I thought, okay, well.
Speaker 4: I haven't stayed in touch with you as much as
Speaker 4: I like, but you know, I've always trusted you. And
Speaker 4: so we watched it that Okay, I don't see she's
Speaker 4: better than all the D one, you know, but you
Speaker 4: know what she I know she's better than all the
Speaker 4: D one I certainly signed.
Speaker 3: He's out there.
Speaker 4: But Hande Lorenz from from Vancouver has been a revelation.
Speaker 4: She's a freshman, probably for one game. I mean, she
Speaker 4: we're just so loaded at midfield. She may not get
Speaker 4: the first eleven tomorrow, but like I said, we will play.
Speaker 4: We'll play twenty players tomorrow, win loser, draw, just because
Speaker 4: we are just it's our superpower. As Madison, as you've
Speaker 4: been on sports every team has that one thing they're
Speaker 4: really good at. Well, it looks like this year's team
Speaker 4: is going to be that. We just have And I'll
Speaker 4: give you an example. We play, you know, we have
Speaker 4: different short sided games and things like that, or even
Speaker 4: eleven v. Eleven which we occasionally do. I think the
Speaker 4: second team has won those games eighty percent of the
Speaker 4: time so far. Last game when we broke down the game,
Speaker 4: the second team out played the first team, and so
Speaker 4: so she'll definitely play. But I'd say Hannah has been
Speaker 4: just my goodness, I mean, she's just she's just incredible.
Speaker 1: With all of the depth that you have, how hard
Speaker 1: is it for you as a head coach to come
Speaker 1: up with the starting eleven with how much depth you
Speaker 1: have and how much tools you have in.
Speaker 4: Your tool well, at two positions, at the attacking mid
Speaker 4: the eight and tens, and at the outside back position,
Speaker 4: which in four to three three is critically important position.
Speaker 3: I basically had to go to three players because there's two.
Speaker 4: Of those, right, there's an eight and ten, there's a seven,
Speaker 4: there's a set in that set eleven, two and five,
Speaker 4: whatever it is. Anyway, I had to go to three
Speaker 4: players and go, look, I have three starting outside backs,
Speaker 4: but only two of you are going to start, so
Speaker 4: you need to take one for the team. And if
Speaker 4: you're not in that first know that you're going to play.
Speaker 4: There's no scenario. But unless the first two are just
Speaker 4: really what Hannah did in the first friendly, I had
Speaker 4: her schedule for fifteen minutes and I got to the
Speaker 4: fifty minute markets I'm not taking her out. I want
Speaker 4: to see more of this. But for the most part,
Speaker 4: it's getting them to buy into the fact that that
Speaker 4: if you know, if we do our thing, if it matters,
Speaker 4: If you're flying the wall and came to our our
Speaker 4: locker room, you'd think, Okay, what are you a California team?
Speaker 3: What's going on?
Speaker 4: Because there's there's beach images everywhere because we've all agreed
Speaker 4: that if we don't finish at the final site. We've
Speaker 4: made the national tournament every year i've been here, but
Speaker 4: we haven't always made the national final site. And if
Speaker 4: we don't make the final site in Pensacola, Florida, it
Speaker 4: will not be the season we plan for to be.
Speaker 4: So if you walked in, you'd see pictures, you'd see
Speaker 4: posters of of things that each got. They each got
Speaker 4: seashells in their locker areas. We have one goal and
Speaker 4: that's to get to Pensacola. And then once you get there,
Speaker 4: anything as sketch at Savannah College of Arts and Design
Speaker 4: show last year, anything can happen once you're at the
Speaker 4: final site.
Speaker 1: So what I'm hearing is when we're in the booth
Speaker 1: and we're there calling games, we got to make sure
Speaker 1: we have seashells and everything all over the Absolutely.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, you got to give a lot of a lot
Speaker 4: of ocean metaphors, you know, that will that will resonate
Speaker 4: with us. And again, you don't need to win every
Speaker 4: game to have a good experience. But the fact is that,
Speaker 4: I mean, I told them, I said, in my second
Speaker 4: year here, we made the final site, and we thought
Speaker 4: we would we'd never not be at the final site
Speaker 4: after that. But then COVID hit, some financial adversity, hit
Speaker 4: all sorts of things, and we've we've still been very strong.
Speaker 4: We've won every conference championship since then, except for one
Speaker 4: we lost in PKS. But that's just not good enough here,
Speaker 4: and it's not good enough just to make the national tournament.
Speaker 3: I mean, what a night.
Speaker 4: You know, we got to buy in the first round.
Speaker 4: Last year we got the second round. We got Scad,
Speaker 4: who ended up winning the national championship. Twenty minutes left,
Speaker 4: it's a two to one game, Scad, and we get
Speaker 4: a pk H taken by a player who had never
Speaker 4: missed a penalty kick until then. And then and then
Speaker 4: that was such an emotionally difficult moment that we pushed
Speaker 4: everybody ahead.
Speaker 3: And then they scored a couple late. But that just
Speaker 3: shows you how close we were.
Speaker 4: I mean, you know, we took the team that would
Speaker 4: win the national championship a few two weeks later. You know,
Speaker 4: we took them right to the wire, and so we
Speaker 4: were not far away. And we certainly have the offense.
Speaker 4: Are my people now that are the starting you know, defenders?
Speaker 4: Is my new goalkeepers?
Speaker 2: You know?
Speaker 4: Are they ready to be at the level we need
Speaker 4: to be a top five team. That's going to be
Speaker 4: the question mark. And I believe they are. I believe
Speaker 4: we've had some people come and step up. We'll we'll
Speaker 4: see tomorrow.
Speaker 1: I want to ask as well, for many people who
Speaker 1: maybe don't know much about your program and what you
Speaker 1: do over there at Georgia, Gunnette, how would you describe
Speaker 1: the way that you want this team to play and
Speaker 1: the personality of this team.
Speaker 4: Well, okay, so if you got me on the air
Speaker 4: and you said, okay, Mike, you got ten seconds, tell
Speaker 4: us your style of play. I go, okay, ten seconds,
Speaker 4: minimum touches, maximum movement, monsters pressure. There I'm done, So
Speaker 4: now we can move on to the next question. And really,
Speaker 4: while I've sort of revived one of them a little bit,
Speaker 4: but or sort of revides one of them a little bit,
Speaker 4: monsters pressure is at the core of what we want
Speaker 4: to be.
Speaker 3: We want to be a team that.
Speaker 4: When Pep Guardiola was at Barcelona, not that we're Barcelona level,
Speaker 4: but when he was there, he had things called the
Speaker 4: Barses seven where when they lost the ball they had
Speaker 4: seven seconds to get the ball back, and so you
Speaker 4: may hear us occasionally on the sideline went seven six.
Speaker 4: Actually we're not Barcelona' who we give them eight seconds
Speaker 4: eight seven six five. So we want to be a
Speaker 4: high pressure team, but this year we also want to
Speaker 4: possess out of the back more. I just think I
Speaker 4: think we're not We're not a kickball team. Nobody players
Speaker 4: would say that we're a kickball team. But I think
Speaker 4: that we are a team that wants to get the ball.
Speaker 3: Up so fast that sometimes we just lose it too quickly.
Speaker 3: And so we have worked all and.
Speaker 4: I basically told the team, I said, hey, I'm if
Speaker 4: it doesn't go well, I'm going to die in this sill.
Speaker 4: We are going to be, you know, a small ball
Speaker 4: possession team from the back, seventy percent more than we
Speaker 4: were last year. And I just believe we need the
Speaker 4: ball more. And so that's who I know will be
Speaker 4: high pressure. I hopefully will be a better small ball
Speaker 4: team out of the back. And I will say this
Speaker 4: very excited about this. We have a fitness requirement like
Speaker 4: most college teams do. By far, Madison the most fit
Speaker 4: team I've ever had. We have thirteen new players, and
Speaker 4: thirteen out of thirteen past it. The healthy ones passed it.
Speaker 4: I think there was one unhealthy player, and so certainly
Speaker 4: we're physically capable of playing my brand of soccer.
Speaker 3: See now you know how it plays out as we
Speaker 3: play a real opponent tomorrow.
Speaker 1: Well let's get into that matchup as well. You guys
Speaker 1: are on the road going to Montreat as well to
Speaker 1: face them at five thirty pm. I know you can't
Speaker 1: give away too much, but what's the early scouting report
Speaker 1: for you guys heading in.
Speaker 4: That's that's that's really a hard question they have. They
Speaker 4: had two friendly scheduled. One was canceled and the other
Speaker 4: one was at their place and nobody's talking, and it
Speaker 4: was probably one of those you don't tell anyone about us.
Speaker 4: We won't tell anyone about you because the other school
Speaker 4: hasn't contacted me back.
Speaker 3: So I literally don't know anything.
Speaker 4: And matters when you've gone through what they have gone
Speaker 4: through with, you know, the flood and loss of life.
Speaker 4: Even at the school, who knows they might be twice
Speaker 4: as good or half as good as last year.
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 4: And so I will tell my team the same speech
Speaker 4: when I'm in this situation and we scout everybody, but
Speaker 4: when when we don't have a chance to scout, I
Speaker 4: will tell them. You know, I want you to act
Speaker 4: like there's a there's a timeout five minutes of the game,
Speaker 4: and I want you to tell me the following. Who's
Speaker 4: the most dangerous player in the pitch for them? And
Speaker 4: why is she dangerous? Is she just fashioned everybody else?
Speaker 4: Is Is she a ball wizard? She can just out
Speaker 4: dribble them?
Speaker 2: It?
Speaker 4: Is she physically a beast. I mean, what is it
Speaker 4: about her? And then secondly, formationally, how do they play it?
Speaker 4: And do they have to keep three in the back?
Speaker 4: And I'll say I need you to know that five
Speaker 4: minutes into the game because I can't tell you this
Speaker 4: sign because we don't know. Part of me, if I'm
Speaker 4: honest with you, part of me likes that a little
Speaker 4: bit because it basically says, this game isn't about what
Speaker 4: they have, It's about what we have.
Speaker 3: And so we were not going to adjust to them
Speaker 3: because we don't know what to adjust to. So we're
Speaker 3: gonna play our game, They're going to play their game,
Speaker 3: and we're going to see how it goes.
Speaker 4: I mean, last time we played there, it was they
Speaker 4: were winning with night I think twenty one minutes left
Speaker 4: and we end up scoring.
Speaker 3: Too late and beat them two to one.
Speaker 4: Historically, they've been a team that we can have quite
Speaker 4: a bit success in other schools I've seen have quite
Speaker 4: a bit success on the road against them. But up
Speaker 4: there in the mountains of North Carolina, crazy things happen.
Speaker 4: You know, I don't know, you know, maybe there's a
Speaker 4: moon shine up there. I don't know what it is,
Speaker 4: but crazy things happen and so we'll see how it
Speaker 4: goes well.
Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to watching it, coach, and even two
Speaker 1: getting for the home opener next week on Tuesday. Excited
Speaker 1: to be on the call for that. When you guys
Speaker 1: face for it, McConnell, it's going to be a ton
Speaker 1: of fun and Coach, thank you so much for taking
Speaker 1: the time.
Speaker 3: Thank you, Madison. Glad to be here.