Inside Soccer
Inside Soccer
Episode 15 - NCAA Soccer. Clemson HC Eddie Radwanski
Clemson Head Coach Eddie Radwanski discusses his incredible soccer journey, what it takes to succeed at a top soccer program and the issues the NCAA is dealing with that will affect the players and programs.
Hello, and welcome back. You're listening to another incredible episode of Inside soccer when your host bill Peterson inside soccer brings you a soccer fan expert analysis and opinion on the critical issues facing the game today. I'll also bring in guests that have incredible stories and historical perspectives on the game with soccer experience batting 20
Unknown Speaker :Oh Rolodex is open to bring you the voices and opinions you want. Sit back and wherever you are in the world. enjoy today's episode.
Unknown Speaker :Welcome back inside soccer listeners this Summer of Love and quarantine is over for us and we're back to work bringing you the best inside soccer. Brought to you this time by top sports solutions your solution to all your sporting challenges. There's a lot going on as usual, and today's topic is a hot one. Today we continue our tradition of providing expertise, guests analysis and insight views. No one else will bring you
Unknown Speaker :We're focused on college sports college boards have been tossed into turmoil by the COVID situation, who will play who won't play, when will they play? How will they play? and many many more questions, more questions and answers for sure at this time, most of the news and daily sports shows are focused on American football. We're here to talk about soccer and bring you the inside information. Once again, we have an incredible guest one of the most successful college coaches of all time. clemson coach, Eddie raz watsky. Eddie young, I will read through this slowly and then welcome you to the show because there's too much for me to read. It will take the whole show but coach is a new jersey native, which we're going to talk about. He did play at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, which we'll maybe talk about. He's had a long pro career
Unknown Speaker :that I think spans 13 seasons, has five caps on the national team. He's been a college coach for 22 years.
Unknown Speaker :In 1987, or I'm sorry, night, or 2017 reached the plateau of 200 wins as a college head coach. Coach Eddie read watsky Welcome to Inside soccer today.
Unknown Speaker :Thanks for having me, Bill. Good to be with you all. Well, it's great to have you and so we try to focus on the topics of the day. We're not journalists, but there's a lot of people who I think are probably just sitting on their hands waiting to see what the the powers of be. Tell them about what's happening in soccer and college soccer as relates to to COVID. And, you know, even I can't follow everything that's going on with all these conferences and all these different decisions that are being made the play, not play fans, no fan spring fall championships, no championships. I mean, it is. It is a lot going on, and I'm sure it's keeping you very, very busy. So
Unknown Speaker :This is going to be great for our listeners who, by the way, come from all over the world, but many of them have experience playing soccer. And I'm sure most of them follow some sort of college team. So this is gonna be very interesting. But, but let's start off with something else that I mentioned in the opening and that is your background a little bit. Just Just tell our listeners, how and where did you get involved with soccer and why? Well, obviously I'm from New Jersey, I grew up in a town called Neptune, except the Jersey Shore. I was fortunate enough to be in such an incredible environment at that time, you know, was my older brother Tommy who initially started playing High School soccer, he was at the local private Catholic School, which was St. Rose.
Unknown Speaker :And my parents kind of put my brother and I into the you know, into the lakes and recreation and I just remember falling in love with the game how much I'd love to because I played all sports.
Unknown Speaker :I remember, this is obviously the time in the 70s when the cosmos became very prevalent in the area, but even before Palais arrived, you know, the two players that showed up at our high school one was Len rhetorik, who was a fabulous player in a former Neptune grad. And I think Shep messing was even with him. And they just put on this clinic in our gym and place was packed. And I actually got picked to go out on the floor and playing it to the to competition. And
Unknown Speaker :the someplace that I do remember being in the second grade, where it just hit me in my head where I was like, I'm going to be a professional soccer player. I had no reason why or how was it going to do it. I just knew that's what I was going to do. And then obviously, when Palais arrived to the cosmos, it it just blew up. And you know, the that was probably the one person that really influenced me when I was so young, about the love of the game and how to play
Unknown Speaker :And being able to go down to the Meadowlands or even on sitting on watching TV because w all our TV Channel Nine, had a 10 year contract with the cosmos and they televised every away game. You know, it was a I was learning the game every time I watched him. So that's where the really the big love of the game blew up right there.
Unknown Speaker :And so would you credit pay lay in the cosmos for the growth of soccer and that entire area? I mean, for the listeners
Unknown Speaker :information, you know, I grew up in western PA, I went to college Lock Haven University. You and I have spoken about this. Most of our team came from Northern New Jersey, or New Jersey, I should say in Philadelphia, along with England, but if you think about the great players that have come out of New Jersey, the great coaches that have come out of New Jersey, I mean, was that the influence because it surely wasn't the weather and you know, you think there's some other places and
Unknown Speaker :It probably wasn't even the facilities. But there's a there's a culture there, that even today, I mean, you guys are you guys are legends in the streets of New Jersey and I wonder if it's if it's any more than pay lay in the cosmos?
Unknown Speaker :Well, yeah, to answer your question, the answer is yes. But obviously, play in the cosmos help take us to a whole nother level. But, you know, in the state of New Jersey during that timeframe, you know, you look, you know, if you're in Jersey, you understand what somebody says you're from North Jersey, you're Benny, right? Oh, you're from the Jersey Shore, or you're from South Jersey, right was broken up into these three little pockets so to speak. And, but, you know, there was so many great influences in the communities there. So, you know, if you take up the North North Jersey area, with Carney and the kids playing on the courts and the, you know, Scottish Americans and German Americans
Unknown Speaker :Then the the parental influences that were happening, really in all the different areas. North Jersey had that, you know, central jersey, we had, you know, rich Melvin that got the, you know, we I think we were the first ones playing Friday night soccer in high school, like nobody would know, high school football wasn't doing that. And then, you know, we were connected with Trenton, you know, which had the Steiner high schools and German Americans were playing over there, and they had that Philly connection and then South Jersey, you know, where Peter Burmese and M came from? It was, you know, I look back on it, like, so many great players that came out of there. And we all came out of different areas. And I just think it was that culture. I think it was the natural competitiveness if you're from Jersey, like, if you're not competitive, you didn't survive.
Unknown Speaker :I understand that completely. It is it is just an amazing story and one that someone who grew up in that time in that era should find a way to
Unknown Speaker :To tell to the rest of the country, the rest of the world because it is incredible. So, so who would you say influenced your soccer career the most? And that could be something that comes out in New Jersey or maybe today it's, you tell us?
Unknown Speaker :Well, you know, I was thinking about that question. And it's, you know, there's not a one person answer, so to speak, and kind of like, this is this is how I would answer it. who influenced me the most? I, you know, it was
Unknown Speaker :it was new. It was Neptune, the Jersey Shore, playing, you know, the environment that was created Friday night soccer,
Unknown Speaker :the cosmos with Palais. I mean that just still to this day, I always reflect upon those games. And then the one person I thought that really was so unique in my journey, particularly at the college level was Mike Burgess le who was my college coach, and he was just incredible. He was
Unknown Speaker :He was a he was a believer. He was dream. He was a dreamer. He was crazy, like me just thinking about stuff that nobody else would ever have thought about. We're gonna win national championships all like, sure you're gonna make the national team. Oh, sure you are. And he helped make it happen. And he was such a catalyst in my life. And I and I've learned that great lesson that I've carried with me as a coach. And it's one of the greatest gifts I think that we can give to our players is just believing in them and empowering them. But I agree. There's so much that's that's possible when you believe or you lack the doubt. And you just go for it and you just give it all you got, that's for sure. So let's move to college soccer where you're tearing it up and have been for many years and before we get into the whole COVID situation, let's just talk about college soccer for a little bit. I think it's I think it's really misunderstood and I don't claim to be in touch with it. Any
Unknown Speaker :It's been a long time since I was a college athlete. But you know I have I have a daughter to plays club soccer. It's a very good club,
Unknown Speaker :great coaches, there's a lot of travel, there's a lot of opportunities there. A lot of the girls move on and play in college. But sitting around the sidelines on the weekends and talking to the parents, there's really a lack of understanding. And I think there's really a lack of understanding by the athletes of what they're actually getting into in a lot of cases. So, so let's talk a little bit about, you know, what it takes to be successful in college soccer. And let's start with you and your process of how do you identify talent? How do you recruit people to Clemson?
Unknown Speaker :Well, I mean, you know, a big part of it is, you know, every coach has to have a vision, a picture of what it is you're trying to create. Right and there's no one solution and
Unknown Speaker :Insert to that. And that's kind of the beauty of it. Everybody can do it differently. It but you still have to have, what is the idea? What is the picture of what it is that you're doing? And then you have to move forward in that. And obviously a big part of that is recruiting. You know, I always like to tell other people like maybe call and pick my brain on some things. I'm like, Listen, if you could be the best coach out there, but if for some reason you can't recruit, you're toast. Because it's a player's game, you got to get the players.
Unknown Speaker :I remember the first time the duggie Hamilton and Tommy Kane and myself all got together. You know, these were these were all some of the best players in New Jersey. And we all played on the same club team, the wall atoms, and when we all came together, it was like, Oh my god, we're freakin great. And you could see that how much easier the game was, and we were fortunate to have a great coach, and Mr. Big B. And, but it was a great lesson that I've covered
Unknown Speaker :With me, even with Coach Berta, Sally, that you know you, you've got to go out and find not just really good players, you got to find good people. Because if if you don't have good people, people aren't brought up the right way. You know, honestly, that's poison. It's a cancer that infects your culture in a way that you don't want that to happen. But as you're putting those pieces together, you know, you've got to go out there and recruit So some of the things that you know, I get that question a lot. Hey, Coach, what are you looking for? Well, a lot of the times, most coaches are going well, there's certain needs that each program has every every recruiting calendar year. You know, is it is it helping the back? Is that a goalkeeper? Is it midfield? Is it wide players? Is it is it a number nine? Is somebody creative? Everybody has to make that decision.
Unknown Speaker :If you have players that are somewhat versatile, I always like to tell this joke because you know, I grew up and I was kind of you know, I guess I put myself in this
Unknown Speaker :category I was the center bit right I was the center mid, obviously attacking men. And I always say, Hey, is not everybody can play center mid on the national team. So you know, when I ended up playing for the national team, you know, I yeah, I was technically attacking attacking mid most of my career, but for the national team Yeah, I did play in midfield. I played wide. I played outside back.
Unknown Speaker :I did whatever it took, because one I wanted to play on the on the national team and get that experience, you know, and I was fortunate during the 80s. I got in about 20 plus games, and fortunately, you know, a number of those games at the time because US Soccer was funded differently, you know, we're playing we're going around the country playing the Greek Americans and college teams and things of that nature. But, you know, didn't matter to me, I was wearing the US jersey, and but having that being a versatile player is certainly something that's very strong. That helps.
Unknown Speaker :I think players
Unknown Speaker :increase their value when they're are being recruited to give, can you show you're a versatile player? Can you show you're coachable? And most importantly, can you show that you're, you're of the growth mindset that you want to learn, that you want to play. And the other thing is, you know, and I know this now, you know, from here I am, you know, 10 plus years in the ACC. In my first first 10 years, I was, you know, at UNC Greensboro, you know, in the southern conference, and, you know, I guess, I guess we were quote unquote, a bit mid major, even though we played like an ACC team.
Unknown Speaker :But the level of commitment is, you know, it's different at different levels, you know, and I always like to share, like, you're gonna play in a place like Clemson, like you really got to love the game. Like it's got to be your biggest passion. Because it's hard. Right? It's hard work. It's a great commitment. But bill you would get this cuz you're from New Jersey like, but it's a great hard, it's the right kind of hard that you know, you you
Unknown Speaker :Embrace. You know, it's not one it's one of those like, if you're dreading it like he shouldn't be doing it. And we talk about
Unknown Speaker :the love of the game. Listen, no one ever worked harder than me in my own mind than myself. I was one of the fittest players always and but I, I always carry this with me. Why did I do it? What was my Why? I freakin love the game. I love it. I love it. Now as a coach, believe me, if I could go back and
Unknown Speaker :go back 20 years on my legs and get my old legs back. I still be playing. I'd love to use my coaching brain. But having a love of the game, and he has to have that in there. You got to love it because you got to enjoy it. That was the one thing I really to this day. Palais has always left that impression on me of how much he loved and sincerely enjoyed the game. And then how he gave back to the people around the world was just you know, something that was just left a life, life impact message to all of us.
Unknown Speaker :Wow, that's a it's really wise and you touch on on so many so many important points there. But But I think that's right. And I think you know, at the club level, that's what is overlooked sometimes is is a player really loving what they're doing here are they here because their parents want them to be here, or their friends want them to be here. I mean, you better love it. And I was I was at a convention once in Long Island and one of the coaches at Queens College coach spoke and walk through the differences between Division Three, Division Two in Division One athletics and it's the first time I've heard it and maybe yours. And the commitment level was really what he was talking about. And when you're a division one athlete, you are a division one athlete and it takes up your day, your day structured around being an athlete. Yes, you have to be a student. You
Unknown Speaker :You want to do well in school, but the commitment, the travel, the training, the offseason programs, everything really is
Unknown Speaker :time consuming. And you better you better better love it. That's for sure. And you know what? And you know what else bill is you, you probably realize this is that you were spot on with your description. And here's the big challenge for players at times. You notice you hit one of them. One is, are you doing this because you've been defined as a soccer player? Well, this is what mommy and daddy viewed me as and I have to make them happy. And it's like, I'm like, Listen, your mama dad can't come back to school. This is your experience you get to make of it. Right? Don't Don't let you have to decide what it is that you're going to do. And if I gave this description to somebody, listen, say somebody said to you, you could go to school. And in your four year time, you could. You'll have a great experience. You'll make new friends.
Unknown Speaker :that'll last a lifetime. You'll get a, you'll get a degree and be prepared for the next stage of life and soccer while you play maybe on a good team and get a chance to compete for a championship maybe have an opportunity to play in an NCAA Tournament type of atmosphere.
Unknown Speaker :Would you sign up for that? And most people go here. Well, yeah. And I go, Okay, well, does it matter if it's division one, Division Two, Division Three or NAIA? Right, isn't it about the experience? And me duggie Hamilton, my other guys from from New Jersey that we all got that experience in Greensboro at UNCG with Coach Berta Sally.
Unknown Speaker :And
Unknown Speaker :we were Division Three, but nobody knew that we kept beating division one team, we beat the number one team in Division One at the time. And that was the experience that we looking for. And I think a lot of people get consumed with Wow, division one division one and I'm like, to be honest with you, 30% of division.
Unknown Speaker :One stinks. And so it's still about what do you want your experience debate? And I think the ones that do their due diligence, that really do a deep dive and decide, you know, what is it that you really truly looking for? And can you be honest with yourself? Right? And here's this this is I think, is the most difficult one. And this is from the soccer playing perspective, is a player looking at a particular schools going, Okay, can I play there? Or should I play there? Is it the right match? You know, for my playing style? It's hard. Because you know, everybody I do, I used to go to Cosmo games. I watched the game going, like, I think I could play out there.
Unknown Speaker :You know, it, but everybody should do that, like, well, is that the right level for me? Right, I want to compete there. Because that is going to impact your experience. If you're a player, that man, I just I got to get on the field if I'm not playing my life's gonna be
Unknown Speaker :miserable. Well, you better do some homework to figure out where it is you're going to go. Because if you go to a place and you're not getting on the field that awful lot, is that going to impact your experience?
Unknown Speaker :Yeah, that in the whole social aspect of it, you know, people think they're going to college for the social aspect and near division one athlete, you're your division one athletes, I said, Are there so I want to move on to the topic of the day. But But two things you touched on? I just, I just, I can't let go. One. You mentioned pay lay. We talked before the show, you know, I had a chance to work around him a little bit when I was at NASL. And not only did he give back for years and years to the fans and the game, but I mean, he continued to do that decades after he walked off the field. I mean, it was amazing to watch him, give his time, give his thoughts, not only to me, personally, I mean, he would take me and we'd go for a walk and we would talk about some of the most amazing things, but he would come back
Unknown Speaker :And spend time with someone's kid or an adult or whatever it might be. I mean, he lives to give back what he had earned, really. And the lesson there was just unbelievable, because this is a guy that could have had the largest ego on the planet. And everyone would have been fine with that. And he absolutely didn't. That's one thing to the recruiting piece. He touched on it very early on. But as you go through that explanation, I hope our listeners are picking up on just how hard this has to be to figure out what your roster looks like and who's going to fit in it and who's not because you can't, you really can't afford to make too many mistakes. And it's something I think it takes a lot of experience and a lot of
Unknown Speaker :patience, but also a lot of insight into the human mentalities. What kind of person am I talking to here? What type of seven
Unknown Speaker :To 18 year old or 19 year old am I talking to? What's it look like they want out of this experience. I mean, there's so many questions. I'm not going to try to pretend like I know them all anymore. But, but it is really art. And it's hard work art to get it right and just shares briefly. I was doing some work with Pete Carroll when he was at USC, we were trying to do a very simple event forum, we needed an hour of his time. And it took three meetings, because every time we'd go to see him first of all, he was 30 minutes late because he was doing something else that was more important. And then we got that part. But second, we'd sit down with him and his assistant when keep walking in with different colors of post it notes. And if it was blue, it meant something as yellow meant something. If it was red, and I'm making this up as red meant recruiting, she'd walk into the red post and we just hang our heads and go, God he's gonna go make a phone call. And he's like, Guys recruiting first last and always and he would walk out and you know, even at
Unknown Speaker :Level he waited on. I mean, nobody waited on him when it came to recruiting. So it is it is a lot of work. And I really applaud those that are good at it. So congratulations to you because you're obviously good at it. So let's move on to the topic of the day and that is is COVID situation and how it's affecting the NCAA. You can start coach wherever you want to start and tell the story. I'm interested in hearing how it's affecting your day to day planning, your scheduling any of the championships, you know what's happening on practice now and anything else you want to share. There's a long list of things we'll get through but I'm gonna let you sort of lead us through and in a manner that you think makes sense.
Unknown Speaker :Well, first off, I think it's okay, good. Everybody's probably thinking it and it's built up inside of us to say that, you know, COVID-19 sucks.
Unknown Speaker :And I'll second it. And I'll add to it, it's okay to be human. Right, that's part of being human. So there's a lot of many adjustments that we all have to go through, right? individually, collectively, families, teams, organizations, businesses,
Unknown Speaker :you know, there.
Unknown Speaker :There are some people out there that are suffering, which is one thing from this, whether it's economically or health wise. And then ironically, there are some people who are benefiting economically, so forth. But I think health wise, mental health wise, you know, we're all being impacted in one way or another. There just hasn't been, you know, anything like this since, you know, the Spanish Flu in 1918. So it's, you know, 100 years of surpassing the nothing like this has happened in our lifetimes. So maybe we're all getting a little bit of a taste of what you know, our great great you know, our grandparents went through during World War Two and so forth.
Unknown Speaker :But it's, it's
Unknown Speaker :It's it's also presented, you know, kind of a unique challenge. And I'm always one of these when things aren't going well, trying to find what's the light in it, you know, something good always comes out of everything. And if you can stay that stay on the path, you just you, there could be some great learning, learning and growth that takes place.
Unknown Speaker :It's been really interesting watching kind of everything that's transpired through all this. You know, I mean, my own personal opinion, I think a lot of the leadership that has occurred during this timeframe has not been very good.
Unknown Speaker :Particularly from the NCAA.
Unknown Speaker :I'll leave the politic part out of it.
Unknown Speaker :They just I just think that times they dropped the ball.
Unknown Speaker :And now here we are, and, you know, what I've been, you know, the one thing I have that's reconfirmed to me is being at a place like Clemson that at least you can sit here and go like, you know, it's nice to have good leadership.
Unknown Speaker :Have the type of President that we have of our university in the athletic department, our athletic director, and the support staff that work in here and trying to, you know, deal with something like this. So, it is it has been, you know, the, the theme, the word of the for 2020 has been flexible. And literally, Bill, there have been things that have changed on a daily basis, you know, our scheduling, like we're even talking about altering it already, again, as we get ready because we're one of those few conferences that are, you know, cleared and ready to go to play in the ACC, you know, and very pleased with what's happened with Clemson, you know, fortunate to be at a place like this with incredible resources and the ability that we can, you know, test our, our our players on a consistent basis, you know, this will occur weekly as well, and to make sure that their well being is being looked after, from a health perspective and
Unknown Speaker :That'll transfer over to, you know, to the university as well. But it certainly is impacted scheduling because, you know, normally we play, you know, around a 20 game schedule during the fall, you know, ACC wise we play a 10 game schedule. With that concludes with the conference tournament. So that has been altered, you know, we will end up I think in the ACC, playing somewhere between, you know, six to eight to nine games that will count. And hopefully we can get a total of games and during the fall of like, anywhere from nine to 12.
Unknown Speaker :You know, the one the one good benefit that's come out within the last 10 days has been, you know, the eligibility piece, so nobody's going to use a year of eligibility, but that's going to impact something else, which we you know, I'm sure you want to talk about scholarships at some point.
Unknown Speaker :It just keeps having all these ramifications. Right. The announcement came out was it last week from the NCAA that
Unknown Speaker :The Fall championships was not going to, you know, was not going to occur during the fall. They were looking to move it to the spring. I know everybody you know, there's different views on it people Oh go we're gonna have a fall championships in the spring and I'm like, well, that's not exactly it could happen. Now will it happen? I don't know I yes, I would love for it to happen. But you also have to remember you know, they did say this in their release that, you know, this primary focus which it should be is going to be well, they have to get March Madness in. They can't go two consecutive years without March Madness in the income that it provides. And then you've got all the you know, the winter and spring sports that lost their championships last year. So those things have to get taken care of. Now, I think if, if that all happens, and then you know, here comes the fall sports. Great, nice to know that we could potentially get it done. But I also am realistic to know
Unknown Speaker :But we're not the highest priority at all. And, and hopefully, you know, what is the climate gonna be like when we get to January? I mean, obviously, we're going to be in the middle of flu season. And you know, what's going to happen? Are we still in the same kind of scenario that we are now? Which I kind of think we maybe it just could be a matter of how well do we manage it? Are people wearing masks? are kids on campuses going to, you know, you're seeing it already. All these what have been the most recent new hotspots, you know, Notre Dame, you know, NC stay Carolina, you know, Oklahoma, you know, all these other schools that, you know, the students come back, and, you know,
Unknown Speaker :badge and Bill us at 1920 1821 years old, you know, we'd be a one knuckleheads coming back. You know, everybody's doing the wrong thing. And you know, they're having parties and socializing and it's
Unknown Speaker :Unfortunately, that's just your flaming potentially the, the virus being spread. So, yeah, it's, it's, you know what, I'm glad I'm not the person making the decision because it's well above my paygrade and but it's just incredible how that stuff goes and get back into you know, like with Clemson, we are fortunate to be at a place like this because you know, we have facilities and training grounds that we can do these things safely. We, you know, we've we've been putting guidelines and protocols in place, honestly since April. So, and one of the things that kind of gave me a little bit of hope and light was, you know, watching, you know, when the Bundesliga first came back in May and started to play and then all of a sudden the Premier League and you know, Syria and all the other ones and then the Champions League, and it's like, Hey, wait a minute, you know what our sport like, you could play this. And it's, well, you know, nothing's nothing's 100% safe, but it's pretty. It's pretty
Unknown Speaker :Hi, on The safety side in regards to something that you could do so, because that that encouraged me, you know, as we get ready to play our season is like, I feel like we've got all the guidelines and protocols that are in place that we can play a home game. And we feel like we could travel and take care of it. You know, the one of the unknowns for me is the is the outside factors, you know, when the rest of the students are in our student body fully isn't back yet until September 21. And then when we get out there when we're traveling, you know, when you're in a hotel, you know, we can do all the right things, but there's still some outside factors that get played into it, but
Unknown Speaker :we're obviously spending a lot of time talking about it and dealing with it.
Unknown Speaker :And, you know, being in a place like Clemson, you know, kind of we have covered everything that you potentially could cover. And you know, we've we've said to our players, not just our players but all the athletes, okay, if anybody does
Unknown Speaker :Didn't feel safe or you feel it's uncomfortable, safety health wise, like it's no, it's no issues at all about stepping away or electing not to play, they don't lose their scholarship, anything like that nothing happens to them. I really I do appreciate the fact that that has been put out there. That's because, you know, you might have some people that might feel uncomfortable. You know, we haven't had that on our team. We've had a lot of questions. We have had great support from our doctors that have been trying to get these kids information. I kind of feel bad for the 80 of the kids in the age group, because it's, you know, a lot of the things that they have to do are things that normally they want to do they want to socialize, they want to get together, they want to enjoy their time with each other. And they got to do it a little differently. You know, we got to wear a mask got to be socializing, social distancing at the appropriate time, right. You know, you can't go to any social gatherings. It's not, it's not healthy, it's not safe.
Unknown Speaker :It's really thrown a curveball into everything. And to me, that part kind of impacts that
Unknown Speaker :mental side.
Unknown Speaker :But it's just kind of this ongoing process that takes us all the way down. And you know, I don't know I haven't. And if you want me to talk about how it impacts scholarships, and going forward with rosters, I can do that. Is that something you want me to cover? Yeah, I think so I think, because I think that's important. I mean, if you're being recruited to play at a school,
Unknown Speaker :in a sport like soccer, I would think one of the things you're looking at is who's on this roster? And what's it look like the next four years? You know, as I see it today, I can't I can't change what's going to happen next year when they bring someone in, but you know, am I am I walking into a position behind a freshman starter, and it's going to be a miracle for me to play or I'm going to change positions or whatever. And now all of a sudden, we're basically offering you know, an entire class a free year and not everyone will take it, of course, but if I'm being recruited, I am concerned
Unknown Speaker :Little bit about, you know what to look like. So, I think as long as it affects recruiting, if you think it's gonna affect it at all, I think that's that's curious for me.
Unknown Speaker :Yeah, it's a great question. And in the honesty of it all is really there's no specific answers really at this time. The challenge is, you're right. And so so just to make clear everybody as kind of heard, so everybody will not use a season of eligibility this year, including the seniors so the seniors can, you know, for our seniors, they can play in the games that we're about to do, but they can elect to come back next year.
Unknown Speaker :Their scholarships can be renewed, it doesn't, it doesn't count against the team. Okay, but here's what's different. So all the other players so the current players who are juniors, sophomores and freshmen,
Unknown Speaker :they don't use lose of ELS a year of eligibility as well.
Unknown Speaker :But
Unknown Speaker :the decision that's going to happen is going forward is like, okay, for those that elect to stay an extra year, you know, does their scholarship stay there? I mean, that's, I mean, they basically the NCAA lumped it onto us, all of us coaches, like, we don't want to make that decision, you guys are gonna have to make it. And it's kind of hard. So what are you going to get? You're going to walk up to one of your freshmen and go, Hey, what are you going to do with that extra fifth year? I mean, they're worried about what's happening today. They don't know what the future looks like. It's very difficult. And you are spot on about Wait a minute, I was planning on going to the school. And you know, they're one of their needs was, say, an outside back. And oh, though, they're outside back is going to stay an extra year. Now, is that an extra year? Is it is it a junior who's going to now get two years, I mean, it's going to impact the roster. So you know it. It puts us college coaches in a little bit of a dilemma.
Unknown Speaker :To try to help guide people through this, and then and I know for me, it's still going to be a challenge because you're looking at some of you younger players and like live, I think that player will, you know, they're going to be there and take advantage of the extra year. But that could change. Everybody could get can get thrown a curveball, because, you know, their kids and their years out about what is it that is it that they're going to do? So, you know,
Unknown Speaker :the challenge the challenge was the NCAA was was any issue is the spread, if you will, between the haves and the have nots, I mean, you know, it's one thing maybe even to be a Clemson or another top top school in this country and having this conversation, it's another when they're also having conversations of, you know, we need to cut back on some of these sports.
Unknown Speaker :If we're going to have a if we're going to have, you know, are we going to have
Unknown Speaker :fund more scholarships for this extra year or not?
Unknown Speaker :Or is now the time to pull the plug. I mean, this gets this starts to turn into a wildfire. Yeah, well, you probably remember from earlier in the year when this you know, one of the in that the announcement came out for the spring sports that the Wisconsin ad, former football coach ikey. He said, when the NCAA say we know all the springs, spring sports, seniors can come back and return. And I don't think schools really appreciated that because it wasn't really any dialogue. And he just came out and said, Hey, listen, you know, our seniors can elect to come back. But you know, we don't have the funding to do that. And, you know, it looks at that that's the power five school. So what's it what's the mid major what's a D two or you know, a d3 is a little different. But anybody who's putting up scholarships, like, you know, you have to fund that.
Unknown Speaker :And not everybody can do it. And believe me Even I think everyone
Unknown Speaker :All Programs, including Clemson,
Unknown Speaker :or, you know, our budgets get impacted by this, you know, you have to partake in the university community, whether it's, you know, taking cuts and working with adjusted budgets, you know, we're all in this together. I mean, it, the reality is this impacts everybody. And, you know, we all have to be prepared for it. And it's just, it's just the reality of it all. So, you know, you try to embrace it, try to make the best out of it. You know, I'm trying to communicate as well as I can, with, you know, with recruits and so forth about, you know, what's upcoming, the biggest challenges we've just been walking through a lot of unknown, and like, Okay, what happens next, which is, which is kind of scary, you know, you don't know what's out there, right, and how to how to approach it, but you're spot on it, the ripple effect that has occurred, and obviously you don't you don't want programs to be eliminated or sports to be eliminated from
Unknown Speaker :from university programs, I mean, that's just sad. Yeah. So look one more COVID related question. And then we got some quick fires. And we'll let you get on with your day because I know you've got some phone calls coming up. But has there been discussion at either the conference or the NC double A level about competitive balance? And I asked that question in the context of we had a conversation with a friend of mine who's CEO, Crystal Palace when they were just coming back. And one of the things that Premier League had done is basically say, look,
Unknown Speaker :as long as your roster has x amount of healthy individuals, you're required to play on the day in a time that we have assigned for you to play. If you fall below that number, you're still going to play the game but you can reschedule it, and and i don't hear it in Football Hall in professional football, which is interesting because of all the money that's wagered.
Unknown Speaker :That sport,
Unknown Speaker :you know, you lose a quarterback or running back in a wide receiver one week, and you can throw those odds out the window. I mean, somebody's losing a bunch of money somewhere. And so I'm just curious and interested, just the purity of a championship. Is there been any discussion about competitive balance? And is it gonna be affected? Is there anything that any adjustments made? If it is affected, I guess?
Unknown Speaker :My simple my, my I don't have all the answers. But my simple response would be I think that particularly the conferences that are playing now in the fall are that has been a discussion I think, for us in the ACC early on, the competitive equity was not really a high priority. It which is kind of flipped a little bit,
Unknown Speaker :but you're trying to be mindful of. Okay, so how do we determine a conference champion?
Unknown Speaker :What happens if the NCAA Tournament comes
Unknown Speaker :back, right? Is it all automatic qualifiers? Is it 16 qualifiers in 16? You know, at large bids? Or is it just 32 at large bids? If it happens in the, in the spring? Right? There's, there's a big part of the unknown. Nobody, nobody knows that answer.
Unknown Speaker :You know, I know we've talked about that, you know, what happens if, you know, what's the number that a team could have? You know, because soccers typically carry large roster. I mean, you look at college football, but they got 100 players on their team, so they have to have a serious outbreak. To say that a we don't have enough players.
Unknown Speaker :I don't know what the number is at the NFL level. But you're so spot on, though. It's like, hey, what happens if Tom Brady can't play? I mean, that's gonna impact the game. What happens if you're in the final regular season game of the year and you need to win to make it to the championship game and all of a sudden, you've got three starters that come down with this. I mean, you know, will they postpone it? Will they not look we
Unknown Speaker :We started off saying there were a lot more questions and answers. And I don't mean to put you on the spot with with everything that pops into my mind because it's a little out of control sometimes.
Unknown Speaker :So let's let's let's wrap this up, we got a couple quickfire questions for you. We try to ask of everyone and this is not egotistical in any way. But, you know, we're looking for insight. So in your mind, what makes Clemson the what makes the Clemson program special.
Unknown Speaker :clemson is special because of its people. You know, before I came here, you know, I had former national team teammates like Bruce Murray and Eric Eichmann who played here and met other guys during my professional career. My one of my thoughts was like, what's going on down there? They like a cult like these people, like ridiculously love this place. And then I got down here. And after a short period time, I figured out what it was. It wasn't just the fact that it is one of the more beautiful
Unknown Speaker :campuses in the country. Right? It's in a great location. You know, it's very appealing. But it really is. It's the people in the culture from our President on down, that there's a genuine care and we're not perfect, but it's just a place that's unique. And from an athletic perspective, you know, we're at a university that is a top 20 academic institution, but we're probably top 1% when it comes to athletics and the commitment that comes with you know, our resources are, we have great resources and facilities mean, we have to be the only soccer program that just built a $6 million soccer building, just for soccer.
Unknown Speaker :And, you know, in about two and a half weeks, we're going to be moving into this new building, which is extremely exciting.
Unknown Speaker :That we know we're going to have the type of support that we get at a place like this, but it's, it's the people for sure. It's a beautiful building, it's online, everyone should go take a look at
Unknown Speaker :And I love to see the commitment to the facilities for the game. I think that's, that's so important going forward. Okay, last question. Toughest competitor as either a player coach and or the team who's who's giving you the most problems throughout your years.
Unknown Speaker :You sent me that and I had to think about it, like, kind of which era am I talking about? I thought, you know, so actually, I wrote down a few here go so player wise, I put Brian Quinn tattoo and tab Ramos. Well, Brian Quinn, because he played for the the soccers in San Diego. And you may remember back in the day, they were such a great team.
Unknown Speaker :But quinnie was the glue. He was the leader. And every time you stepped on the field, you're like, God, how am I going to beat this guy? I was fortunate enough to play with tattu who was a phenomenal player. I was the first time I met somebody who might have been a little bit more competitive than me.
Unknown Speaker :And that was scary.
Unknown Speaker :But it was it. It was a great experience and then playing with tab Ramos and watching firsthand what tab was really capable of doing and watching him take off for his career was really a great experience. Coaching wise, toughest coaches got to be was always playing Ron Newman in the San Diego sockers. Like they had set the benchmark at the professional level they was so difficult to beat. And then ironically enough, the one season that we had beaten them and got the best of them home and away was the year we ended up winning the AFL championship. And then you might remember this this is a little bit strange one but gene chisel which pops in my head, the gene chisel, which was a high school legendary high school high school coach in Jersey. He coached at Columbia high school we ended up playing them in back to back state championships games, but his teams were always so difficult to beat. And it was not only one of the best soccer coaches in the country, I didn't even realize he was coaching
Unknown Speaker :And girls volleyball as well. And he was winning at that. And then the two teams I put down, I put this you know, I'm continuing to San Diego soccer seemed like that was the most difficult team always to play against was the soccers. And the other two that I had down was the England team. I played against the England team that went to the World Cup Semi Finals in 86. In 1990, we played them in LA, with Gary Lineker, Bryan Robson and the whole bit and it was impressive to watch a team like that up close. Yeah. And I got to give a shout out to my high school rivals. In down at the Jersey Shore in wall you know, when Neptune and wall played together, it was it was a battle. It was a war. And it made all of us better. And I show some of my my players pictures from some of our high school games that are looking at the crowd going like, what, what are those people doing? Their stands are packed we'd get anywhere from three to four.
Unknown Speaker :Thousand at a game. And like, they're, they're here to watch the game, the places the people surrounding the fences. But it was some of the greatest memories growing up playing hits Tommy Kane and that crew over there and playing at the Jersey Shore. It was just a phenomenal experience. So I send a lot of respect to them. He lives through an incredible time and an incredible location for the sport. And I must say the wall Adams is one of my favorite team names of all time. But coach, I want to thank you again, we really appreciate you taking time out of this incredibly busy part of the year with everything going on, not only with your team and schools starting again, but also the NC double A and everything happening. Your incredible successful career as a player and coach are an inspiration to a lot of people, including our listeners now and we'll be watching Clemson women's soccer very closely this year. So again, thank you and to our listeners
Unknown Speaker :In the meantime, be sure to catch all of our episodes, which can be found on most pod platforms or www inside top sports comm you can find us on Apple, Google, Spotify, I heart Stitcher, Pandora, and of course buzzsprout and some others. So until next time, everyone, take care. Tell a friend and we'll speak soon. Thank you