T-Dogg wrote:Money alone will not fix this...
But you have to have more than 4.5 to compete consistently in SoCon Soccer and that is fact. As I noted before, the conference standings this year almost directly reflected funding levels of each program - top 3 teams - Furman C of C UNCG fully funded - next 4 - Elon, App State, Davidson, GA Southern all have at least 3 more than Wofford. Traditionally in soccer we have always played a very competitive schedule even in the NAIA days. However, we have had little success of "doing more with less". As long as we accept the notion that "we have always been and always will" be underfunded, we will get what we pay for, a bottom tier SoCon soccer program. The Wofford Way has to be to find innovative ways to get the alumni to support the program financially and not accept that we will always be underfunded.
T-Dogg wrote:You also must have a coach that can recruit! Matt is a good soccer player, not a good recruiter. I coach high school soccer in the evenings when I leave the Bank. Wofford did not even work the SC schools let alone Atlanta, Charlotte or Raleigh. The top players in the lower part of the state never got a call from Wofford.
You are right he is a very good soccer player. As a collegian he played in the NCAA D1 tournament all 4 years one year making it to the final 4. As a coach he had a lot of success at U of South. I think he had a pretty good idea of what it took to build a successful D1 program, but I think you are right he made a lot of mistakes and certainly did not create an atmosphere that inspired support from the alumni or the rest of the campus. I think he realized this too late.
A big reason you as well as the other high school coaches did not hear from him is that he did most of his recruiting at the club level. However, I know he recruited Atlanta a lot and Wofford has some very good current players from there. He also recruited NC very hard. If you look at the current roster it is predominately made up of SC, NC, GA and TN players. He worked very hard at recruiting. If you are judging his recruiting aptitude based on the "fact" that he did not contact you or other hs coaches or recruit the lower part of the state as hard as Atlanta or NC, I would hate to be one of the high schoolers on your team that you are evaluating.
T-Dogg wrote:Also, kids do not go to college thinking they are going to make a living playing soccer. I know 40 to 50 ex Wofford soccer players an none of them played professional. So, saying why would a kid go to Wofford to play ball is silly..........Of course, the same reason we all and everyone else went to Wofford. A great education and wonderful environment are what sets us apart. Not the idea of a higher level of soccer!
Actually I would not agree with this either. With the USL and MSL kids do go to D1 programs thinking they have a shot at playing at the next level. Wofford has to start presenting itself as a legitimate D1 program. While Matt may have gone about it wrong way for Wofford, that is what he was trying to do. I would argue that he was treating the program more like a D1 school and that is what did not play well at Wofford. He did not realize that while playing D1, Wofford is different. However, if we are going to compete consistently in the SoCon we are going to have to get some of these players. See the following articles on ESPN:
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/st ... ls&cc=5901
Article projects Furman's Leathers as an MLS 1st round draft pick
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/st ... ls&cc=5901
Article includes Furman's Leathers and Salinas among top players at MLS draft combine
We compete with Furman in football partly because at most positions we have close to the same level of talent. If the goal is to be consistently competitive, we have to do the same in soccer.