Q & A with Coach Todd Yeagley

Thoughts on the first practice…

Yeagley: As good of a first session that I can remember in a lot of years. Starting with our fitness, it was very good in the (two-mile) run today and leading into our practice from the sharp play to the energy and just the quality of play. You want energy but you got to have quality and I thought today that combination of both was very good for the first day.

Freshmen standing out right now…

Yeagley: I like this freshman group a lot. It’s still really early, our first session. There’s no doubt Austin Panchot leading the group in our two-mile just shows how prepared and focused this young man is. He had a very good spring, coming in early. No question Andrew Gutman showed well in his first day. Rece Buckmaster is another example and I thought Jeremiah (Gutjahr) had good moments. Those are just to name a few. So really good start for our freshmen; they’re ready to come in and push.

Team leadership and captaincy…

Yeagley: I think this is a collection. I think it’s a strength of our team. We talk about balance in our team and I think there’s a balance in our leadership. You need a really, really strong one or a collection, which is the way I like it. If you have two or three and not everyone is quite on board with them then it’s not as effective as the group leadership.

I think there’s some young leaders and there’s some guys who have been here like (Kyle) Sparks for quite a while. Femi is really stepping up. That’s been a gradual process for him, coming very organically through time. And there’s no doubt guys like Derek Creviston, Colin Webb, Tanner, Grant Lillard just a sophomore has natural leadership qualities. Foldesy is stepping up in that area. Again, I could name several more, but it’s a collection.

Captains...we’re not sure what we’re going to do at this moment. To me, a title does not provide what we need, it’s how you perform and what you do. Respect is earned, not given. We’ll specifically give some roles out moving forward but right now we’re not concerned about that. We’re concerned about the leadership in general, which is good.

Importance of first few practices given the short amount of time before the exhibitions and opener…

Yeagley: That’s our biggest challenge as a fall sport. We don’t have much time to do all the things that you want to do. You just got to pick your top five or six areas and you got to get big quick to see what it looks like in the game and evaluate as best we can because we have an exhibition in less than a week. Those results are not the end-all and be-all but we got to make sure we’re seeing where guys fit within the depth. A lot of it is an evaluation, and knowing they’re a fit group we can keep our sessions a bit shorter and the time we give off can be adjusted based on that so it allows us to get maybe more into the tactical concepts that aren’t quite as physically demanding but more on the mental side.

If the formation will be similar to last season…

Yeagley: I feel with Femi and Ben Maurey, the strength and size that they bring to striker gives us a different look, and using Tanner up there situationally I could see us doing. But Tanner is very good at getting the ball deeper and running and scoring from distance. With Femi and Ben’s strength and ability to stretch the field, I see those two as the more likely options, initially. That’s without looking at our whole group; we’re still speculating. We know Femi can play there and be very good at it. His game has made strides. He’s confident. When Femi’s confident and as fit as he is…I expect a really nice season from Femi.

On Femi training in Kansas City for a week this summer…

Yeagley: I think it’s a validation. You need to be around that level and understand that ‘I can play with these guys’. Not just hold my own but compete and push for a roster situation next January when he’ll get the opportunity.

It was the perfect scenario for us. We wanted to throw him into that arena to see how he would do and the feedback from the coaches was excellent. He came back with his chest out a little bit like ‘I know I can do it’, but it also opened his eyes and Femi is as humble as they come. He knows what areas he needs to improve. We say it but you need to feel it, need to see it and need to experience it and that was a great learning curve for him that week.

Webb’s improvement since taking over in net…

Yeagley: He’s gained experience. He’s gained leadership. He’s seen different situations, and I think with goalkeeping that’s the most important part. That’s why goalkeepers typically get better as they get older. It’s no different in college. Goalkeepers are typically peaking at the end of their time here as we saw with Luis Soffner. It wasn’t year one or two. Colin is moving in that direction. He’s got some great qualities. I feel this goalkeeping core is as competitive as we’ve had since I’ve been here. Colin is going to be pushed and that’s what we want. I think we’re in a good position with our goalkeeping right now.

Level of competition at the moment…

Yeagley: The competition is making me smile. You get excited because you see what the potential of the group can be, but the what if’s and the tactical adjustments we can make in a game are much greater this year heading in based on what we’ve seen – we’ve certainly scouted our own team – and what we have coming back. The competition...these guys love it and it’s not something that makes them play with anxiousness and nerves. They have to bring it every day. There’s no doubt in some positions – in a lot of positions – that they need to do that.

Who might replace Patrick Doody, Jamie Vollmer and Dylan Lax…

Yeagley: Phil Fives has had a fantastic spring as a left back. Andrew Gutman can play there, our incoming freshman who I think is as talented as any freshman in the country. So for that position, we have two options we’re looking at immediately.

We’re really well-positioned in our wide midfield with the options. Jamie had four years of experience. He was incredibly explosive, had a swagger to him and that throw-in – we don’t necessarily have that but when it comes to positional offerings we’re in pretty good shape.

Dylan’s role is the heart and soul of any team. How is your midfield shape, your spine of the team? You can’t replace that four years. Dylan Lax wasn’t that as a freshman. It took him a few years to understand that. But I like the options being presented. Franc Moore, Jeremiah Gutjahr and Rece Buckmaster can play there. Those are the three we’re initially looking for. We’ve also moved Matt Foldesy back there situationally. Jack Griffith played in that role quite a bit last year. It’s going to be a battle. Right now it’s too premature to speculate who’s going to take that reign.

Lillard’s growth and participation at the College ID Camp…

Yeagley: He’s confident. Grant’s already confident in a really good way. But that, again, is a validation. He, I think, walks away from that as the best back in the group and we got very good feedback from the coaches. Grant’s ready to roll. We’re expecting a fantastic sophomore campaign from Grant. Getting to travel a bit and training with some professional teams, also, to see and feel first-hand the details of what’s important for him to reach the next level and to make us better. It was a good summer for him.