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That makes it hard for me to recruit Brock to my CYC 7th grade team for next year...

Had to put this on the board. The Awesome One is doing something awesome. Great job Earl.

Utter nonsense. It's a joke, not even worth addressing. And now that I fuoking thinking about it, there's no actual proof that George Mason made an allegation, there's no proof that this guy even reached out to George Mason other than he says he did and they said no comment could be made, there's no proof of a response from the A10 other than he says they are handling it internally, and it's his video uploaded to vimeo on the "magazine's" account, of the alleged sign stealing which shows nothing of substance. The idea that a person could use ESPN+ to steal signs in real time is hilarious the delay alone would negate it's use. You ever try to stream anything outside at SLU? Damn near impossible. Tell me Mason has better wifi outside? GTFOH

1) Good job w/your interview. 2) I do have a few specific additional program questions that could be asked next time. 3) SLU has to be competitive with compensation with Katie in order to try to keep her longer term. That's how it works. I am pretty familiar with some of the specific different Women's Soccer Coaching compensations. SLU isn't likely to be competitive with the top tier. But SLU can be and needs to be competitive with some of the other top 25 ish type programs. Structure is often base salary, plus team and individual bonus incentives, plus individual perks. These things don't often include outside perks, camps, other deals. If all else fails ask Jim Kavanaugh to write a check. The base pay is important, as are the numbers for the incentives. 4) I know the Leahy (Brian etc for their dad Dan) family upgraded the locker rooms at Hermann. I would like to see some upgrades and improvements to current facilities, as well as see some new things for the soccer programs. Several of the better programs out there have done this and are in the process of doing this. 5) It will be interesting to see who Mizzou hires. Shields won't be in play there. I would have to think they make a run at Todd Shulenberger at Washington St. (Has had success recruiting the West Coach) He was a former Mizzou assistant on some of their more successful league title and NCAA teams, he has had success at Wazzou, He spent 12 years in Atlanta, a big recruiting ground for some of the SEC. He was also successful at Texas Tech and recruiting there. Mizzou AD Jim Sterk spent 10 years at Wazzou. (No overlap) There are some other interesting names to watch too. 6) Shields has had experience where she has been an assistant, and, the Head Coach either abruptly left (UC Irvine) (Harvard) or was fired (Northwestern). So she has experience with a few coaching situations. Once SLU can win some NCAA games more consistently in addition to league domination, I think she will eventually have a decision to make if the league situation doesn't improve on and off of the field in some various areas. Darren Ambrose spent 15 years at Penn before Vandy. Mike Moynihan did the same at Milwaukee before Northwestern. They both wanted a new challenge to win and recruit at a higher level. They said there was a limit where they were. Shields is deliberate and thoughtful. And it's possible to have success at SLU, maintain it, and increase to higher levels, it if she can get the support she needs from SLU and the league. Some of that is up to SLU. There are perhaps a half a dozen programs that would be of possible interest to her in the future. If she ever left for a middle of the pack random Power 5 School that wasn't a specific fit, you would have your answer about SLU's (lack of) effort to keep her, along with league issues. There have been some other long term successful coaches that have stayed where they are because they were happy. (Memphis, Santa Clara etc..) Katie's background is all over the country, Southern California, Northeast, Midwest etc...which I believe is an asset not only for herself, but also for SLU. 7) Shields' success thus far cannot be overstated. It's a big deal to come into Metro St. Louis from somewhere else and successfully navigate the local soccer scene from elsewhere. Not an easy task. She has done an excellent job building a program, culture, player development, recruiting, she's organized, understands x's and o's, she can game prep and make in game adjustments, all with an approachable, positive, cerebral even keel. Keeping an entire roster engaged and interested. Next steps. Expanding recruiting. (I liked the Bry McCarthy hire) Shields and Chris Allen have done a great job with St. Louis, all over the Metro Area and Metro East, Columbia, Springfield, Kansas City, making inroads. (She is not going to get every top local player for reasons people already know, want to go away to school, bigger schools and leagues, different geography, $ etc.. but she is getting many) Getting high level, athletic on ball skill players with speed and physicality, and developing them. That takes effort and time. Expanding recruiting regionally, Nationally and Internationally options will only compliment the inside out approach. She has also done well landing Power 5 transfers seeking a different fit. Expanding diversity of players on addition to geography. SLU's lack of team racial diversity stands out because many of the country's better teams are much more diverse with Black, Hispanic, Asian players etc... I expect to see some of these things to be some of the next additional steps taken with the program. Katie is very aware of the landscape. 9) It's an exciting positive time for SLU Women's soccer. They get a chance to play (possibly) a similar level team (in a Power 5 league) in a Round of 32 NCAA game, for a chance to (possibly) play one of the country's best few teams and winningest program all time in the Round of 16. That's pretty good.

Try not to troll every thread. Maybe take a break from the board if this is how you regularly post.

You are right, it is vitally important. I think it deserves a new thread. We can call it the “Assistant Coaches Carousel.” Or, how about the “Coaching Merry-Go-round.” Makes sense because it is smaller. If not, maybe “Dreidel Dreidel Dreidel, a Coaches we will Spin!”?

man, taj didnt even say anything bad about soccer, marquette, vanderbilt or desmet and you still go off on him. you must have taj derangement syndrome.

Didn't we have a 180+ player sitting on our bench most minutes last year? Hopefully he gets some time this year to show what he can do. He is pretty much the forgotten Billiken in most discussions of 21-22.

Orlando Antigua is probably the top recruiter at Illinois. And has played a big role in them getting Curbelo, Kofi, Feliz, Plummer, Melendez (21 commit), Bass (22 commit). Those recruits aren’t really ones we compete with them on directly but it would be a big blow to a local program.

Yeah I briefly flirted with the idea @slufanskip. The little stitious side of me has been hesitant in the past. We're dropping a (i think 2 hour interview) here shortly and I was scared it was going to fall through if I celebrated early by asking for questions. I think we can give it ago with our next big guest. @billiken_roy@bauman From the handful of interactions I've had with Katie and talks with people around the program about her, SLU seems to be right in her wheelhouse as far as institutional and athletic priorities. I think that there is something to be said for the allure of bigger versions of SLU out there. I think something SLU has been fairly successful in the past is giving "non-revenue" sport coaches significant upgrades to facilities and improved conditions to offset the inability to pay larger salaries. I think we should stay tuned on that front.

We've talked about it. Sometimes these things come together very quickly, and we're just starting to get some other interview guests lined up. @billikenfan05might have more to say about this question.

I agree somewhat. Collins size, lack of outside shooting ability, and lack of explosive scoring ability / finishing severely limit his ceiling. That he's a very good player in spite of those things is a testament to his incredible passing ability. On the other hand, Collins numbers took a big hit after the injury. His splits were 43/26/75 up to & including Rhody game and 33/23/57 after the Rhody game. Further he was averaging 6.5 assists, 1.8 turnovers, and 1.5 steals up to & including Rhody vs 5.6 assists, 2.9 turnovers, and 0.7 steals afterwards. There is some level of competition adjustment because opponents before the Rhody game were weaker on average, but I don't think it is a stretch to say the injury compromised Yuri's play. 2020-21 Yuri pre-injury is absolutely a starter even if Nesbit can run the point. 2020-21 Yuri post-injury is absolutely not. Hopefully he's 100% healthy for the upcoming season and has improved his jumper as well.

This got me interested in how our players fared last season: Javonte Perkins: 170.70 Gibson Jimerson: 166 Terrance Hargrove: 162.80 Demarius Jacobs: 161.40 Fred Thatch: 156.20

I wanted to add the Youtube option for anyone who wants to watch our interview with Coach Shields. I think my reaction after the interview speaks for itself but man, Katie Shields just has IT. The interview runs about 38 minutes at the beginning and really is worth watching.

Abilene Christian HC Golding hired away by UTEP. Texas had previously hired UTEP HC (who was under .500) to be an assistant. I think this is a great hire. UTEP is a nice campus and has a National Championship. Back when I was a kid in El Paso, I ran into Don Haskins volunteering at a charity golf event. Dude was revered in El Paso.

This is called when your original plans fall apart lets try something else.