May 30, 2025 • 41 mins
⚽Building Culture, Shaping Men: Coach Adam Galla ⚽
In this episode of Significant Coaching, we sit down with Adam Galla, Head Men’s Soccer Coach at Central Methodist University, to explore how he's built winning programs by prioritizing culture, character, and consistency. From back-to-back championships at Westminster to his return to CMU, Coach Galla has a track record of transforming teams—on the field and in the classroom.
We talk about his coaching evolution, what it means to lead with significance, and why he believes in recruiting the right people before the right players. Whether you’re a coach, parent, or athlete, this conversation will challenge how you define success and inspire you to lead with a bigger purpose.
🎧 Stay tuned for Monday’s Significant Recruiting bonus episode with Coach Galla—where we go deeper into how he evaluates talent, what makes a recruit stand out, and how families can approach the recruiting process with clarity and confidence.
💻 Visit coachmattrogers.com to schedule a free recruiting strategy session and access tools to help you stay organized, prepared, and confident throughout the recruiting process.
📘 Don’t forget to check out Significant Recruiting: The Playbook for Prospective College Athletes, and keep an eye out for sport-specific recruiting journals — coming this summer.
Learn more and connect with Matt Rogers here: https://linktr.ee/coachmattrogers
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
as a head coach, my job ispretty simple.
My job is to put the players inthe best position to succeed or
get a result or get the win.
So I just have to see this iswhat I have, this is what I
don't have.
Let's be honest about what wehave and what we don't have, and
then let's put our players inthe best position to succeed.
(00:24):
Welcome back to the SignificantCoaching Podcast, the podcast
where we dig into the leadershipculture and recruiting
strategies that are shapingcollege athletics in powerful
ways.
I'm coach Matt Rogers.
Today's guest is a true programbuilder, coach Adam Gala, head
men's soccer coach at CentralMethodist University.
And just his first season, Adamled the Eagles to a winning
(00:45):
record and coached six NAIscholar athletes, and four all
conference players.
But that's just the glimpse ofwhat he brings to the table.
Before returning to CMU, Adamturned Westminster College into
a perennial contender guidingthem to back-to-back conference,
tournament championships,multiple national tournament
appearances, and one of thehighest performing academic
(01:06):
teams on campus.
Whether it's raising the bar onthe field or in the classroom,
coach Gala knows how to buildprograms that last.
Today we talk about what ittakes to turn struggling teams
into winners, how to lead withconsistency and why belief and
structure go hand in hand whenbuilding a program.
Before we jump in, make sure yousubscribe to the podcast.
(01:27):
See Never miss episode.
And if you enjoy today'sconversation, please rate and
review the show.
It helps us reach more coaches,parents, and athletes just like
you.
You can also visit coach mattrogers.com to dive deeper into
today's topics.
Pick up free recruiting tools.
Check out my book, significantRecruiting, and even Schedule a
one-on-one strategy session totake your journey to the next
(01:50):
level.
Let's get into it.
Here's my conversation withCoach Adam Gala.
Coach, thank you so much forbeing on.
I'm so excited to talk to you.
We have mutual friendships inthe world of coaching, so I'm so
glad you got referred to me andI'm excited.
To talk soccer with you.
No, thanks.
Thanks for having me on, and Ireally appreciate it and I look
forward to our conversationhere.
(02:10):
Me too.
You've been a head coach atthree different colleges and now
you've returned to CentralMethodist where you were an
assistant.
What has coming back home meantto you and how has that shaped
your first years at CMU?
Obviously it's weird for thingsto go full circle in a way.
Even my previous stop, atWestminster I went right I
(02:31):
played at William Woods, whichis right down the street.
Yeah.
When I graduated.
I never thought in a millionyears I would be back in Fulton,
Missouri.
And I was for seven years and itwas a great experience and I had
a great time there.
And when I got the opportunityto be the head coach here, I
thought the same thing when Iwas an assistant a long time
ago, man, I'm chances of mebeing back in Fayette are
probably slim to nuts.
It's weird.
You know how.
(02:52):
Life takes you in differentpaths.
And I've been really fortunatein terms of I've surrounded
myself with some really goodpeople and I've been at some
really good stops and havereally grown a along the ways.
I think I'm really excited to,to be back here in particular
for a lot of reasons.
The first is.
This program our whole athleticdepartment and the men's soccer
(03:14):
program as well is obviouslyvastly included in that, for my
decision has grown justtremendously over the past 10
years.
To see the growth that thisathletic department and this
university has had in the past10 years, it's not, it's pretty
remarkable.
It's very rare to see that inthese day and age, 20 years ago.
Central Methodist was the bottomof the table, you know of.
(03:37):
Programs circled as theautomatic win type thing, and
now it's gonna be the exactopposite.
I absolutely love the challengethat I have here.
Follow following in CoachNichols's footsteps and
everything he's done here.
Having won two nationalchampionships is a massive feat.
And I'm trying to do the samething here, and I really enjoyed
that, that challenge of things.
But I also really love the factthat the support here is just
(03:59):
absolutely fantastic andeverybody here.
Has a very clear vision in termsof, wanting to be successful and
wanting to support theuniversity as a whole.
And I think so that, that'sdefinitely one massive part of
it.
And I think the second is, Ihave a young family now I have a
wife and two young kids.
And obviously I wouldn't havemade the decision to come back
(04:20):
here if I didn't feel it wasright for my family.
My family always comes first.
Just having known know, knowinga lot of the people that are
still here from when I was herea long time ago, and just
knowing the community and theenvironment, that was a place
that I know.
My, my kids could grow up in andbe in just an overall, just a
great environment where peoplejust genuinely care about them
was really important.
(04:40):
So those two factors weremassive in, in, in coming back
here and it's just, yeah, it'sjust unique how it all fell into
place.
That's great.
I'm happy for you and your youngfamily, but also being able to
go to a place that youappreciate and respect and
having that ability to go backto a place you used to be is
pretty powerful.
I asked this question to all theNAI coaches'cause I think it's
(05:02):
really important'cause I don'tthink people really understand
it.
When people ask you about thatlevel, what do you say?
I.
What do you, how do you defineit?
How do you describe thedifference between Yeah.
AI and ncaa?
It's really hard.
In particular I think there's anadditional caveat to that.
For me personally, on the men'ssoccer side the level of play is
(05:22):
absolutely fantastic and ourconference.
Here in the heart of America isabsolutely fantastic.
We are without a doubt, a, veryhigh end division two, a low to
mid table division one in termsof just the overall quality
that's here.
So sometimes people just hearNEI and they don't recognize it
as ncaa and they just push itaside.
That's part of the recruitingprocess in particular is making
(05:42):
sure that we walk people throughthat.
Understanding, understanding theoverall level of play, that is
here in terms of the standard isimportant for people to know.
But yeah, it's definitely aprocess in terms of how you
describe it.
Some days are a little biteasier.
Some people grasp it a littlebit quicker than others.
But the biggest thing I thinkthe biggest thing I try to.
(06:05):
Communicate to people.
It's very much a sliding scaleand this idea that there are
clear steps.
It's not really that anymore.
There, there are good teams atevery division, at every level,
and there are bad teams at everydivision and every level.
Getting caught up in, in onething or the other becomes
difficult.
The second thing, and again,this kind of goes back to my
sport in particular, we're notbase or we're not, basketball,
(06:26):
football where you have thislarge amount of scholarship
money.
So players really filter downthe funnel.
There's not as much money in oursport.
So with that, it, it provides sosome.
Interesting dynamics in regardsto recruiting.
Do I go to this school who'smaybe a division one school, but
the offer's not very great andmaybe I come off the bench my
(06:48):
first year, or do I go to thishigh school and start right away
and I get more money?
Yeah.
And that scholarship side ofthings is something that I
think, may maybe recruits inparticular don't always take
into account.
Yeah.
But I think if you go out andwatch, legitimately watch the
games you'll see it's a prettygood level, man.
But to answer your question, andit's a difficult question too.
It is.
And it is a process andsometimes you just have to walk
(07:10):
people through it and everybodygrasps it at a different rate
type thing.
I always tell parents this.
I go, if I put you on a fieldagainst a really good NAI team
against a really good D twoteam, you wouldn't be able to
tell me which one is which.
Yeah, no I completely, yeah.
And I say, really the onlydifference is because they can
play each other and it, youcould schedule a D two team, you
(07:32):
could schedule a D three team.
You could schedule a D one.
The difference really is an n AIcoach can start recruiting
earlier.
You can make contact earlier.
You have a little bit morediversity in your and how you
scholarship and financial aid,right?
Yeah.
You don't have some of thosehard rules.
Flat rules.
You can get creative with howyou ate a kid, but at the end of
(07:53):
the day.
It's really good soccer.
It's a really good education.
Yeah.
And you're gonna leave therewith a very, if not a better
experience, and a very similarexperience, you would've gotten
into a D two or a D three.
For sure.
I think just the standard ofplay is high and I think the
quality of the overallexperience is something that,
that's really nice, as well.
(08:13):
Yeah, most in particular most, Inot all but most are, smaller
school environments that plays abig part of it too.
But, but yeah as a whole thestandard and level of play I
think it is a lot higher thanwhat most people have a tendency
to think.
But it just takes time to, toget people to, to see that.
So I love it.
All right.
Across your years, you're atWestminster, you're at Lakeland,
(08:34):
you're now at CMU.
What stayed the same about yourco coaching philosophy?
Is there some things that you'vejust, it's been who you are,
your authentic self as a coach,and are there things that have
evolved and you've adapted?
Yeah, I think that's a greatquestion.
I think what's unique aboutbeing at division three in
(08:56):
particular, so my time atLakeland and my time, at
Westminster was, is, it'sdifficult in terms of
recruiting, right?
I don't have any control inregards to financial, right?
So trying to get as many goodplayers as possible and then
figure it out afterwards in a,obviously I'm exaggerating a
little bit but.
Your, maybe your shape in termsof your formation or maybe
(09:18):
certain things that you could dowith one group you can't do with
another because you just don'thave it.
Where at the scholarship levelit's a little bit more easier to
have this clearly defined aspectof your program.
I would say, there aredefinitely staples that have, I
think very hold very truethroughout my time, both at
Lakeland and Westminster and nowhere at CMU, I think from a, all
(09:41):
I guess we'll start off thefield.
I really want just good studentathletes.
People who are good people, whoare good students, who I know
are gonna go to class, who Iknow are gonna be good
teammates.
That character side of things issomething we talk about a lot in
our program.
Yeah.
And that, that is hold true fromday one.
And that will hold true to, I,I'm done coaching whenever that
time may be.
(10:02):
The total person side of things,the holistic side of things, the
character side of things is justreally important and making sure
that we find those studentathletes who are the right fit
for our community.
It's, the community isacademics.
It's off the field, it's on thefield, it's in it's all of those
things.
So what I don't want is I mightfind somebody who's maybe a
great player and somebody whocould do, some really good
(10:25):
things for me on the field, butif they don't wanna be here.
It never works out, so no, itdoesn't.
So that's one side of it.
In terms of, making sure, wetalk a lot about character.
We're finding the, findingstudent athletes who are the
right fit for our program isreally important.
I think on the field I.
I've been, I'm really big in, intraining and practices in
(10:47):
particular.
That's our time to implement thethoughts, the concepts and ideas
of what we wanna execute in ournext match.
All of our training sessions arevery, I make sure that they are
designed.
The best I possibly can toprepare us for that next match.
So they're very well organized.
I try to make sure that thecoaching points kind of flow
throughout the session thatplayers get as much information
(11:08):
as possible so that they canperform at their best, whenever
that next match, may be.
So I think the.
The importance of training hasalways been there.
So you, you train like it's agame.
You play every game, like it'syour last, then when you hit
post-season, you know you'll beready to go.
It's always been, my, mymentality in terms of, a head
coach.
I think another thing that'sbeen really important as well,
(11:30):
that's how true is.
And I don't think we're uniquein this aspect.
I think a lot of sports haveevolved where you have to be a
two-way player Now the days ofbeing a one dimensional player,
I think you can make an argumentthat they're gone.
For us I've always been big onthe ability to play both ways.
You gotta defend an attack as an11.
And players that are comfortableon the ball.
(11:50):
We're trying to grow and developplayers throughout their time
and that we just try to get guysas organized as humanly
possible.
Is there, so those aspects havestayed true I think throughout
my four years.
Some years we've been a littlemore defensive than others'cause
maybe I didn't quite have thosepieces.
Some years you may be a littlebit more tacky.
I think in the scholarship gameit's a little bit easier to be,
(12:10):
maybe a little bit more strictor maybe a little more demanding
in terms of your style of play.
A little bit easier to maybe tofind those players that fit your
style.
Yeah.
But yeah, it's been a uniqueprocess for sure.
It's a great transition becauseyou've had teams that were
dominant defensively, and you'vehad some high scoring teams.
How do you balance that in termsof your tactical approach,
(12:33):
depending on that roster?
Ooh.
I, I think, the way in whichI've always tried to view it is
as a head coach, my job ispretty simple.
My job is to put the players inthe best position to succeed or
get a result with whatever youwanna call that or get the win.
So I just have to see this iswhat I have, this is what I
don't have.
Let's be honest about what wehave and what we don't have, and
(12:53):
then let's put our players inthe best position to succeed.
So if we're really greatdefensively, okay, let's make
some minor adjustments here orlet's, and figure out how we can
get that result.
With the group of players that,that we have.
You just take what comes to you.
I really enjoy it.
I'm a firm believer that there'sno, I sometimes I get frustrated
(13:14):
when I hear, coaches or managerssay, we play the game the right
way and.
There's a hint of that is verytrue in terms of, character and
work ethic and being a goodteammate and those, like that
side of things is very true.
But the tactical side of things,I think that's very false.
You can win the game in anynumber of ways.
There's no right or wrong way,you play to win the game, right?
Is the old the old quote.
I think I've enjoyed that aspectin terms of.
(13:38):
Really deep diving into thetactical side of things and
evaluating what we have and howcan we match what we have to the
tactic side of things and justput our team in a best position
to get a result.
And some years, yeah you'rereally, you're great defensively
and some years you're pumpingbull and both are equally fun.
They're just different.
So it is, and I think it's, Iwanted to ask you that question
(14:00):
'cause I knew where you'd leadme here.
It's such it's such great advicefor a young coach.
'cause I see so many young highschool coaches and they're like,
this is how I coach.
This is my system.
This is how we're gonna play.
And I'm like, you don't have thetalent to play that way.
Yeah.
Your talent just telling youthis and you're looking this
way.
So I think that mindset foryoung coaches is really smart.
(14:21):
And it's something that allcoaches need to embrace.
You have to coach your kids.
You have, right?
Yeah.
Yep.
Oh, a hundred percent.
No, it's you can't and to befair too that's not fair to them
either.
You're asking them to besomething that they're not.
I wouldn't want anybody to, Ican only be the best version of
Adam Gallo that I can be.
I, I can't be Alex Nichols, theprevious coach.
I can't be anybody else.
(14:41):
I can only be the best versionof me.
So for me to expect my playersto be, I just want'em to be the
best version of themselves,whatever that may be.
And I don't think that's fair tothem either.
So I think that, yeah, I.
When you're a young coach, itcan be easy to fall into that
trap of, yeah, this is, veryrigid.
But I think when you take a stepback I think you're realizing
(15:02):
that you're doing yourself adisservice and you're doing,
your athlete a disservice aswell.
I agree.
I agree.
All right, so let's talk aboutyour first year.
At CMU.
Yep.
Were there challenges thatsurprised you?
Were there moments that kind ofconfirmed to you that you're in
the right place?
(15:23):
Can you look at both sides ofthat?
Yeah.
It was interesting coming in.
So I got hired in May actuallylike right around now.
So probably pretty close yourmind.
So they gave you tons of time torecruit, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
So basically I inherited thegroup, of guys that, that I had.
I knew that it was going to be aprocess, a for two reasons.
One it always is this idea thatyou can just walk into a program
(15:44):
and everything's instantlygreat.
It just doesn't work that way.
There's so many aspects to theprogram and I think that's
something as well for youngcoaches to really think about.
When you go from that player tocoach.
As a player, you always say whydon't we do this and why don't
we do that and we could do thisinstead of that.
And then you become a coach andyou realize, yeah, there's a
reason why we can't do all thosethings.
(16:06):
Like whether it's, budget or youname it.
I, I think, the, I walked intoit knowing that it's a process.
The second thing that I knew Iknow Coach Nichols, and I know
his style play well, and I knowthat I'm just different and it's
not good, right or bad.
This kind of goes back to theidea there's no right or wrong
way to win the game.
But I just knew my vision interms of, how I wanted us to
(16:26):
play and what I feel mostcomfortable coaching wasn't
quite that.
I knew that would be a bigadjustment in that.
That would have to come inphases.
If I put it all out there atonce, I would lose everybody.
And it wouldn't work.
So I had to it was a bit of ayin and a yang, a bit of a,
yo-yo, there were some matchesthat, that first year where we
played absolutely fantastic.
And there were some matches thatyear where it was tough.
(16:47):
I.
The, the biggest thing that Itook out of that year was two
things.
The first is, and I already knewthis, but I just felt like we
didn't have it.
Quality depth is so important.
At this level in particular.
Isn't that crazy?
How important your depth ismassively important.
I think in high school and club,you can you can hide that a
(17:09):
little bit, right?
Yeah.
But the, when you get to thehigher levels, those little
details get, we get exposed.
And in particular, I think inour sport and the calendar that
we have we play so many matchesin a short period of time.
Yeah.
And so if you don't have thatquality death, it really shows.
So I felt like our quality deathwasn't quite there.
And I thought the second thing,I thought we had some really, I
(17:29):
thought we had a bunch of reallygood players, but I would say.
There was a handful of playersthat just didn't fit our style.
Yeah.
It doesn't mean they weren't badplayers because they were good
players.
They just didn't quite fit whatwe were trying to do.
So I knew that it was just gonnatake time to implement our
style.
I knew it was gonna take time toimprove our quality depth.
I knew it was gonna take time tomake sure we're bringing in
(17:51):
players that fit the, that hadthe skillset that fit our style
of play here now.
Yeah.
I mean it was an interestingfirst year for sure.
But, it was a good it was a goodchance for me to really have a
very strong eye.
Basis of where we're at, becauseeven little, I had zero spring
when I came, when I got the job,I literally met guys and then
they were out.
Finals were done.
(18:11):
Yeah.
It was finals week.
So I never saw them play outsideof, a couple, live streams here
and there.
And so to get to see them faceto face in person and see the
character and the skill sets andall that, w was really great to
have.
Wish we could gotten a couplemore results that year, but it's
how it.
To go nine and seven into your,in your first year is always,
you won more and you lost, and,you gave kids a great
(18:33):
experience.
That's awesome.
Yeah.
Sure.
Talk a little bit about you.
You're going into year three,right?
At CMU?
Yep.
Yep.
This will be my third seasoncoming up here now.
And you've been real consistent,your kids are really
competitive, your team's beenreally competitive in your
league.
What does it mean to you tobuild a sustainable program?
What does that look like to beable to say, I know we're gonna
(18:55):
step on the field and we'regonna be able to compete every
year.
What does that look like foryou?
Yeah, I think I think it justgoes off the continuation of
basically what just said before,making.
We're finding the right, peopleand the right players for our
program is really important.
(19:16):
We're very diligent in terms ofthe recruiting process.
We have 20, 20 plus check boxesthat, that we're looking for.
And it can become easy to maybepanic and, oh man, I really need
this spot.
And maybe you reach out a littletoo far and it becomes really
easy to maybe get sidetracked,maybe, hey, this guy's a great
player, but maybe he doesn'tquite fit what we're doing.
(19:38):
Or maybe this guy's a greatplayer, but man, when I had bad
conversation with him, I don'tknow, something felt off.
So I think, making sure that, wecontinue to bring in good people
and good players that fit ourprogram.
Is vitally important.
I think the second thing, and Ithink I'm really excited for
(20:00):
this upcoming year.
The first year was nice, but itdidn't really feel like my team
because I got the job so late.
So last year, this past seasonreally felt like the first time
where it was my group.
But this upcoming year I thinkpretty much everybody on our
roster outside of maybe one guy.
Would be somebody that Irecruited.
(20:20):
So this upcoming year, I'mreally excited for the fact that
I think we, we have not that wehad bad people before, but I
think we just have guys that fitwhat we're looking for character
wise.
I think we have guys who we, whoreally fit.
The skillset and the style ofplay.
Yeah.
And I think that we havequality, depth and competition
at every single level within,which is huge.
(20:40):
Yeah.
Which is massively huge.
I'm really excited for thisupcoming year and I.
From there, it just comes downto maintaining those points.
It sounds maybe simple but it'sdifficult to do, making sure
that we keep bringing in kidsthat have good character and fit
our skillset, making sure thatwe create competition in every
spot.
And we just do our best as astaff to prepare our guys as
much as humanly possible.
And I feel like if we do thosethree things I think we, I think
(21:03):
the consistency will always kindof stay there.
Year three is such a huge yearfor head coaches because it,
like you said, it's, this isyour real, it's the first time
really having your roster.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You brought all these kids in,you've developed them, you've
got leaders that know how theprogram works.
I think I made a huge mistakewhen I was at Maryville.
(21:24):
I brought in this greatrecruiting class my first year,
and it was a class of six, andthose kids were my core for four
years, and I was such a youngcoach.
I got my first head coaching jobat 26.
I kept recruiting to build tobuild the pieces around them, a
bush here, a couch here,creating my home.
And I wasn't thinking about longterm, what happens if I get a
(21:48):
kid hurt?
What happens when these guysgraduate?
And, we went to two nationaltournaments with that group and
then we fell off the cliff.
'cause we had a lot of reallygood parts.
Yeah.
But we didn't have any studs.
'cause I, I couldn't, I wasbasically knew I had six studs
and I didn't wanna recruitanother one that couldn't play.
And I wasn't thinking long term.
(22:09):
Have you gone through that or doyou have any advice for me on
how to, how do you do that theright way?
Yeah, I think, I guess here'show I try to view it.
And I think it's easy to getlost in this process sometimes.
My job just isn't one through11.
My job is one through 26, 27,28, right?
And so every position.
Every position on that rostermatters.
(22:32):
Yeah.
And so how can we createcompetition?
How can we reprove every singlelevel of your roster and making
sure that I.
You are constantly evaluatingand reevaluating, those maybe
tiers you could say, and maybeyou have your top tier your
middle tier, and then maybe yourdevelopmental tier.
(22:54):
All of it is important becausethis idea that we know that this
guy will always be and thistier, I don't think that's
certainly true.
Is it tough to jump up?
Yeah.
Without a doubt.
But I, I.
This is something I think Ireally learned at the division
three level.
There was always one player thatjust surprised me man, like
(23:15):
really?
He it felt like a light bulb ora light switch.
Like they just got it.
Yeah.
And I could have easily writtenthat kid off.
But they just kept working andthey just kept absorbing
information and then somethingjust clicked.
And so is gonna be stud player.
Maybe not, but if.
Maybe he's your tier threeplayer, now he becomes a tier
(23:36):
two player.
Oh, great.
Now you got even more guys inthat tier two.
And maybe one of your tiers canjump up.
So I think that's one aspect ofit.
I think there's another adage interms of don't have just one
plan.
I think that's another thing aswell.
It's plan A, B, C, D, E, and F.
And once that kid persongraduates or that person goes
down or that person doesn'tcommit, whatever that may be, or
(23:58):
maybe they commit and decommit,okay, what's option B?
Okay I already know what optionB, C, D, E and F are.
And that way you're notpanicking when things don't.
Quite out, or you don't getblindsided.
That's the thing you want ascoach.
If you get blindsided, man, yougotta put yourself in a tough
spot.
Those are the two things that,that I've always tried to think
(24:19):
about is I want development andI want competition from the full
roster one to 27 because thisidea that number 20 on my
roster's gonna stay at number20, maybe he will.
Maybe, but maybe he won't.
Maybe he'll jump up or maybehe'll come down or maybe I can
bring guys in.
And then number two is justalways have plan B, C, D, E, and
F.
'cause plan A and B almost theylook awesome on paper and they
(24:41):
almost rarely work.
You never really get to see guyand Yeah, all through, you see
it in your mind.
That's about it.
That's the only time you're theonly person that's gonna see
that plan.
Essentially.
The season rarely finishes howyou designed it, the, the summer
before.
Yeah.
I'm with you.
I love that mindset and it, ittook me five or six years of
recruiting to realize.
I had to bring in the besttalent at every position and let
(25:05):
the competition do itself.
Yeah.
That's massively rich, and it'sthe only way to sustain is Yep.
If you're not bringing in two orthree kids that can be studs for
you or grow into that stud role,it's, you got a hard path ahead.
It's really difficult.
And man, so many like injuriestoo.
Yes.
There okay, you might, what'shappens?
We don't have it.
(25:25):
Our best attacking player gothurt.
And we just the program justwasn't quite where it needed to
be yet.
And that's what makes me excitedfor this upcoming season is the
fact that I feel like our depthand competition is so much
stronger and so there's gonna beplayers.
As a coach, you have to becomfortable with some level of
conflict, right?
You might have a player who didfantastic for you last year, but
(25:48):
if they come in outta shape theystart worrying about their
individual stats, if they startto veer a little bit.
Yeah.
One of two things happens.
Either that person behind themjumps'em, or b you have to sit
down and have that conversationwith them and get back on track.
So yeah, there's, that goes.
I wanna ask you about this.
'cause I'm, as much as I lovesoccer, I'm just soccer, dumb,
(26:10):
'cause as a basketball coach, ifI had five kids on the floor
that weren't playing well, Icould put a new five in.
If five kids got tired, I hadanother five I could put in, and
I had five behind that.
You are so limited on yoursubstitution and how many times
you can put a kid on the field.
How do you manage that in termsof health and conditioning and
(26:32):
physicality and, yeah, it's alot.
I think man, there's a lot ofaspects to it.
The first is you have to acceptthe fact that it is what it's.
It's not great for our game toplay so many matches in such a
condensed period of time.
Yeah.
And I can sit here and complainabout that all day long, but
it's irrelevant.
This is what we have, so we haveto deal with it.
(26:53):
That, that's definitely a partof it.
I think the things that becomereally important, the first is
just managing minutes, I thinkis.
Really important.
It's something that after everyI'd say every week or so, I just
reflect on the previous week,okay how many guys played in
this game?
What minutes are they at?
And it's something we look at asa staff.
(27:13):
And and just watching justgeneral body language and, how
they're in training sessions,and I've been there too, where
man.
The hardest thing I ever did asa player.
I, we played back to back gamesFriday, Saturday, and on Sunday.
So sometimes you can just see,and I think that's where a, the
(27:33):
athletic training staff becomesreally important.
We have an absolutely fantasticstaff here.
Awesome.
Dan is our trainer, and he doesan awesome job of working with
our guys.
So guys making sure that theytake care of their bodies and
they're, preventing knocks orworking on, on, on little
injuries or whatever that maybe.
But then also on our end, makingsure that we're in constant
communication in particular withthe guys who are getting a lot
(27:55):
of time, pulling them aside and,Hey man, you gotta be honest
with me here.
Like, how are you doing?
Do you need it?
Hey, we have an extra day offthis week.
I can give it to you, but I canonly give it to you today
because tomorrow we get readyfor the next match.
What do you need?
And then on the flip side isworking with those guys who
maybe didn't get.
Quite the minutes.
You got either, okay, let's dosome extra work with them to
make sure that they stay sharpas humanly possible.
(28:16):
So a lot of it is just managingminutes and really reflecting,
looking at body language,working with the athletic
trainer, constantly telling ourguys to take care of their
bodies.
That's something that is anadjustment in particular for a
lot of players.
Coming into the college level.
A lot of high schools have oneathletic trainer.
And since we're a fall sport, ittypically goes towards football,
(28:38):
which is understandable.
But they come here and they'relike, oh, we have our own
trainer.
I dunno, what do it's likehere's what you have to do.
You have to see him like twice aweek.
All right, you had an ankleinjury, nine months ago.
You still need to go see him forthat.
Check in, make sure everything'swhere it's at.
I'm just trying to keep tabs ofeverything and some weeks is
easier than others for sure.
(29:00):
That's great.
Coach, your teams haveconsistently excelled
academically from the highestmen's GPA at Westminster to you
had six scholar athletes lastyear, which is fantastic.
What's your strategy in terms ofbuilding a team culture that
values.
The full picture classroom asmuch as on the field.
(29:21):
Yeah.
So I'm probably gonna sound likea broken record, but it does
start with the recruitingprocess.
Yeah, of course, course italways starts with that, right?
Making sure you find the rightstudent athletes that fit, your
community and your program arereally important.
You can go out there and find'emthe best players, but they're
not even eligible for yourprogram and it's gonna be tough.
And I think you're just gonnarun up against the wall and
(29:42):
you're just gonna end up,frustrating yourself even more.
So trying to find, studentathletes who are the right fit
for you academically is reallyimportant.
You don't wanna get caught upon, on guys who don't fit your
program.
So if I can find this fantasticplayer.
But he wants to major in I knowarchitecture or whatever it may
be, but we don't Marine biology.
Yeah.
We like, we don't have thatprogram here.
(30:02):
I might reach out to him andtell them, Hey you're a great
player.
If you're not 100% set on that,let me know, but if you are
we're probably not the best,university for you.
And all that does is on my endis it's just time management,
right?
There's a thousand studentathletes out there.
I just gotta go find the nextguy.
'Cause there, there's anotherplayer that's just as good as
(30:23):
that player.
Yes.
But I just have to go work to gofind him.
And he's, that person's gonnahave a better chance of success
here because they're a betterfit.
So that's definitely number one.
Number two is I think justtaking an active interest in
their academic success isimportant.
I.
I'm constantly just asking my,hey, like, how are classes
going?
Are you doing all right?
Think you're doing good?
(30:44):
And it sounds like a small thingbut I think it goes a really
long ways.
The guys feel you, you can gaugepretty quickly by their
response.
It's going back like the bodylanguage side of things.
In terms of how it's going forthem.
If you hear the hesitation andtheir response and, something's
probably may maybe starting togo south or maybe not in the
(31:05):
direction that they wanna go.
Doing great checks is important.
We're really fortunate here atCMU we have a great academic
resource center we have an earlywarning type system that does a
really good job of preparing.
With our students, but also ourstaff.
And it's just opportunity for usto, have those conversations
with players in regards to aspecific class.
Maybe they just studied thewrong chapters for the test.
(31:26):
I've had that happen a coupletimes.
Or maybe it's, hey it's justchance for us to go out and get
a tutor and things like that.
And I think the third thingthat.
Is maybe a little bit differenton my end than some others, but
I'm a firm believer if it's notbroke, don't fix it.
So if you come in here and youdo really well, I'm gonna stay
outta your way.
You don't need me if you're a3.5 GPA if you need help, you
(31:49):
can always come to my office andI'll always make sure you get
the help that you need.
But if you're doing somethingright.
I'm just gonna stay outta yourwhy.
So with that, that allowed, thiskinda goes back to the time
management side of things.
On my end, it allows me to putmore focus on maybe the guys,
maybe the three or four guys whoare struggling.
'Cause those are the guys thatmaybe just need a little bit
more attention.
And in particular, it's usuallyfreshman, sophomores.
(32:10):
Usually freshmen in all realityit's just an adjustment going
from high school to college andit's a different experience.
And I think for the most part,my juniors and seniors are they
pretty much got the routine downby that point in time.
And but those factors are reallyimportant.
Just making sure that you findthe right student athlete that
fits your.
Your academic community withinyour campus.
Making sure that you'reconstant, that you take an
(32:33):
active interest in theiracademic success.
And then three, just using thattime management side of things
is important.
So I always tell kids if you getrecruited and one of the first
questions out of the coach'smouth isn't, tell me about your
grades.
That is a red flag.
Yeah.
I've seen some young coaches getreally frustrated that they
couldn't get a student accepted.
(32:54):
Yeah.
And I understand thefrustration.
I get it.
Yeah.
But it's also, man, it's likeyou, you spent a lot of time on
that guy knowing he wasn't gonnaget accepted.
What did you think was going tohappen?
Yeah.
Yeah, for sure.
It's those things that, I'mconstantly teaching young
coaches.
I go let's first talk aboutwhere do you work?
'cause if you don't understandwhere you're working, you're
(33:14):
digging a hole for yourself.
You gotta understand what youradmission staff, how your
financial aid works, what yourpresident expects from you, what
your athletic Yeah.
If you don't understand thosethings, you are gonna be an
unhappy coach.
Yeah.
Oh, for sure.
And I think on top of that inparticular, now, I feel.
Be ready to adapt and on, on thefly here because That's right.
(33:36):
Higher education right now isall over the board.
And recognize, what may haveworked for that institution two
years ago might not work now.
And so yeah this, but it goesback to just making sure you're
just gonna use your time moreefficiently if you just.
W work within the confines ofyour university.
And if you have frustrations,either a, you have to learn to
(33:57):
deal with them or b you have tolearn to communicate them in a
proper way.
All those things I wish somebodywould've taught me when I was a
26-year-old head coach.
It's just, it's I'm gonna, I'mgonna write a book just for
young coaches at some point.
Yeah.
For all the stupid things I didand all the stupid things I, I
wish I would've understoodbetter because it's really.
(34:17):
As a young coach, it's almostlike you shoot yourself in the
foot so you understand how towalk, yeah.
It's I, so I love that you seethat.
Now, talk about adapting.
You and I have both coached menand women.
Yeah.
I am not a glutton forpunishment as much as I talk
about it.
I've never tried to coach bothat the same time like you have.
Am I wrong in that?
(34:39):
Yeah.
Yep.
Okay.
Now you're obviously a muchbetter human being, a much
better coach than I'm,'cause Ihave enough problems coaching
one team at a time.
What did you learn from leadingtwo different teams at once and
how did it shape your coaching?
Man, that's a great question.
First off, it was incrediblydifficult.
(35:01):
It di I don't care how big orsmall the roster is, it is
incredibly difficult to do so ifyou're doing hey, hat's off to
you.
Absolutely.
I think what I learned about itwas the first is, except that
every team is going to look alittle bit different.
Yes.
Recognizing year to year teamto.
(35:22):
You can always draw parallels toa point.
And it's good to drawreferences, but to think that
it, what works for one is alwaysgonna work for the other is
false.
Yes.
You can draw inferences andmaybe tweak and do things like
that, but to think that it's,Hey, what worked for this will
automatically work for thatthat, that is definitely not the
(35:44):
case.
I think.
The other thing that I think isreally important in terms of,
the recruiting side is verydifferent.
In terms of what they're lookingfor, what they want out of their
experience, on, on, on thewomen's side, man, those are
just so much more organized.
They communicate so much better.
There's so many more aspects oftheir, but working with guys, I
(36:05):
sometimes I tell my wifes like,pulling teeth.
There's always the one guy Itell'em five times, what time
the bus leaves tomorrow.
And then after I'm done sayingit, there's always one person
that raises their hands says,what time does the bus leave
tomorrow?
And recognizing that there,there are differences in terms
of, what everyone is lookingfor.
Those were probably the twobiggest things I learned either
a lot more.
But those are the two thingsthat really stick out is, what
(36:27):
works for one team?
Does that always work for theother?
And the recruiting cycles andwhat they're looking for are
just so different.
So I think with that, I have ahuge amount of respect for every
sport.
We can sit there and easilycompare men to women's soccer,
but when you take a step back,man, there's a lot of
differences.
And for me, it's given me anappreciation.
I enjoy watching other coachescoach, regardless of the sport
(36:51):
because I think every sporttakes something a little bit
different.
Yeah.
That's great.
Coach, this has been a blast,man.
I love your perspective and Icould see why you're doing so
well.
And CM u's lucky to have you.
Are you up for a little rapidfire?
Some fun questions?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Bring it on.
All right.
You'll like these.
All right.
If your coaching style were afamous soccer player, who would
(37:12):
it be?
Oh boy.
A famous soccer player.
I.
I don't know.
Let's see.
I'm an American, so maybe stickwith the I'm gonna go Landon
Donovan.
Yeah.
Good.
Two-way player.
Who ended up being a goodtwo-way player throughout his
career.
Yeah, that's what I was thinkingtoo.
I was trying to think who's theAmerican two-way player?
Landon Don is perfect.
Yeah.
So maybe that's the one.
All right.
(37:32):
The one I haven't heard thatone.
I love that.
Who's your favorite non soccer,what's your favorite non soccer
sport to watch or play?
So unfortunately I just watchedmy blues get knocked off in game
seven the other day.
Yeah, I really love hockey.
It's a great sport, man.
The pace of the play is great.
There's a lot of similarities.
Yeah.
Between being good two A playersand tactics in regards to soccer
(37:52):
and hockey.
Yeah.
I never played it outside of,just roller hockey.
Yeah.
But I really enjoy watchinghockey for sure.
I live in the Denver area andeverybody's crying and crying
now about the avalanche.
And that was a tough series forthem too.
Yep.
Is there a coaching book orpodcast or something like that's
had a big impact on you orsomething that you really like
or would recommend?
(38:13):
Yeah, I actually have it on mydesk right now.
The Team Captain's manual, ourleadership manual.
It is a fantastic book.
I actually went through it as aplayer.
What I like about it is I'm notnearly as smart as most of my
players are.
So my reading, if I see thickbooks, I start to run.
It's 10 chapters.
It's really simple.
Each is maybe 12 pages.
(38:34):
It just ask really goodquestions.
Love it, and it forces you tothink about leadership.
In a slightly different way.
And that's been a big book forme both as a player and I've
continued to use it from time totime as a coach.
And I've used it in leadershipgroups and with my captains from
time to time and it's beenreally beneficial for me.
Love it.
Who's a coach?
Any level or any sport you'dlove to grab coffee with?
(38:59):
That's a great question.
For me, I don't know I think it,maybe I view this a little bit
differently but I would love tohave a coffee with Jose Marino
more for the fact that he issuch a big personality and some
of the things that he says arejust incredibly funny to me.
And from what I gather.
He just looks like someone wholegitimately cares about his
(39:20):
players.
So I, I would be interested tohear what he has to say.
He's obviously been around for areally long time.
Yeah.
And so that's probably seen thegame evolve a lot.
The coaching world evolve a lot.
So I think he'd be a lot of funand I think he would give me
obviously quite a bit ofknowledge.
So I love that.
Coach.
Thank you so much for doing thisand talking coaching with me.
(39:41):
Yeah.
Appreciate it.
It always makes me feel goodwhen there's a, when I get to
spend time with a coach that Iknow really loves it, loves
their kids, is doing this forall the right reasons, and
you're, you have a family thatyou love and you're doing all
this, it's a sacrifice, buteverybody's getting good out of
it.
So thank you for doing whatyou're doing.
(40:02):
Yeah.
No, thanks for having me.
I really appreciate it.
That's a wrap on today's episodewith Coach Adam Gala of Central
Methodist University.
From building programs atmultiple institutions to
returning to CMU with a renewedvision.
Coach Gala reminds us that greatcoaching isn't just about
tactics, it's about culture,consistency and helping young
(40:24):
men grow in all areas of life.
Whether he's leading teams tonational tournaments or raising
academic standards, hiscommitment to significance over
success is clear.
One of my favorite takeawaysfrom our conversation, his
belief that sustainable programsare built when you recruit the
right people first, not just theright players.
(40:45):
If today's episode resonatedwith you, please remember to
subscribe, rate the show, andshare it with a fellow coach,
athlete, or parent.
And don't forget.
To visit coach matt rogers.comfor more tools, blog posts, and
recruiting resources that canhelp your journey.
And come back this Monday forour significant recruiting bonus
segment with Coach Gala, wherewe will dive deeper into how he
(41:08):
evaluates talent, how recruitscan stand out, and why academics
play such a big role in hisrecruiting process.
Until next time, keep leadingwith purpose.
And remember, success istemporary.
Significance lasts forever.
as a head coach, my job ispretty simple.
My job is to put the players inthe best position to succeed or
get a result or get the win.
So I just have to see this iswhat I have, this is what I
don't have.
Let's be honest about what wehave and what we don't have, and
then let's put our players inthe best position to succeed.
(00:24):
Welcome back to the SignificantCoaching Podcast, the podcast
where we dig into the leadershipculture and recruiting
strategies that are shapingcollege athletics in powerful
ways.
I'm coach Matt Rogers.
Today's guest is a true programbuilder, coach Adam Gala, head
men's soccer coach at CentralMethodist University.
And just his first season, Adamled the Eagles to a winning
(00:45):
record and coached six NAIscholar athletes, and four all
conference players.
But that's just the glimpse ofwhat he brings to the table.
Before returning to CMU, Adamturned Westminster College into
a perennial contender guidingthem to back-to-back conference,
tournament championships,multiple national tournament
appearances, and one of thehighest performing academic
(01:06):
teams on campus.
Whether it's raising the bar onthe field or in the classroom,
coach Gala knows how to buildprograms that last.
Today we talk about what ittakes to turn struggling teams
into winners, how to lead withconsistency and why belief and
structure go hand in hand whenbuilding a program.
Before we jump in, make sure yousubscribe to the podcast.
(01:27):
See Never miss episode.
And if you enjoy today'sconversation, please rate and
review the show.
It helps us reach more coaches,parents, and athletes just like
you.
You can also visit coach mattrogers.com to dive deeper into
today's topics.
Pick up free recruiting tools.
Check out my book, significantRecruiting, and even Schedule a
one-on-one strategy session totake your journey to the next
(01:50):
level.
Let's get into it.
Here's my conversation withCoach Adam Gala.
Coach, thank you so much forbeing on.
I'm so excited to talk to you.
We have mutual friendships inthe world of coaching, so I'm so
glad you got referred to me andI'm excited.
To talk soccer with you.
No, thanks.
Thanks for having me on, and Ireally appreciate it and I look
forward to our conversationhere.
(02:10):
Me too.
You've been a head coach atthree different colleges and now
you've returned to CentralMethodist where you were an
assistant.
What has coming back home meantto you and how has that shaped
your first years at CMU?
Obviously it's weird for thingsto go full circle in a way.
Even my previous stop, atWestminster I went right I
(02:31):
played at William Woods, whichis right down the street.
Yeah.
When I graduated.
I never thought in a millionyears I would be back in Fulton,
Missouri.
And I was for seven years and itwas a great experience and I had
a great time there.
And when I got the opportunityto be the head coach here, I
thought the same thing when Iwas an assistant a long time
ago, man, I'm chances of mebeing back in Fayette are
probably slim to nuts.
It's weird.
You know how.
(02:52):
Life takes you in differentpaths.
And I've been really fortunatein terms of I've surrounded
myself with some really goodpeople and I've been at some
really good stops and havereally grown a along the ways.
I think I'm really excited to,to be back here in particular
for a lot of reasons.
The first is.
This program our whole athleticdepartment and the men's soccer
(03:14):
program as well is obviouslyvastly included in that, for my
decision has grown justtremendously over the past 10
years.
To see the growth that thisathletic department and this
university has had in the past10 years, it's not, it's pretty
remarkable.
It's very rare to see that inthese day and age, 20 years ago.
Central Methodist was the bottomof the table, you know of.
(03:37):
Programs circled as theautomatic win type thing, and
now it's gonna be the exactopposite.
I absolutely love the challengethat I have here.
Follow following in CoachNichols's footsteps and
everything he's done here.
Having won two nationalchampionships is a massive feat.
And I'm trying to do the samething here, and I really enjoyed
that, that challenge of things.
But I also really love the factthat the support here is just
(03:59):
absolutely fantastic andeverybody here.
Has a very clear vision in termsof, wanting to be successful and
wanting to support theuniversity as a whole.
And I think so that, that'sdefinitely one massive part of
it.
And I think the second is, Ihave a young family now I have a
wife and two young kids.
And obviously I wouldn't havemade the decision to come back
(04:20):
here if I didn't feel it wasright for my family.
My family always comes first.
Just having known know, knowinga lot of the people that are
still here from when I was herea long time ago, and just
knowing the community and theenvironment, that was a place
that I know.
My, my kids could grow up in andbe in just an overall, just a
great environment where peoplejust genuinely care about them
was really important.
(04:40):
So those two factors weremassive in, in, in coming back
here and it's just, yeah, it'sjust unique how it all fell into
place.
That's great.
I'm happy for you and your youngfamily, but also being able to
go to a place that youappreciate and respect and
having that ability to go backto a place you used to be is
pretty powerful.
I asked this question to all theNAI coaches'cause I think it's
(05:02):
really important'cause I don'tthink people really understand
it.
When people ask you about thatlevel, what do you say?
I.
What do you, how do you defineit?
How do you describe thedifference between Yeah.
AI and ncaa?
It's really hard.
In particular I think there's anadditional caveat to that.
For me personally, on the men'ssoccer side the level of play is
(05:22):
absolutely fantastic and ourconference.
Here in the heart of America isabsolutely fantastic.
We are without a doubt, a, veryhigh end division two, a low to
mid table division one in termsof just the overall quality
that's here.
So sometimes people just hearNEI and they don't recognize it
as ncaa and they just push itaside.
That's part of the recruitingprocess in particular is making
(05:42):
sure that we walk people throughthat.
Understanding, understanding theoverall level of play, that is
here in terms of the standard isimportant for people to know.
But yeah, it's definitely aprocess in terms of how you
describe it.
Some days are a little biteasier.
Some people grasp it a littlebit quicker than others.
But the biggest thing I thinkthe biggest thing I try to.
(06:05):
Communicate to people.
It's very much a sliding scaleand this idea that there are
clear steps.
It's not really that anymore.
There, there are good teams atevery division, at every level,
and there are bad teams at everydivision and every level.
Getting caught up in, in onething or the other becomes
difficult.
The second thing, and again,this kind of goes back to my
sport in particular, we're notbase or we're not, basketball,
(06:26):
football where you have thislarge amount of scholarship
money.
So players really filter downthe funnel.
There's not as much money in oursport.
So with that, it, it provides sosome.
Interesting dynamics in regardsto recruiting.
Do I go to this school who'smaybe a division one school, but
the offer's not very great andmaybe I come off the bench my
(06:48):
first year, or do I go to thishigh school and start right away
and I get more money?
Yeah.
And that scholarship side ofthings is something that I
think, may maybe recruits inparticular don't always take
into account.
Yeah.
But I think if you go out andwatch, legitimately watch the
games you'll see it's a prettygood level, man.
But to answer your question, andit's a difficult question too.
It is.
And it is a process andsometimes you just have to walk
(07:10):
people through it and everybodygrasps it at a different rate
type thing.
I always tell parents this.
I go, if I put you on a fieldagainst a really good NAI team
against a really good D twoteam, you wouldn't be able to
tell me which one is which.
Yeah, no I completely, yeah.
And I say, really the onlydifference is because they can
play each other and it, youcould schedule a D two team, you
(07:32):
could schedule a D three team.
You could schedule a D one.
The difference really is an n AIcoach can start recruiting
earlier.
You can make contact earlier.
You have a little bit morediversity in your and how you
scholarship and financial aid,right?
Yeah.
You don't have some of thosehard rules.
Flat rules.
You can get creative with howyou ate a kid, but at the end of
(07:53):
the day.
It's really good soccer.
It's a really good education.
Yeah.
And you're gonna leave therewith a very, if not a better
experience, and a very similarexperience, you would've gotten
into a D two or a D three.
For sure.
I think just the standard ofplay is high and I think the
quality of the overallexperience is something that,
that's really nice, as well.
(08:13):
Yeah, most in particular most, Inot all but most are, smaller
school environments that plays abig part of it too.
But, but yeah as a whole thestandard and level of play I
think it is a lot higher thanwhat most people have a tendency
to think.
But it just takes time to, toget people to, to see that.
So I love it.
All right.
Across your years, you're atWestminster, you're at Lakeland,
(08:34):
you're now at CMU.
What stayed the same about yourco coaching philosophy?
Is there some things that you'vejust, it's been who you are,
your authentic self as a coach,and are there things that have
evolved and you've adapted?
Yeah, I think that's a greatquestion.
I think what's unique aboutbeing at division three in
(08:56):
particular, so my time atLakeland and my time, at
Westminster was, is, it'sdifficult in terms of
recruiting, right?
I don't have any control inregards to financial, right?
So trying to get as many goodplayers as possible and then
figure it out afterwards in a,obviously I'm exaggerating a
little bit but.
Your, maybe your shape in termsof your formation or maybe
(09:18):
certain things that you could dowith one group you can't do with
another because you just don'thave it.
Where at the scholarship levelit's a little bit more easier to
have this clearly defined aspectof your program.
I would say, there aredefinitely staples that have, I
think very hold very truethroughout my time, both at
Lakeland and Westminster and nowhere at CMU, I think from a, all
(09:41):
I guess we'll start off thefield.
I really want just good studentathletes.
People who are good people, whoare good students, who I know
are gonna go to class, who Iknow are gonna be good
teammates.
That character side of things issomething we talk about a lot in
our program.
Yeah.
And that, that is hold true fromday one.
And that will hold true to, I,I'm done coaching whenever that
time may be.
(10:02):
The total person side of things,the holistic side of things, the
character side of things is justreally important and making sure
that we find those studentathletes who are the right fit
for our community.
It's, the community isacademics.
It's off the field, it's on thefield, it's in it's all of those
things.
So what I don't want is I mightfind somebody who's maybe a
great player and somebody whocould do, some really good
(10:25):
things for me on the field, butif they don't wanna be here.
It never works out, so no, itdoesn't.
So that's one side of it.
In terms of, making sure, wetalk a lot about character.
We're finding the, findingstudent athletes who are the
right fit for our program isreally important.
I think on the field I.
I've been, I'm really big in, intraining and practices in
(10:47):
particular.
That's our time to implement thethoughts, the concepts and ideas
of what we wanna execute in ournext match.
All of our training sessions arevery, I make sure that they are
designed.
The best I possibly can toprepare us for that next match.
So they're very well organized.
I try to make sure that thecoaching points kind of flow
throughout the session thatplayers get as much information
(11:08):
as possible so that they canperform at their best, whenever
that next match, may be.
So I think the.
The importance of training hasalways been there.
So you, you train like it's agame.
You play every game, like it'syour last, then when you hit
post-season, you know you'll beready to go.
It's always been, my, mymentality in terms of, a head
coach.
I think another thing that'sbeen really important as well,
(11:30):
that's how true is.
And I don't think we're uniquein this aspect.
I think a lot of sports haveevolved where you have to be a
two-way player Now the days ofbeing a one dimensional player,
I think you can make an argumentthat they're gone.
For us I've always been big onthe ability to play both ways.
You gotta defend an attack as an11.
And players that are comfortableon the ball.
(11:50):
We're trying to grow and developplayers throughout their time
and that we just try to get guysas organized as humanly
possible.
Is there, so those aspects havestayed true I think throughout
my four years.
Some years we've been a littlemore defensive than others'cause
maybe I didn't quite have thosepieces.
Some years you may be a littlebit more tacky.
I think in the scholarship gameit's a little bit easier to be,
(12:10):
maybe a little bit more strictor maybe a little more demanding
in terms of your style of play.
A little bit easier to maybe tofind those players that fit your
style.
Yeah.
But yeah, it's been a uniqueprocess for sure.
It's a great transition becauseyou've had teams that were
dominant defensively, and you'vehad some high scoring teams.
How do you balance that in termsof your tactical approach,
(12:33):
depending on that roster?
Ooh.
I, I think, the way in whichI've always tried to view it is
as a head coach, my job ispretty simple.
My job is to put the players inthe best position to succeed or
get a result with whatever youwanna call that or get the win.
So I just have to see this iswhat I have, this is what I
don't have.
Let's be honest about what wehave and what we don't have, and
(12:53):
then let's put our players inthe best position to succeed.
So if we're really greatdefensively, okay, let's make
some minor adjustments here orlet's, and figure out how we can
get that result.
With the group of players that,that we have.
You just take what comes to you.
I really enjoy it.
I'm a firm believer that there'sno, I sometimes I get frustrated
(13:14):
when I hear, coaches or managerssay, we play the game the right
way and.
There's a hint of that is verytrue in terms of, character and
work ethic and being a goodteammate and those, like that
side of things is very true.
But the tactical side of things,I think that's very false.
You can win the game in anynumber of ways.
There's no right or wrong way,you play to win the game, right?
Is the old the old quote.
I think I've enjoyed that aspectin terms of.
(13:38):
Really deep diving into thetactical side of things and
evaluating what we have and howcan we match what we have to the
tactic side of things and justput our team in a best position
to get a result.
And some years, yeah you'rereally, you're great defensively
and some years you're pumpingbull and both are equally fun.
They're just different.
So it is, and I think it's, Iwanted to ask you that question
(14:00):
'cause I knew where you'd leadme here.
It's such it's such great advicefor a young coach.
'cause I see so many young highschool coaches and they're like,
this is how I coach.
This is my system.
This is how we're gonna play.
And I'm like, you don't have thetalent to play that way.
Yeah.
Your talent just telling youthis and you're looking this
way.
So I think that mindset foryoung coaches is really smart.
(14:21):
And it's something that allcoaches need to embrace.
You have to coach your kids.
You have, right?
Yeah.
Yep.
Oh, a hundred percent.
No, it's you can't and to befair too that's not fair to them
either.
You're asking them to besomething that they're not.
I wouldn't want anybody to, Ican only be the best version of
Adam Gallo that I can be.
I, I can't be Alex Nichols, theprevious coach.
I can't be anybody else.
(14:41):
I can only be the best versionof me.
So for me to expect my playersto be, I just want'em to be the
best version of themselves,whatever that may be.
And I don't think that's fair tothem either.
So I think that, yeah, I.
When you're a young coach, itcan be easy to fall into that
trap of, yeah, this is, veryrigid.
But I think when you take a stepback I think you're realizing
(15:02):
that you're doing yourself adisservice and you're doing,
your athlete a disservice aswell.
I agree.
I agree.
All right, so let's talk aboutyour first year.
At CMU.
Yep.
Were there challenges thatsurprised you?
Were there moments that kind ofconfirmed to you that you're in
the right place?
(15:23):
Can you look at both sides ofthat?
Yeah.
It was interesting coming in.
So I got hired in May actuallylike right around now.
So probably pretty close yourmind.
So they gave you tons of time torecruit, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
So basically I inherited thegroup, of guys that, that I had.
I knew that it was going to be aprocess, a for two reasons.
One it always is this idea thatyou can just walk into a program
(15:44):
and everything's instantlygreat.
It just doesn't work that way.
There's so many aspects to theprogram and I think that's
something as well for youngcoaches to really think about.
When you go from that player tocoach.
As a player, you always say whydon't we do this and why don't
we do that and we could do thisinstead of that.
And then you become a coach andyou realize, yeah, there's a
reason why we can't do all thosethings.
(16:06):
Like whether it's, budget or youname it.
I, I think, the, I walked intoit knowing that it's a process.
The second thing that I knew Iknow Coach Nichols, and I know
his style play well, and I knowthat I'm just different and it's
not good, right or bad.
This kind of goes back to theidea there's no right or wrong
way to win the game.
But I just knew my vision interms of, how I wanted us to
(16:26):
play and what I feel mostcomfortable coaching wasn't
quite that.
I knew that would be a bigadjustment in that.
That would have to come inphases.
If I put it all out there atonce, I would lose everybody.
And it wouldn't work.
So I had to it was a bit of ayin and a yang, a bit of a,
yo-yo, there were some matchesthat, that first year where we
played absolutely fantastic.
And there were some matches thatyear where it was tough.
(16:47):
I.
The, the biggest thing that Itook out of that year was two
things.
The first is, and I already knewthis, but I just felt like we
didn't have it.
Quality depth is so important.
At this level in particular.
Isn't that crazy?
How important your depth ismassively important.
I think in high school and club,you can you can hide that a
(17:09):
little bit, right?
Yeah.
But the, when you get to thehigher levels, those little
details get, we get exposed.
And in particular, I think inour sport and the calendar that
we have we play so many matchesin a short period of time.
Yeah.
And so if you don't have thatquality death, it really shows.
So I felt like our quality deathwasn't quite there.
And I thought the second thing,I thought we had some really, I
(17:29):
thought we had a bunch of reallygood players, but I would say.
There was a handful of playersthat just didn't fit our style.
Yeah.
It doesn't mean they weren't badplayers because they were good
players.
They just didn't quite fit whatwe were trying to do.
So I knew that it was just gonnatake time to implement our
style.
I knew it was gonna take time toimprove our quality depth.
I knew it was gonna take time tomake sure we're bringing in
(17:51):
players that fit the, that hadthe skillset that fit our style
of play here now.
Yeah.
I mean it was an interestingfirst year for sure.
But, it was a good it was a goodchance for me to really have a
very strong eye.
Basis of where we're at, becauseeven little, I had zero spring
when I came, when I got the job,I literally met guys and then
they were out.
Finals were done.
(18:11):
Yeah.
It was finals week.
So I never saw them play outsideof, a couple, live streams here
and there.
And so to get to see them faceto face in person and see the
character and the skill sets andall that, w was really great to
have.
Wish we could gotten a couplemore results that year, but it's
how it.
To go nine and seven into your,in your first year is always,
you won more and you lost, and,you gave kids a great
(18:33):
experience.
That's awesome.
Yeah.
Sure.
Talk a little bit about you.
You're going into year three,right?
At CMU?
Yep.
Yep.
This will be my third seasoncoming up here now.
And you've been real consistent,your kids are really
competitive, your team's beenreally competitive in your
league.
What does it mean to you tobuild a sustainable program?
What does that look like to beable to say, I know we're gonna
(18:55):
step on the field and we'regonna be able to compete every
year.
What does that look like foryou?
Yeah, I think I think it justgoes off the continuation of
basically what just said before,making.
We're finding the right, peopleand the right players for our
program is really important.
(19:16):
We're very diligent in terms ofthe recruiting process.
We have 20, 20 plus check boxesthat, that we're looking for.
And it can become easy to maybepanic and, oh man, I really need
this spot.
And maybe you reach out a littletoo far and it becomes really
easy to maybe get sidetracked,maybe, hey, this guy's a great
player, but maybe he doesn'tquite fit what we're doing.
(19:38):
Or maybe this guy's a greatplayer, but man, when I had bad
conversation with him, I don'tknow, something felt off.
So I think, making sure that, wecontinue to bring in good people
and good players that fit ourprogram.
Is vitally important.
I think the second thing, and Ithink I'm really excited for
(20:00):
this upcoming year.
The first year was nice, but itdidn't really feel like my team
because I got the job so late.
So last year, this past seasonreally felt like the first time
where it was my group.
But this upcoming year I thinkpretty much everybody on our
roster outside of maybe one guy.
Would be somebody that Irecruited.
(20:20):
So this upcoming year, I'mreally excited for the fact that
I think we, we have not that wehad bad people before, but I
think we just have guys that fitwhat we're looking for character
wise.
I think we have guys who we, whoreally fit.
The skillset and the style ofplay.
Yeah.
And I think that we havequality, depth and competition
at every single level within,which is huge.
(20:40):
Yeah.
Which is massively huge.
I'm really excited for thisupcoming year and I.
From there, it just comes downto maintaining those points.
It sounds maybe simple but it'sdifficult to do, making sure
that we keep bringing in kidsthat have good character and fit
our skillset, making sure thatwe create competition in every
spot.
And we just do our best as astaff to prepare our guys as
much as humanly possible.
And I feel like if we do thosethree things I think we, I think
(21:03):
the consistency will always kindof stay there.
Year three is such a huge yearfor head coaches because it,
like you said, it's, this isyour real, it's the first time
really having your roster.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You brought all these kids in,you've developed them, you've
got leaders that know how theprogram works.
I think I made a huge mistakewhen I was at Maryville.
(21:24):
I brought in this greatrecruiting class my first year,
and it was a class of six, andthose kids were my core for four
years, and I was such a youngcoach.
I got my first head coaching jobat 26.
I kept recruiting to build tobuild the pieces around them, a
bush here, a couch here,creating my home.
And I wasn't thinking about longterm, what happens if I get a
(21:48):
kid hurt?
What happens when these guysgraduate?
And, we went to two nationaltournaments with that group and
then we fell off the cliff.
'cause we had a lot of reallygood parts.
Yeah.
But we didn't have any studs.
'cause I, I couldn't, I wasbasically knew I had six studs
and I didn't wanna recruitanother one that couldn't play.
And I wasn't thinking long term.
(22:09):
Have you gone through that or doyou have any advice for me on
how to, how do you do that theright way?
Yeah, I think, I guess here'show I try to view it.
And I think it's easy to getlost in this process sometimes.
My job just isn't one through11.
My job is one through 26, 27,28, right?
And so every position.
Every position on that rostermatters.
(22:32):
Yeah.
And so how can we createcompetition?
How can we reprove every singlelevel of your roster and making
sure that I.
You are constantly evaluatingand reevaluating, those maybe
tiers you could say, and maybeyou have your top tier your
middle tier, and then maybe yourdevelopmental tier.
(22:54):
All of it is important becausethis idea that we know that this
guy will always be and thistier, I don't think that's
certainly true.
Is it tough to jump up?
Yeah.
Without a doubt.
But I, I.
This is something I think Ireally learned at the division
three level.
There was always one player thatjust surprised me man, like
(23:15):
really?
He it felt like a light bulb ora light switch.
Like they just got it.
Yeah.
And I could have easily writtenthat kid off.
But they just kept working andthey just kept absorbing
information and then somethingjust clicked.
And so is gonna be stud player.
Maybe not, but if.
Maybe he's your tier threeplayer, now he becomes a tier
(23:36):
two player.
Oh, great.
Now you got even more guys inthat tier two.
And maybe one of your tiers canjump up.
So I think that's one aspect ofit.
I think there's another adage interms of don't have just one
plan.
I think that's another thing aswell.
It's plan A, B, C, D, E, and F.
And once that kid persongraduates or that person goes
down or that person doesn'tcommit, whatever that may be, or
(23:58):
maybe they commit and decommit,okay, what's option B?
Okay I already know what optionB, C, D, E and F are.
And that way you're notpanicking when things don't.
Quite out, or you don't getblindsided.
That's the thing you want ascoach.
If you get blindsided, man, yougotta put yourself in a tough
spot.
Those are the two things that,that I've always tried to think
(24:19):
about is I want development andI want competition from the full
roster one to 27 because thisidea that number 20 on my
roster's gonna stay at number20, maybe he will.
Maybe, but maybe he won't.
Maybe he'll jump up or maybehe'll come down or maybe I can
bring guys in.
And then number two is justalways have plan B, C, D, E, and
F.
'cause plan A and B almost theylook awesome on paper and they
(24:41):
almost rarely work.
You never really get to see guyand Yeah, all through, you see
it in your mind.
That's about it.
That's the only time you're theonly person that's gonna see
that plan.
Essentially.
The season rarely finishes howyou designed it, the, the summer
before.
Yeah.
I'm with you.
I love that mindset and it, ittook me five or six years of
recruiting to realize.
I had to bring in the besttalent at every position and let
(25:05):
the competition do itself.
Yeah.
That's massively rich, and it'sthe only way to sustain is Yep.
If you're not bringing in two orthree kids that can be studs for
you or grow into that stud role,it's, you got a hard path ahead.
It's really difficult.
And man, so many like injuriestoo.
Yes.
There okay, you might, what'shappens?
We don't have it.
(25:25):
Our best attacking player gothurt.
And we just the program justwasn't quite where it needed to
be yet.
And that's what makes me excitedfor this upcoming season is the
fact that I feel like our depthand competition is so much
stronger and so there's gonna beplayers.
As a coach, you have to becomfortable with some level of
conflict, right?
You might have a player who didfantastic for you last year, but
(25:48):
if they come in outta shape theystart worrying about their
individual stats, if they startto veer a little bit.
Yeah.
One of two things happens.
Either that person behind themjumps'em, or b you have to sit
down and have that conversationwith them and get back on track.
So yeah, there's, that goes.
I wanna ask you about this.
'cause I'm, as much as I lovesoccer, I'm just soccer, dumb,
(26:10):
'cause as a basketball coach, ifI had five kids on the floor
that weren't playing well, Icould put a new five in.
If five kids got tired, I hadanother five I could put in, and
I had five behind that.
You are so limited on yoursubstitution and how many times
you can put a kid on the field.
How do you manage that in termsof health and conditioning and
(26:32):
physicality and, yeah, it's alot.
I think man, there's a lot ofaspects to it.
The first is you have to acceptthe fact that it is what it's.
It's not great for our game toplay so many matches in such a
condensed period of time.
Yeah.
And I can sit here and complainabout that all day long, but
it's irrelevant.
This is what we have, so we haveto deal with it.
(26:53):
That, that's definitely a partof it.
I think the things that becomereally important, the first is
just managing minutes, I thinkis.
Really important.
It's something that after everyI'd say every week or so, I just
reflect on the previous week,okay how many guys played in
this game?
What minutes are they at?
And it's something we look at asa staff.
(27:13):
And and just watching justgeneral body language and, how
they're in training sessions,and I've been there too, where
man.
The hardest thing I ever did asa player.
I, we played back to back gamesFriday, Saturday, and on Sunday.
So sometimes you can just see,and I think that's where a, the
(27:33):
athletic training staff becomesreally important.
We have an absolutely fantasticstaff here.
Awesome.
Dan is our trainer, and he doesan awesome job of working with
our guys.
So guys making sure that theytake care of their bodies and
they're, preventing knocks orworking on, on, on little
injuries or whatever that maybe.
But then also on our end, makingsure that we're in constant
communication in particular withthe guys who are getting a lot
(27:55):
of time, pulling them aside and,Hey man, you gotta be honest
with me here.
Like, how are you doing?
Do you need it?
Hey, we have an extra day offthis week.
I can give it to you, but I canonly give it to you today
because tomorrow we get readyfor the next match.
What do you need?
And then on the flip side isworking with those guys who
maybe didn't get.
Quite the minutes.
You got either, okay, let's dosome extra work with them to
make sure that they stay sharpas humanly possible.
(28:16):
So a lot of it is just managingminutes and really reflecting,
looking at body language,working with the athletic
trainer, constantly telling ourguys to take care of their
bodies.
That's something that is anadjustment in particular for a
lot of players.
Coming into the college level.
A lot of high schools have oneathletic trainer.
And since we're a fall sport, ittypically goes towards football,
(28:38):
which is understandable.
But they come here and they'relike, oh, we have our own
trainer.
I dunno, what do it's likehere's what you have to do.
You have to see him like twice aweek.
All right, you had an ankleinjury, nine months ago.
You still need to go see him forthat.
Check in, make sure everything'swhere it's at.
I'm just trying to keep tabs ofeverything and some weeks is
easier than others for sure.
(29:00):
That's great.
Coach, your teams haveconsistently excelled
academically from the highestmen's GPA at Westminster to you
had six scholar athletes lastyear, which is fantastic.
What's your strategy in terms ofbuilding a team culture that
values.
The full picture classroom asmuch as on the field.
(29:21):
Yeah.
So I'm probably gonna sound likea broken record, but it does
start with the recruitingprocess.
Yeah, of course, course italways starts with that, right?
Making sure you find the rightstudent athletes that fit, your
community and your program arereally important.
You can go out there and find'emthe best players, but they're
not even eligible for yourprogram and it's gonna be tough.
And I think you're just gonnarun up against the wall and
(29:42):
you're just gonna end up,frustrating yourself even more.
So trying to find, studentathletes who are the right fit
for you academically is reallyimportant.
You don't wanna get caught upon, on guys who don't fit your
program.
So if I can find this fantasticplayer.
But he wants to major in I knowarchitecture or whatever it may
be, but we don't Marine biology.
Yeah.
We like, we don't have thatprogram here.
(30:02):
I might reach out to him andtell them, Hey you're a great
player.
If you're not 100% set on that,let me know, but if you are
we're probably not the best,university for you.
And all that does is on my endis it's just time management,
right?
There's a thousand studentathletes out there.
I just gotta go find the nextguy.
'Cause there, there's anotherplayer that's just as good as
(30:23):
that player.
Yes.
But I just have to go work to gofind him.
And he's, that person's gonnahave a better chance of success
here because they're a betterfit.
So that's definitely number one.
Number two is I think justtaking an active interest in
their academic success isimportant.
I.
I'm constantly just asking my,hey, like, how are classes
going?
Are you doing all right?
Think you're doing good?
(30:44):
And it sounds like a small thingbut I think it goes a really
long ways.
The guys feel you, you can gaugepretty quickly by their
response.
It's going back like the bodylanguage side of things.
In terms of how it's going forthem.
If you hear the hesitation andtheir response and, something's
probably may maybe starting togo south or maybe not in the
(31:05):
direction that they wanna go.
Doing great checks is important.
We're really fortunate here atCMU we have a great academic
resource center we have an earlywarning type system that does a
really good job of preparing.
With our students, but also ourstaff.
And it's just opportunity for usto, have those conversations
with players in regards to aspecific class.
Maybe they just studied thewrong chapters for the test.
(31:26):
I've had that happen a coupletimes.
Or maybe it's, hey it's justchance for us to go out and get
a tutor and things like that.
And I think the third thingthat.
Is maybe a little bit differenton my end than some others, but
I'm a firm believer if it's notbroke, don't fix it.
So if you come in here and youdo really well, I'm gonna stay
outta your way.
You don't need me if you're a3.5 GPA if you need help, you
(31:49):
can always come to my office andI'll always make sure you get
the help that you need.
But if you're doing somethingright.
I'm just gonna stay outta yourwhy.
So with that, that allowed, thiskinda goes back to the time
management side of things.
On my end, it allows me to putmore focus on maybe the guys,
maybe the three or four guys whoare struggling.
'Cause those are the guys thatmaybe just need a little bit
more attention.
And in particular, it's usuallyfreshman, sophomores.
(32:10):
Usually freshmen in all realityit's just an adjustment going
from high school to college andit's a different experience.
And I think for the most part,my juniors and seniors are they
pretty much got the routine downby that point in time.
And but those factors are reallyimportant.
Just making sure that you findthe right student athlete that
fits your.
Your academic community withinyour campus.
Making sure that you'reconstant, that you take an
(32:33):
active interest in theiracademic success.
And then three, just using thattime management side of things
is important.
So I always tell kids if you getrecruited and one of the first
questions out of the coach'smouth isn't, tell me about your
grades.
That is a red flag.
Yeah.
I've seen some young coaches getreally frustrated that they
couldn't get a student accepted.
(32:54):
Yeah.
And I understand thefrustration.
I get it.
Yeah.
But it's also, man, it's likeyou, you spent a lot of time on
that guy knowing he wasn't gonnaget accepted.
What did you think was going tohappen?
Yeah.
Yeah, for sure.
It's those things that, I'mconstantly teaching young
coaches.
I go let's first talk aboutwhere do you work?
'cause if you don't understandwhere you're working, you're
(33:14):
digging a hole for yourself.
You gotta understand what youradmission staff, how your
financial aid works, what yourpresident expects from you, what
your athletic Yeah.
If you don't understand thosethings, you are gonna be an
unhappy coach.
Yeah.
Oh, for sure.
And I think on top of that inparticular, now, I feel.
Be ready to adapt and on, on thefly here because That's right.
(33:36):
Higher education right now isall over the board.
And recognize, what may haveworked for that institution two
years ago might not work now.
And so yeah this, but it goesback to just making sure you're
just gonna use your time moreefficiently if you just.
W work within the confines ofyour university.
And if you have frustrations,either a, you have to learn to
(33:57):
deal with them or b you have tolearn to communicate them in a
proper way.
All those things I wish somebodywould've taught me when I was a
26-year-old head coach.
It's just, it's I'm gonna, I'mgonna write a book just for
young coaches at some point.
Yeah.
For all the stupid things I didand all the stupid things I, I
wish I would've understoodbetter because it's really.
(34:17):
As a young coach, it's almostlike you shoot yourself in the
foot so you understand how towalk, yeah.
It's I, so I love that you seethat.
Now, talk about adapting.
You and I have both coached menand women.
Yeah.
I am not a glutton forpunishment as much as I talk
about it.
I've never tried to coach bothat the same time like you have.
Am I wrong in that?
(34:39):
Yeah.
Yep.
Okay.
Now you're obviously a muchbetter human being, a much
better coach than I'm,'cause Ihave enough problems coaching
one team at a time.
What did you learn from leadingtwo different teams at once and
how did it shape your coaching?
Man, that's a great question.
First off, it was incrediblydifficult.
(35:01):
It di I don't care how big orsmall the roster is, it is
incredibly difficult to do so ifyou're doing hey, hat's off to
you.
Absolutely.
I think what I learned about itwas the first is, except that
every team is going to look alittle bit different.
Yes.
Recognizing year to year teamto.
(35:22):
You can always draw parallels toa point.
And it's good to drawreferences, but to think that
it, what works for one is alwaysgonna work for the other is
false.
Yes.
You can draw inferences andmaybe tweak and do things like
that, but to think that it's,Hey, what worked for this will
automatically work for thatthat, that is definitely not the
(35:44):
case.
I think.
The other thing that I think isreally important in terms of,
the recruiting side is verydifferent.
In terms of what they're lookingfor, what they want out of their
experience, on, on, on thewomen's side, man, those are
just so much more organized.
They communicate so much better.
There's so many more aspects oftheir, but working with guys, I
(36:05):
sometimes I tell my wifes like,pulling teeth.
There's always the one guy Itell'em five times, what time
the bus leaves tomorrow.
And then after I'm done sayingit, there's always one person
that raises their hands says,what time does the bus leave
tomorrow?
And recognizing that there,there are differences in terms
of, what everyone is lookingfor.
Those were probably the twobiggest things I learned either
a lot more.
But those are the two thingsthat really stick out is, what
(36:27):
works for one team?
Does that always work for theother?
And the recruiting cycles andwhat they're looking for are
just so different.
So I think with that, I have ahuge amount of respect for every
sport.
We can sit there and easilycompare men to women's soccer,
but when you take a step back,man, there's a lot of
differences.
And for me, it's given me anappreciation.
I enjoy watching other coachescoach, regardless of the sport
(36:51):
because I think every sporttakes something a little bit
different.
Yeah.
That's great.
Coach, this has been a blast,man.
I love your perspective and Icould see why you're doing so
well.
And CM u's lucky to have you.
Are you up for a little rapidfire?
Some fun questions?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Bring it on.
All right.
You'll like these.
All right.
If your coaching style were afamous soccer player, who would
(37:12):
it be?
Oh boy.
A famous soccer player.
I.
I don't know.
Let's see.
I'm an American, so maybe stickwith the I'm gonna go Landon
Donovan.
Yeah.
Good.
Two-way player.
Who ended up being a goodtwo-way player throughout his
career.
Yeah, that's what I was thinkingtoo.
I was trying to think who's theAmerican two-way player?
Landon Don is perfect.
Yeah.
So maybe that's the one.
All right.
(37:32):
The one I haven't heard thatone.
I love that.
Who's your favorite non soccer,what's your favorite non soccer
sport to watch or play?
So unfortunately I just watchedmy blues get knocked off in game
seven the other day.
Yeah, I really love hockey.
It's a great sport, man.
The pace of the play is great.
There's a lot of similarities.
Yeah.
Between being good two A playersand tactics in regards to soccer
(37:52):
and hockey.
Yeah.
I never played it outside of,just roller hockey.
Yeah.
But I really enjoy watchinghockey for sure.
I live in the Denver area andeverybody's crying and crying
now about the avalanche.
And that was a tough series forthem too.
Yep.
Is there a coaching book orpodcast or something like that's
had a big impact on you orsomething that you really like
or would recommend?
(38:13):
Yeah, I actually have it on mydesk right now.
The Team Captain's manual, ourleadership manual.
It is a fantastic book.
I actually went through it as aplayer.
What I like about it is I'm notnearly as smart as most of my
players are.
So my reading, if I see thickbooks, I start to run.
It's 10 chapters.
It's really simple.
Each is maybe 12 pages.
(38:34):
It just ask really goodquestions.
Love it, and it forces you tothink about leadership.
In a slightly different way.
And that's been a big book forme both as a player and I've
continued to use it from time totime as a coach.
And I've used it in leadershipgroups and with my captains from
time to time and it's beenreally beneficial for me.
Love it.
Who's a coach?
Any level or any sport you'dlove to grab coffee with?
(38:59):
That's a great question.
For me, I don't know I think it,maybe I view this a little bit
differently but I would love tohave a coffee with Jose Marino
more for the fact that he issuch a big personality and some
of the things that he says arejust incredibly funny to me.
And from what I gather.
He just looks like someone wholegitimately cares about his
(39:20):
players.
So I, I would be interested tohear what he has to say.
He's obviously been around for areally long time.
Yeah.
And so that's probably seen thegame evolve a lot.
The coaching world evolve a lot.
So I think he'd be a lot of funand I think he would give me
obviously quite a bit ofknowledge.
So I love that.
Coach.
Thank you so much for doing thisand talking coaching with me.
(39:41):
Yeah.
Appreciate it.
It always makes me feel goodwhen there's a, when I get to
spend time with a coach that Iknow really loves it, loves
their kids, is doing this forall the right reasons, and
you're, you have a family thatyou love and you're doing all
this, it's a sacrifice, buteverybody's getting good out of
it.
So thank you for doing whatyou're doing.
(40:02):
Yeah.
No, thanks for having me.
I really appreciate it.
That's a wrap on today's episodewith Coach Adam Gala of Central
Methodist University.
From building programs atmultiple institutions to
returning to CMU with a renewedvision.
Coach Gala reminds us that greatcoaching isn't just about
tactics, it's about culture,consistency and helping young
(40:24):
men grow in all areas of life.
Whether he's leading teams tonational tournaments or raising
academic standards, hiscommitment to significance over
success is clear.
One of my favorite takeawaysfrom our conversation, his
belief that sustainable programsare built when you recruit the
right people first, not just theright players.
(40:45):
If today's episode resonatedwith you, please remember to
subscribe, rate the show, andshare it with a fellow coach,
athlete, or parent.
And don't forget.
To visit coach matt rogers.comfor more tools, blog posts, and
recruiting resources that canhelp your journey.
And come back this Monday forour significant recruiting bonus
segment with Coach Gala, wherewe will dive deeper into how he
(41:08):
evaluates talent, how recruitscan stand out, and why academics
play such a big role in hisrecruiting process.
Until next time, keep leadingwith purpose.
And remember, success istemporary.
Significance lasts forever.
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