June 9, 2025 • 26 mins
🎙️ Significant Recruiting: What College Coaches Are Really Looking For – with Coach Brett Parker
In this recruiting-focused bonus episode, Matt Rogers sits down with Coach Brett Parker, Head Men’s Soccer Coach at Saint Leo University, to pull back the curtain on what really matters in the recruiting process. From evaluating talent and character to how COVID reshaped the recruiting landscape, Coach Parker offers honest, practical advice for families navigating the journey to college athletics.
Whether you're a student-athlete or a parent trying to figure out where to start, this episode is packed with insight from a coach who’s been building successful programs for over 15 years.
📘 The Softball Recruit’s Journal and the Game Day version are now available on Amazon!
⚽ Journals for volleyball, baseball, soccer, and basketball are coming this summer.
💻 For free resources or to schedule a free 1-on-1 recruiting session with Matt, visit coachmattrogers.com.
Learn more and connect with Matt Rogers here: https://linktr.ee/coachmattrogers
Listen on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, iHeartRadio, and all your favorite podcast platforms.
Did you like what you heard and want more?
New Podcasts every week. Remember to subscribe and follow wherever you get your podcasts.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:09):
Welcome to SignificantRecruiting with Matt Rogers, the
bonus segment where we focus onhelping families and student
athletes navigate the collegerecruiting journey the right
way.
Today's guest is Coach BrettParker, head, men's soccer coach
at St.
Leo University.
Coach Parker brings over 15years of experience building
programs at the college level,and in this episode, he shares
(00:31):
what he looks for in recruits.
How the recruiting landscape haschanged and what families should
focus on if they want to standout.
Before we dive in, I'm excitedto announce that my new book,
the Softball Recruits Journal,along with the game day version,
which I think a lot of familiesare gonna love, is now live on
(00:51):
Amazon.
If you have a child who wants toplay college softball, this
journal walks them through everystep setting goals.
Organizing communication withcoaches, preparing for college
visits, and making confidentdecisions.
It even includes templates foremailing and calling coaches the
right way.
Journals for volleyball,baseball, soccer, and basketball
(01:13):
are coming later this summer, sostay tuned.
Now let's jump into myconversation on college
recruiting with Coach BrettParker.
Coach Parker, so great to haveyou.
We just had a fantasticconversation about coaching and
your great history that you'vehad as a coach, and you've just
got a fantastic mindset as acoach and how adaptable you are
(01:38):
and how much you love your kids,and I can't call'em kids.
They're 23 and 24 years, but howmuch you love your guys and your
staff and the really greatrelationship you have.
In your community.
So it's been a lot of fun.
I wanna dive into recruitingwith you.
Yep.
And we started doing thesesegments'cause we have so many
parents and student athletes.
(02:00):
Are listening to this and highschool coaches that are
listening to this.
So I wanna give them as muchtruth about recruiting as
possible.
And we talked about before weeven started our conversation
today, how much changes everyday with recruiting and how much
the world of our, of collegeathletics is changing every day.
So I know some of this.
Six months could be differentanswers, but we'll go with what
(02:22):
we know today.
Yeah.
Alright.
When you watch film or you go toa showcase or you're going to a
high school match, is theresomething that just instantly
makes a player jump out at you?
Is there a standout quality thatyou just, that you connect with?
You're looking for different,right?
Looking for different things allthe time.
(02:43):
And you need variety anddiversity within your team, no
matter what sport it is or whatposition or whatever it is.
I think they're probably, I.
Maybe the word aura, it could beused.
There is something about aplayer that has that that just
has a presence that has, whetherit's leadership or physical
presence or, in soccer, atechnical presence.
(03:04):
But that's a difficult one forme because there is.
There's no exact formula.
We need this, and this type ofplayer.
And no player is the same,right?
So we're never, you can't go,Hey, we lost Johnny.
We need to go find anotherJohnny.
You're probably never gonna findthat player.
So it's just looking, I thinkwith anything, and I always
tell, recruits or ones that arestarting the process is try to
(03:26):
be special at something, right?
Have something about you as aplayer that, that is special and
that could be.
A physical characteristic thatcould be a technical
characteristic, that could be a,a psychological or leadership
characteristic.
But if you have something you dothat's special, that's gonna
stand out, right?
And somebody's gonna see valuein that and somebody's gonna
find, a role for that.
(03:47):
Because if you're just prettygood at everything, there's.
10,000 other, possible recruitsthat are gonna be okay at
everything.
And it's that special quality ofsomething that, that can really
set you apart.
I'll piggyback that with this,I'm a freshman in your program.
I just got there.
We're three weeks into practice.
(04:07):
We're play, we're about to playour first game.
What do I gotta do to get on thefield with all these older guys,
these experienced guys.
Maybe I'm not the best playeryet.
Maybe I'm not the guy you'regonna count on to score your
goals, but what do I gotta do toget on the field?
Yeah.
I typically tell those firstyear freshmen that having, being
(04:30):
consistent is the first thingright?
Is consistency day in and dayout.
And if you can start to showthat consistency, you're gonna
get opportunities.
And, you could say, I'll takeit.
A player that's seven outta 10every single time over somebody
that's nine outta 10 sometimes,and four outta 10.
The other time.
I think, I was I've hadcountless conversations over my
time, is the first step is Ineed to trust you as a player
(04:52):
that I at least know what I'mgonna get, right?
I know what I'm gonna get in apressure situation and in a
moment that matters to the team.
So developing that, thatconsistency and that trust and
relationship.
Ship that in those moments,that's you're gonna, it does.
It starts typically, at leastin, in soccer.
It's gonna start in practice inthose, in our shortened
(05:13):
preseason practices.
And then if you can show thatyou're gonna get some
opportunities in some preseasongames and then hopefully, you
can show that you're ready forit at that point.
Soccer is, we all fall sports, Iknow there's a few others where
we have such a short window forfreshmen to.
To be ready to compete.
Yep.
You have to be, you got a coupleweeks to do it and that's it.
(05:35):
And it's, it's not it's notfair.
It's not right.
And it's, it is high stress and,and every aspect and some aren't
ready for it.
And it's okay.
I tell'em all the time, it'sokay if you're not ready for
that.
And.
I know, my experience is I nevercould, I can never project who's
gonna be ready.
I could, you could give me fiveincoming freshmen and I could
pick two that are gonna be readyand the three that I didn't pick
(05:57):
are probably gonna be the onesthat are ready.
So you never know.
That, that, that's where I wasgonna take you backwards.
If you and I were sitting at afield, we watching a really high
level travel club game and.
ECL, whatever it may be.
Can you see that consistency onthe field?
Is it spacing?
Is it pace?
Is it how quickly they get theball off their foot is there
(06:18):
some things that you're justlike, I wanna see more of that.
You, you're never gonna know ifthey're ready for a college
soccer game.
It, and it's, if you watch, ifyou were to watch a high level
youth soccer game club, soccergame, and then the next night
you were gonna go watch a highlevel college soccer game at any
level, any ai, D three juniorcollege, D 2D one, you're gonna
(06:41):
see a different sport almost.
It's gonna be so much different.
So there's.
It's, I, it is, to me anyway,hopefully there's some coaches
out there that have figured itout, but I, there's no way to
know truly when they go intothat environment that they're
gonna be ready in all aspects.
They're, you can tell ifsomebody's gonna be physically
ready.
You can tell if somebody's gonnabe technically ready.
(07:02):
You can tell if they're gonnabe.
Probably if they're gonna bepsychologically ready, but all
those combined to to know ifwhen they're put in that moment,
if they're gonna be ready to go.
It's, to me it's the hardestpart of the recruiting process.
I agree.
Where does c because of yoursport, where does conditioning
and physicality come into playwhen you're watching a kid?
(07:26):
Does that jump out at you?
It has to it, it has to, soccerhas always been a sport.
You have to be a highlyconditioned athlete to, to play
in.
And then the modern game evenmore the ability to cover
ground, to recover, to, to do itat a high level, at a high speed
is it's everything in a lot ofways.
So you have to have a certainamount now.
(07:46):
Not every player on our team andhow we play is, has to be that
elite.
Conditioned athlete that can runeight miles, nine miles in a 90
minute game and do it at a highintensity.
But it's, yeah it's important.
It's important, it's it's one ofthe, one of the components you
need to be good at now, soccer,getting into call.
(08:06):
You have to be, you have to be,have to have an elite level of,
fitness and physicality.
You have.
To have an elite level oftechnical ability, you have to
have an elite level of psych,psychological, the psychological
side has to be at a high level.
So there's, yeah, every pillarof the game has to be, that's
what's gonna get you, one, getyou into college, and two, gonna
(08:26):
make you successful in college.
I, I just, I've had a couple ofconversations with some Hall of
Fame college baseball coachesand basketball coaches over the
last couple of weeks, and it's,it was, it jumped out at me how
they both talked about strengthtraining and how important Sure.
Strength training was to beingat a play at that scholarship
level you're at.
(08:47):
Is it the same for soccer?
Probably not.
I'm definitely not the same.
And it's, I think it's becomingmore of a regular part of youth
soccer players, bothdomestically and worldwide where
it's, you are in a strengthconditioning program, whether,
whether you're club provides itor you do it on your own.
Certainly like our freshmenstudent athletes are that first
(09:10):
semester in, in the weight roomwith the strength and
conditioning staff are gonna be.
Treated differently.
They're gonna be, make sure thatthey're doing the right things.
They're gonna, they almost haveto be coached and taught how to
do it in a lot of ways.
So it's certainly compared toevery other sport, certainly
basketball, certainly football,certainly probably baseball,
it's not as important thestrength training side.
(09:32):
But it can help.
It certainly helps.
And it's, it can be somethingthat has you more prepared.
I.
For as a freshman, we talk aboutthe, freshmen not being prepared
and struggling to, to make animpact early on.
That's something that can makeyou more prepared, as when
you're gonna play a against a24-year-old, whether they've
been in a strength trainingprogram growing up or not.
They're 24 years old and they'vedeveloped physically different
(09:54):
than, the 18-year-old has.
It's certainly something I wouldrecommend.
Absolutely.
I.
Can I play division two soccerAs an 18-year-old, let's say I
run a sub five mile and I'vegot, I'm in great shape and I've
got great, two great feet.
I got a boot on.
I can boot it from either side.
Can I be an impact player ifI've never seen the weight room,
(10:17):
if I haven't?
Can I be 18 and be an impactedat D two without that?
Absolutely.
Without knowing how to squat andbench and Yes, you can.
Yeah, absolutely.
You see it all the time.
Yeah.
It's not uncommon.
It really is not uncommon forsome of our freshmen to even
ones that can contribute to havenot ever really truly been in a,
in a sustained strength programgrowing up.
(10:40):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
It can happen.
I wanna lead kids a little bittoo.
You've coached the Nationalplayer of the year.
You've had the guy that was thebest player in all of Division
II soccer on your roster, andyou developed him.
What did that four years forthat kid look like from the time
you brought him in to being thebest player in the country?
(11:03):
What does that work ethic looklike?
What does that mindset looklike?
So I only had him for two years.
Okay.
Unfortunately, and only onewhere he was eligible to play.
He, he has a long story, but hedid, he was, he played at a very
high level growing up.
He played for a professionalacademy in Texas with FC Dallas,
and was close to being in theirfirst team, but he, when.
(11:25):
When I, we took him in, I guessit would've been in 2018.
He had to sit out a year as hewas transitioning from a
different school and coming in.
But even in that year where he'snot playing and competing, it's
every day is his competition,right?
He's coming in every day with a,with a mindset of, competing and
beating guys out and playing ata high level.
(11:46):
Yeah, I think the traininghabits of a player like that.
You can certainly see it, andthat's, don't care how good you
are.
You can't just flip a switch ongame day and be the best player.
He, he did it day in and day outand practice and every, there
was a com competitiveness and alevel of really battling and
wanting to be the best player ineverything he did that, that you
(12:08):
don't see with every singleplayer.
And then physically, yeah, hewas I.
He was not, by, it's, by thetime he came to us, he was, he
was 20 years old and wasphysically developed and was but
he, he had special physicalqualities that certainly were
not, he didn't just wake up onemorning in half, it was a
combination of speed, technicalability, strength.
He had everything.
(12:29):
Yeah.
I it really comes down to thatkid, if you wanna be great you
have to come in and competeevery day.
You ha Yep.
I just saw some Instagram postswhere Craig Hodges said that in
four years playing with MichaelJordan never lost a wind sprint.
Yep.
I, that mentality is so tough toget to, so tough to buy into.
So tough to make it a part ofwho you are.
(12:50):
Yep.
But, I think there's a.
That we have to talk about froma recruiting standpoint.
'cause I'm assuming you tell meif I'm wrong, you'd probably
wanna see every kid you sign atleast once or twice live and
then you're watching a ton offilm.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
As many times live as possible.
Yeah, absolutely.
So yeah, you're gonna, you'regonna see'em multiple times.
(13:10):
You watch a lot of film and youcan make a highlight film.
You can make a three, threeminute highlight film look
really good.
You can make your effort lookreally good, really consistent.
Absolutely.
And when you watch a 90 minutematch and can things change
really quickly for you when yousee it live.
No doubt.
I think that's.
You the film to me is only goingto pull your interest in pulling
your interest in.
(13:31):
So you, to me anyway, willrarely will we sign off for
scholarships and really pursue aplayer that we don't see live
multiple times.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And that's, that really iseverything to.
That 90 minutes, you can seegood habits, bad habits, you can
see how much, how much it reallymeans to them.
And that is the, you talk aboutthe really the competitiveness
(13:51):
and wanting to win andeverything you do.
You don't see enough of that onthe recruiting trail, whether
it's, a showcase or, and thatcan be the motivation maybe for
the player might not be there.
And from a competitivestandpoint, it might be, I'm
gonna go show and do everythingI can, but.
To be honest, a player out therethat's giving everything for his
team to win is gonna stand outmuch more than a player who,
(14:13):
walks around for 75 minutes andthen scores the game winning
goal.
We'll take the guy who'scompeting and really putting
everything into it and showingthat it really matters to him.
It goes a long way in yourbrain, at least for me.
It always was.
I'm not gonna have to coach him,that I'm not gonna have to coach
the heart.
The heart's already there,right?
Yeah, the, I want to coachmotivated players, not motivate
(14:36):
players is, is certainly that'sparamount.
I don't, I think probably myleast, least enjoyable thing
about coaching is having tomotivate and, I want to coach
and teach and inspire.
I don't wanna, I don't wannamotivate you to to work hard and
practice today.
I want to, I wanna make you thebest player I can.
I love that.
(14:56):
And it all starts with themwanting to be the best and
wanting to put the effort intoit.
So I love that.
Coach.
What advice would you give a kidconsidering multiple levels, D
two, D one N, ai, D three?
What advice do you give that kidin their family a about, I don't
know if there's a better way tosay it.
Fit over fame or fit over level?
(15:18):
Yeah.
Never in my coaching career hasit been more important to find
fit?
And I've coached at every I'venever coached at division one,
but I've coached, D or n ai, Dtwo.
I've never coached D three, butI've, I've been around them so
much and I've, obviously I'vebeen around the division one
game a lot and.
(15:41):
Especially in soccer, and I knowevery sport is the same.
There is high level play atevery single level, right?
And it is, now with the transferportal and the older players at
and in every sport you see it Iused to think it was unique just
to soccer, but there's, 24, 25,26 year olds at every, in every
sport now.
That's a big challenge toovercome for an 18-year-old.
(16:04):
And now there's roster, caps andlimitations at division one,
where it's become even harder.
So there's nothing about therecruiting process for
prospective student athletes, 18year olds, that is getting
easier.
Getting to the highest level isgetting harder and harder and
harder.
But it's also giving you the,the new climate is giving you
opportunities that you don'thave to be there.
Day one, right?
(16:25):
You can find the right fit foryou in the present.
And then if the universe callsfor you to get to that level at
some point, then you have otherpathways to get there.
But fits, fits everything fitseverything.
And making sure you find a placewhere.
It's always a balance betweenwhat's gonna push you and
develop you and get you to bethe best player in person and
(16:45):
athlete and student that you canbe.
And also giving you the rewardthat you pro you want, you want
to be valued and you want tohave a good experience.
Most people want to play and geton the field, so finding that
is, is the most important thing,right?
Is finding that I.
You can never go back in time.
If you were able to and you madethe wrong decision and went to a
(17:07):
school where you brought, it wasprobably unrealistic.
You were gonna play just becauseit was this name or that name,
or this level or that level.
And you could, I.
Do the other where you wentsomewhere where you were valued
and they really wanted you andwanted you to be a part of it,
and you made an impact.
You're gonna choose the impactand valued route 10 times outta
10.
And I think more people like youand I would, you and I would,
(17:31):
but I'm not sure every kidwould.
No, they wouldn't.
And that's sometimes they haveto, learn and grow from mistakes
and make those mistakes and.
Yeah, we can probably, countlesstimes everybody who's been a
coach in college, not at, not inat a Power four division one has
probably had those thoughts intheir head where, oh, they
should have, they're making thewrong decision.
But every, everybody's path'sdifferent and you have to make
(17:53):
those decisions sometimes ofyourself.
I'm curious.
Coach is if I'm an 18-year-oldand you're meeting with me and
my parents and I tell you.
You either ask the question orit just comes up.
He's okay being the 24th man onyour roster and getting a
scholarship, he's okay withthat.
(18:16):
Is that a red flag?
Being okay with it, I don'tthink is a red flag.
I think being content with itmaybe is a red flag.
Maybe they just, they really,everything else about.
School and the program is, it'stheir dream place and they wanna
fight and battle for it.
(18:36):
It can be okay initially.
You don't want that person tocome in on as the 24 player and
that's where they want to be andstay.
And they only want work hardenough to be the 24th player.
You wouldn't want that one, butthe one that.
Understand where they're at,knows they have to fight and to
develop and grow and compete.
(18:57):
And if they want anything morethan that, then I think that's
okay.
And that there has to be, everyprogram has to have a bottom of
the roster player, right?
Yeah.
Every program does.
So as somebody has to be in thatrole and has to be a
developmental player thathopefully, beyond that gets to
where they need to be, but.
I don't see it as much as a redflag, as as long as they know
(19:17):
this is your experience, you'regonna have to work.
Very hard to get beyond that.
And you're gonna have to do alot of that has gonna have to be
self-motivated.
You're not gonna have every repin practice, every opportunity
to do it.
You're not gonna be able todevelop on the field like you
might in a different situation.
Yeah, it's it's not foreverybody it's definitely, I
guess not a red flag in everycase.
(19:38):
Last question, I'm gonna makeyou put your dad hat on.
You've got an 11-year-old son,right?
12.
Yep.
12-year-old son.
Okay.
We got boys that are same age.
Yeah.
So he's 18.
He's got multiple offers on thetable to play college soccer.
He can go be.
A guy that's got a lot of workto do at St.
Leo to, to ever see the field,but they like him and they want
(20:02):
to bring him on the roster, orhe could go to a D three or an
NAI and they love him.
They think he's gonna be aprimary player right away and a
starter.
What advice do you give in thatsituation to your own son?
It, everything else is equal.
Yeah.
Let's say the financial aidpackage is within a couple
thousand dollars.
They both have the major, bothreally good coaches.
(20:25):
Yeah.
I'm telling'em to go to theother one.
I'm telling'em to go to the onewhere you can contribute right
away without a doubt.
Why is that such a big value?
'cause I'd give the same advice.
Yep.
Yeah.
I think.
Now again, it, there's somethingto be said about the other way
of going and earning it andYeah.
And really and you hear we hearit all the time of, I, I can do
(20:46):
it, I can get there.
And a lot of times, more oftenthan not, it doesn't happen.
But it's, not for a lack ofeffort, but I just think the
experience is a little bitbetter.
You're gonna have a little moreconnection.
You're gonna feel.
Four years down the road, and asan alumni, you're gonna feel, in
my opinion, you're gonna feel astronger connection to that
program where you have reallyimpacted it, you really impacted
(21:06):
it on the field.
You're probably gonna become aleader.
You're gonna, you're gonna learna lot that, you know more than
just on the field stuff.
Yeah, I would I would push'emthe other way without a doubt,
and I don't, and I wouldn't careabout telling.
Our friends or family orwhatever would not make any
difference to me.
Yeah.
Because I think ultimately it'sthe experience and I when I was
(21:28):
a player, again, Montana was a,is and was a, a recruiting
exile.
In soccer you're on an island,you have to do everything
yourself.
Nobody goes there.
There's no, it's difficult, but.
In a roundabout way late in theprocess I went to a junior
college in California.
I found the best junior college,the defending, the best team
(21:49):
that, that looked like where Iwanted to be.
And I went and we won a nationalchampionship.
We were very good.
I wasn't a starter.
I didn't, I played some and, butI wasn't the man.
I wasn't the best player.
I was a small fish in a bigpond, and I loved that it was.
I was a teammate that could dothat.
And I, loved that experience.
And then I transferred to aschool in Kansas, an NAI school
(22:11):
where I became the big fishagain.
And I was an All American and wewon a championship and I'll take
that route, that experience andthat side was, would win out 10
times, outta 10 for me.
I love it.
I'm gonna ask you one more'causeyou, you just brought up
something I think is reallyvaluable.
Okay.
You're that kid in, there's akid in Montana and he wants to
(22:34):
play at St.
Leo.
What does he do?
H how does, how do you want thatkid?
He is the captain of his team.
He is a four year starter at thehigh school level.
He's all conference all state,but he wants to come to Florida.
He wants to go to Saint Leo.
How does he reach out to you?
How does he let him himself knowthat you're, or let you know he
(22:55):
is interested?
He has to, obviously persistenceand getting in contact and
emailing and using everyconnection and every way you can
get into that coach's ear isfirst and foremost a player like
that where it's unique and it'snot somebody in our backyard or
somebody that in our traditionalrecruiting pipeline or area,
they gotta find a way to get infront of us in person, if they
think that it's truly the, wherethey want to be in their dream
(23:18):
spot and realistic, right?
You've had enough advice.
Enough direction that somebodyhas told you, yeah, this is a
realistic place you should bepursuing.
I think once, sending film andonce, in my case personally, if
it was that player, I wouldwanna make sure watching them on
video, that it was realistic,right?
That it was, I see somethingthat sparks the interest that I
(23:40):
need to see you play live.
With, division two budgets anddivision two staffs and those
things is probably gonna, putthe onus on them to come down
here.
To come down here.
Whether, maybe we're lucky inFlorida that a lot of people, a
lot of club teams and a lot ofpeople travel here in the Yeah.
The winter months to play.
So maybe we can see'em that way.
And if not, I have to see him ata camp.
(24:01):
I have to get him to our camp tosee campus and to do it.
But I would want that to be aspecial case where I.
You know, Hey, you're goodenough.
We wanna see you here.
And just to confirm and thenmove forward.
But but that's a good question.
Really good question.
Are you and your staffcomfortable with that kid
calling you and saying, Hey, I'dlove to come to your camp.
It's gonna cost my parents and Iabout a thousand bucks to do it.
We don't have a lot of money.
(24:22):
Would you gimme a two minuteevaluation based on my film?
Just, is it realistic?
Thousand thousand percent?
Yeah, that's, that is, camps, weuse camps tremendously for
recruiting.
But we also don't want it to beit, it's not meant just to,
bring everybody in everysituation to come to camp.
The majority, it's a.
It's a drive, it's an easysituation.
You come there for those ones.
(24:43):
Yeah.
We'll 100%.
Do as much PO like either tell'em, Hey, it's probably not
worth your while.
Yeah.
But, or Yes, please come.
And a lot of times in thosecases, we wouldn't even mention
camp until we, did think it wasa realistic possibility.
And we would do everything wecould.
Through other avenues to see'emplay.
But yeah, I think that's thothose can happen and those are
(25:03):
but yeah, we're gonna make sureit's a realistic one.
Absolutely.
Coach.
So thank you so much for allthis time you've given me today.
Your advice is fantastic.
Of course.
I love your energy, I love yourpassion for this and your guys
are lucky to have you and St.
Leo's lucky to have you.
So we'll be cheering for youguys and thanks again for All
right.
Appreciate it, Matt.
Thanks for having me.
(25:25):
That wraps up our recruitingconversation with Coach Brett
Parker.
Whether you're just starting outor navigating the final stages
of the recruiting process, Ihope today's episode gave you
real insight into what collegecoaches value and how to
approach recruiting the rightway.
I love Coach Parker's approachto teaching, mentoring, and
building strong long-termprograms.
(25:46):
And don't forget, the SoftballRecruits Journal and the game
day version are now available onAmazon.
These tools.
Walk your student athletes stepby step through the entire
recruiting journey with space toset goals, track communication,
prepare for visits, and makeconfident decisions.
Journals for volleyball,baseball, soccer, and basketball
(26:09):
are coming this summer for freerecruiting tips.
Tools and resources, or toschedule a free coaching or
recruiting session with me.
Head over to coach mattrogers.com.
Thanks for listening tosignificant Recruiting.
Keep leading with purpose andI'll see you next time.
Welcome to SignificantRecruiting with Matt Rogers, the
bonus segment where we focus onhelping families and student
athletes navigate the collegerecruiting journey the right
way.
Today's guest is Coach BrettParker, head, men's soccer coach
at St.
Leo University.
Coach Parker brings over 15years of experience building
programs at the college level,and in this episode, he shares
(00:31):
what he looks for in recruits.
How the recruiting landscape haschanged and what families should
focus on if they want to standout.
Before we dive in, I'm excitedto announce that my new book,
the Softball Recruits Journal,along with the game day version,
which I think a lot of familiesare gonna love, is now live on
(00:51):
Amazon.
If you have a child who wants toplay college softball, this
journal walks them through everystep setting goals.
Organizing communication withcoaches, preparing for college
visits, and making confidentdecisions.
It even includes templates foremailing and calling coaches the
right way.
Journals for volleyball,baseball, soccer, and basketball
(01:13):
are coming later this summer, sostay tuned.
Now let's jump into myconversation on college
recruiting with Coach BrettParker.
Coach Parker, so great to haveyou.
We just had a fantasticconversation about coaching and
your great history that you'vehad as a coach, and you've just
got a fantastic mindset as acoach and how adaptable you are
(01:38):
and how much you love your kids,and I can't call'em kids.
They're 23 and 24 years, but howmuch you love your guys and your
staff and the really greatrelationship you have.
In your community.
So it's been a lot of fun.
I wanna dive into recruitingwith you.
Yep.
And we started doing thesesegments'cause we have so many
parents and student athletes.
(02:00):
Are listening to this and highschool coaches that are
listening to this.
So I wanna give them as muchtruth about recruiting as
possible.
And we talked about before weeven started our conversation
today, how much changes everyday with recruiting and how much
the world of our, of collegeathletics is changing every day.
So I know some of this.
Six months could be differentanswers, but we'll go with what
(02:22):
we know today.
Yeah.
Alright.
When you watch film or you go toa showcase or you're going to a
high school match, is theresomething that just instantly
makes a player jump out at you?
Is there a standout quality thatyou just, that you connect with?
You're looking for different,right?
Looking for different things allthe time.
(02:43):
And you need variety anddiversity within your team, no
matter what sport it is or whatposition or whatever it is.
I think they're probably, I.
Maybe the word aura, it could beused.
There is something about aplayer that has that that just
has a presence that has, whetherit's leadership or physical
presence or, in soccer, atechnical presence.
(03:04):
But that's a difficult one forme because there is.
There's no exact formula.
We need this, and this type ofplayer.
And no player is the same,right?
So we're never, you can't go,Hey, we lost Johnny.
We need to go find anotherJohnny.
You're probably never gonna findthat player.
So it's just looking, I thinkwith anything, and I always
tell, recruits or ones that arestarting the process is try to
(03:26):
be special at something, right?
Have something about you as aplayer that, that is special and
that could be.
A physical characteristic thatcould be a technical
characteristic, that could be a,a psychological or leadership
characteristic.
But if you have something you dothat's special, that's gonna
stand out, right?
And somebody's gonna see valuein that and somebody's gonna
find, a role for that.
(03:47):
Because if you're just prettygood at everything, there's.
10,000 other, possible recruitsthat are gonna be okay at
everything.
And it's that special quality ofsomething that, that can really
set you apart.
I'll piggyback that with this,I'm a freshman in your program.
I just got there.
We're three weeks into practice.
(04:07):
We're play, we're about to playour first game.
What do I gotta do to get on thefield with all these older guys,
these experienced guys.
Maybe I'm not the best playeryet.
Maybe I'm not the guy you'regonna count on to score your
goals, but what do I gotta do toget on the field?
Yeah.
I typically tell those firstyear freshmen that having, being
(04:30):
consistent is the first thingright?
Is consistency day in and dayout.
And if you can start to showthat consistency, you're gonna
get opportunities.
And, you could say, I'll takeit.
A player that's seven outta 10every single time over somebody
that's nine outta 10 sometimes,and four outta 10.
The other time.
I think, I was I've hadcountless conversations over my
time, is the first step is Ineed to trust you as a player
(04:52):
that I at least know what I'mgonna get, right?
I know what I'm gonna get in apressure situation and in a
moment that matters to the team.
So developing that, thatconsistency and that trust and
relationship.
Ship that in those moments,that's you're gonna, it does.
It starts typically, at leastin, in soccer.
It's gonna start in practice inthose, in our shortened
(05:13):
preseason practices.
And then if you can show thatyou're gonna get some
opportunities in some preseasongames and then hopefully, you
can show that you're ready forit at that point.
Soccer is, we all fall sports, Iknow there's a few others where
we have such a short window forfreshmen to.
To be ready to compete.
Yep.
You have to be, you got a coupleweeks to do it and that's it.
(05:35):
And it's, it's not it's notfair.
It's not right.
And it's, it is high stress and,and every aspect and some aren't
ready for it.
And it's okay.
I tell'em all the time, it'sokay if you're not ready for
that.
And.
I know, my experience is I nevercould, I can never project who's
gonna be ready.
I could, you could give me fiveincoming freshmen and I could
pick two that are gonna be readyand the three that I didn't pick
(05:57):
are probably gonna be the onesthat are ready.
So you never know.
That, that, that's where I wasgonna take you backwards.
If you and I were sitting at afield, we watching a really high
level travel club game and.
ECL, whatever it may be.
Can you see that consistency onthe field?
Is it spacing?
Is it pace?
Is it how quickly they get theball off their foot is there
(06:18):
some things that you're justlike, I wanna see more of that.
You, you're never gonna know ifthey're ready for a college
soccer game.
It, and it's, if you watch, ifyou were to watch a high level
youth soccer game club, soccergame, and then the next night
you were gonna go watch a highlevel college soccer game at any
level, any ai, D three juniorcollege, D 2D one, you're gonna
(06:41):
see a different sport almost.
It's gonna be so much different.
So there's.
It's, I, it is, to me anyway,hopefully there's some coaches
out there that have figured itout, but I, there's no way to
know truly when they go intothat environment that they're
gonna be ready in all aspects.
They're, you can tell ifsomebody's gonna be physically
ready.
You can tell if somebody's gonnabe technically ready.
(07:02):
You can tell if they're gonnabe.
Probably if they're gonna bepsychologically ready, but all
those combined to to know ifwhen they're put in that moment,
if they're gonna be ready to go.
It's, to me it's the hardestpart of the recruiting process.
I agree.
Where does c because of yoursport, where does conditioning
and physicality come into playwhen you're watching a kid?
(07:26):
Does that jump out at you?
It has to it, it has to, soccerhas always been a sport.
You have to be a highlyconditioned athlete to, to play
in.
And then the modern game evenmore the ability to cover
ground, to recover, to, to do itat a high level, at a high speed
is it's everything in a lot ofways.
So you have to have a certainamount now.
(07:46):
Not every player on our team andhow we play is, has to be that
elite.
Conditioned athlete that can runeight miles, nine miles in a 90
minute game and do it at a highintensity.
But it's, yeah it's important.
It's important, it's it's one ofthe, one of the components you
need to be good at now, soccer,getting into call.
(08:06):
You have to be, you have to be,have to have an elite level of,
fitness and physicality.
You have.
To have an elite level oftechnical ability, you have to
have an elite level of psych,psychological, the psychological
side has to be at a high level.
So there's, yeah, every pillarof the game has to be, that's
what's gonna get you, one, getyou into college, and two, gonna
(08:26):
make you successful in college.
I, I just, I've had a couple ofconversations with some Hall of
Fame college baseball coachesand basketball coaches over the
last couple of weeks, and it's,it was, it jumped out at me how
they both talked about strengthtraining and how important Sure.
Strength training was to beingat a play at that scholarship
level you're at.
(08:47):
Is it the same for soccer?
Probably not.
I'm definitely not the same.
And it's, I think it's becomingmore of a regular part of youth
soccer players, bothdomestically and worldwide where
it's, you are in a strengthconditioning program, whether,
whether you're club provides itor you do it on your own.
Certainly like our freshmenstudent athletes are that first
(09:10):
semester in, in the weight roomwith the strength and
conditioning staff are gonna be.
Treated differently.
They're gonna be, make sure thatthey're doing the right things.
They're gonna, they almost haveto be coached and taught how to
do it in a lot of ways.
So it's certainly compared toevery other sport, certainly
basketball, certainly football,certainly probably baseball,
it's not as important thestrength training side.
(09:32):
But it can help.
It certainly helps.
And it's, it can be somethingthat has you more prepared.
I.
For as a freshman, we talk aboutthe, freshmen not being prepared
and struggling to, to make animpact early on.
That's something that can makeyou more prepared, as when
you're gonna play a against a24-year-old, whether they've
been in a strength trainingprogram growing up or not.
They're 24 years old and they'vedeveloped physically different
(09:54):
than, the 18-year-old has.
It's certainly something I wouldrecommend.
Absolutely.
I.
Can I play division two soccerAs an 18-year-old, let's say I
run a sub five mile and I'vegot, I'm in great shape and I've
got great, two great feet.
I got a boot on.
I can boot it from either side.
Can I be an impact player ifI've never seen the weight room,
(10:17):
if I haven't?
Can I be 18 and be an impactedat D two without that?
Absolutely.
Without knowing how to squat andbench and Yes, you can.
Yeah, absolutely.
You see it all the time.
Yeah.
It's not uncommon.
It really is not uncommon forsome of our freshmen to even
ones that can contribute to havenot ever really truly been in a,
in a sustained strength programgrowing up.
(10:40):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
It can happen.
I wanna lead kids a little bittoo.
You've coached the Nationalplayer of the year.
You've had the guy that was thebest player in all of Division
II soccer on your roster, andyou developed him.
What did that four years forthat kid look like from the time
you brought him in to being thebest player in the country?
(11:03):
What does that work ethic looklike?
What does that mindset looklike?
So I only had him for two years.
Okay.
Unfortunately, and only onewhere he was eligible to play.
He, he has a long story, but hedid, he was, he played at a very
high level growing up.
He played for a professionalacademy in Texas with FC Dallas,
and was close to being in theirfirst team, but he, when.
(11:25):
When I, we took him in, I guessit would've been in 2018.
He had to sit out a year as hewas transitioning from a
different school and coming in.
But even in that year where he'snot playing and competing, it's
every day is his competition,right?
He's coming in every day with a,with a mindset of, competing and
beating guys out and playing ata high level.
(11:46):
Yeah, I think the traininghabits of a player like that.
You can certainly see it, andthat's, don't care how good you
are.
You can't just flip a switch ongame day and be the best player.
He, he did it day in and day outand practice and every, there
was a com competitiveness and alevel of really battling and
wanting to be the best player ineverything he did that, that you
(12:08):
don't see with every singleplayer.
And then physically, yeah, hewas I.
He was not, by, it's, by thetime he came to us, he was, he
was 20 years old and wasphysically developed and was but
he, he had special physicalqualities that certainly were
not, he didn't just wake up onemorning in half, it was a
combination of speed, technicalability, strength.
He had everything.
(12:29):
Yeah.
I it really comes down to thatkid, if you wanna be great you
have to come in and competeevery day.
You ha Yep.
I just saw some Instagram postswhere Craig Hodges said that in
four years playing with MichaelJordan never lost a wind sprint.
Yep.
I, that mentality is so tough toget to, so tough to buy into.
So tough to make it a part ofwho you are.
(12:50):
Yep.
But, I think there's a.
That we have to talk about froma recruiting standpoint.
'cause I'm assuming you tell meif I'm wrong, you'd probably
wanna see every kid you sign atleast once or twice live and
then you're watching a ton offilm.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
As many times live as possible.
Yeah, absolutely.
So yeah, you're gonna, you'regonna see'em multiple times.
(13:10):
You watch a lot of film and youcan make a highlight film.
You can make a three, threeminute highlight film look
really good.
You can make your effort lookreally good, really consistent.
Absolutely.
And when you watch a 90 minutematch and can things change
really quickly for you when yousee it live.
No doubt.
I think that's.
You the film to me is only goingto pull your interest in pulling
your interest in.
(13:31):
So you, to me anyway, willrarely will we sign off for
scholarships and really pursue aplayer that we don't see live
multiple times.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And that's, that really iseverything to.
That 90 minutes, you can seegood habits, bad habits, you can
see how much, how much it reallymeans to them.
And that is the, you talk aboutthe really the competitiveness
(13:51):
and wanting to win andeverything you do.
You don't see enough of that onthe recruiting trail, whether
it's, a showcase or, and thatcan be the motivation maybe for
the player might not be there.
And from a competitivestandpoint, it might be, I'm
gonna go show and do everythingI can, but.
To be honest, a player out therethat's giving everything for his
team to win is gonna stand outmuch more than a player who,
(14:13):
walks around for 75 minutes andthen scores the game winning
goal.
We'll take the guy who'scompeting and really putting
everything into it and showingthat it really matters to him.
It goes a long way in yourbrain, at least for me.
It always was.
I'm not gonna have to coach him,that I'm not gonna have to coach
the heart.
The heart's already there,right?
Yeah, the, I want to coachmotivated players, not motivate
(14:36):
players is, is certainly that'sparamount.
I don't, I think probably myleast, least enjoyable thing
about coaching is having tomotivate and, I want to coach
and teach and inspire.
I don't wanna, I don't wannamotivate you to to work hard and
practice today.
I want to, I wanna make you thebest player I can.
I love that.
(14:56):
And it all starts with themwanting to be the best and
wanting to put the effort intoit.
So I love that.
Coach.
What advice would you give a kidconsidering multiple levels, D
two, D one N, ai, D three?
What advice do you give that kidin their family a about, I don't
know if there's a better way tosay it.
Fit over fame or fit over level?
(15:18):
Yeah.
Never in my coaching career hasit been more important to find
fit?
And I've coached at every I'venever coached at division one,
but I've coached, D or n ai, Dtwo.
I've never coached D three, butI've, I've been around them so
much and I've, obviously I'vebeen around the division one
game a lot and.
(15:41):
Especially in soccer, and I knowevery sport is the same.
There is high level play atevery single level, right?
And it is, now with the transferportal and the older players at
and in every sport you see it Iused to think it was unique just
to soccer, but there's, 24, 25,26 year olds at every, in every
sport now.
That's a big challenge toovercome for an 18-year-old.
(16:04):
And now there's roster, caps andlimitations at division one,
where it's become even harder.
So there's nothing about therecruiting process for
prospective student athletes, 18year olds, that is getting
easier.
Getting to the highest level isgetting harder and harder and
harder.
But it's also giving you the,the new climate is giving you
opportunities that you don'thave to be there.
Day one, right?
(16:25):
You can find the right fit foryou in the present.
And then if the universe callsfor you to get to that level at
some point, then you have otherpathways to get there.
But fits, fits everything fitseverything.
And making sure you find a placewhere.
It's always a balance betweenwhat's gonna push you and
develop you and get you to bethe best player in person and
(16:45):
athlete and student that you canbe.
And also giving you the rewardthat you pro you want, you want
to be valued and you want tohave a good experience.
Most people want to play and geton the field, so finding that
is, is the most important thing,right?
Is finding that I.
You can never go back in time.
If you were able to and you madethe wrong decision and went to a
(17:07):
school where you brought, it wasprobably unrealistic.
You were gonna play just becauseit was this name or that name,
or this level or that level.
And you could, I.
Do the other where you wentsomewhere where you were valued
and they really wanted you andwanted you to be a part of it,
and you made an impact.
You're gonna choose the impactand valued route 10 times outta
10.
And I think more people like youand I would, you and I would,
(17:31):
but I'm not sure every kidwould.
No, they wouldn't.
And that's sometimes they haveto, learn and grow from mistakes
and make those mistakes and.
Yeah, we can probably, countlesstimes everybody who's been a
coach in college, not at, not inat a Power four division one has
probably had those thoughts intheir head where, oh, they
should have, they're making thewrong decision.
But every, everybody's path'sdifferent and you have to make
(17:53):
those decisions sometimes ofyourself.
I'm curious.
Coach is if I'm an 18-year-oldand you're meeting with me and
my parents and I tell you.
You either ask the question orit just comes up.
He's okay being the 24th man onyour roster and getting a
scholarship, he's okay withthat.
(18:16):
Is that a red flag?
Being okay with it, I don'tthink is a red flag.
I think being content with itmaybe is a red flag.
Maybe they just, they really,everything else about.
School and the program is, it'stheir dream place and they wanna
fight and battle for it.
(18:36):
It can be okay initially.
You don't want that person tocome in on as the 24 player and
that's where they want to be andstay.
And they only want work hardenough to be the 24th player.
You wouldn't want that one, butthe one that.
Understand where they're at,knows they have to fight and to
develop and grow and compete.
(18:57):
And if they want anything morethan that, then I think that's
okay.
And that there has to be, everyprogram has to have a bottom of
the roster player, right?
Yeah.
Every program does.
So as somebody has to be in thatrole and has to be a
developmental player thathopefully, beyond that gets to
where they need to be, but.
I don't see it as much as a redflag, as as long as they know
(19:17):
this is your experience, you'regonna have to work.
Very hard to get beyond that.
And you're gonna have to do alot of that has gonna have to be
self-motivated.
You're not gonna have every repin practice, every opportunity
to do it.
You're not gonna be able todevelop on the field like you
might in a different situation.
Yeah, it's it's not foreverybody it's definitely, I
guess not a red flag in everycase.
(19:38):
Last question, I'm gonna makeyou put your dad hat on.
You've got an 11-year-old son,right?
12.
Yep.
12-year-old son.
Okay.
We got boys that are same age.
Yeah.
So he's 18.
He's got multiple offers on thetable to play college soccer.
He can go be.
A guy that's got a lot of workto do at St.
Leo to, to ever see the field,but they like him and they want
(20:02):
to bring him on the roster, orhe could go to a D three or an
NAI and they love him.
They think he's gonna be aprimary player right away and a
starter.
What advice do you give in thatsituation to your own son?
It, everything else is equal.
Yeah.
Let's say the financial aidpackage is within a couple
thousand dollars.
They both have the major, bothreally good coaches.
(20:25):
Yeah.
I'm telling'em to go to theother one.
I'm telling'em to go to the onewhere you can contribute right
away without a doubt.
Why is that such a big value?
'cause I'd give the same advice.
Yep.
Yeah.
I think.
Now again, it, there's somethingto be said about the other way
of going and earning it andYeah.
And really and you hear we hearit all the time of, I, I can do
(20:46):
it, I can get there.
And a lot of times, more oftenthan not, it doesn't happen.
But it's, not for a lack ofeffort, but I just think the
experience is a little bitbetter.
You're gonna have a little moreconnection.
You're gonna feel.
Four years down the road, and asan alumni, you're gonna feel, in
my opinion, you're gonna feel astronger connection to that
program where you have reallyimpacted it, you really impacted
(21:06):
it on the field.
You're probably gonna become aleader.
You're gonna, you're gonna learna lot that, you know more than
just on the field stuff.
Yeah, I would I would push'emthe other way without a doubt,
and I don't, and I wouldn't careabout telling.
Our friends or family orwhatever would not make any
difference to me.
Yeah.
Because I think ultimately it'sthe experience and I when I was
(21:28):
a player, again, Montana was a,is and was a, a recruiting
exile.
In soccer you're on an island,you have to do everything
yourself.
Nobody goes there.
There's no, it's difficult, but.
In a roundabout way late in theprocess I went to a junior
college in California.
I found the best junior college,the defending, the best team
(21:49):
that, that looked like where Iwanted to be.
And I went and we won a nationalchampionship.
We were very good.
I wasn't a starter.
I didn't, I played some and, butI wasn't the man.
I wasn't the best player.
I was a small fish in a bigpond, and I loved that it was.
I was a teammate that could dothat.
And I, loved that experience.
And then I transferred to aschool in Kansas, an NAI school
(22:11):
where I became the big fishagain.
And I was an All American and wewon a championship and I'll take
that route, that experience andthat side was, would win out 10
times, outta 10 for me.
I love it.
I'm gonna ask you one more'causeyou, you just brought up
something I think is reallyvaluable.
Okay.
You're that kid in, there's akid in Montana and he wants to
(22:34):
play at St.
Leo.
What does he do?
H how does, how do you want thatkid?
He is the captain of his team.
He is a four year starter at thehigh school level.
He's all conference all state,but he wants to come to Florida.
He wants to go to Saint Leo.
How does he reach out to you?
How does he let him himself knowthat you're, or let you know he
(22:55):
is interested?
He has to, obviously persistenceand getting in contact and
emailing and using everyconnection and every way you can
get into that coach's ear isfirst and foremost a player like
that where it's unique and it'snot somebody in our backyard or
somebody that in our traditionalrecruiting pipeline or area,
they gotta find a way to get infront of us in person, if they
think that it's truly the, wherethey want to be in their dream
(23:18):
spot and realistic, right?
You've had enough advice.
Enough direction that somebodyhas told you, yeah, this is a
realistic place you should bepursuing.
I think once, sending film andonce, in my case personally, if
it was that player, I wouldwanna make sure watching them on
video, that it was realistic,right?
That it was, I see somethingthat sparks the interest that I
(23:40):
need to see you play live.
With, division two budgets anddivision two staffs and those
things is probably gonna, putthe onus on them to come down
here.
To come down here.
Whether, maybe we're lucky inFlorida that a lot of people, a
lot of club teams and a lot ofpeople travel here in the Yeah.
The winter months to play.
So maybe we can see'em that way.
And if not, I have to see him ata camp.
(24:01):
I have to get him to our camp tosee campus and to do it.
But I would want that to be aspecial case where I.
You know, Hey, you're goodenough.
We wanna see you here.
And just to confirm and thenmove forward.
But but that's a good question.
Really good question.
Are you and your staffcomfortable with that kid
calling you and saying, Hey, I'dlove to come to your camp.
It's gonna cost my parents and Iabout a thousand bucks to do it.
We don't have a lot of money.
(24:22):
Would you gimme a two minuteevaluation based on my film?
Just, is it realistic?
Thousand thousand percent?
Yeah, that's, that is, camps, weuse camps tremendously for
recruiting.
But we also don't want it to beit, it's not meant just to,
bring everybody in everysituation to come to camp.
The majority, it's a.
It's a drive, it's an easysituation.
You come there for those ones.
(24:43):
Yeah.
We'll 100%.
Do as much PO like either tell'em, Hey, it's probably not
worth your while.
Yeah.
But, or Yes, please come.
And a lot of times in thosecases, we wouldn't even mention
camp until we, did think it wasa realistic possibility.
And we would do everything wecould.
Through other avenues to see'emplay.
But yeah, I think that's thothose can happen and those are
(25:03):
but yeah, we're gonna make sureit's a realistic one.
Absolutely.
Coach.
So thank you so much for allthis time you've given me today.
Your advice is fantastic.
Of course.
I love your energy, I love yourpassion for this and your guys
are lucky to have you and St.
Leo's lucky to have you.
So we'll be cheering for youguys and thanks again for All
right.
Appreciate it, Matt.
Thanks for having me.
(25:25):
That wraps up our recruitingconversation with Coach Brett
Parker.
Whether you're just starting outor navigating the final stages
of the recruiting process, Ihope today's episode gave you
real insight into what collegecoaches value and how to
approach recruiting the rightway.
I love Coach Parker's approachto teaching, mentoring, and
building strong long-termprograms.
(25:46):
And don't forget, the SoftballRecruits Journal and the game
day version are now available onAmazon.
These tools.
Walk your student athletes stepby step through the entire
recruiting journey with space toset goals, track communication,
prepare for visits, and makeconfident decisions.
Journals for volleyball,baseball, soccer, and basketball
(26:09):
are coming this summer for freerecruiting tips.
Tools and resources, or toschedule a free coaching or
recruiting session with me.
Head over to coach mattrogers.com.
Thanks for listening tosignificant Recruiting.
Keep leading with purpose andI'll see you next time.
Popular Podcasts
Cold Case Files: Miami
Joyce Sapp, 76; Bryan Herrera, 16; and Laurance Webb, 32—three Miami residents whose lives were stolen in brutal, unsolved homicides. Cold Case Files: Miami follows award‑winning radio host and City of Miami Police reserve officer Enrique Santos as he partners with the department’s Cold Case Homicide Unit, determined family members, and the advocates who spend their lives fighting for justice for the victims who can no longer fight for themselves.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.