I started the Tales From The Trail Podcast from MatchPlay to bring highly valuable content to high school athletes who want to continue their careers in college. This can be a very overwhelming process and the goal of the podcast is to bring top college coaches and other experts together to discuss a wide range of topics relevant to the recruiting process.
In this episode, Justin Chezem, head coach of men’s soccer at Christopher Newport University and I welcome 3 men’s soccer head coaches: Chris Norris of William & Mary, Emmett Rutkowski of Stetson University, and Tommy DiNuzzo of Hampden-Sydney College. The discussion revolves around different approaches to recruiting, including the use of the transfer portal, international players, and domestic high school players. We also touch on the importance of culture and finding the right fit for each player. Among many other topics, we shift into the offseason and the advice given to incoming freshmen and rising seniors on how to prepare for the upcoming season. The coaches emphasize the importance of staying fit, playing with older and more experienced players, and attending ID camps to showcase your skills.
In this episode, I welcome Jason Simms. Jason is currently the Associate Athletics Director for Student Engagement, Alumni Relations, & Recruitment at the College of William and Mary. Additionally, he is the Athletics Department DEI initiatives liaison. Simms is the sport administrator for Men’s & Women’s Swimming, Men’s Soccer, and Women’s Lacrosse. Jason does a great job describing the college student-athlete experience and what it takes to be successful as an athlete and excelling as a student as well. We should all be so lucky to have a Jason Simms in our lives.
In this episode Justin Chezem, head coach of Christopher Newport University men’s soccer and I welcome Matt Bevins, the Chief of Staff of Auburn University Football. Matt was originally a youth soccer player before becoming a standout kicker and eventually place kicking in college at Liberty University where he put his name in the record books. He stayed connected to athletics at Liberty and when the head coach, Hugh Freeze took the head coaching position at Auburn, he took Matt with him. We’re grateful to Matt for his time and insights into college football and the ever changing landscape of college athletics.
