Chris Neal

So much fun! So talented. So tough. Absolutely ❤️ this team! #TidalTown #HawkYeah

@AMDowds By saying I worked multiple part-time jobs, as a young professional to make ends meet, was simply a fact. I’m not sure what point you think I proved. Interesting that, although knowing nothing truly about me nor my story, I was labeled as privileged.

You just proved her point. “I did it” right there in your statement.

Many coaches have had a similar path to yours, and mine. I don’t know anyone that truly “wants” others to have to do that. There’s competition in everything we do in life. It’s the foundation and nature of sports. You may have to sit the bench, or join a team without scholarship, to get your chance to “earn it”. This is also a natural process that weeds out people, in every industry of life, that don’t have the true desire, work ethic, or ability. It’s the basic motivation for internships at all levels. I think the argument should truly be, “what are athletic departments doing with their available resources?” I feel that often coaches see athletic department resources going to certain areas and we struggle to understand why those resources aren’t going to support good employees that are vital and deserving.

My first year coaching. I was substituting teaching, door dashing, had a part time job on campus and I had two roommates. Why would I want somebody else to have to do that to get their foot in the door?

I don’t think it’s a “I had to suffer so the next generation should too” issue nor mindset. In every industry, there just is not enough $$ nor jobs to go around for everybody that wants one. If you want to “get in”, you may have to make a short-term decisions. You may have to work multiple jobs to maintain your desired lifestyle. I did it. At that time, I didn’t feel like I was suffering at all because I was chasing a dream and I was young. If I didn’t want to make that choice, I was free to go pursue other higher paying opportunities. It’s just the way the world works.

This “I had to suffer so the next generation should too” attitude in sports has got to stop. Everyone deserves to get compensated fairly.

@ImCollegeSoccer Being immersed in the day to day, I can honestly say that our student-athletes are well supported and looked after….ad best possible with the resources provided. Much of it is still about them. I can’t speak for high $$ rev share sports.

@CNeal3 Tell me…….when has it ever been about the student athletes? 🤣 #CSTruth

Don’t forget the coaches that actually listen to what the players want. D1 women’s players were surveyed. The results were overwhelmingly opposed to a two-semester model. It’s about the student athletes, right????

@ckstevenson @CoachWaldrum It does not. D1 women’s soccer voted to extend our season (beginning Fall 2026) on the front end and on the tail end, addressing student-athlete well-being concerns while also listening to the wants and needs of the women’s soccer players.

@CNeal3 @CoachWaldrum This is one of the few coherent well explained explanations of the challenges with this concept, thank you. Does the proposed change have any explanation for how these impacts can or should be addressed? Or is it basically "fend for yourselves"?

Our women’s coaches need to get on board with this for so many reasons! Unfortunately some “leadership” in women’s game oppose it…quite sad..

@ImCollegeSoccer I highly doubt it

Committee adopts 2-semester playing season for DI men’s soccer. #CSTruth You will see this on the women’s side too soon enough.

Couldn’t agree more, Marsha. Never mind the fact that most mid-major athletic departments are already understaffed or maxed out from a staffing and facilities standpoint. What are our grounds crews, OPs, game day, and media staff going to do when we’re hosting men’s soccer, softball, baseball, beach volleyball, and basketball, all on the same day. Never mind the fact that many northern mid-major athletic departments share indoor playing facilities, in the winter time, with other traditional winter and spring sports. Never mind attendance when men’s soccer is now fighting basketball for community support, outdoors in February and March. Which coach on our staff of 2 full-time coaches is going to leave the team in season, in the spring, to go recruit??? And on and on……..

So many things in life that seem phenomenal in theory are terrible in reality. The proposed split season for college soccer is one of them. Do I get the practical applications of a split season??? For sure! We complain all the time that soccer is the most demanding sport with the shortest runway. It’s crazy that we go to 0 to 60 in the amount of time that we do and cram all our games into an 11 week season. (tho at least they extended our season this year). But there are so many variables at play here. Think back to Covid when most conferences had their seasons cancelled but the P4 did not. They played all fall when the rest of us did not. Then when the NCAA announced we would have our official season in the spring, they all got a second season. This was in essence a trial run for the split season. One of my close friends who coaches at a P4 school detailed an eye opening account of all the reasons why the coaches and the players absolutely hated it. (And keep in mind this is a big time program, lots of national team players, and presumably, the most talented and most committed college players there are) 1) The obvious answer was it was just too long. He said they were all absolutely fried and over it by the end of the spring semester. And again, you are talking the upper echelons of talent and even they were miserable 2) When we are in season and focusing on games, the training is completely different than the spring. We are basically surviving and preparing for each subsequent game. We often say that every bit of player development comes in the spring. Hand in hand with that also comes playing time for the entire bottom, half of your bench who are given game opportunities to prove themselves. The same coach elaborated that those players we’re very discouraged after basically sitting on a bench, the whole YEAR and feeling like they were not getting the individual development that had occurred in a real off-season. 3) After sacrificing more than a decade of life, our seniors are so looking forward to being a “normal“ person for senior year spring semester. For the first time in life, as long as they can remember, they are able to relax and not have every single choice dictated by a sport for their last few months of “childhood”. The split season obviously requires that they play right up until graduation. 4) College athletes have a huge burnout factor, and the winter break is such a great opportunity for them to take a breather and recharge and come back with a renewed sense of commitment. A split season means that Christmas break is spent grinding with zero downtime as they prepare to come back and play games out of the gate. 5) Never mind where recruiting fits into all of this? Spring is huge for our recruiting efforts and we all just might lose our minds if we are trying to juggle all of that with also running an entire real season. 6) The entire northern half of the country will be completely screwed with this. This past winter that was so cold and snowy is a perfect example. There would have been no way in hell that games would have been able to be played in parts of February and March in many places. There are plenty of schools who have grass fields in cold climates as well—are they just supposed to now play some games on grass and some on turf and have zero consistency? 7) This will undoubtedly result in schools being forced to build turf fields and create logistical administrative nightmares given that many lacrosse teams and soccer team share fields. Someone else pointed out that it will be a good excuse for schools to eliminate more soccer programs especially when we are at a point with NIL that schools need to figure out how to save money on Olympic sports not create monumental new costs

@ImYouthSoccer Not that surprising if there was a coaching change

🚨We just looked at a WSOC Power 4 roster than has 21 players from the #TransferPortal 👀 and only 7 players they recruited from HS including only 1 Freshman and 1 Sophomore even though they recruited 19 players in the Class of 2024 and Class of 2025. Does this surprise you?

@carolinaascent @FoodLion Audrey clinical on that attack to set the goal up!

FLEXING ON THEM 💪 1 goal = 1,000 meals donated by @FoodLion to Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina

@R_Nwanguma93 It’s already being done in basketball and football and has been happening for decades. The other non-Power 4 sports and student-athletes deserve a meaningful national tournament at the end of the year as well.

@CNeal3 No. Freaking. Way. This is what the big corporations want. Do this, and it'll never be the same tournament. TRANSFER FEES and a CBA are much needed!

#Illini head coach Shauna Green was asked about why she thinks no mid-majors advanced to the Second Round of the Women's NCAA Tournament. She says a lot goes into it, including the fact that top-four seeds get to host. "In the women's game, it's hard, you've got to beat someone on their home court." (🎥: NCAA)

@golz_tv It’s a simple game made complicated by the coaching license money grab

USMNT legend Tab Ramos has called out coaching in American youth soccer 🗣️ He believes due to various circumstances, coaches are making things too complicated for young players— which ultimately harms them instead of helping them develop. “I was able to coach youth soccer outside of the national teams for a period of about 10 years,” Tab began. “Unfortunately nowadays, the game has gotten so complicated, the pyramid of soccer in this country has gotten so complicated that it's very difficult for coaches.” “By the way, it's a really big effort to get your C license, your B license, and your A license. It's an effort. It takes a lot of time. It takes a lot of money. And so now these coaches are going to go back to a club, you know, after spending all this money on their coaching education, those coaches have to get paid.” “And in order to get paid, you have to sort of not only teach the players, but you have to kind of put on a show of all of the things that you learn.” “So now I get to the complicated area. Because now what if you hired me in California? Here I am. I'm the former U.S. Soccer technical director and under-20 national team coach for four World Cups, and I have my pro license, and you bring me in and I take your players, because you just hired me to coach your team, because I'm this incredibly knowledgeable guy. And I come in and I just do small sided games with your players.” “The parents of the kids on your team are gonna be sitting around and going, ‘Wait, why are we paying for this?’ But this is what happens.” “See, I would have enough confidence to go there and do that. But the problem is that every coach in the country has to respond to a technical director.” “And because of that, they have to put on this very, you know, difficult training session that's in sequence from your activation, to your small five v two, to your small sided possession, to then the body of your work, to then the tactical to then the big game, right? You got to go through the whole thing.” “They have to do that. And the reason they have to do that is because their technical director is under pressure.” “Because for the technical director to have his club in this league, the ECNL, or whatever, you need to have all of these standards.” “And because of those standards, now the technical director is forced to hire someone who can do all these things.” “Well, at the end of the day, there's all these standards and all these things going on. And who's not benefiting is the player, because the player would benefit more from things being simple, right?” “And of course, it's only my opinion, but I think I've gotten enough experience. Forget the playing side. I've gotten enough experience on the coaching side at all levels, from youth national teams to coaching in MLS at Houston Dynamo to say, ‘Okay, let's put the brakes on this. Our training sessions are getting too complicated. How about let's go back to the beginning, right?’” “That's what matters. This is how players learn the most. And of course, every once in a while you have to have your tactical sessions, and your exercises, where you have the certain patterns to goal, and like I get all of that.” “Of course, we all know that stuff. But the simpler we make it, the more we put players in game like situations and one v one, the better.” [via Sports Recruiting USA]

Fantastic hire ! Congrats @okeefej9 !

@CoachChrisRich @okeefej9 Very BIG TIME addition! Congrats to you and @okeefej9 !

BIG TIME addition to our staff‼️ Welcome to the G, @okeefej9 ! 🤝🔥🔝

Welcome to the Hawk’s Nest, Caigan! #HawkYeah

I don’t disagree with the Sleeping Giant opinion. Unfortunately, I don’t think we will ever see a 10 month/year-round model happening unless it happens solely at the most elite and well-funded 20-30 programs. The vast majority of athletic departments can’t fund year-round support staff, facilities (shared with other sports), and team expenses. Then there are the weather considerations, up north, that complicate things. I don’t see US Soccer footing that bill either.

@CNeal3 I love college soccer and pro players can certainly still come from college. But the numbers in men's game don't back your "tons" claim. I think college soccer is a sleeping giant that, if adjusted, could provide vital education/experiences without sacrificing development.

Because college soccer is an archaic remnant trapped in the NCAA behemoth that has refused to adapt to a drastically changed American soccer landscape and culture.

That was fun!