Coach Litz

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

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..

@dpshow i got 3 minutes into the toddcast and couldn't deal with him. I like Todd too but.... wow

"Now, what I can give to the game is beyond anything I could do as a player." @TobinHeath looks ahead to a future of giving back to the game ❤️⚽️

181 @USWNT caps, 36 goals, 42 assists, 4 world championships, only 1 Tobin Heath. Welcome to the Hall of Fame, Tobin Heath!

Scanning through the spring #TransferPortal many of the high turnover D1 programs are well represented yet again. When will players and parents start doing research before they make their commitments as will make their college experience as student athletes a lot more enjoyable.

🚨This graphic is a heart-wrenching wake-up call. 37 dreams started at this Power 4 program over the past 4 years, and only 5 are left on the roster. What’s truly devastating is the statistical probability that several of those final 5 won't even make it to graduation. 🙏💔 Top Players in the Class of 2028 do you want to end at a program that has a 90% chance you will not make it to graduation as everyone thinks they will be different and that is also what these 37 players thought as well. #CollegeSoccer #AthleteSupport

DM: Here are some interesting stats for goalkeeper recruiting and their journey of where they are today and how they have contributed with play time. 116 Division | Goalkeepers pooled from the 2023 Freshman Class. Have any of them quit? Yes - 14 have quit playing all together. (12%) How many transferred? 33 have transferred (28%) This leaves 69 (59%) that have remained with the same school they originally committed to. -Parent of a D1 Athlete #CSTruth

@Eagles Let's go Howie!

2026 NFL Draft, LET'S GO‼️

@HiMyNameIsSeton hey man just letting you know you're missed on the show. Soccer especially will be missed by me. I hope you stay sharing more personal stuff on your twitter. Keep us up to date.

DM: We have started our individual meetings and parents and college players need a reminder that spring season success doesn’t necessarily translate to the fall season. Uncomfortable conversations and decisions still need to be made at the end of year. We’re not judged on friendlies in the spring, we’re judged whether or not we make our conference tournament and NCAA tournament consistently. Some of my starters this spring will struggle to see the field in big games this fall. Don’t assume your spring success translates to the fall season when it matters. -D1 Power 4 HC #CSTruth

@PrinceMarv13 I thought I was rooting for Michigan until tip off and it turns out Hurleys duke connection won me over. Can't wait to hear about this game tomorrow.

@HiMyNameIsSeton did the parley hit?

The resume speaks for itself! University of Scranton Lady Royals coach and former (forever) Dunmore Buck Ben O’Brien the 🐐 @bjo2225

@brooklynfritzy Hope you are able to book Alysa Liu next week. @dpshow

🚨Class of 2027 - Want to play D1 soccer than it is important to know where there is still opportunity left as we see way to many players chasing schools that are done recruiting or already filled up at their positions as roster limits are real and getting recruited to play D1 is harder than ever. Attached is 8 slides that walk through detailed data on 30+ D1 conferences. Please share this in a story to help get the word out on where there is opportunity left as recruiting can be very stressful for players (and Mom and Dad)!! Being informed can be the difference between making good or bad decisions and with 150 players committing each month it is important to target the right school, conferences and level (ie D1, D2, D3) if you want to play college soccer. Until we created this account this data was a not available and recruiting was a black box. We are definitely going to track the Power 4 data in 2028 but not the mid majors so the Class of 2028 and 2029 should use this data as a rough timeline as this info won't be available unfortunately for your classes as we don't have the bandwidth to continue to track at this level. Like this post if you want to see more content like this and Good Luck!!! #ecnl #girlsacademy #d1 #soccerlife #collegesoccer

For slow but technical soccer players, it’s tough to hear that speed matters. For soft players, it’s tough to hear that physicality matters. For short players, it’s tough to hear that height matters. For technical, tactical, but slow players, it’s tough to hear that speed matters. Recruits and Parents, it’s college soccer, nothing more. It’s a product of elite athleticism and pace will have a higher probability of winning. Elite athleticism and pace will have a higher probability of being recruited. Very few schools have the ability to recruit the total package, (technical, tactical, speed, height, physical, athleticism, mental). 90% of schools rely on elite athleticism and pace. For the frustrated parent and recruit that’s uncommitted but feels their son or daughter is a good soccer player, it’s tough to hear that this 👆is College Soccer. #CSTruth

🚨363 D2 players (75%) that entered the fall #TransferPortal did NOT find a new place to play college soccer and a majority will never play competitive soccer again. Only 100 D2 players found a new home.

🚨Over 400 D1 players (36%) that entered the fall #TransferPortal did NOT find a new place to play college soccer and will be competing with players that enter in the spring portal for limited roster spots. Some will never play competitive soccer again.