College soccer coaches care more about attitude than talent because they're liable if players break the law, judged on graduation rates, and developing whole people. One coach gave a full scholarship to a player with maturity, made him captain by sophomore year. Talent alone doesn't guarantee success.
Why do college coaches talk about culture and attitude so much? They make it seem like it's even more important than being able to kick a ball.
Oh my God, now I'm in 8th grade, I'm the coolest kid in the school, everybody listens to what I do. This is what I have to put up with. A guy can't even handle a pass, a simple basic pass, and people tell him my attitude is the problem. His attitude is the problem. The coach, the people, my other players, their problem is the attitude. I'm I have to act any way I want because look, I have role models, professional high-level role models that can prove it doesn't matter how you act to other people. You still get fame, fortune. Watch this, for example. Hey, my name is Zidane. Ah, someone doesn't act right, give them a little headbutt. Guess what? You end up being the coach of Barcelona or some team in Spain, whatever it is. Call me Johnny Zidane later.
Number 1, college coaches can actually get fired if a player were to do something illegal, maybe go to jail because they were partying too much. And so their livelihood is on the line based off of a player they recruit. In my own college experience, we did have a player who got in trouble, did get arrested, and the college coach was not happy. And that was a very bad thing. Next, if you don't graduate from college, the coaches are ranked on a score, and if you don't graduate from the school, they get marked down. Because part of what their job is, is to develop you as a human and make sure that you go get a job and get an education and, or maybe make it to the next level. So they want to make sure that you're a good person, not just a good soccer player. And most importantly, college coaches know that in order to win games, it's not only about being good. There's lots of good soccer players. Everybody knows who the best players are. Who's going to find the gem who maybe has been overlooked and has a really good attitude and who's going to become the captain? And when I think about my own career, my college coach told me that I got my full scholarship from the airport to the training facility because of the way I acted, because the way I asked questions, because the way I was interested in his own personal life. And he was like, this is an adult, a mature person. I think this player is going to be my captain. And I was captain by sophomore year. So don't be Zidane-ing anybody, because immediately if you show any kickout, any body language, you're done, you're fired, you're out of here. It is not going to work. So don't be Johnny Zidane. If you want more help playing college soccer, give me a call. Links in the bio. I'm the College Soccer Guy. I help you play college soccer.
