Q&A with South Carolina soccer coach Tony Annan (Part III)

Tony Annan just wrapped up year one as South Carolina’s soccer coach.

Annan, who spent a large chunk of his career with Atlanta United, took over a South Carolina program as its second-ever coach.

The Gamecocks are getting ready for their second season under Annan. Recently, Annan spoke with GamecockCentral about the year, recruiting and more. Here’s the final part of a nearly 30-minute interview.

GCC: How do you feel recruiting’s going a year into your tenure?

“This is the first time I’ve had to recruit like this, as much like this in a really competitive arena. With Atlanta United I’d say, ‘Do you want to come to Atlanta United?’ and they said yes without even a flinch. Now I’m fighting against Wake Forest and NC State, Clemson, UNC. I’m fighting against all these teams for basically the same players and the top, top players. Honestly, I’m ecstatic with the way it’s gone.

We’ve secured some very, very talented players who have the right character and right profile for this program under me. Those two things were important to me. It’s not just about recruiting the best players but it’s about the character and profile of the player you bring in. Number one it has to match what you want to do but also has to fit the culture you’re trying to create. You could have the best player come in and it be a disaster…We’ve really gone to the nth degree as far as researching our recruits and going for the right guys, we feel. I’ve felt recruiting has gone very well.

That’s a credit to my assistant coaches…they’ve worked their tails off to get the players in as well. As far as next season goes, I can make the statement t that this team will be very competitive. That’s what I’m excited about. We compete and there will hopefully be a shift in how people see us play.”

GCC: How do you balance roster construction between international and domestic players?

“Everyone has their own way of building their roster. Some schools go all international. Their first 15 players are international players and then there are some domestic players on the back end. That’s not something I strive to do. I would like a blend of good domestic players and some international guys to give a different flavor, different look, different maturity, different IQ, even different technical ability sometimes.

Right now, I think we’re sitting at eight internationals on a roster of 27. For me, that gives us a good balance. But we dove into position-specific profiling. The way we want to play, the kid had to match our profile for us to even look at him. Whether it’s domestic or international it doesn’t’ matter to me. I never want to have a team that’s without good domestic players. I think that’s important to the American college system.

But our balance was more about getting the right player in the right position with the right profile regardless of if they’re from Germany, France, San Antonio, Atlanta. It didn’t matter to us. I think that’s the best approach for us at this point where we are…that’s how we approached it. We ended up with some very good American players we’re excited about but we also ended up with some extremely talented internationals we feel will be a good balance across our first 11.”

GCC: What’s the difference between recruiting internationally?

“It becomes a thing of going back to how they’ve developed and what place they’re developed. A South American player is very different than a German player. An English player is way different than a French player. It really does come across. You’ll see a different approach and different mentality.

You look at an English player and they’re usually really hard-working, going at a 100 percent tempo whereas sometimes you get a player from France who’s extremely technical and extremely clever but doesn’t work at that tempo. You have different cultures that produce different types of players…it doesn’t really matter to me if they’re international or domestic as long as they can do what’s required of their role.”

Recruiting pitch?

“I can’t give everything away. I’m very honest with the player and the expectations. I lay out the expectations; I lay out what they’re going to do when they get here. I lay out how we’re going to do it. I show them how we play in detail. I explain to them the profile and character piece and honesty piece and all the core values we require for you to play here. I think that’s the best approach. Just be honest and not BS and not say something you cannot deliver. Other schools and other coaches have their own philosophy in recruitment.

That doesn’t always sit well with me and belief in that’s the way to go. I can give a couple of examples of what I feel is dishonest recruitment. I think what I say to the guys is always tell them the truth, always be very open, always be very human with them. Show them a human element to you as well as a football side. Never, ever promise them something we will not deliver. I think that’s the biggest pitch for us and how inclusive we are with the families and everyone else.

But never promise them anything that can’t be delivered when they get here. I think that’s the best way to go. Have we lost recruits because we didn’t BS? Absolutely. Have we lost recruits because I didn’t talk about myself and all my achievements in the game? Absolutely.  But I’m not here to tell them how great I am or how great I can be or how great Alec’s career was. It’s about them and their expectations of what they get when they get here. I think honesty and integrity are two of the biggest parts of recruitment. Most parents who help their kids make a decision appreciate the honesty and straightforwardness of our recruitment style.

We use all elements of humanity. We use humor, we use honesty, we use straightforward talk. We use everything we can to show them our personality. I don’t want to sit here like a robot and say I will do this, this and this. There has to be some interaction. I think human interaction is something that lacks in society at the moment. When you can show a parent or player you care and these are the things that show you we care, they see the honest approach to your recruitment. And we do not talk about anybody else. That’s not always done. We don’t talk about other programs, we don’t talk about other coaching staff, we don’t throw anybody under the bus.

We refuse to talk about anybody else. Whereas on the flip side a lot of people have used our record over the past five or six years to recruit against us. That’s up to them. But one thing I preach is we do not talk about other programs and other coaches, their style of play, the way they talk. We don’t. We stay away from it.”

So you want them to choose South Carolina because of South Carolina?

“Correct. Honestly, if I’m a dad sitting there with a kid and I hear a coach say well that coach isn’t very good and that coach doesn’t do this or that coach doesn’t do that.’ I wonder why that coach has to say that about the other coach or the other program. So we choose to not talk about anybody else.”