SB Nation User Blog: tacojohn

IU Soccer Returns to the Yeagley Family

tacojohn — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 03:34:07 -0000

[EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a fanPost by Tacojohn that has been promoted from the sidebar. Thanks again, Tacojohn, for the fine IU soccer content.]

I'm firmly of the believe that every coaching fire is only as good as the subsequent hire. Change for change's sake is bad, the change needs to be positive. If IU was introducing Caleb Porter right now, just days after he came agonizingly close to winning a national title, the question of whether the decision to axe a coach just five years removed from a national title was a good idea would have been answered with a resounding yes.

With Todd Yeagley, the jury is still out.

Todd Yeagley brings a legendary name to the program, as well as promising performances as an assistant with IU, having been on the staff for IU's last two national championship teams. What he doesn't bring is the one thing that Caleb Porter could have brought: an established track record as a head coach of success at the highest levels of the sport. As the most decorated program of the last 35 years, you would have thought that IU would be able to land such a coach.

Perhaps it's the money. Yeagley will receive the same $95,000 (give or take) base salary that Mike Freitag received. Camps and promotional money pushes that figure over $100,000. But Caleb Porter recently received a significant raise on a contract that already paid over $100,000 and got the security of a five-year deal while Yeagley is on a year-by-year contract.

It's impossible to avoid questioning whether IU take soccer as seriously as Akron. The firing of Mike Freitag suggested that Indiana Soccer was not just another nonrevenue sports program. It was a program where extremely high expectations had to be met. But in order to demand that, the athletic department must commit resources to give the coach a reasonable chance at success. Right now, it looks like Akron is doing that while Indiana is not.

A contract for a certain number of years also would have answered a very thorny question: how long is this turnaround supposed to take? If you believe that Jerry Yeagley orchestrated this whole episode, you would expect Todd to be a fairly long leash. As a fan who can't escape that conclusion, it would be nice to know exactly how long that leash is.

Now Yeagley must assemble a staff and build or maintain IU's recruiting class. IU has a strong, but unspectacular class, while Yeagley put together one of Wisconsin's best classes in a while by cleaning up in the fertile recruiting grounds of Chicago. As soccer does not have an early signing period, none of these players have signed on the dotted line and cannot until February. The hard work then begins in the spring and in August as Yeagley will be expected to show promise with a talented group that underachieved over the last few years.

Todd Yeagley was never going to be the slam dunk hire that reenergized IU Soccer fans. Whether you're in support of this hire largely depends on what you felt Mike Freitag's major failing was. To those who believe it was a lack of adjustments and preparation, it makes little sense to replace him with a second-year head coach. To those (including me) who believe it was because Freitag had gotten away from Indiana's core values of hard work, rock solid fundamentals, and technical ability (embodied in Jerry Yeagley's manifesto "The IU Soccer Player"), then returning to the program's roots makes perfect sense.

We'll know in a few years if the decision to fire Mike Freitag was a smart one. Indiana Soccer experienced a similar drought a few years ago, not as severe but longer as the program failed to deliver a national title for a decade as IU's athletes and conditioning played catch-up with the rest of collegiate soccer, especially Bruce Arena's Virginia teams. Even as the patriarch's son, Yeagley will be expected to deliver. And he will be expected to deliver a lot very quickly.

Mike Freitag, Unplugged

tacojohn — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 20:48:29 -0000

Mike Freitag had every reason to blast Indiana. He certainly could have fired back at the Indiana University administration and point out that not only had he compiled a record over the last six years that the vast majority of schools would be thrilled to have, he also graduated players and conducted himself like a gentleman. And certainly men's soccer has seen vivid examples of not acting like a gentleman recently.

But Freitag's teary comments at Armstrong today showed why many people thought he would have no trouble continuing the legacy Jerry Yeagley had established at IU. While he made it absolutely clear he was unhappy with his dismissal and the way it was carried out, he also refused to add to the negativity.

Freitag started off by thanking the university for the opportunity. Importantly, Freitag made it clear that he understood the expectations of the job. It would certainly be understandable for a coach to wonder what was expected of him when he was fired after coming within two minutes of going to a Final Four.

Freitag's biggest complaint was the meeting between the players and administration that occurred shortly after their loss to UNC. His comments make it sound like he thought he was railroaded, ambushed by an administration that had made up its mind and then gathered the evidence to fit the conclusion.

But Freitag seemed to be missing the point on two issues. First, he specifically focused on scheduling. Yes, IU scheduled a tougher than normal slate this year. The games against Wake and St. John's in the Classic are par for the course, but normally IU would play away games either at UCSB or at Akron, not both. In addition, the Big Ten had a great year this year (5 of 7 teams going to the tournament) and teams IU plays regularly like Butler and Louisville are on the rise. But the difficult schedule did its job: IU hosted two tournament games and having the #6 RPI (when last published) probably helped them get that Butler game at home.

And a note to Fred Glass: that's the schedule that IU fans expect. Sure, raking up 15-18 wins against Evansville, IUPUI, Oakland, etc. would be a gaudy record. But for IU to be battle-ready for the tournament, the team needs that sort of schedule. And for IU Soccer to be a successful commercial and spectator venture, the schedule needs to feature the premier teams in the country.

Second, Freitag seems shocked that the players were unhappy with him. I think the information vacuum is causing the problem here. Glass can mention that the players were dissatisfied, but he can't address specific issues they voiced. Freitag then can't respond to issues if he doesn't know they exist. If a player is angry at Mike Freitag, I would have to think it's partially because IU recruits are sold on the idea of winning titles and going to the Final Four. And once again, a group of recruits didn't get to experience that.

Freitag's statement is all you could want from a departing coach. It's honest, but professional. It shows a fire and passion for the game, as well as a pretty good understanding of why he was fired (with some gaps). Too often in recent past, IU fans have been quick to transform professional failures into personal ones. Mike Freitag has earned better even if his performance is not good enough to deserve another year of employment, and hopefully his statement today showed that.

Freitag Era Over at IU

tacojohn — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:43:31 -0000

[Editor's note: this is a FanPost by TacoJohn that I have bumped to the front page, and adds some much-needed content on IU's most important non FB/BB sport] Mike Freitag's firing as the head soccer coach at Indiana University ends a tenure that while not disastrous, was certainly nowhere near what IU had come to expect historically. The story of the decline of IU soccer from the top of the mountain to its present level is a curious one as well. In the end, too many signs pointed to the head coach as the problem, ultimately why athletic director Fred Glass made the change.

When Freitag was elevated to head coach as Jerry Yeagley's handpicked successor in 2004, all was right with IU Soccer. Yeagley had retired in storybook fashion. Following the worst start in school history, the team rebounded to sweep through the Big Ten and Big Ten Tournament, winning both titles. Along the way, the Indy Star helped out with an assist that resulted in the NCAA statistic being changed and Yeagley earning the title of winningest coach ever. IU played survive and advance (outside of a 5-0 thrashing of VCU) to win the program's sixth national title and send its patriarch out on top.

Freitag kept the ball rolling in 2004. Arguably a more dominating regular season ended with IU capturing yet another Big Ten title. A slight hiccup in the Big Ten Tournament saw IU ousted in the second round after a bye by Michigan State. But momentum returned, and IU rolled to the College Cup without conceding a goal before two thrilling victories in double overtime against Maryland and in penalties over UC-Santa Barbara to win the seventh national title. Midfielder Danny O'Rourke added the cherry on top winning the MAC Hermann Award, the Heisman of college soccer.

2005 was supposed to be the beginning of a dynasty. O'Rourke, defender Drew Moor and goalkeeper Jay Nolly were big losses to graduation. But with forward Jacob Peterson and midfielder Brian Plotkin returning, most of the firepower was back. And there was a major addition in the form of Lee Nguyen, the national player of the year. But the team never gelled. It lacked a hard nosed ball winner like O'Rourke or veteran leadership in the back. A loss to Penn State and ties against Northwestern and Ohio State denied IU a Big Ten title, and Penn State took the tournament crown. IU started the NCAA tournament with a dominating 45 minutes that didn't produce a goal followed by Notre Dame getting two goals in the second half to send IU home.

2006 and 2007 were remarkably similar. Freitag continued the pattern he had started with Nguyen of targeting the US Youth National Team residency program for his top recruits, with players like Daniel Kelly, Ofori Sarkodie, and Kevin Alston. Both teams won the Big Ten title, and in 2006 the team captured the Big Ten tournament crown. But each team showed signs of weakness. The 2006 squad was pushed to overtime far too often, including a bizarre 5-4 overtime loss to Notre Dame. The 2007 team dropped games IU should traditionally have rolled through, namely UAB and Louisville.

The two seasons ended in similar fashion. At home, against an opponent IU should have been able to take care of, the Hoosiers failed to score a goal and ended up losing in penalty kicks to Santa Clara and Bradley respectively. Over three years, from 2005-2007, IU managed just one win in the tournament, against Northern Illinois in 2006. On average, IU would have been expected to go to a College Cup in at least one of those years.

After three straight disappointments at the end of the season, the pressure was clearly increasing in 2008. Freitag appeared to return to IU's traditional Midwestern recruiting base, nabbing decorated high school players like Will Bruin and Tommy Meyer. But in the regular season, IU was once again wildly inconsistent. IU was walloped by Dartmouth 4-0 and lost three conference games to finished tied for third. But after a first round by in the NCAA Tournament, IU appeared to have exorcised the demons of '05-'07 and beat St. Louis and Michigan handily to earn a trip to St. John's. Up 2-0 with less than three minutes to play, IU collapsed in stupendous fashion. Two quick goals earned the Red Storm the overtime and PK four minutes into the extra frame ended IU's season.

With seven starters returning including stars like Sarkodie, Meyer, and Bruin, IU looked poised to get over the hump and back to the College Cup after graduating the first class in history that didn't go to soccer's Final Four. Once again, IU stumbled out of the gate and never righted themselves. Two wins at the Notre Dame tournament merely balanced a single point earned at the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic. The low point of the season was a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Louisville where afterwards Louisville players said playing IU had no mystique about it. IU rebounded for two good tournament wins against Louisville and Butler (who had also beaten IU) before losing to UNC in the Sweet Sixteen.

The disappointing record is only part of the story. Chris Korman reports that Glass ultimately decided that Freitag had lost the team. More importantly, he had lost the support of Jerry Yeagley. The relationship between protege and mentor appears to have disintegrated as well as Freitag took Yeagley's baby and (at least in Yeagley's opinion) ran it into the ground. We can only guess what the tone of the meeting with the players and administration was, but I doubt it was unanimous support and admiration for Freitag.

The manner in which Freitag was fired also tells a lot about Jerry Yeagley's continued influence on the program. Yeagley clearly is not just around the program, he remains involved and either has some real power to make decisions or an opinion that is valued quite highly. For now at least, we know the head coach of IU men's soccer has to answer to two masters: Fred Glass and Jerry Yeagley.

Not only is this the first coaching hire for Fred Glass, but also the first time IU has truly hired a varsity head soccer coach. Yeagley was in place when the club team was elevated to varsity status 35 years ago, and Freitag was Yeagley's handpicked successor. For both those reasons, IU will be expected to hit a home run.

The smart money would be on Caleb Porter, who has turned Akron into a national power currently steamrolling their way through an undefeated season and looking like the prohibitive favorites for the national title. With Yeagley involved, his son Todd, the head coach at Wisconsin will probably be a candidate, as well as Brian Massinoueve, currently an assistant at Louisville. Or perhaps a successful ACC coach such as Jay Vidovich can be lured to IU. Other dark horses might include Tim Von Steeg of UCSB or John Trask of Illinois-Chicago, another former IU player and assistant.

Above all, Freitag's firing just five years removed from a national title shows that IU is serious about men's soccer. The next head coach will be expected to deliver College Cups and national titles, as well as restoring the mystique surrounding the most successful program in the sport over last 30 years. Maybe Freitag is simply the victim of being "the guy after the legend" or he got caught up in a program that has an outside influence that is simply too strong and meddling.

Unlike Glass, I believe the record speaks for itself. Freitag simply did not deliver the wins, the performances, or the hardware that IU Soccer demands. Having set the standard, it's now on Glass, Chris Reynolds, and maybe Jerry Yeagley to prove that the support of the administration is equal to the expectations.