Andy Fleming is the head coach of men’s soccer at Xavier University. Xavier University is a NCAA Division I institution located in Cincinnati, Ohio. Xavier is a member of the Big East conference alongside other schools such as: Georgetown University, St. John's University, and Providence College. 

Andy Fleming has had a number of career coaching highlights at Xavier and other programs. Andy is the Winningest coach in Xavier history by total wins and win percentage with a career record of 98-55-30 (.617) entering the 2019 season. Fleming has also had eight NCAA Tournament appearances as a coach, reaching the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2009 and 2014 and the NCAA Elite Eight in 2008. Xavier has advanced to the Big East Championships title match twice under Fleming (2014 and 2017). 

Andy Fleming has a ton of experience when it comes to playing and coaching soccer. In this interview, Andy gives some tips for athletes to stay active during this time, and shares his own personal recruiting story. Andy also shares some of his best-recruiting tips and his ‘Do’s and Don’ts’ of communicating with college coaches during recruitment. Lastly, Andy shares his ‘top 5’ moment and his ‘not top 5’ moment of coaching with us. Enjoy!

Coach

Andy Fleming: Head Coach of Men’s Soccer at Xavier University.

Topic 1: Do’s and Don’ts of Recruitment 

Andy’s biggest 'Don’t' about the recruitment process, is for parents to not be too involved with the process. He says that the parents should not be the ones asking all the questions on the campus visit, and overwhelming the coach. He also advises parents to not ask about how much money their kid will get in scholarships right away on the first visit. He also advises parents to watch how they behave at games. He is always watching them and taking note if they are yelling at the refs, and being asked to leave. The biggest 'Do' is encouraging athletes to look at the recruiting process like a job interview. He gives some examples of questions they should be prepared to ask. 

Topic 4: Coach Communication & Video Tips

Andy tells athletes to be consistent with their communication, but to not overdo it. He also asks athletes to understand that there is not a lot coaches can do right now. Andy says he thinks videos will help, but ultimately they will want to see you in person at some point - but they have no control over when that will be able to happen. As far as general tips for videos Andy reminds athletes to try and find ways to make themselves stand out from other videos. Andy recommends 7-12 minutes of highlights and to make sure your academic data and contact information is easy to find in the video. 

Topic 5: Coaching Background

Andy says that he has never looked at coaching as a job because it is something he is so passionate about. Even from a young age, he would drive to football and baseball practices and watch the team practice and study the coach. In Andy's junior year of college the coach started to ask Andy’s opinion on ideas he had for the team, by his senior year he was being sent out to watch recruits. Andy then talks about how he worked his way up in the coaching world to where he is today.

Topic 6: Tips for Staying Active

Andy compares this time to be viewed as an offseason for a professional player. Andy stresses the importance of having a schedule and setting aside time to plan your day. He also says that the most important thing is to look at this situation with a growth mindset. Andy shares that he believes athletes should pursue something everyday, whether it is socially, physically, or academically. 

Topic 10: Not Top 5 Moment

In 2010, Andy was working at a soccer camp; there was a minute left in the game and the score was 0-0. Andy had his goalkeeper come up for a corner kick, but the opposing team received the ball, and kicked it clear down the field and scored the winning goal.

The recruitment process may be a bit different given the current COVID-19 pandemic, but use what you can to reach out to coaches and stay active. Remember Andy Fleming's Do's and Don'ts, and tips to your recruitment process advantage!

Full Transcript:

Jess Gregory  

Alright, everybody. I am here with Coach Andy Fleming. He is the head men's soccer coach over at Xavier University in Ohio. How are we doing today, Andy? 

Andy Fleming  

Good afternoon. Thank you for having me. 

Jess Gregory  

Yeah, absolutely. Glad you could sit down and chat for a bit. How are things out in Ohio? 

Andy Fleming  

Yeah. Good. It's a bit of a bubble. I think our state did a good job of getting ahead of this. We do have four kids ages 10. And under here, so I apologize in advance for any entertainment or any, you know, disruptions, but no, overall, not too bad. I think there's a lot of positives that come along with this. I call it a, you know, physical distancing, but not necessarily social distancing, I think, town to grow and reflect and self improve, and there's definitely things people can get out of this and a positive thing and I think that's kind of been under sold a little bit of missed all the madness.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah, absolutely. It's always nice to kind of grab a silver lining from what's going on and take it run with it. Yeah,

Andy Fleming  

yeah. Particularly from a professional development standpoint. For coaches right now. Maybe even for student athletes as far as reading, getting fit and getting your mind right, and kind of reevaluate and reconnecting. I think those who have discipline and structure right now, haven't loved this, but they've been able to continue and have some success.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah, for sure. Um, with that kind of being said, let's kind of start off there, then do you have any tips that you can share with the athletes and what they can do while they're at home during this time, and maybe kind of think of it as an offseason? 

Andy Fleming  

You know, one of my assistant coaches played two years in Major League Soccer, and he told our guys is very much like an offseason for a pro. So there's really nobody around to watch you. You really have one job and that's to stay fit and keeping form. But with that, it's very difficult. Some kids and we send them home away from our Xavier bubble. I think for most of them, it's very easy because they have good habits and they come from good homes. And there's always a handful, that it's not as easy. I think they're demotivated there, nobody's watching them and I need a coach. So I think as long as you have a schedule, I think as long as you're habits are intact. I know every morning, my wife and I wake up and exercise first, then we kind of make our list of things for the day, I have mine right in front of me my planner checklist of what to do, then the kids get up breakfast, and we're still getting them up getting them dressed, and actually replicating a regular school day. And I think that's important. So I think as long as there's time, you know, to have a plan to work the plan and plan the work as they say, I think that's important. But I think the biggest thing is to look at it with a growth mindset. Like I can get better in a couple areas right now. I can come along in a couple areas. And even though you might not have, you know what you want, there's a lot of things that you need her in tech for you.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah, absolutely. I think that's a nice way to stay mentally engaged, as well as to kind of put a list out there of what you need to do for the day. sure you're getting those things done. Otherwise, I think it's way too easy to just kind of hang out on the couch and binge Netflix. So

Andy Fleming  

yeah, so here's my planner and there's a checklist and there's a little checks on it. So I'm a little OCD and type A but I think you have to be pursuing something every day. And whether it's physically, socially, academically, I think making sure you're, you know, you're keeping your mind right as well, because there is a mental component to this. And I did read recently that positivity and humor are probably very important right now and needed. It's important to be a good friend, and to stay in touch with people as well.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah, absolutely. These video chats are kind of nice to you. I'm not sure what we would have had 1015 years ago without kind of having this now, he think it'd be a lot more boring and people would struggles a little bit or so.

Andy Fleming  

Yeah, good time to be 17 years old. I tell everybody that.

Jess Gregory  

Exactly. Exactly. Now, coach, can you share some recruiting tips with our athletes and kind of give them an idea of what they can be doing during this time? You know, I know you guys can't go out and watch them or do anything like that just yet, but there are certainly things that they can be doing. While we wait for that to happen.

Andy Fleming  

The three things I continue to tell my team That I think a pretty versatile is one be adaptable. So geez the NCAA lifted the limit now I can go to camps be ready to go to a camp. Hey, my coach threw together a friendly, the fields are open now we're going to play 11 v 11. Well I you know, I don't have a ride, get a ride or I normally don't play in that team I can guess play, go play in the game. Okay, be adaptable. You might have wanted to pick a school by now obviously you have to adapt them they're seeing that that might go into summer and into the fall. So adaptable. Second one, be creative. Be creative in your correspondence, be creative and finding a way to continually get video to coaches. Be creative, as far as how you're going to visit colleges and kind of weave things into your summer calendar. And then obviously be disciplined. You know, continue to be disciplined with your pursuit, keep your correspondence going, keep your fitness, get on the ball and do all that you can it is within your control. So even though right now it's a disadvantage of some sort. I do think it's a very level playing field for the whole country. Whether it college players, youth players. And if you are driven and have discipline, I do think right now, you can actually get an edge because several people will go backwards right now, because they don't have a coach and they need that environment.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah, absolutely. Now speaking of the communication with coaches, what are some kind of tips you can give them on what they can do to communicate? Like, um, you know, maybe they don't have new film, what can they send out to you guys that would be helpful during this time.

Andy Fleming  

I just think, you know, don't do stuff just to do stuff. You know, I think we're all seeing that a lot in the workplace where, hey, let's have a zoom or, hey, here's another email. And clearly these people are panicking or they're bored or they're trying to justify you know, what they're doing with their job. We know who you are. We know you're interested. We know you want to come to our camp. We know you want to visit. If you were able to play in that tournament, you would have been there I would have been there to see. So I think probably being consistent without overdoing it. And understand there's really not a lot I can do right now. And I think one thing, we're all looking forward to Some type of answers, or some type of affirmation that, hey, everything's gonna be okay. Or this is gonna happen soon. We don't know any answers because it really revolves around medicine and the world and the earth. And rather than, you know, I have a nephew who's a junior in high school up in Connecticut, and he's a DA player, and he's on committed. And he keeps asking me questions. What do you think of this? What do you think of this? And I feel bad, but like, there are no answers. So the only thing we can't replicate right now is seeing someone play live. And with that, I think video will help you have to understand we probably going to want to see you in person and ultimately meet you on our campus, and we really have no control over that.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah, absolutely. So let's just say then that this is a normal time and kids have video, what are some things that you like to see when they send that over? Do you want a full game, you want them to highlight themselves kind of tips like that of what in general you kind of look at when they do send a video.

Andy Fleming  

I can tell you going back 25 years, I can't remember certain videos just because of the way it was put together. I can remember the music. I can remember how catchy It was, I think if you are a little bit creative without overdoing it, I do think these can get monotonous. And I do think there's a way to differentiate yourself. So that's first thing. Second thing, probably seven to 12 minutes of highlights, making sure we know who you are. And every once in a while, particularly international videos we get and some of the kids are definitively highlighted and it's easier to know where they are than other times you're really concentrating and having to really watch and figure out who the person is. Okay, so that's the second thing. And then you know, the other things that are really important to me is Do you speak in the beginning? Are you involved in this? Did your parents do all of it? Did your parents do everything for you? Do they want it more than you? Your academic data is readily available? Is your contact information readily available? Now one thing I always say specific to certain schools, if your coach played at our school or your coaches from Cincinnati or you know someone who I know or a player from your club graduated from our program three or four years ago, you were state champion high jumper Are you a state champion wrestler does your sister play In the national team was your dad or mom and all American in college? There's all sorts of little triggers that always kind of get our attention how you left footed, are your six foot four, do you have a long throw in? So I think it's almost like I don't want to say you're marketing yourself, because I always think it makes it like a business. But it is kind of a business and you are marketing yourself. And with that is how can I be direct? How can I hit my core points without overdoing it? And how can I differentiate myself?

Jess Gregory  

Yeah, absolutely. So you want those things kind of in the body email, right? Just saying like, hey, coach, I'm a six foot 420 21 I'm interested in your school, and then kind of give a little tidbit about them. Do you care about GPA or any of that stuff sent? 

Andy Fleming  

Certainly, because I think that's the opening statement. You know, if you're not admissible, we can't work with you. And certainly if you're when I worked at like Northwestern prior to Xavier, that was really the first thing we looked at. So I do think in the video as well, you can present yourself not just in the written piece. So it's a great time because with computers And all the kids know now clearly I don't know it, but they're technologically savvy. And I think it's really a great opportunity to put something together to get to college coaches.

Jess Gregory  

Awesome. Now, I always like to ask coaches just kind of for fun. Do you have any do's and don'ts specifically for kids that you can kind of share after all the years of coaching that you see like all the time?

Andy Fleming  

You know what one thing I say is for all the soccer available now on television, the camps available, the personal trainers, the clubs, the tournaments, the games, the volume, the one thing I think we still don't do a good enough job of from a club standpoint, is the education on the recruiting process. And I feel badly for the parents and the kids because they invest a lot and they pay a lot. And they kind of go into it blindly sometimes. And I'm always surprised what they don't know. So with that, I would tell you, the first thing is it's as much a parent role as a student athlete role. And on the contrary to that, it should have nothing to do with the parents and the everything to do with student athletes. So what does that mean? Well, don't make your son or daughter on recruitable don't come on too strong. Don't do all the work. Don't be the one who asked all the questions. When you're on a visit, don't do all the talking. Don't scare the person early. When you sit down with a coach, you talk a coach in the phone, you don't let the first thing you ask is how much money am I getting? I always liken that to you and I go on our first date and we sit down for dinner and within five minutes, how much money do you make because I'm only going to marry you if you're rich. Okay, so money is important, but money, you know, hopefully won't be the deciding factor. And I always believe in you shouldn't make decisions because of money. And during the recruiting process, we will get to the financial piece. Okay, so that's the first thing is making your son or daughter run recruitable. Be careful how you behave at the games. And again, this is more tailored towards the parents. When we watch games. I certainly always notice a mom or dad or even a brother or sister talking a certain way yelling at the refs talking to other parents getting asked to leave the facility. And if you do the math and you watch in the parking lot after you see who they're committing indicating with, you can pick out whose parent it is. All right. Same thing with the student athletes. I'm going to look out of the corner. I'm at my 10 year old son who just walked by. Don't yell your parents during the game. Don't yell at the officials. Okay, because this is a job interview. And one of the biggest things I can tell you is you never know who's watching. We had a first round draft pick from Xavier, drafted by Toronto, they saw him play the game we didn't know they were at, we had no idea what they were there. And that's when they opened the door for him. And I also got a call as an assistant coach once from a university who said, Hey, we had an alum, watch one of your games last weekend, he called and said, this is our next head coach. I didn't know that person was there. And as much as the camps in the showcases, you think it's all set up for you? It's probably that moment where you don't know somebody is watching that can you know make you wonder? So those are kind of my long winded you know, don't type?

Jess Gregory  

Absolutely, yeah, I think kids should realize that someone is always watching Hi. I remember I used to coach volleyball and I would go out recruiting and if I saw kid throw Their water bottle at their parent definitely crossed them off the list. I don't want to kid that's gonna be rude to them because they might be rude to me. So I totally understand makes sense.

Andy Fleming  

The other part I go to is mainly the on campus visit. You have to look at it like a job interview. You have you have to have questions lined up they have to be real questions. What is your coaching philosophy? Can I major in this and do the spring? You know what a lot of your guys ended up like as alums? What is it like to go to school here? How is your family you know, what is your vision for me as a young man? That's what you should be asking. No should be pre prepared. I've had kids asked, hey, do you have number seven available? Because I need that my freshman year. Your Nike I like Adidas, would you ever switch to Adidas? How much free stuff do we get any kid wants say? I don't think the girls here are hot enough. I don't think there's enough going on. Party wise. I'm not interested. We all laugh but this is actually happening. Okay, yeah. I had a dad say once. Let's talk business on the agent. He's a first round pick. I think he needs first round money. Let's talk money. And that was five minutes into it. Okay, so those are the drastic things but it's everything from when I was at Northwestern our main competitor was Notre Dame, and it came on a visit the head of Notre Dame had on and I think you have to remember that this is our company. This is our livelihood. If you go to you know, BMW and you work there, you don't wear say t shirt to use a coat that's famous from one of the coaches I work for. And it's kind of true.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you want to find the right fit, obviously. But if you're looking at a place you want to try to be more about it and build that relationship and not not start off on a bad foot, I guess

Andy Fleming  

yeah, the only other thing I'll say and this is proven well, true to me as an adult. This probably looking back now with my wife and a lot of big decisions in life. Two things one, as you get older, just you know your instincts in your gut kind of guide your brain and think Sometimes when you're walking around campus, you know, like, hey, maybe this is where this is where I want to be, well, why I can't explain to you why or write a paragraph why this is your school. Maybe I can't write why, but I feel right here. Okay. The other thing that goes along with that is your parents know you pretty well, and you have to respect your parents guts. And if they don't think it's right for you, as much as you think it's a cool place, you have to respect that as well. Okay. And then the final thing I'll say, is, I was once told that if you take the names of the schools, and you block them off, and you put them on a board, and then you have five or six adjectives or bullet points as far as each school, if you look at the one in the bullet points, and you look at them, and then you rip the name off, you might be surprised with which school you pick, because sometimes we get caught up in the name. I call it the pretty girl thing. Oh, she's the prettiest girl. That doesn't mean it's the right fit for you. Okay, and sometimes we feel pressure from top to a soccer our club or the recruiting release or the jacket we're going to wear on the season. Or to say, Hey, I'm going to the school. Well, you're not going to play there. They don't have a really good school. You're not you know, you're not getting any financial assistance. But this school actually has the adjectives and the qualities I want. And when I rip the name off, I'm surprised sometimes that actually it's not the name I thought it was. Or it might align with what my interesting.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah, absolutely. I think that the kids have to do that due diligence and figure out what they want to they can't just look at the shiny, shiny land lettering in front of them. You know what I mean? They got to really do what works best for them, I think and now is the perfect time to do that. Because they should have some extra time when it's time. Yeah. So they should be able to check that out. But All right, cool. Well, coach I kinda want to learn more about you. We got into the heavy stuff of time the kids can do so let's learn more about you. I have some fun questions, but I also want to hear how you got into coaching and how you ended up the head coaches Xavier.

Andy Fleming  

It's funny because the last couple weeks, you know, this is the one time of my life I felt like I've had a job. You know, like I'm answering emails, I'm talking to people on the phone. I'm working from home. I have largely a leadership job my I live to lead. And I misleading to the point where I'm getting a little emotional talking about the void right now that I have in it. But I've never looked at it as a job I've never looked at as head of work. I think this job found me and I think, very blessed. And it's very unique when I'm actually doing what I'm supposed to be doing. So when I answer this question and tell the story, I look back to you know, I used to go to high school sporting events in around Boston with my dad, he would take my brother and I to watch certain guys play. And at those games, my brother and my friends would run off and play during the games and I would stay and watch it. And we always sat near the bench, and I was always listening and watching. And then I grew up near a high school football field on the other side of the woods and everyday after high school, junior high in elementary school. Even though I didn't play football, I would drive down and watch them practice. It was a great High School. baseball coach my town I would drive up and watch and practice. And I could imitate all these coaches and do a stick and I had like a stand up back. And looking back now I was studying the coaches, and I was becoming a student of the game. So in seventh grade, my dad went to a basketball draft for a town and I gave him a five page spreadsheet and he said, What's this, I said, this is every kid in fifth grade in our town. Here's why I think you should draft in the first, second, third, fourth and fifth round. And he looked at me like I was crazy. And I look back, but I always kind of had this in my blood. And I was always a great leader. I was always you know, I think leaders are born I think leadership, you either have it or don't. And I always kind of rose to the front of the crowd and the front of the bus. And I was always a coach on the field and a student of the game and a fiery guy, and then probably my junior year of college, the coach start to bring me by the office at Marist College where I went in New York, and he'd say, what do you think of this? And after the game, you'd say, what do you think of this? And he would say, Hey, I'm thinking of doing this with the lineup. What do you think? And then my senior year before halftime, I'd stand outside locker room and talk to the coaches. And I go in and sit as an athlete. And my senior college I went and scouted my first game with the assistant, and they sent me out to watch a recruit. And from then on, it kind of took care of itself. So that's kind of how I got into it. It's always been in my blood. But the funny thing I want to share with the student athletes in the audience is I always thought I'd coach on the side in some capacity. And I was busy. I was a business major. And every project I did for business I did about sports or running a college soccer program. I always wanted to combine business with sport. And then it turns out, I went to a job fair, my senior and I had a suit on I had a planner, I had my resumes, and I sat down with two people felt super stuffy super just not me. And I walked upstairs in the arena to the soccer office and I said, I can't do this. I need to be a coach and the coach said, yes, you need to be a coach. And that's how it all started, you know, and the final thing I'll throw in is, you know, my first three years coaching, I made 3000 6000 and $8,000 and it was volunteer and I worked full time and I bartended two nights a week and I substitute taught and I did private lessons and I coach club and I work with a contractor on the weekends and I kind of just found my way and paid my dues. And I tell you young people that because now I hear my calls and say I got offered an internship this summer but it's not paid a lot of us work for free or worked our way up. And I found that it was my passion and I paid my dues. And when I finally broke through, I probably appreciate it more and more because I had to kind of earn my keep and I think that's the beauty of the coaching industry.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah, absolutely. Sounds like a cool start there. I can I can picture you with your your notepad watching the byline in seventh grade. That's pretty funny. I like it. It's good stuff. Um, now can you talk about your recruiting story how you ended up over at Marist? 

Andy Fleming  

Yeah, it was a little different back then. I think mine is interesting and I'm not too proud to share that I was hell bent on playing division one and Marist Hofstra and st Bonaventure, all in New York with the three schools that recruited me that were division one. And I probably had to Division Two in division three schools that my father and mother really liked. But I didn't like because it was division one. And I ended up having a kid from Boston who played at Marist, whose mother taught in my high school, who told the coach about me, they saw me and it worked out. And I had a good career, and I love my school. And I think it's important to know two things. Number one, I tore my ACL my very first day at college, and I had an I had a red shirt my first year. So I always tell people that if you couldn't play soccer anymore, you know, what does that look like? And that happened to me, and I look back and that year I sat out is probably when my IQ and my coaching brain started to develop a little more as well. Okay. Second thing about Maris is I love the school. And the first two years I only played in two games. The first year I sat out my last two years went really well. But I remember saying, jeez, I actually really liked the school. And the soccer piece isn't really checking the boxes quite yet. So actually Like school. The third piece with that is, I probably could have should have played Division Two or three. My parents thought that's probably where I needed to go. And I'm not saying anybody was right or wrong. But looking back, I think it was easy for me to say, my ego wanted me to go to G one. And that's what I did. And I know many of you that are watching this right now we're gonna fall into that trap.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah, absolutely. Um, were you sending out VHS videos? Like I was back in the day?

Andy Fleming  

Yeah, yeah. And I remember going to my chemistry teachers house in a Sunday afternoon, and we had to write the numbers down and press record and stop, record and stop. And it was a lot harder than it is now, wasn't it?

Jess Gregory  

Yeah. Now you just send over a link and it's instantaneous. Yeah,

Andy Fleming  

yeah. But I think it's important to like, you know, my coaching career took a couple of years. You know, I didn't mention how I got to Xavier, but I, I put him for 13 head coaching jobs. And I went to several schools and interviewed and I did an interview well, because I didn't know how to interview and I didn't realize that when I was interviewing a Colombian Colgate, he was probably a certain personality I wanted to take on versus interviewing maybe a different school. And it took me a while and I had a fail. And I think, you know, finding out who you are finding out how to manage all this, finding out how to do a campus visit, finding out how to talk to a college coach on the phone. It took a while to break through with that and figure it out with me, just like it took me a couple of years to break through and get on the field like tomorrow. So I think there's a quest for instant gratification right now. And everybody wants everything right away. And I think when you get to college, it's important to realize that it's super competitive, the hardest it's ever going to be. And you probably have to wait a little bit and I say this just because of the transport, you know, environment we have now that exists.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah, absolutely. totally makes sense. I think it takes some time to get to where you want to go, whether it's playing chain, any field they want to go into, it's not going to be I graduated I have this piece of paper and now I have the job of My dreams, just gonna take some time and some effort and that's what makes athletes so unique, I think is that we're willing to work for that.

Andy Fleming  

Yeah. And I can tell you right now when equivocally that our student athletes, and even neighbors and friends of mine that were student athletes are doing very well right now in this current situation, because they're accountable. They're self discipline. They can follow directions and have structure. I call it capacities their capacities can stretch. It's called cultural stamina. Our culture right now our society is running out of stamina as far as following rules and doing what we're told. But I think you and I, and all these other people like we probably are built for this.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah, for sure. Now I got a fun question for you. Um, would you rather coach in 30 degree weather or 100 degree weather?

Andy Fleming  

Well, mind you, I grew up in Boston and then went to Chicago to Northwestern have to nine years of Boston University, and now I live in the deep south of Cincinnati, Ohio, which is the most southern we've ever lived by. I answered 30 degrees for that only because the vision we have as coaches at Xavier University, the vision I've always had, wherever I've coached is you play into the bad weather. So if I'm a lacrosse coach in the spring, you're playing in the Final Four weekend Memorial Day, which is sunny and it's cookout time in the summers here and that's final for weekend. In our sport you play into the bad weather. When I got hired at Xavier, there's a big hill next to our field and the first vision I had, which we ultimately fulfilled was an NCAA Tournament game here in the snow in November, because we're playing in the bad weather. So I answered 30 degree weather be leading the season and playoff weather. I tell my guys, the games in November are the ones you remember your money you're cold, you're dirty. Usually when the season ends, it's a cloudy, cold day. Tears are running guys, people's cheeks and it's cold. So that works better for me that's kind of based on where I come from works better. And I think that kind of ties into the vision and the goal is to be playing in the 30 degree weather.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah, absolutely. Now I was an indoor sport person. That didn't matter. But I did grow up in Chicago and I did play softball. So I chose 30 degrees. Because you can put more on you just can't take enough off.

Andy Fleming  

And 100 degrees is 85 degrees, I probably would have picked, but 100 as 100.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah, exactly. All right. So how about your Mount Rushmore of soccer? What are your top four all time favorite players? And then just a little tidbit on why you picked them?

Andy Fleming  

You know, I did three different ones. And I'm getting a little older here. I'm 45. But I wrote down Pele, Johan Cruyff, David Beckham and then Messi. First of all, because I think Pele obviously made soccer what it was, he was the first great soccer player. And I think you'll unquote probably kind of took it into a more global or kinda a different dimension of it as far as the tactics Football as a lifestyle in a way of thinking of things and putting things on a board. And then I think David Beckham probably for people our age probably made it cool to play soccer. And I don't know if you remember, but I used to date girls in high school, and I go meet him for the first time and their dad would be like, Oh, you don't play football. And it kind of wasn't cool to play soccer. And then soccer became cool. And I think David Beckham for our society for a generation probably made it more pop culture. And I think Messi is kind of, you know, carried into what it is today. So, those are the first four. As far as my personal favorite players. I liked Ryan Giggs, Arjen Robben, I look like Arjen Robben from Holland. I hear that a lot. Eric Cantona Paul Scholes. Those are my guys. And then I did one for American soccer where I think, you know, Jerry Eglee as a college coach, dear friend of mine, my mentor, my hero, my idol and the one he probably made college soccer where to stay in the men's side. I think, Bruce Arena probably legitimize them less and made it real and allowed it to turn the corner with his run at DC United. I think Anson Dorrance deserves to be on there and or Tony DiCiccio because of what they did with the women's game and kinda in the summer 99 okay and then probably somewhere along the lines of Jay Hoffman and Hank Steinbrecher with the US Soccer Federation and coaching schools and what USYSA become and things of that nature so that's kind of my worldwide global start to finish that to my college soccer one and my personal one. And I think it really depends how you look at it and I wanted to be a little bit more you know, thorough with that.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah, absolutely. We can put a bunch of different Mount Rushmore is next to each other. Works For me, 

Andy Fleming  

but that's okay. I think there's 12 total but I think you have to look at it differently. You know, it's soccer itself it's American soccer. And then personally I've always been a fan of guys who are really good but maybe might not be you know, the Messi you know, they might be the second guy underneath like a Paul Scholes or Ryan Giggs or something. So, Those are the guys I always liked. And I thought it was worth noting my personal favorites.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah, absolutely. I love it. Thank you for sharing those. Alright, let's go to your nomination for exact top five. So this is going to be one moment that you remember that was just an amazing moment. And it would be in your top five. Just one. Yeah.

Andy Fleming  

You know, the year before I got to Xavier, they were two and 16. They came in last place in the Atlantic 10 conference. They led the league in yellow and red cards. There were three guys with 3.0 GPA. They'd never, you know, bend to the NCAA Tournament. Yeah, before that they won three games. So my first year we start out Oh, three and three. We score one goal in our first six games, and it's my first time as a head coach and I'm trying to find myself and our our culture was great. I like the guys I work very hard, but I had no idea how it was gonna go. We caught some momentum started winning some games and we made the top six in the Atlantic 10 which qualifies you for the conference tournament. And we go down to UNC Charlotte on a Thursday night and we actually win the first round game against temple. We play Charlotte on Friday night. Charlotte is coached by Jeremy gun. They're number three in the country. They're off. And they're pumping us. We don't cross the midfield. They have 15 corner kicks 28 shots, were taking balls off the line, we go to penalty kicks 00. And I put my head down like this term penalty kicks. Watch them. If they're bent Cheers. I know. It's good. If my bench cheers, I know it's bad. And overtime, I kept listening. And then all of a sudden I heard our bench yell, and I looked over and the guys ran on the field. And I said to my assistant, we just beat Charlotte. He goes, we just beat Charlotte. And we had a conference championship Two days later, and we caught lightning in the bottle. And that kind of put us on the map and kind of gave me the wherewithal I needed as a coach but um, you know, usually it's the underdog games, the ones you don't expect or the ones with the most drama, but that's the one I'll remember the rest of my life.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah, for sure. That's That's an awesome moment. You didn't get to see it, but go brilliant. Yeah. Nice. Now how about on the flip side? What would be your not heard not top five. So ESPN, this is that moment where, where we put it up there as what just happened?

Andy Fleming  

Well, this one's funny. And that happened at a camp. I was working at Amherst colleges peak performance camp, I believe it was called. This is in 2010. So we're in a camp game is a minute left or down where you know, 00 and I have our goalkeeper and everybody go up for the offensive corner kick and the ball gets served in and it gets knocked down and their player takes it and clears it as long as he can and it goes the length of the field and literally three miles an hour it goes past the goal line and they win the championship game won nothing with like three seconds left off from me putting our goalie in a corner kick. So there's a bunch of them over the years, but I thought that one as far as a blooper and something that would be on ESPN. I think that's one that I always try quirky stuff like that camp. And that's the only time I've ever tried them. The goalie go up.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah, nice. I can imagine it was like slow motion you're like, totally.

Andy Fleming  

Yeah. And it was only camp. But being competitive and hard on myself. I was pretty mad for a couple days. But it was really interesting to see the first time ever tried. That's how it ended up.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah. Nice. Have you tried it again?

Andy Fleming  

No, I will have to at some point, though. I mean, it's something we all it's inevitable. We're all gonna face that situation late in the game in the playoffs at some point.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah, for sure. Nice. Well, that's all I have for you today. Andy, I really appreciate you sitting down and chatting with me. I know how busy you are. So it was really awesome. I could get some some of your time. And I'm looking forward to sharing this with everyone in and kind of going from there. So I appreciate you sitting down.

Andy Fleming  

Yeah, please send it to me. I'd like to watch it and thanks for having me. And sorry for the technical mixed up in the beginning, but it worked out. Okay.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah, no worries at all. I really appreciate it. Okay. Thanks, everybody. Thank you got it.

Andy Fleming  

Yep. Have a good afternoon.

Jess Gregory  

All right, you too!

Transcribed by https://otter.ai