Mike Wentzler is the Assistant Soccer Coach and Goalkeeping Coach at Emory University. Emory University is a NCAA Division III Institution located in Atlanta, Georgia. Emory is a member of the University Athletic Association along with other schools such as Washington University (MO), University of Chicago, and Carnegie Mellon.

Mike joined the Emory Eagles’ coaching staff prior to the 2011 season. In his nine seasons with the team he has led Emory to produce one of the top soccer defenses in the country during this time, with his goalkeepers allowing just 117 goals in 175 games. 

Mike also works as a high school teacher and has experience with coaching high school, club, and college level soccer. Mike shares what has made past teams at Emory so successful and what it takes to have mental toughness on and off the field. Throughout our interview Mike talks about his coaching style, as well as offering tips for staying mentally and physically active. Mike also shares his tips on communicating with coaches about the recruiting process during this time. This is a can't miss interview. Enjoy!

Coach:

Mike Wentzler: Assistant Soccer Coach and Goalkeeping Coach at Emory University.

Topic 1: How Did Mike get into Coaching?

Coach Wentzler also works as a high school teacher and landed a teaching job right after his time in college. Coaching naturally came for Coach Wentzler, as he found himself unable to step away from the game after college. Mike was working as the director of goalkeeping at a club near Emory University, when he was recognized by the head coach, who later offered him a position as a goalkeeping coach at Emory.

Topic 2: What is Mike’s Coaching Style and Philosophy?

Mike describes his coaching style as somewhat laid back and relaxed. He describes himself as the type of coach to give his athletes notes at half-time or during breaks on how to improve their game, but you won't find him yelling at his players on the field. At practice he is more vocal - as he is a firm believer that what you see in practice is what you will see in a game. 

Topic 3: The Most Rewarding & Challenging Part of Being a Coach:

One of the most rewarding parts of being a coach for Mike, is sharing successes with his athletes and seeing the hard-work they do in practice, pay off in games. Between recruiting, planning sessions, and organization, Mike says that time management and being able to make decisions on the fly are the most challenging parts of being a coach. 

Topic 4: Tips on Staying Physically Active During COVID-19:

Mike says the biggest thing athletes can do right now is to stay active and continue to get touches on the ball. Mike believes athletes sometimes forget how many things can be done individually to keep skills fresh. A huge part of staying in tune with one's skills, is to do what you can every week physically.

Topic 5: Tips on Mental Toughness During COVID-19:

Mike talks about what athletes can do during this time of social distancing to stay mentally prepared for when they are able to get back on the field. Mike encourages athletes to look up highlights from games and watch different videos on the internet that can keep your mind engaged with the sport. 

Topic 6: Recruiting Tips:

Mike says his biggest tip for recruiting during this time would be to stay in communication with coaches. He encourages athletes to reach out to coaches and check in on the status of their camps and their recruiting process. Mike assures athletes that as coaches, they are just as frustrated with this process. 

Topic 8: Athlete's Success - Mental Toughness or Talent?

Mike talks about two seasons that have stood out to him as particularly successful seasons (this past season and 2012). He states these seasons were as successful as they were because of the mental toughness, their grit, and their refusal to accept failure on the field. 

With a combination of hard-work and dedication, athletes can succeed anything they put their mind to. It is clear that Coach Wentzler wants this to be transparent athletes - as we all have had to adjust to this crazy time period. 

Full Transcript: 

Jess Gregory  

Hello everyone. I am here with Mike Wentzler over at Emory University. How are we doing today? Mike?

Mike Wentzler  

I'm great. I'm great. How about you?

Jess Gregory  

Not too bad, not too bad hanging in there. So we're gonna get started. I'd like to learn some more about you. I know I've worked with you several times out at some camps. But for our viewers back at home, we kind of want to learn how you got started in coaching. So if you could share that story with us.

Mike Wentzler  

Um, well, I'm also a high school teacher. So I've, you know, got into teaching right out of school and then, you know, coaching kind of just came with it after my college career I did. I just couldn't step away from the game and then specifically getting into college coaching. I was a goalkeeper and at Emory, the head coach, my boss needed a goalkeeper coach and she had heard about me because I was a director of goalkeeping at a club nearby. And she reached out and just got started.

Jess Gregory  

Nice. So you were coaching high school kids before that and at a club, so you kind of sounds like you were doing a lot.

Mike Wentzler  

Yeah, I was doing a lot of things.

Jess Gregory  

Yes. Nice. But I was just gonna say is Emory, the only college that you've worked for? Have you worked at other colleges?

Mike Wentzler  

That's the only one I've worked for. 

Jess Gregory  

Cool. Nice. Now, you've been coaching for a while. It sounds like even though it was at different levels. Can you tell us kind of how what your coaching style is like,

Mike Wentzler  

I'd say laid back sounds really nonchalant but I'm not on the sidelines screaming the entire time. You know, if I don't see what I like, I'll pop up and say something, but it's not going to be me trying to shout and break people across the field I'm a little more you know, let's talk at halftime if I can get something in during a stoppage, I'll say something. But uh, again, I'm a little more relaxed. I'm not super high energy screaming the entire time. Mm hmm.

Jess Gregory  

How about it practices? Is it any different?

Mike Wentzler  

I'm a little I definitely have a lot more energy in practice. But I'm a firm believer that, you know, what you're going to see in a game is what you get out of them or practice. So in practice it I'm very demanding, and I'm a lot more vocal, you know, manipulating things until I see what I like. And then, you know, hopefully that shows up in the match. Mm hmm.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah, it sounds like a lot of coaches are like that in practice and games are a little bit different. Because obviously, while they're playing, you want them to take what they learned at practice and run with it and not necessarily have to teach. Cheering.

Mike Wentzler  

Yeah, sure. And then also just being shouted at, you know, and incessantly during a game might not be able to put you in the right mental state perform your best.

Jess Gregory  

Right, that definitely makes sense. Um, can you Tell us what your favorite part of coaching is.

Mike Wentzler  

For me, especially working with goalkeepers it's a lot of times it's the really small things like seeing some of the small successes, like if we work on a specific skill or a certain type of save. If I see that in a match, or even in a training session, it's like, well, we just worked on that, and there's the growth I want to see. And then really a big part of that is kind of sharing that success with the players like being like, Hey, we just worked on back to the bar, and you made that brilliancy you know, that was exactly what we just did. And being able to recognize that and share that moment with the players and say, that's probably by far my favorite part about coaching.

Jess Gregory  

Nice. Now, on the flip side, what are some of the biggest challenges that you've had to face so far?

Mike Wentzler  

I think time time management sometimes is the difficult between recruiting planning sessions and then adjusting the session based on you know what's going on, to make sure it's the most effective for the players but just making sure everything is organized and planned, and then being able to make changes on the fly as We see fit to try and really maximize our time with the kids. Mm hmm.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah, that sounds like those two kind of go hand in hand. They can be a challenge, but then that also turns into what makes it rewarding for you. Once you figure it out. All right. So you've talked to us about some of the most rewarding and challenging parts of coaching, can we now kind of switch gears and give some tips for these kids that are stuck at home right now on how they can stay physically active, and then we'll kind of melded into how they can stay mentally active as well.

Mike Wentzler  

The biggest thing is because of all this social distance, distancing, and isolating in place, I mean, just getting touches on the ball. You know, we forget sometimes there's so much we can do with the ball at our feet. But you don't need a coach. You don't need anything. You know, there are lots of resources online. Actually a former former bad teammate, but I would work some camps with him before but he put these videos together called the Mertz method that just tons of different skills you can do, it's not just juggling, so you really get this mastery of the ball and it's just something else that kids can do that like over gets overlooked. You know, it's it's all that individual skill because you're not going to be able to go play Five v five or 11 v 11. While so it's just something else to do that you can get out and do on your own instead of online homework or Netflix.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah, absolutely. Um, should kids kind of keep a schedule then? Should they plan that out in their day? Because I'm sure that's going to be a challenge for them to.

Mike Wentzler  

Absolutely, I mean, I have a five year old son and the, our biggest part is, is keeping him on a schedule. So he doesn't go insane, like we wouldn't. So definitely, and the beauty of, you know, having this much, maybe not so much free time, because you still have your online classes, but you know, you have a little more freedom where you can do some work, go get some touches, come back, do some more work, then maybe go for a jog. It's a, you have a much more flexible schedule. So I think it's a, it's definitely something that if you do make your your schedule fit that you can make it so it's a lot more enticing to go out and get touches on the ball and not feel like you know, school's over. Now I've got a run. I've got to work out and get touches on the ball, you can divide it up little bit better.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah, that sounds like a great plan. How about on the mental side if you have any tips for them on what they can do to stay mentally prepared

Mike Wentzler  

that one's definitely a lot tougher because it is not only tough you have to get out on your own and motivate yourself to be fit to work out and get touches on the ball but also staying mentally engaged. Sometimes I find myself going down the YouTube rabbit hole just watching different clips sometimes I'll go watch games not just highlights of the greatest goals either I mean those are fun but you know I'll watch like old games you know just strings a possession or certain times uh, you know, Barcelona play some of the best soccer in the world watching some of their highlights of some of their their unbelievable, you know, like 50 Pass possessions just just to stay a little more mentally engaged and switched on to what the game when's other than just skills and goals?

Jess Gregory  

Yeah, for sure. This is definitely probably a good time for them to kind of overcome the fact that they are stuck at home and you know, a lot of kids missed out on their club seasons and Spring season didn't work out. So being able to watch soccer, I mean, there's just a ton of it out there. So that's probably good for them to do

Mike Wentzler  

through and also a little fun fact, one of my co workers, the Russian Lee is actually still playing. So if you have every soccer channel on God's green earth, yeah, you can still watch some live soccer, but it's the Russian league.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah, I guess it's better than nothing. But, um, we just had a clip the other day that was talking about how he was watching all of the Old World Cup games. So he found those somewhere, so probably watched him. Yeah. Awesome. All right. So let's switch gears a little bit. Now we've given them some tips about how to stay physically and mentally active. What are some things that kids can do to stay in communication throughout recruiting because it could be a little bit different than it normally would have been? Or it could be kind of the same. So what are some tips you have for them to stay in contact with coaches?

Mike Wentzler  

I mean, Obviously, the NCAA guidelines still exists, so make sure you're staying with them with those lines of communication, it is really tough because all of these spring events all these past events have just been canceled, the showcases are canceled and and it's I mean, I think for the players they have to understand it's just as frustrating for us as it is for you. Because you know, we have you know, timelines of what we want to see different players play and you know, the schedules we put together to go see who you know was on our radar and identify players is pretty finite. So for us to be able to lose out on those opportunities. We're just as frustrated as you are and we're trying to be more creative, finding more ways to see different players if we can, I mean, I would definitely say email and reach out you know, don't don't lose communication, but at the same time we understand these opportunities are really ambiguous now because we don't know what it looks like you know, I if you're scheduled to go to some camps, I think today would be or anytime it'd be a good time to just follow up like hey, you know, getting idea of what, where are you guys are out because I know different schools have made different decisions already and some are still kind of in that gray area. But uh, I mean, it's just we're not sure what the future looks like so the best thing I could say is to reach out say hey, you know, our camps still going on how's recruiting going? And just check in because I can, I can say from personal friends My boss is very I would say she's bored but she's she's definitely not as hectic right now during the recruiting season. So I'm sure she'd love to hear from from players. I'm sure she likes to hear from those players that she's been in contact with. And I'm the same way I you know, it's it's, it's good that we keep that line of communication open even though we're at this time or we don't know when we'll get to see you again.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah. Do you have any kind of fun like in general, so you don't have to talk specifically about Emory. But do you have any kind of like fun do's and don'ts on things that you like to see when you get emails or maybe steer kids away from from doing

Mike Wentzler  

for me personally, like is a big turn off. Like if I see, you know, five, six paragraphs, I'm like, Oh, goodness, I have a, I have a short story on my hands here. But I mean, share some fun facts. Maybe if you're doing something interesting, like whether it's through your school online or whether it's just something you're doing to do as a hobby. I mean, I love getting to know the players and what they do off the field. Obviously, I know they're going to be soccer junkies and they love the game. That's, that's why we're in the middle of the recruiting process. But what else are you doing to stay to keep yourself sane, you know, so I think it's pretty interesting to hear some of the creative stuff these kids do out there. Because there's some really funny things.

Jess Gregory  

Keep you guys entertained a little bit while you're you're stuck at home as well.

Mike Wentzler  

Exactly. It just helps us get to know you more as a person and not just the soccer side of things.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah, absolutely. Well, I mean, obviously, you know, there is more to it than just Can you play soccer because you you want to kind of recruit kids that are going to fit in with your culture and everything so it makes sense to kind of have them reach out in a different way.

Mike Wentzler  

Yeah, for sure.

Jess Gregory  

Absolutely. With that being said, let's kind of shift gears here and talk about, if you can think about one of your most successful seasons that you've had, it could be at the club level high school level over at Emory. Can you kind of talk to us about whether or not you thought that was attributed to talent or mental toughness of your players?

Mike Wentzler  

Um, I mean, two seasons really come to mind. So we made it to the national final in 2012. And for me, I think talent was a part of that. But overall mental toughness. We just had a group of girls that were just so gritty, you know, some of them weren't even the best players by any means, but they just knew how to get the job done. And we wanted it so bad. And I think, you know, grit gets talked about a lot nowadays. And it's those things that we don't really understand. How do you end up being more gritty? Well, we had a roster full of girls like that, that just had that desire and just intolerance for not being successful and not doing what they needed to to get the job done, whether it's in practice or in a game. The other season is this past one, actually, because we had made the tournament in the in a few years. So we just had this, this white whale, we were going after, you know, get back into the tournament because it had been for years. So we It was our first time having a roster full of girls that had never been to the tournament. So I think mental toughness was a big part of it, just being able to, you know, have that goal and end it but not have that experience. So for us to be able to fight through our conference, which is, I mean, to me, probably one of the toughest in the country. For us to be able to get back into the tournament was was a huge success for us.

Jess Gregory  

Nice. Do you think that kids can kind of learn that? Is that something that you guys can help teach them or do they just kind of have to have that that grit on their own?

Mike Wentzler  

Um, I think it's a little bit of both. I think it depends on the kid's personality, like being open to coaching and being able to To recognize success and how to learn from success, as well as you know, not just recognizing mistakes and learning from those mistakes, but then, you know, from the coaching that you get, are you able to start to do that on your own and kind of drive yourself to overcome those issues or, or ride the wave of success without getting staggered?

Jess Gregory  

Yeah, well, I think now that kids are at home, that's probably something that they can try to work on, so that when they do get back on the field, you know, they're ready. They don't just go from zero to 60. In June or July, whenever they can get back onto the field.

Mike Wentzler  

Absolutely, yeah.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah, for sure. Alrighty, Mike. Well, that was all of the questions that I had for you today. I really appreciate you sitting down and chatting with us and giving all those kids some great tips that they can hopefully take and run with, and hopefully, you know, we'll be back out on the pitch soon.

Mike Wentzler  

Yeah, hopefully July, right.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah, that would be great. Whenever It's safe, obviously. We'll, we'll see. We'll go with that. So perfect. All righty. Well, thank you so much, and hopefully we'll chat with you soon.

Mike Wentzler  

All right. Thanks, Jess. All right. Yeah, right.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai