Your post was misleading, like they were not special or especially close friends. Can't find the article that talks about their choices prior to committing, but suffice to say FSU was in it for both of them. Obviously we batted .500.
I mean this as a sincere question and not an argument. Is making the Herman Trophy semifinal list truly an honor? It seems like the importance of the list is to eventually select the best player in the country. If that final choice is a good one, then the list served its purpose. I’d thinK All America teams have more prestige so getting those right is more important in terms of each individual named. The Herman Trophy semifinal list seems more like a Presidential Primary. What matters is the ultimate choice for the nomination, not who was in the race at the beginning. It would be very hard to support the idea that there is any bias re UNC and Herman Trophy winners, even going back the entire history of the award. Based on winners, I’d even argue that UNC is underrepresented relative to team quality. UNC Players in recent memory who did not win the Herman Trophy included Heather O’Reilly, Yael Averbuch, Tobin Heath, Casey Nogueira , Amber Brooks, Whitney Engen. It seems particularly hard to pick a top player considering how many schools play D1 women’s soccer, how many different positions there are, and the lack of comparable stats among any position other than striker. It’s natural that big name schools with records of objective success get more on the list. What counts is that the top player is chosen. I think the Herman Trophy folks do a pretty good job overall with that. As a quick aside, I always though Kerri Hanks was overrated , and this seems supported by her record after college. And yes, I am biased on this point since she beat out 4 different UNC finalists.
i think maybe you miss the point. It shows a coaches power to promote kids beyond others. Does it matter to us? not really. If you think that is does not help AD recruit more English kids...
In my response above, I quoted 007. I had mentioned how Jaelin Howell and Sophia Smith were very good friends and FSU were in it (recruiting) for both. We batted .500. He intially downplayed their friendship saying 'She (Smith) had many friends.' I then posted a video of them talking about their friendship since kindergarten. He then said he'd known both of them a 'long time'. He later questioned whether or not they were still 'special friends, things change.' The cherry on top was he OBTUSELY responded to my .500 comment by saying the snarky. When he wants, he can be very insightful. At other times, he's frustratingly obtuse and argumentative.
007 you said; "Swanson did a great job this year. he is as good as any coach out there when it comes to teaching and developing players. I think at times, it hurts his chances of winning big games. he wont change though and i respect him for it." I don't disagree with Steve doing a great job. I do recall either you, or Val, complaining about him changing McClernon's position. That aside, does his 'teaching and developing players' hurt his chances of winning big games?
Im not getting into trying to read behind peoples posts. Your description of a forum conversation with limited words is part f the problem. Most of why you wrote above is implied by you. Unfortunately, I tend not to take USSF back story pieces too literally because they are just that.
I said this in another thread and curious if anyone close to UVA/FSU has a take. Everyone in the ACC is kinda chasing UNC. So, did Krikorian go the international route because he HAD to or because he was just super smart and developed connections before some other P5s? He certainly can't recruit against the academic rep of UVA/Duke or even UNC. FSU is known more as a party school than anything. But I don't see a single international on the UVA roster. I like all these coaches but UVA has all domestic USYNT types and don't have a title. ---- Loads of respect for Swanson but interesting comparison with FSU in the same shadow of UNC. Krikorian has gotten over the hump and done it without the academic rep of a UVA. Maybe shows the international route is better than the YNT set. Swanson's connections and time spend at YNT camps hasn't gotten him to the promise land.
Krikorian has shown that the international route CAN be better if you are getting the right internationals--and he gets some good ones. A lot of internationals are no better than good U.S. domestic players, so it's a matter of being selective--and since he seems to recruit a LOT of internationals--I think half of his starters four or so years ago were internationals--he improves his odds of finding quality/high-quality players. Some if not many internationals seem to be a year older than their domestic counterparts--meaning they might be 19-year-old freshman rather than 18, and that tends to be an advantage. And some if not many of them have a bit more high-level experience. UNC just signed an English player from the Arsenal training academy whom I think actually started--and scored multiple goals--in a game for the senior Arsenal squad last year. I think Krikorian has said that he went the international route because he had to to compete with the traditional ACC powers. I think FSU's success has not gone unnoticed, and it seems an increasing number of schools are looking abroad for talent.
#1. Mark came to FSU with international connections. He used those connections along with domestic recruiting, because, IMO it gave him the chance to compete with similarly skilled athletes. #2 This "FSU is a party school reputation is trite. It is a weapon used by our competitors, but FSU is a highly respected academic institution. According to USNWR we are the #57 university and #18 among public universities. That is very good. Is it UVA, Vandy, Stanford or even UNC good? No, but you get a high quality education at FSU. #3 As to why Mark has gotten over the hump, I offer it as my opinion that if you give him even comparable talent, he'll beat you. Why? I think he is the best women's soccer coach in the US college system. He does the absolute best job of peaking his teams at tourney time. He's had 6 ACCT titles since 2010. We have made 13 of the last 14 Final 8s. We have won 2 nattys. I would suggest to you as one who follows FSU closely, we have not been the best team if you simply look at player for player talent. It's coaching.
Thanks folks. I agree with much of this. These coaches are still coaching today for good reason. I happen to be a fan of state schools and happy to see FSU getting it done. Among the teams left, I'm rooting for them although the Cinderella, Wash St, is hard to resist. Let's all be honest, the P5 is filled with 'avg state schools'. FSU is academically better than most big Southern/SEC schools but these students are not excited about Calculus! no offense to lovers of calculus
It depends what your goals are. Of course coaches want to win, but what compromises will they make to do so? Unless you are really close to a program, you have no idea. I dont think UVA wants to recruit internationals. I dont think thats part of the schools plan. Do i think they can make your team better? I dont thnk anyone is in the shadow of UNC anymore. The UNC system is always going to be very hard to play against, but teams have managed to for quite a while now. After losing to WVa, UNC decided to redouble international efforts. He got Wubben Moy and Rousso and has managed to get them ACC honors( some deserved, some head scratchers). He added Joel and Im sure his pipeline to Arsenal and the UK in general is now wide open. If I look at the Cosida Academic AAs on these teams, it can be revealing.
Look up FSU on US News. It’s a strong school. College is what you do when you get there. I went to NC state and UNC and am faculty at Duke. I hate academic snobbery. A good education can be had at any of the ACC schools..and literally hundreds of other US Colleges and universities.
FSU is #57 among national universities on us news. That’s way better than average. I am not saying us news matters , but it usually does to academic snobs. #57 is great. I have no reason to defend FSU other than my disdain for snobbery about academics. Funny, I started liking the FSU soccer team when people starting dogging on them for internationals because I thought that was wrong . Plus Mark took hell for not sending his A team to the ACC tournament one year. His response was to then win the tournament something like 5 times in recent years.
i dont think anyone likes it. With certain US players, its a real thing tho. the differences between these schools academically is pretty small IF you are a serious student who looks beyond headline rankings. I do know that perception can be a very powerful thing
To assess any of these coaches you have to look beyond just results. Given how little real objective information is available, its very hard to do so.
This "or even UNC" talk makes my chuckle. UNC is on the same level as UVa and Duke academically. Good Lord. uncchamps2012: I agree with your sentiment the further I get away from academia (perfect example: Myron Rolle); however, I do think that high school kids raised in the era of USNWR rankings don't see how small the differences are between most American universities.
Too bad the ACC and ESPN have misplayed their Network plan and literally thousands of possible fans that are browsing their TV today (rather than stand around at Best Buy) cannot watch these games! I think it's crazy that the "hard core" fans that are willing to pay for something like the ACCNX or whatever it's called are often the ones who are already paying (families) or have already paid (alumni). But hey, the UVA vs Va Tech football game looks great on ABC! btw- USNews doesn't really exist anymore as a legitimate news magazine. I agree with the poster that a college degree is what you make of it. Read Malcolm Gladwell on this. The person makes the degree, the degree doesn't make the person.
The ACCN is part of my Spectrum account; however, as someone who now lives beyond the East Coast, I would be pisssssed if I had to pay extra for it just to watch my team. As for your point re: college, I completely agree. I was formerly on the admissions committee of one of the most competitive med schools in the country and it was interesting to see how some students from big name public and private colleges thought simply attending an "eilite" institution was enough to be competitive relative to other students who worked hard as an undergraduate. That's something that young folks don't seem to understand.
Not a big surprise really. Sep 29, 2019 i think all signs point to a great season. Your young player are getting experience that can serve them well later in the year. Winning every game now means little. You have some of the best players in College on your team. What more can you ask for?