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Interview with Ted Priestly, Men’s Head Soccer Coach, College of the Holy Cross

Chester visits with Ted Priestly, former head coach of twelve years for the UMass Lowell River Hawks. Ted explains the difference it made for his team when he picked up a copy of The Carrot Principle and started implementing individual recognition. Ted credits The Carrot Principle as being a driving force to the team’s winning season which led to his acceptance of a head coach at Holy Cross starting Fall 2009.

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CE:  Welcome to the podcast, the Carrot Culture podcast that I know you all live and breathe for. I am delighted to welcome to the podcast today Ted Priestly who is the head soccer coach for the Division II University of Massachusetts Lowell River Hawks. He’s got a great story about how he’s built up this wonderful program, plus going through an airport he picked up a copy of “The Carrot Principle” and is using some of the principles with his team so we’re anxious to talk to him. Welcome to the podcast, Ted.

TP:  Thanks Chester, good to be here.

CE:  You’ve got a great story on how you’ve built a great culture of winning and camaraderie and teamwork at UMass Lowell so why don’t you just take a minute or two and talk about—you’ve been there twelve years now, right?

TP:  Twelve years.

CE:  Yeah, talk a little bit about that journey and how, some of the key things you did to build up now what is really a great, established solid and winning program.

TP:  Well thank you. When we started, I guess the history of the program is that they had been very bad for a very long time so there was really nowhere to go but up and it was a program in search of an identity, a university with a lot of potential and a lot of players that expected a little bit more out of themselves and out of the program but just didn’t really have a plan. We challenged them with a lot of hard work and higher expectations and asked them to think outside of the box. The first couple of years it was a bit of a climb to get away from the old way things had been done, the lower expectations and the guys really, to their credit, bought into it and made the program their own and have a lot of pride in not just how far we’ve come but also the steps that they’ve taken to make sure it happened.

CE:  Tell me as a coach how do you verbally communicate that to your team? Do you have a couple of governing principles? Are there certain things that you hammer home and repeat? How do you reinforce that?

TP:  Yeah, we do. As far as UMass-Lowell soccer, we do a lot of things that most of the other programs around here won’t do, in terms of the mundane details that add up. That culmination where little things add up to the big picture such as our recruiting visits, for example. When we bring a prospective athlete out to campus, we have our entire team show up so that that’s who greets them, not just me. I don’t want to just be the salesperson and just say, “Hey, things are great.” I want them to interact immediately with our student athletes and know and have their parents and support structure know exactly what makes UMass Lowell, you know, what we’re all about. So it’s a community sort of thing. And it’s also not just a four-year commitment. It’s a forty year and beyond sort of relationship where we want to be part of their lives. We want to go to weddings and baptisms and have them back for alumni events and there’s that responsibility too. From the moment they get in the door here, they know this is something bigger than just soccer. This is about who they are and the way they carry themselves on campus and in the community and that’s something that’s really become contagious. We’ve been very clear with what we expect of our student athletes in terms of their priorities. We do set a lot of goals for them academically, athletically and also personally.

CE:  So that’s really interesting; you invite them into the entire team right away. It’s funny, in business we call that ‘onboarding’.

TP:  Sure, sure.

CE:  The first day, how do you get people into the team and productive right away. So have you had your student athletes, as they’ve come on board, remark that that was one of the experiences that made them choose UMass Lowell?

TP:  Absolutely, because it’s really unique to the other recruiting experiences that most student athletes have when they go to other places. I mean, they get the tour, they get to talk to the coach, they’ll meet a player or two and they’ll see all the things that they’re supposed to see but I encourage them to get out into the campus and talk to people who aren’t soccer players. Talk to people who might play for other teams but might not be student athletes; might just be part of the campus and see what we’re all about and feel what we’re all about. We take them into downtown Lowell because it is a small city. We want them to understand exactly what this is and what makes Lowell and UMass Lowell so special. It’s something that really has taken off. It’s funny, we always ask people after they’ve committed to UMass Lowell and after they’ve come here, “What brought you here?” And they say, “The recruiting visit was something that really opened my eyes.” Most of the time, these guys are looking at other Division I schools and we’re the only non-Division I school they’re looking at.

CE:  That’s great. Now, once they’re on the team, how do you keep them rewarded and keep them motivated? What are some of the things that you’ve found as a coach that work really well?

TP:  Well, the first thing: you look at, “What’s the currency for players a lot of the time?” It’s playing time. Coming in here, understanding that everybody has an equal opportunity whether they’re a senior or a freshman to play. The best eleven players will play. That’s the fairness and that’s the agreement from the word go. But also, if they’re able, if they’re ready, if they’re the right player, they’ll play. And if not, we work our butts off to make sure we do everything we can to help them get there. Everyone’s got the goal of getting on the field and contributing and hopefully playing a large part in the success.

CE:  That’s interesting. In The Carrot Principle, when we did all this research and we found that leaders that were high recognizers excelled in four basic leadership areas of goal-setting, communication, trust and accountability and you’ve kind of addressed basically three of the four. Tell me a little bit about the role trust plays in building your team with your players.

TP:  Sure. I think that trust and accountability almost go hand in hand in our program. I noticed those are what you would call the Basic Four. Let me put it this way: we’re dealing with the life and times of the 18- to 23-year-old college male, usually, and everything that goes with it and we really hope and expect that our guys keep their priorities straight, keep their families first, and then academics, and then soccer, and then time for a social life. Hey, the social life is we don’t expect guys to go off and be a rock star. We expect them to find things that will help them thrive as a member of the campus community and there’s plenty of things to do socially on a campus. But if and when the college male does step out of line, they’ve betrayed a bit of trust. They’ve let us down, and we do accept that it does happen from time to time but then it’s kind of a teaching moment for me as a coach and us as a program to let them know that we are accountable for our actions and that might jeopardize their place on the team, it might jeopardize a certain amount of playing time. But more so, I think that the trust I have with my players and the relationship that I have, that matters to them. Intrinsically, that matters to them and I think that’s kind of more of the guiding factor, that they don’t want to let us down.

CE:  Oh, that’s great. So, tell me a little bit about how you found The Carrot Principle and what you found in that book that you found could apply to your team.

TP:  Sure. It’s funny. I got it, as you mentioned, in an airport on a layover on my way to a camp at Wake Forest and that’s where all great literature is bought.

CE:  Exactly!

TP:  I had fifteen minutes and I popped into one of the Walden Books. I was really looking for something that spoke to me in a language I hadn’t yet heard but just said something that I needed to hear and there it was. It was just absolutely automatic. I bought it right on the spot, started reading it on the flight. What was great about it was that we can always evolve a coaches, and certainly as people, but I’m always looking for ways to clarify the things that I feel and I think that again, as you said, The Basic Four. Those are things that are always important to me. But also, I was a carrotphobic. I was afraid that I would reward too much, that they would come to expect it, it would devalue the reward and the praise. I’d made the mistake early on as a coach saying, “They don’t need a pat on the back, they don’t need recognition. They should be doing this for the team, they should be doing this for the ‘we,’ not the ‘I.’“ But I realized that as a coach now, I like a pat on the back. I like motivation, I like recognition. I found it especially interesting what you said in the book. High achievers are recognition sponges. We all need it. When I looked at that, it really crystallized some of the things I’d been thinking of. Take our starting goal keeper for example: He’s the kid with almost a 4.0 GPA, he’s a chemistry major, he’s been a captain of the team since he was a sophomore, he’s on the team of the week every week.

CE:  Wow.

TP:  So one of the things that we do for the Team of the Week every week in the conference is recognize that in front of everybody, on Mondays, “I just want to recognize these guys have been chosen for Team of the Week” and each week, and it’s Ryan Richards, our starting goalkeeper. I was almost worried that it was getting old. “Ryan Richards again,” “Ryan Richards again.”

CE:  Right. Right.

TP:  But I know that deep down, he’d look down, because he’d be a little bit embarrassed, ‘cause he’s just kind of shy just by nature but it also made him feel really good. It made him feel special and it made him feel recognized. I contrast that to the first year that I was here, or the first couple years that I was here, and we had our leading scorer, Mike Page, who was a fantastic player, worked hard for the team, did everything. And he would score and score and score and sometimes the scorekeeper would say, “Who scored the goal?” I didn’t know whether it was Mike Page or if he got an assist or what, and we didn’t keep the records as well as we could have so he didn’t get all the credit that really he could have and should have. So in terms of his goal total and assist total and his points total, probably not accurate and he probably scored more goals and got more assists than he got credit for. And I used to think back then, I used to say to him, I used to say to the team, “It’s okay, what matters is that we won and we this and we that.” And he’s such a good kid that he never let on that maybe it might have bothered him. Maybe he might have wanted that credit.

CE:  Sure.

TP:  But he was just such a team guy, but I think it would have mattered to him. And if I could go back, I really would have said, “You know what, let’s make sure we got that right.” And that’s one of the things that I try to do with all of our guys is just make sure that first of all, that we always value the team objectives but we can’t lose sight of the individual because the team is made up of individuals.

CE:  Exactly. It is. I agree with you 100%. I mentioned to you, we’re involved with the Olympics with the team rings and the medals and stuff and you talk to these athletes, particularly timed events, they can tell you the time of every event they’ve ever been in! And every medal they’ve ever won. It really is remarkable, isn’t it?

TP:  You’re absolutely right, and it’s one of the reasons why they have awards in the first place.

CE:  Well that’s great. Hey listen, Coach, this has been great time spent. A lot of interesting insights. As you know, in business we use lots of sports analogies because they have great application. I love a lot of the things you talked about…how you build your team, how you welcome ‘em in, how you keep ‘em motivated, and the tremendous success of your program. Just in closing, if there’s one tip that you’d give other coaches or sales leaders or somebody who’s building a team in business, what would be the one tip that you’d give them from your perspective on how you build a great team and then we’ll let you go.

TP:  Well I think, one of the things that’s been the best for us, in terms of building the program, is again that one-on-one affirmation that we can give a player. You know, some guidance and clear communication in terms of what our expectations are but also where they are on that path to achieving their goals. I think one of the things that I wish I would have done better in my coaching this year, to be honest with you, would be that daily interaction. I was given some more responsibilities here in the department with regards to athletic merchandising and things like that that took away some of my time from the coaching and I thought that as a result, I didn’t get as much interaction and I thought it made a difference. I thought we had a good season, I mean, we were inches away from the final four, but it’s not just about wins and losses. It’s about how well did you connect with your players and that’s something we’re adjusting for next year because, you know, moving forward I want to make sure that I continue to have that connection and I think, you know, any manager, if nothing else, the person on the other end needs to feel special, needs to feel appreciated, and also needs to feel important to the success of the group.

CE:  You know, great insights. Excellent. Now, the UMass Lowell River Hawks, we’re going to make you our official team for the Carrot Culture Group, we’re going to follow you next season, but you’ve got to explain to everybody: What is a river hawk?

TP:  A river hawk doesn’t actually exist. It’s a mythical aquatic bird of prey.

CE:  A mythical aquatic bird of prey; that’ll get us fired up. That’s awesome. Well listen…

TP:  Thanks a lot.

CE:  You bet, thanks Coach, and good luck next season. I really appreciate you being a part of the podcast today.

TP:  You bet, thank you Chester. Thank you very much.

CE:  You bet. Bye bye.