Riverhounds Introduce Dave Brandt on Monday
May 23, 2016 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC News Release
PITTSBURGH - The Pittsburgh Riverhounds formally introduced new head coach Dave Brandt earlier today, May 23, in a press conference at Highmark Stadium. The full transcript including statements from both Brandt and team owner Tuffy Shallenberger can be found below.
Team Owner Tuffy Shallenberger
Opening Statement...
"Well thanks everyone for coming out. Obviously, this year hasn't gone the way I anticipated and that leads to - you have to make changes. The city of Pittsburgh, our fans, Steel Army, they deserve more and, like I said, that's what led to me having to make a change. It's always tough to do that, but it had to be done. With that being said, I've known Dave for a couple years. Wednesday was the tipping point with the loss there in the [Lamar Hunt US Open Cup] and I decided to reach back out to Dave. That caused quite a whirlwind. It happened quick. 10:30 at night I called him. The next morning he's in my office and that's about how fast it went. That's the kind of the way I work, I'm not going to wait around till the end of the year and lose another season. Like I said, the fans deserve more and we're going to create a winner here. This is the guy who is going to do it for us. He's high energy. I told him this morning here that maybe we'll probably get the power shut off because there's so much energy flying around this place, we don't need the lights. But, anyhow, here you have him, so fire away."
On what make Brandt standout as the next head coach...
"Just his energy. His accomplishments - fastest winning coach [to 200 wins in NCAA history]. You get a couple hundred wins [collegiately]. It's just his past accomplishments are just astounding."
On the current staff under Brandt...
"Right now, Niko [Katic] [and goalkeeping coach, Jeroen Walstra] will be his [assistant coaches] as of now and I'm sure there will be another [assistant coach] here in the near future."
Head coach Dave Brandt
Opening Statement...
"And I'll just say, Tuffy said it was a whirlwind, that's probably a classic understatement - at least under my definition of whirlwind. I don't know that I've had a crazier three days in my life and I'm old enough to have some life before me, so I've had some experiences. It's absolutely insane, but I think in a good way for me and I'll obviously let you all ask questions and that should be the major part of this. But, for me, my experience at the Naval Academy was life impacting without a doubt. Really difficult to leave, but at the same time, a city like Pittsburgh - an unbelievable sports town - I haven't lived here, but I know enough to know that. And have an opportunity in the pro game now, which is booming in this country at every level, was just an opportunity I couldn't turn down. So, I'm thrilled to be here. My wife, Diane, isn't here yet, but hopefully she'll be thrilled to be here once she gets here and I'm obviously open to questions from you guys or whatever I can help with.
On coaching in the pros being a career goal...
"I don't think it was previously to be honest, but in the last several years, yeah, I would say it was. I hit the point at the Naval Academy, such an amazing place, just institutionally - for me, I probably had hit the point where I wasn't going to leave the Naval Academy for any other college job. I think that had turned into a great place to be and a great college soccer job. The pro game, and I mentioned it in my opening comments, is just - and I've watched the pro game in this country for a long time - I guess that I'm old enough that I can say that because I've been around it and I've watched it very closely. And what's happened literally in the last three years, I think it's the result of a groundswell that took forever and just now has jumped the roof. It's now hit at every level in the USL, MLS, NASL. I think we can all see it. So, since then, yeah, it got on my radar and it became a thing with me in the last couple years."
On first meeting with Tuffy...
"When the change from Justin Evans to Niko [Katic] being interim coach, and then eventually Mark Steffens hiring - we talked at that point. It wasn't quite right at that point in time, so we parted ways. But, that was around two years ago, so that was our first interaction. And then, honestly, it's not like there was interaction between, but are we familiar with each other and do we know each other and have a little bit of a basis? Yes."
On first practice with team...
"It was great. I actually met the team last night and that was pretty significant for me. I drove from Annapolis [Maryland] yesterday and got here in time - we met the team last evening. I had a number of things to say, it was important for me to connect with them before we were actually out on the field. But the reality is we play on Saturday and there's 22 games left - I think, if I counted right - and 66 points still on table. There's just an awful lot of season left, but we don't have time to waste. So, training this morning was important and it's one of a number - five probably - training sessions, chances we have before Saturday and it was important to hit the ground running. You had this situation where I'm new to them, they're new to me. We need to figure each other out and that sort of thing. And yet, time - it's happening and it's important and we have to make things happen here. For me it was great and I told the players in the locker room this morning - I didn't count, but maybe it's your 70th training session of the year, but for me, it's first with you at the pro level, so I'm excited and I hope you are too. It was a good session. Certainly enjoyed it."
On changes in tactics...
"A significant change. Maybe a notch down from huge - I don't know where that ranks on the scale. But, I think it's a change. For each coach has his or her way of playing in his or her sport, in his or her distinctive, so I do think that's one thing about me. I told the guys last night, and there are a lot of buzzwords in athletics and coaching, I suppose. And look, talk is always cheap, it just is, it's doing that matters, but I'm one of those coaches, very definitively, I have a vision. And I told them what that means is that I know what I want it to look like. That's important and I know in athletics there's talent grabbing, putting them out and saying, see what happens. And then for me, I'm always to trying to make the whole greater than the sum of the parts. So, for me, it's a little bit about - maybe a lot more - than just grabbing talent and grabbing players. Talent matters, it is important. A the same time, the structure of what we're doing, the team agreements - this vision I have, both on and off the field - is what I'm most passionate about and that's what we begun starting to work on this morning."
On the look of the roster...
"In soccer, especially these days, it may be a little bit of a catchphrase to say there are teams that wait for you, and those are teams that sit back and counter, and there's teams that look for you. We're a team that's going to look for you. We're going to press high. We're going to play very tight to each other, in terms of space. It's going to be fast. High tempo. High skill. On the ground, working together, but it's going to be energetic and, I used this phrase with the players several times this morning, it's going to be vertical. There's horizontal, side-to-side, and there's vertical, which means going forward and we're going to go forward."
On having watched the Riverhounds before...
"I have and that's just because of having access to tape. Even before Tuffy and I ever talked, I just do my best to keep abreast of MLS, NASL and USL, so I had seen a couple Riverhounds games. When we spoke, I tried to do a catch up fast. So, I think I've seen six of the games."
On the starting goalkeeper...
"It's early for me to comment on that. I can honestly say I've been here for less than 24 hours, so I'm asking for a 24-hour pass. After 24 hours, I have to answer the hard questions."
On the transition from collegiate to the pro level...
"I'd say a couple a things. My default mode is, and I don't think it's a stretch to say this - the game is the game, people are people, groups are teams, our groups are teams. With that being said, are there some differences? Yes, absolutely. So, I feel very comfortable. I follow the pro game very closely; I know a number of people in the pro game. I've not been separated from it. Just in the sense of having access and that sort of thing. But yeah, I've been a college coach for a number of years and so; you have to have a quick learning curve in some ways. The other thing I'd say about that is the structure of help, support, other people in the organization to help me with that is very good and that's going to be very important just because of where I'm coming from."
On his input on personnel decisions...
"I think - I've been here a short time, as you know and already there has been numerous conversations involving, to be honest, at least four people. I see that as a pretty collaborative effort and I work comfortably that way. There's a couple things that are on the front burner here. One is there is a team here now that plays on Saturday. So, that's on the front burner - it's who preparing them, making the adjustments we need to make. There's some things always in the works, that's just the way it is - I'm not giving up state secrets. Whether I'm here or not, pretty much every team in the USL, there's always something in the works. So, movement is possible, but the focus right now is on coaching the team here."
On if he's ever taken over a position midseason...
"No, I haven't. I think that happens less in the college game certainly. I came to Navy in January of '09 and, so, in the college game, the spring is very active, but it's not your official season - the fall is. So, I came in mid-year. To come in literally midseason, this is a first for me for sure."
On worrying about taking on the job midseason...
"Always, of course [laughing], but the opportunity is here and the opportunity is here now. And, I think it's something that happens especially in the pro game, so that's okay. It just presents different challenges and I think that's alright as long as you're willing to meet them head on."
On timeline of decision with club...
"I believe we talked Sunday, eight days ago, where Tuffy thought he might be considering making a change. I got a text late Wednesday night telling me to come down and meet him Thursday, which I did. I think I pushed him - he wanted me to make a decision super fast - and I pushed him back twice for about eight-hour stints and I think I finally - I'm going to get my days mixed up, but I think Saturday morning was when I finally made the decision."
On being high energy...
"I think there's different types of coaches again in every sport and soccer and that's okay. I don't think it's right or wrong and there's room for a broad spectrum. My personality is to be involved, on top of it, hands on. I want to coach my players and I think, especially in soccer, there's a broad spectrum of approaches to management and to coaching. Mine is to be hands on. I like to be in the middle of things. That's my personality and the way I am."
On his current staff...
"I think right now it's Niko [Katic] and I and we're going to want an assistant. That's also a work in progress as we move forward."
On background at Messiah College, living in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania...
"I've made two big moves now and I think that's a result of the fact that I was at Messiah in the Harrisburg area for a long, long time, I tell people. So, I'm 53 - cat's out of the bag - I was at Navy seven years, so I was 46 when I came to Navy. I had been at Messiah 32 years at that point, so if you do the math, I moved there as a ninth grader literally because my dad became the Academic Dean [of Messiah]. I grew up in New England, Boston area, moved there when I was 14 to central Pennsylvania. Actually went there to college. I was a business major and in college and I panicked my senior year because soccer season was over and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, what am I going to do now? Get a job?" It just didn't look good. It didn't sound good. One way or another, I fell into coaching. I coached junior varsity at Messiah for three years and that's back in the day, they don't have that program now. This is in the mid-80s. I was varsity assistant for nine, so that's 12 years coaching and then took over as head coach in '97, where I coached 12 years. So, 12 years as a head coach, 12 years as an assistant one way or another and four years of college, and four years of literally being a fan of the team from ninth to 12th grade. If you add it up right that equals 32 and I was 46 when I moved to Navy and here I am, seven years later, happy to be back in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania for me certainly feels like home. Whether that's Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, whatever, it's comfortable."
On the Keystone Derby...
"I know a little bit. I certainly know most of the City Islanders staff and what not. They're obviously right there, right in the backyard, so I have an inkling of what that means and how important it is for sure."
United Soccer League Championship Stories from May 23, 2016
- OC Blues Visit Dr. Schiffman and Hogle Zoo on Behalf of Soccer for Hope - Orange County SC
- Riverhounds Introduce Dave Brandt on Monday - Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
- FC Cincinnati Match at Charlotte Rescheduled - FC Cincinnati
- English Duo Dynamic on and off the Pitch - Phoenix Rising FC
- Sounders FC 2 Draws 10-Man LA Galaxy II 1-1 at Starfire Stadium - Tacoma Defiance
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
