Aug. 2, 2011
Opportunities can come along when you least expect them. That seemed to be the case for Derek Greene, who was named interim head coach of the Vanderbilt women’s soccer last Friday just one week before the opening of the Commodores’ 2011 preseason camp.
But 18 overall years of coaching experience and the last 18 months at Vanderbilt have prepared Greene to hit the ground running in his new role. Just days into his new position, Greene sat down with Chris Weinman of vucommodores.com to discuss the coming season and his vision for the future of the Vanderbilt soccer program.
WEINMAN: This is big news to get just a week before preseason camp starts. Did you have a heads-up that this change could be coming?
GREENE: “The first indication that this opportunity might arise came early in the summer when Ronnie [Woodard] told me she was considering retirement, and I’ve been preparing every day since for this possibility. Even though everything has come about only a week before our preseason camp begins, all the preparations are in place to begin the season and we are not going to miss a beat going forward.”
CW: After graduating nine players, including six starters, from last year’s team, what are your expectations for the 2011 season?
DG: “We lost a lot of talent and experience from last season, but knowing the returning players we have — their goals, their drive — and watching our incoming players — most recently at our elite residential camp — there’s no reason we can’t be competing for the top half of this league or higher.
“In the last four seasons we missed the postseason twice and got into the SEC Tournament the past two years as the eighth seed. I think we can have higher expectations this season.
“We do have some new pieces, so we’ll have a better idea of what we have once we have started training and played Louisville. Sebastian [Vecchio] and I are going to be working hard to evaluate our team coming during preseason camp. We’ll be young but talented. I’ve been in this league for a long time and I believe the core pieces are there for us to have success.”
CW: You were a big reason that Coach Vecchio was brought onto the staff before last season. Talk about his contributions to the program.
DG: “Sebastian is passionate about the game of soccer and deeply cares about our team. We’ve known each other for four or five years, and when Ronnie hired me last year Sebastian was on the top of my list of coaches to work with. He’s one of the rising stars in college soccer, and I’m excited to continue working with him. We are both committed to doing everything we can to make this one of the top programs in the country. Sebastian’s coaching — from recruiting to mentoring our goalkeepers — will be a huge part of our success.”
CW: Moving forward, what are your goals for the Commodore soccer program?
DG: “It’s really cliche’ to say that we want to win the SEC; everybody says that this time of year. Realistically, Florida has dominated the conference for the last 15 years or so. But our aspirations are to get this program back into that conversation and to be contenders every year. I know this league, the teams, the players, the style each team plays. I expect us to be competing for SEC Championships in the near future, and I expect us to be in the NCAA Tournament every year. My goal is to coach in the Final Four, and I think Vanderbilt is a place where you can achieve that goal.”
CW: What stands out to you about the Vanderbilt soccer program?
DG: “This is one of the most storied programs through the history of women’s college soccer. If you look back in the 90’s, Vanderbilt appeared in almost every NCAA Tournament. Vanderbilt established itself as one of the elite programs nationally. I want to return to those days, and nothing is stopping us from competing at the highest level in the country.
“We have a world-class university in a world-class city. Vanderbilt and Nashville have both branded themselves nationally. We want for VU Soccer to be nationally recognized brand on that same level.
“Recruiting is the number one thing that’s going to change the level of our program. I don’t see a negative thing about the Vanderbilt experience. So once you are presenting that package, you start opening doors and there’s no reason we can’t get top-flight kids excited about everything we have to offer.”
CW: When you go out recruiting, what do you look for in a future Commodore?
DG: “People always say that teams take on the personality of their coaches. I’m extremely competitive and hard-working. So if I go to a field, I’m looking for players that are competing, whether it’s their first or last game, for every second. I don’t care if the team I’m watching is winning 4-0 or losing 4-0, I want to see kids who are going to come in and work hard every day, not only on the field but in the classroom and in all parts of their life. I want to see kids with passion that will always be striving to get better.”
CW: Tell us a little about the style of play we can expect to see from the Commodores.
DG: “I subscribe to the theory of “total football.” It was popularized in the late 60’s by the Dutch club Ajax. The game is fluid and every player is an interchangeable part. You have defenders that can not only defend, but can also get forward and join in the attack. Your midfielders must be able to attack and defend, and your forwards act as the first line of defense trying to win the ball back as high up the field as possible. Every player has to be technically sound, skillful on the ball under pressure and extremely fit.
“I want us to be relentless in our work-rate for 90 minutes. I don’t want us to ever stop working hard. We’re going to attack like this program hasn’t attacked in years. If you want to move forward in life, you have to be aggressive. I want opponents to hate playing against us.”
Derek Greene’s first game as a Division I head coach will be Sunday, Aug. 21, when Furman visits the VU Soccer Complex.
A native of Knoxville, Greene was the head coach at Carson-Newman before spending seven years at Ole Miss, where he helped lead the Rebels to three NCAA Tournament appearances while recruiting six Freshman All-Americans. His coaching career also included stops at Tennessee and Belmont before he joined the Commodores at the beginning of 2010.
