What are the keys for the Gators to maintain success and build its own tradition in Howard County?

I was just talking with the kids [on Wednesday] saying one of the things that's unique about Reservoir is that it doesn't have the tradition that others do because it's such a new school. It's rare when people have the opportunity to build a tradition of their own instead of following in footsteps. So it goes back to what made us successful and that's our physical style of play and not backing down from any 50-50 balls. I think it comes from the offseason workouts, the workouts in the summer and throughout the preseason. It's just thinking that you want to earn respect. I give them a speech every first day of tryouts that I call the "blue-collar athlete." I don't care how many times you can juggle or how many times you can beat somebody on the flank. It's who's hustling when I'm not watching, who's going through those 50-50 balls at all times, who's not afraid to get dirty and who's ready to step up and be a leader.

What are the benefits of playing the challenging Howard County schedule to get prepared for the playoffs?

It's almost unparalleled. Sometimes it's harder to win the county than it is to come out of your region and win a state title. It's great because you know what you're going to get every time you step out there. I think especially this year, I can't tell you if there's a frontrunner. I think there's a lot of teams that can come out on any given day that I wouldn't be surprised if one team won and the other team lost.

From a personal standpoint, what was the most gratifying thing you took from last year's success?

I don't think we were the most skilled team out there and obviously some luck played into it. But the team chemistry that was on the team all the way up from the kids that have been four-years starters down to the kids that made the team for the first time as seniors. We did a lot of building and everyone felt welcome. The other gratifying thing was [Reservoir girls soccer coach Josh Sullivan] came in about the same time as I did and we talked to each other about things and decided to come together and build it as a program instead of two separate teams. We have our meetings together, we do our fundraising together and community service. When you start doing things as a team and start building that sense of community, it's nice to see how the boys and the girls ended up responding.

As far as finding your coaching identity, who have you looked up to?

I had the chance to work with Ivan Croft the first year and I kind of picked from others, so it was kind of neat to see it all evolve. To watch Ivan and his organization and the way he thinks technically about the game was important. And then I've had the chance to work with [River Hill coach] Matt Shagogue the past three years coaching club ball together. So being able to to bounce ideas off each other all the time and having Josh [Sullivan] right there and my coaching staff as well -- I love it. I've been able to hear all these people and build from there knowledge and kind of take bits and pieces and put it all together. i just think I'm extremely fortunate with the path I've been able to take.

What will be some keys for the team to repeat as state champions?

That's a tough question. One thing is staying healthy and another is staying with the foundation of what Reservoir soccer really is. That's playing with that physical nature knowing we're always the hunter, that we're always going after people and we don't get complacent. I think it's also going to take some younger kids to step up. The past couple games, I've started two freshmen and a sophomore, so it's really them getting comfortable at the varsity level and trying to get them on the same page to build around those senior leaders for us to take another run at things.